The Hotel del Coronado

The Hotel del Coronado is located in San Diego, California and it is not just your ordinary hotel. Back in 1958 Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and other actors and actresses gathered here to film the popular movie “Some Like It Hot. The author of 'The Wizard of Oz” L. Frank Baum said that this hotel inspired him created the Emerald City because even though the hotel isn't green it was similar to what Baum imagined Emerald City to look like.

Hotel del Coronado was built in 1888 on Coronado Island and is considered to be a luxury beachside resort hotel. It is comfortably situated just a ten-minute drive from downtown San Diego.

L. Frank Baum’s Stay at the Hotel

The author of the classic book “The Wizard of Oz” liked to spend the wintertime in southern California. He chose to stay at the Hotel del Coronado where he wrote some of the Oz books. He was inspired to create the Emerald City from the iconic red castle-like turrets of the hotel and because of this the hotel has earned the nickname “Emerald City.”

In the Crown Room at Hotel del Coronoade the four amazing crown-shaped chandeliers were designed by Baum, When in residence Baum stayed at a quaint yellow house at 1101 Star Park Circle. While staying there he wrote “The Marvelous Land of Oz” and today you can spot the face of the Wicked Witch lurking from the side of this house.

The Wizard of Oz books and a Walking Tour

At the Coronado Museum of History and Art visitors can see the first three editions of the Oz books by Baum. In the museum gift shop you can buy unique Wizard of Oz gifts and souvenirs.

At the Coronado Public Library is The Wizard of Oz Glass Art Exhibit. You can see Baum’s storybook come to life in nine huge glass panels which depict Dorothy, the cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, Glenda the Good Witch, the Munchkins and many other characters.

If you are fascinated about the hotel and Baum’s stay here you can take the historic guided walking tour. It starts off at Glorietta Bay and takes you through downtown Coronado with lots of fun stops along the way.

Overnight guests can spend the night in the “Author’s Study” at the bed and breakfast located at 1906 Lodge, Coronado Beach. This room features art prints of Dorothy’s ruby slippers, Dorothy meeting the cowardly Lion and the original book cover of “The Wizard of Oz”, plus an autobiography on Baum. In 2009 Baum’s great grandson stayed here.

All About Kate Morgan

Kate Morgan came to stay at Hotel del Coronado in 1893 unfortunately she checked in but never checked out and her spirit remains to haunt the hotel. It was on Thanksgiving Day when 24 year old Kate Morgan arrived looking very unhappy and all alone. For five days she waited for her companion who never arrived.

The Death of Kate

At the time of her death the police couldn’t identify her and they telegraphed a description of Kate to police agencies all over the U.S. They soon started calling Kate the “beautiful stranger”. The news, when it came, was startling indeed. Kate was a married woman who was estranged from her husband and it was assumed that she had come to the Hotel del Coronado for a rendezvous with a lover.

She had been employed as a domestic in a wealthy Los Angeles household. She took a train to the hotel and passengers traveling on the same train said that she had been arguing with a male companion. The companion soon deserted her. Kate became despondent and stopped at San Diego to buy a handgun. Later on the San Diego coroner confirmed the fact that Kate had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Kate Morgan Haunts the Hotel

Kate’s favorite place to haunt is the third-floor guestroom in which she stayed. Visitors see the lights flickering, the TV turns itself on and off and breezes blow into the room even though the windows are closed. There are inexplicable scents and sounds, things move around by themselves, doors open and close, the temperature in the room goes from hot to cold and one can hear unexplained footsteps and voices. The ghost of Kate has so intrigued visitors that her room is the most requested.

Paranormal researchers have documented supernatural activity in this room through the use of modern high-tech paranormal research equipment. Kate has also been seen in the hotel hallways and by the seashore. In the hotel’s gift shop visitors and employees have been witness to giftware suddenly flying from the shelves, falling upright but left unbroken.

A Book about Kate

A book has been written about Kate Morgan – Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado. This is the official account of her 1892 visit and includes a chronology of Kate’s hotel activities. In the book is the coroner’s inquest, dozens of newspaper reports about her stay, vintage photos of the hotel and detailed descriptions of paranormal sightings. The book can be purchased at the hotel and through sites like Amazon.

The Movie “Some Like it Hot”

The Hotel del Coronado became a part of Hollywood history in 1958 when it became the setting for Director Billy Wilder’s classic comedy “Some Like it Hot”. The movie included many stars like Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. The movie was released in 1959 and was voted the number one comedy of all time by the American Film Institute.

The Story Behind the Movie

The movie is set in the Prohibition-era and follows the exploits of two out-of-work musicians portrayed by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. The musicians accidentally witness Chicago’s 1929 St, Valentine’s Day Massacre. Once the gangsters realize they have witnesses the two run for their lives. They disguise themselves as women and join an all-girl band traveling to a Florida resort. The setting for the movie was chosen to be the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island in San Diego, California.

Marilyn Monroe played the band’s ukulele-strumming singer who catches the eye of these two cross-dressing musicians. Tony Curtis’ character falls head over heels for the singer and assumes yet another identity to win her over. He pretends to be a unlucky-in-love millionaire and entertains his love on the yacht of a real millionaire. Meanwhile the actual millionaire and owner of the yacht portrayed by Joe E. Brown pursues Lemmon’s female character thinking he is really a lovely she.

Since the story was actually set in Florida the Mayor of Miami Robert King High was upset that Wilder chose the sun of California over the sun of Florida the “Sunshine State”. Coronado’s mayor hit back and said that the California sun in September wasn’t as hot as that in Florida. He also remarked that Coronado had no insects whereas Florida had gnats and mosquitoes as well as hurricanes.

Hotel del Coronado Has a Starring Role

Since the hotel had endured little neglect during the Depression and WW II it became the perfect setting for Wilder’s 1929 story. It was a place that hadn’t changed in thirty years and the scenes could be shot to look like everyone was stepping back into time. While the outside scenes were shot at the hotel the interior sets were designed to look like the hotel right down to the placement of the lobby stairs and the paneling design.

The Cast and Crew

Most of the 200 member cast and crew made the journey from Los Angeles to San Diego by train and stayed at the hotel for the length of the shoot which was a little over a week. During the filming Marilyn Monroe was accompanied by her husband playwright Arthur Miller. Also with Monroe was her acting coach Paula Strasberg, her secretary and press agent. Tony Curtis had his wife Janet Leigh with him, who at the time was pregnant with their second child Jamie Lee Curtis and Jack Lemmon brought along his wife Felicia Farr.

In Wilder’s book “Conversations with Wilder” published in 1999 the writer/director remembered that filming at the Hotel del Coronado was fun. Monroe felt so relaxed there and remembered all of her lines and everything went according to schedule. He figured that Monroe was inspired there because of the many spectators and for her it was like playing before a live audience. Unlike today security in Coronado was relaxed and fans could come in close contact with the stars including a small boy who remembers declining Monroe’s request for a kiss.

Remembering the Movie Through the Years

The Hotel del Coronado continues to host “Some Like It Hot” events, among them the movie’s 25th anniversary in 1984 which Wilder, Curtis and Lemmon attended. An event when the Marilyn Monroe U.S. postal stamp was issued in 1995 and the movie’s 50th anniversary in 2009 at which time sadly the only surviving cast member Tony Curtis was in attendance joined by some of the original “girls in the band”. Tony Curtis joined his friends in the afterlife in 2010 at the age of 85.