Last Updated on April 2, 2025
“And the dead know much, and the dead hold under their tongues, a locked-up story.” – Carl Sandburg
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, you can’t deny there are unexplained happenings that occur in our Earthly world. Such is the story of the Hotel Del Coronado, California’s historic ‘Grand Lady By The Sea,’ and my favorite place to stay in the San Diego area.
History of The Del
Built in 1887, the Hotel del Coronado is a red-turreted Victorian architectural masterpiece and a famous National Historic Landmark. The captivating, elegant, timeless turn-of-the-century resort stands sentinel over a wide mile and a half of a spectacular white-sand beach fronting the azure blue waters of the Pacific.
The legendary hotel has hosted numerous U.S. presidents, foreign dignitaries, royalty, and celebrities including Thomas Edison, Charlie Chaplain, Babe Ruth, King Kalakua of Hawaii, Clark Gable, Vincent Price, Bette Davis, and Katherine Hepburn.
L. Frank Baum, the writer and creator of the famous “Wizard of Oz,” referred to Coronado Island as his “personal Oz.” He did much of his writing here and many believe The Del was his inspiration for the Emerald City.
It is even believed that The Del is reputed to be the setting of one of the most famous love stories of our time. It’s widely reported that Wallis Simpson, married to a U.S. naval officer at the time and living in Coronado, met her future husband at a grand banquet at the hotel in 1920, thereby changing the course of history. That man was Edward, Prince of Wales, who abdicated the British throne in order to marry the divorcée.
The Beautiful Stranger that Never Left
Despite its elegance, stunning beach front, glitz and glamour, the Hotel Del Coronado holds a deep, dark secret.
Kate Morgan, a well-dressed and reserved 24-year-old woman checked into the hotel on Thanksgiving Day 1892 under the alias of “Mrs. Lottie A. Bernard.” However, she arrived with no luggage and staff reported she appeared troubled and melancholy.
She spent five days meandering through The Del alone, some claim she was afraid her gambler husband, Tom Morgan would find her. Others believe she was waiting for her lover’s arrival. But no one came and she never received any letter or telegrams.
On the evening of November 28, 1892, Morgan was seen outdoors facing the crashing ocean waves fueled by a winter storm. Early the next morning, her body was found on a staircase leading to the beach with a gunshot wound to the head. Until her body could be identified, the media referred to her as “the beautiful stranger.”
The coroner ruled the death a suicide and though there is a record of her purchasing a .44 caliber gun from a downtown San Diego shop, skeptics believed it was someone else who pulled the trigger. Additionally, no one came to identify or claim the body.
Over the years, there have been several myths or theories regarding Morgan’s untimely death, including a San Francisco lawyer who investigated old files shedding doubt on the coroner’s suicide ruling.
Paranormal Activities Abound
According to local historians, newspaper stories, and hotel employees, strange and bizarre experiences have occurred at The Del throughout the years relating to Morgan’s death. Her ghost is said by many to roam hotel hallways, the garden, and the seashore, and particularly in room 3327, her accommodations during her stay.
Guests and staff have reported paranormal experiences such as flickering lights, soft footsteps, pillows stacked in a pyramid, a TV that turns off and on at will, strange breezes, blowing curtains with no air movement, scents and sounds that appear from nowhere, and items that move by themselves.
On Valentine’s Day in 2002, a couple reported covers being ripped off them in the middle of the night.
According to employees of the hotel’s signature gift shop, Est. 1888, mysterious happenings have included items flying off shelves and books carefully rearranged.
Paranormal researchers have documented supernatural activity in Kate’s room using infrared cameras, radiation sensors, night-vision goggles, microwave imaging systems and high-frequency sound detectors.
Historians Christine Donovan, director of heritage programs for Historic Hotels of America and author of the book “Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel Del Coronado,” said that though she never had a personal encounter with Morgan, “It is decidedly the non-dramatic aspects of most of the stories that make a believer out of me.”
She goes on to say “If you have to spend an eternity somewhere, what better place than the Del?”
Kate Morgan’s room 3327 in the original Victorian building is surprisingly (or not), the most requested. Apparently, the curious thrill-seekers and investigators want to experience the room for themselves.
It begs the question I’m sure, “Do I believe in ghosts?”
Yes, I do.
Though I’ve stayed at this gorgeous oceanfront property numerous times, I have never stayed in room 3327. I’m sure I wouldn’t get a decent night’s rest waiting for the beautiful stranger to arrive.
