The story
Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888 on the beach at Coronado, near San Diego, California, and is one of the country's largest and most famous surviving wooden Victorian resort hotels, an instantly recognisable landmark with its red turrets and white timber galleries. Its best-known ghost story concerns Kate Morgan, a young woman who checked in alone in late 1892 and was found dead days later on an exterior staircase, her death recorded at the time as a gunshot wound; a particular guest room and several parts of the hotel are linked to her in the stories that have grown up since. Guests and staff over the decades have reported flickering and self-switching lights, unexplained cool breezes, a television and other devices turning on and off, items moving and a strong sense of presence concentrated around her room. The hotel acknowledges the legend and has documented guest experiences. These accounts should be framed as guest reports and folklore rather than fact, and the real death of a real woman handled sensitively. Current room and booking details should be confirmed from the official site before publishing.