Hotel del Coronado, San Diego

    

Legend of Del Coronado
       In February 19, 1888, founders Elisha Babcock and HL Story opened their dream hotel that they aspired to become, " the talk of the Western world. "  Indeed, given its elaborate construction and location, the hotel has served as host to countless United States presidents, royalty, Hollywood stars and several more famous personalities. It also served as the backdrop to the famous Marilyn Monroe movie "Some Like It Hot"  as well as many other films and television series over the years. On the other,  it has become known as one of the most famous haunted hotels in the world.

The Beautiful Stranger
       On November 24, 1892, a young woman checked into the hotel under the name Lottie A. Bernard and was assigned the room 302. The hotel staff was a bit concerned as she looked ill and carried no baggage. She explained that she had been separated from her brother while traveling by train and that he had her baggage claim ticket and would be joining her soon. After a few days passed and the brother still didn't show, the staff grew more concerned as the woman appeared to be getting sicker and was under duress . One day, she traveled to San Diego, where it is presumed she purchased a handgun. On November 29, five days after checking in, her body was discovered on the steps leading to the beach from what was proclaimed a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was buried in nearby Mount Hope Cemetery, 
            The media latched on to the story and dubbed the woman " The Beautiful Stranger " after it was discovered that she had checked in under an alias.  They soon uncovered that the woman's real name was Kate Morgan and that she had been born in Iowa.  It is believed that she traveled around in trains with her husband, Thomas Morgan, conning fellow travelers out of their money.  The story goes that it was on one of these travels that Kate discovered she was pregnant and decided that she wanted to give up the grifter lifestyle and settle down. Thomas, meanwhile, had other plans and an argument ensued that ended with Tom storming off the train somewhere north of San Diego. Kate continued on to San Diego and checked into the Hotel del Coronado, where she assumed that Thomas would soon join her.  After five days of waiting, she concluded that he would never arrive and took her own life.

Novel about The Legend Of  Kate Morgan
        In 1990, lawyer Alan May published the novel, The Legend of Kate Morgan: The Search for the Ghost of Hotel Coronado. In it, he put forth the theory that Kate was actually murdered by her husband.  The evidence he presented was that the bullet that took Kate's life was actually a different caliber than the one for the gun she purchased.  He also claimed that her body was found in a position that isn't typically associated with suicides. Whatever the case, the story of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado didn't end with her death. Apapun masalahnya, kisah Kate Morgan dan Hotel del Coronado tidak berakhir dengan kematiannya.

The Ghost of Kate Morgan

           The room where Kate stayed, Room 302, was later changed to Room 3312 and then again to Room 3327.  This room has become the most requested room in the entire hotel, in no short part to the years of paranormal activity reported from guests and staff.  This activity is said to include the lights and television turning on and off by themselves, the toilet spontaneously flushing, objects moving around the room, cold spots when there is no draft, disembodied whispering, and the shadowy figure of a woman looking out the blinds and window when no one is in the room. Furthermore, there are reports of Kate's ghost seen wandering the halls of the hotel as well as the steps where she died. Many people believe that Kate is there still waiting for Thomas to arrive to this date.

Room 3502 Room 3502
          There have also been reports of paranormal activity in Room 3502 as well. The experiences that have been described are very similar to what has been reported from Room 3327., however, less clear about the cause of these disturbances.While some believe that a maid who had attended to Kate Morgan formerly occupied the room and even that the maid might have witnessed what truly happened to Kate, others report that it is the room of a mistress of the hotel builder, Babcock, who also took her life when she discovered she was pregnant. Regardless, this room is rumored to be a hotbed of activity as well.

In Popular Culture
     As mentioned earlier, the hotel had a starring role in the classic 1959 Marilyn Monroe film, Some Like It Hot , but it was hardly its only starring role.  Over the years, the Hotel del Coronado has appeared in such films as The Stunt Man , My Blue Heaven , and K-9 .  While it also notable for appearances in the horror genre in television and film (see below), one of the more interesting aspects of the hotel is the influence it has or the appearances it has made in several literary works over the years.
      Perhaps the most famous piece of literature involving the Hotel del Coronado is the L. Frank Baum novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) - better known in reprints and the classic movie adaptation, The Wizard of Oz . Aside from writing some of the countless sequels at the hotel itself, it is often reported that the Hotel del Coronado itself was a possible influence for the design and look of the series's Emerald City.  It should be noted that Baum reportedly first set eyes on the hotel some four years after the original novel, so any influence would have shown up in the later books.     
        

Ghost Story (1972-1973)
          Fans of the 1970s William Castle horror anthology, Ghost Story / Circle of Fear , that aired as a NBC television series might recognize the Hotel del Coronado.When the series first debuted as Ghost Story , Sebastian Cabot played narrator William Essex. Sebastian Cabot bermain narator William Essex. Each episode began in The Mansfield House, as Cabot introduced the story for the evening.The Mansfield House was none other than the Hotel del Coronado and Cabot could be seen walking around the hotel lobby and outside.When the series abruptly changed names to Circle of Fear in January 1973, Cabot and the Mansfield House were dropped completely.

Del Coronado in the horror film "Wicked, Wicked" (1973)
       The hotel would not remain away from the genre for long. Hotel ini tidak akan tetap jauh dari genre lama. In 1973, it appeared in the horror film, Wicked, Wicked , by writer/director Richard Bare. The film was filmed entirely in split-screen, which was sold to audiences as " Duo-Vision " in a William Castle-inspired gimmick. . The film follows a hotel handyman as he stalks and dispatches beautiful women with blond hair, before stitching them back together again.
      The Hotel del Coronado took on the role of the film's hotel and the film was completely shot on location on its grounds. The film starred Randolph Roberts as the murdering handyman, Tiffany Bolling as the nightclub singer he becomes infatuated with, and David Bailey as her ex-husband and hotel's detective trying to solve the murders. Despite its relatively interesting gimmick of completely utilizing split-screen action (a method popularized with lesser use by Brian De Palma and seen most recently in shows like 24) for the majority of the film except during the murder or sex scenes, Wicked, Wicked was considered a box office failure.

The Hotel Today
The Hotel del Coronado continues to be a first-class facility and a popular stop for tourists to the San Diego-area. The hotel firmly embraces both its role in books and movies, as well as the stories of the spirit of Kate Morgan. They have even published their own book on the stories titled Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado.


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