The Haunted Hotel Del Coronado
Posted: 11.21.2024 | Updated: 11.21.2024
Coronado Island is a slice of California heaven. Nestled next to San Diego, visitors can sunbathe on the beach, enjoy an ice cream cone, or even stay at a Coronado establishment: Hotel Del Coronado.
While the sprawling, 757-room hotel offers the luxurious accommodations one would expect in such a beautiful spot, Hotel Del Coronado’s bright exterior hides dark shadows from its past.
Who Haunts the Hotel Del Coronado?
Much of Hotel Del Coronado’s unearthly experiences seem to stem from one tragic incident that took place on the hotel grounds more than 130 years ago. Yet, this is just one of many tragedies that have happened around San Diego in the past century. Much like the hotel, the victims of murders, crimes, and illness continue to haunt places like the Horton Grand Hotel and the Yuma Building.
If you want a break from the San Diego heat, book a tour with San Diego Ghosts to experience some of the city’s spookier side.
The History of Hotel Del Coronado
Guests who enjoy Coronado Island have the founders of Hotel Del Coronado to thank for the gorgeous seaside escape. They not only bought the island but built the entire infrastructure for the community that exists today. This included finding the perfect location for their piece de resistance: Hotel Del Coronado.
Built and furnished for $1 million (what would cost $33 million today), the hotel opened in 1888 to much fanfare and celebration. But just four years later, the hotel was making headlines across the country for a much different reason.
What Tragedy Befell Hotel Del Coronado?
In 1892, a woman in her mid-twenties named Lottie Bernard checked into the hotel alone. According to hotel workers, Bernard seemed quite upset and lonely, telling the staff that she was waiting for a man to meet her.
After five days, no man had joined Bernard; that day, hotel employees found her body on a hotel staircase leading to the beach. She had been shot in the head, which the coroner concluded was self-inflicted.
With no record of Lottie Bernard, police sent the young woman’s photo to other police stations. Soon, newspapers from all over the States started printing her photo, referring to her as the “beautiful stranger.”
Before long, “Lottie’s” true identity came to light. She was actually named Kate Morgan and was married, though estranged from her husband. She worked as a servant in a home in Los Angeles and had traveled to the hotel by train.
Now knowing her identity, police were able to find witnesses on her train ride who said she had been traveling with a man. After getting into an argument, he had seemingly left her. It seems Morgan was convinced he would return to her; when he didn’t, she was so destroyed that she took her own life.
There are also people who are convinced that Kate Morgan didn’t shoot herself. However, there are no other leads regarding someone who would want to hurt the confused woman. No matter who was at the hand of her death, Kate Morgan’s spirit has decided to linger around Hotel Del Coronado.
Kate Morgan’s Ghost
Kate Morgan’s ghost is often seen around the hotel, sometimes in a black lace dress. Much of the activity tied to her spirit has been found within her original room on the third floor. There have been countless odd happenings, including:
- The lights flickering
- The TV turning on and off by itself
- Strange scents suddenly overpowering the room
- Items moving on their own
- A rush of air moving through the room
- The sound of footsteps or voices when no one is there
- A sudden chill or spike in temperature in the room
- The doors opening and close on their own
One guest even had “KM” drawn on her steamy bathroom mirror one night, signaling that this is very likely the work of Kate Morgan.
Certain individuals also seem to encounter a stronger effect than others when in the room. This included a skeptical staff member who was in the room filming for an English TV show called Dead Famous. She suddenly became overwhelmed with a sense of Morgan’s final moments and became physically sick. She couldn’t even stand on her own and had to be helped out of the room.
Kate Morgan’s Presence Elsewhere in the Hotel
Outside of Morgan’s room, her apparition is also seen walking down hallways throughout the hotel or even down by the beach — which may have been one of the last things she saw before passing.
The other location with the most bewitched activity is the hotel gift shop. Items are known to fly off the shelves when no one is near them. However, they typically land upright and are usually unbroken no matter how far they fall.
Christine Donovan, author of Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel Del Coronado, says Morgan’s ghost is harmless. In fact, she counters fearful guests with this sentiment: “If you have to spend eternity somewhere, what better place than The Del.”
Other Haunted Happenings at The Del
While Kate Morgan’s ghost has the most publicity, there are other unworldly occurrences at Hotel Del Coronado that some believe aren’t caused by her ghost at all.
In her research, Donovan had a doctor email her who said his socks and shoes would end up in all different places around his room despite him putting them neatly by his bed. Donovan says, “In my mind, that’s not enough of a story to have made up.” She adds, “It is the decidedly non-dramatic aspects of most of the stories that has made a believer out of me.
Haunted San Diego
While Hotel Del Coronado and their resident ghost are high on the list for specter-seeking visitors, there are plenty of other places around San Diego to spot apparitions or hear mysterious cries.
Downtown San Diego is home to several spooky sites, like the Horton Grand Hotel, where gambler Roger Whitaker was shot to death for his debts. Just down the road, the William Heath Davis House has its own regular ghosts, including a WWII German spy and a woman who used to live in the house a century ago. Book a ghost tour with San Diego Ghosts to experience the fear for yourself.
Want to learn about other hauntings in San Diego, California, and the greater U.S.? Follow our blog, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram for more of the eeriest hotels and historic buildings across the country.
Sources:
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1888?amount=1000000
https://hoteldel.com/timeline/kate-morgan-mystery-begins
https://hoteldel.com/press/haunted-hotel-del-coronado
https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/hotel-del-coronado/ghost-stories.php
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