View of Hotel del Coronado's southeast side entrance, with the trolley station visible in the foreground; considered to be one of America's most beautiful resorts, the Hotel del Coronado is located on the quaint island of Coronado in San Diego. In 1885 founders Elisha Babcock and H.L. Story purchased the entire peninsula of Coronado and North Island for $110,000 and developed it through subdivision and lot sales; they also dreamed of building a seaside resort that would be "the talk of the Western world". Babcock and Story hired architects James, Merritt & Watson Reid who began construction of "The Del" in March 1887 and finished just 11 months later in February 1888 at the cost of one million dollars. The building, boasting of tall cupolas, red turrets, and gingerbread trim, was constructed in the form of a parallelogram and was built around an open court measuring 250x150 feet. Transportation to San Diego and Hotel del Coronado was every 20 minutes, from 6:00 a.m. until 11:30 p.m., via steam motor or ferry. In the 1880s prices ranged from $2.25 per day and upwards by the month, transients from $3.00 per day and upward, according to the room; as of late 2007 prices ranged from $325 to $810 for a single/double room, and from $700 to $4,900 for specialty rooms/suites. The Hotel del Coronado, known today as the Grand Old Lady by the Sea, is the largest beach resort on the North American Pacific Coast, spreading out over 31 acres. It was designated California Historical Landmark No. 844, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places - building #71000181 on October 14, 1971, and designated a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1977.
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