My first contact with the resort when when I phoned them about one week prior to arrival, to ensure I was expected. The front-desk person was pleasant, and when I indicated that I would be arriving around 1 PM, he said that they would try to have a room ready for us when we arrived.

On arrival, we were pleasantly greeted and checked-in. Sure enough, our room was available and we were able to move into it. We had exchanged for a studio, and I had been warned that it was a murphy-bed. The room was quite spacious with the bed “up”, but the TV was old and small, as it had to fit into the wall-unit. We did not find the bed very comfortable either.

The next day, we attended the free breakfast and orientation meeting. There were a few exercise and other visitor programs offered; more than I expected from a small resort. Afterwards, I was chatting to the resort manager, who asked me how my room was. I truthfully told him that it was good, except for the bed. He then offered me a free upgrade, as they has some empty one bedroom units! He explained that they were planning to refurbish all of the studio units and get rid of the murphy beds. We moved into a one bedroom unit that afternoon, and it was excellent. It had two flat screen TVs, and a king size bed. The kitchen had a full refrigerator, dishwasher, coffee maker, toaster, microwave oven and sink. There was no stove, but there was a plug-in hot plate, which worked OK, but used up most of the counter space when in use. We used the kitchen quite a bit, but it would not suit someone who wanted to do extensive cooking.

Everything in the building was clean as could be. The decor was – OK, but they could do with the services of an interior decorator. The parrot in the lobby is “Cody”. Fun, but noisy! Cody doesn't like men, but she likes eating buttons! All of the staff members we met were super-friendly and helpful.

Our unit was on the third floor, and had a partial ocean view. The small hot-tub and sauna are on the third floor, with a nice view. The resort is directly across the street from the famous “Hotel Del Coronado”, built in 1890, usually called “The Dell”. (We took a $10 walking tour of the area, and learned the history of Coronado and the The Dell.) The beach in front of The Dell is open to the public. There are no particular facilities at the resort for children, although they are welcome. Upon check-in, you are informed that there is a daily facility fee of $14. This includes bicycle rentals, which we did not use, and use of the pools and parking at the Lowes Resort. We did use the pools at the Lowes once, and we had them all to ourselves, since the weather was cool at the time. The Lowes is about 4 miles south, an easy drive along “The Strand”, or a long bike ride.

As a first time visitor to San Diego, I found the location of the resort to be absolutely perfect. There are dozens of restaurants within walking distance, as well as a grocery store, liquor store and drug store. Compared to the rest of San Diego, Coronado traffic is calm. One day we took the ferry across the bay, rather than driving, and toured the USS Midway aircraft carrier.

There is, of course, military everywhere. Coronado island has a huge naval base, as well as Navy Seal training facilities. Helicopters and other aircraft are flying about constantly, and you see Naval personnel jogging along the paths. For those who like nature, there are two large reserves in the area for bird watching, at Chula Vista and the Tijuana Estuary. The San Diego Zoo and Sea World are short drives away.