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1906 LODGE FOR A RESTORATIVE CORONADO GETAWAY!

07.25.11

Review By Terra Flores

If you love history, seaside locales, and lots of quiet, 1906 Lodge on San Diego’s picturesque Coronado Island is a restorative vacation getaway.

Unlike other busy Southern California beaches where the 20-something crowd reigns, 1906 Lodge is a 17-suite boutique hotel that sits in a no-hustle residential area. It’s an easy, 10-minute walk to the Pacific-side, award-winning Coronado Beach and dozens of shops and restaurants.

We stayed at this meticulously renovated historical lodge built in 1906 (thus the lodge’s name!). Originally it was a boarding house, but it was overhauled from the foundation to the roof in 2004 and has since received Coronado Historic Designation.

Within eyesight view of the famed red-roofed Hotel Del Coronado, all luxury suites are tastefully done with individual themes. Plus, most rooms have Sanijet pipeless spa tubs for a lavish, romantic, and relaxing experience.

Tea Garden Room & In-Room Spas

On a tour of the property, our favorite room was the Tea Garden. A honeymoon couple’s dream, this room has a massive gold-leaf, four-poster king bed with a tea garden tapestry headboard.

Our Tent City room was a private, quiet master suite with historical décor, Tiffany lamps, a first-class fireplace and a private porch overlooking a garden courtyard with relaxing water feature. We were greeted in our room by signature lemonade and chocolates, and were happy to see that we had free wireless and a small refrigerator and wet bar.

Biking Around Coronado Island

Coronado Island has quite a bit of history, such as the famed tent city, and all rooms explore this element. And the best way to discover island history is by parking your vehicle in the lodge’s private garage (parking is complimentary) and renting a bike from an around-the-corner bike shop. Yes, at Little Sam’s, you can rent a bike by the hour, day or week.

We toured the periphery of the public part of the island (the other half is occupied by a military base) on our sturdy Huffy cruisers in an hour. We pedaled along the local golf course, under the Coronado Bay Bridge, to the edge of Tidelands Park and Ferry Landing, through gorgeous residential neighborhoods and parallel to Coronado Beach. It was a lovely bike ride with lots of clean air and not a lot of people.

Eateries Abound

Each morning, 1906 Lodge serves a classy, complimentary breakfast. A cook offers one hot entrée option and there’s also delightfully displayed cereal, fruit, yogurt and hard-boiled eggs.

For lunch and dinner, Coronado Island has more than 70 eating establishments, and most of them are within a 5-10 minute walk. The innkeepers are happy to inform guests about the best island eateries.Some of their favorites include the Italian Vigilucci’s Ristorante and for French cuisine Chez Loma.

We tried street savvy Mexican fare at Clayton’s Take Out. These authentic tacos with homemade salsa really wake you up. Yum!

Hotel Del & Beach Strolling

A morning walk took us over to Hotel Del Coronado. This historic resort has some lovely, high-end gardens on its Pacific surf side with plant identification labels on exotic succulent varieties.

Coronado Beach is one of the top beaches in the world, especially for families. It’s not over populated and contains several protected tidepool areas. We saw several families with kids balancing on rocks and looking for marine life in these little pools of water.

Another great thing about 1906 Lodge is this boutique hotel loans complimentary beach chairs, umbrellas and towels.

We highly recommend 1906 Lodge for your next vacation getaway, especially if there’s just two of you.

1906 Lodge at Coronado Beach, 1060 Adella Ave., Coronado, California, 866-435-1906, www.1906lodge.com.

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1906 LODGE FOR A RESTORATIVE CORONADO GETAWAY!

07.25.11

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