Lovely hotel with excellent service...sort of an upscale cross between an elegant B&B and small family motel. We would most definitely stay here again.
The Glorietta Bay Inn consists of a large main building--the former Spreckels Mansion, with a library, parlor area, and porch area open to all guests, for reading and relaxing, where the breakfast and afternoon cookies and lemonade are served. The main building houses the more unique and expensive rooms (like a B&B). Clustered near the mansion are a series of separate buildings that are more like a standard hotel or motel wings.
Our room was on the ground floor of one of the motel-like wings, across from the pool. It was smallish (for two adults and two children--not a problem though since we spent most of our time on the beach), and clean and comfortable, with tasteful decor, well-functioning AC, and a flat-screen HDTV with a zillion channels. We didn't use their internet so I'm not sure how well that works. The room safe was big enough for our laptop and there was a sizeable in-room fridge, and a microwave in the breakfast area.
The pool area is small but well-maintained (I watched two staff members clean it every morning) and has comfy cushioned chaise lounge chairs and umbrellas. A large decanter of ice water mixed with fresh lemon slices was present poolside.
The housekeeping staff did an excellent job. Staff was friendly, courteous and professional...and seemed to be everywhere always cleaning or polishing something. Fellow guests seemed to be families with kids and middle-age or older couples.
The Inn is DIRECTLY across the street from the Hotel Del and a five to ten minute walk to the beach, depending on how long you have to wait to cross the street at the signal. Within walking distance (just fine for my kids) to blocks and blocks of excellent restaurants and shops--we never had to use our car.Coronado offers bus service to San Diego and around town, and there were always several taxis parked on the street nearby. GBI offers a well-stocked, free breakfast...cereal, fruit, juice, pastries, bagels, etc., and let us take pool towels to the beach. You can rent beach chairs, umbrellas and surf boards at a small shop up a block from the hotel (Little Sam's?) for reasonable rates.
We did swing by the Hotel Del on our last night (a Thursday) to see what we were missing (the GBI was over $100 less a night than the Del's cheapest room when I was making reservations for our trip). The Del is structurally unique and beautiful and closer to the beach but I found the lobby, shops and restaurants very crowded and quite noisy. I liked the smaller, more personal, more peaceful feeling I got from the Glorietta Bay Inn.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
absolutely!
I recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Older travelers, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Beach / Sun