Hotel del Coronado Ghost: Room 3327 & Kate Morgan (1892)

The Hotel del Coronado has hosted 16 US presidents, two reigning monarchs, and Marilyn Monroe. But the guest who has stayed the longest never checked out. Kate Morgan arrived alone on November 24, 1892. Five days later, she was found dead on the exterior staircase leading to the beach. Her room — originally 302, now 3327 — has been the most-requested 'haunted' room in the United States for over a century.

The check-in

Kate Morgan was 24 years old, traveling alone, and registered under the name 'Lottie A. Bernard from Detroit.' Hotel records describe her as visibly ill, refusing meals, and waiting for someone — described variously as her brother, her doctor, or her husband — who never arrived. She was last seen alive on November 28 walking toward the beach.

The death

On the morning of November 29, a hotel electrician found Kate's body on the wooden staircase that led from the beach to the second floor. She had a single gunshot wound to the head. A pistol lay beside her — but it didn't match the bullet recovered. The official ruling was suicide. Locally, the case has never closed. Theories include an estranged husband, an abortionist's botched procedure (Kate was several months pregnant at autopsy), and a bungled robbery. Investigative journalist John Lamb wrote an entire book (Suicide or Murder?) arguing for homicide.

Why Room 3327

Kate's original room number was 302 (now 3327 after the hotel's renumbering in the 1980s). The hotel openly markets it. You can request the room directly when booking. It's a standard ocean-view king with original 1888 furnishings, including the original armoire and writing desk. A small plaque outside acknowledges the history.

What guests report

A figure in a long Victorian dress at the foot of the bed

Cold drafts on still nights with the windows closed

The TV turning on at 3:30 a.m. (the approximate time of death)

Items moving — particularly Kate's framed portrait, which is reported to slide on the dresser

The bathroom door opening and closing on its own

A faint scent of lilac, Kate's known signature scent

The other haunted areas of the Del

Kate is the headliner, but she isn't alone. Staff report a young porter still working the back service hallway near the kitchen, and a 'lady in white' in the Crown Room. The exterior beach staircase where Kate's body was found was eventually demolished, but a small section of original wood was preserved and built into the current beach steps near the hotel's south end.

How to visit (or stay)

Anyone can walk the lobby and the historic Crown Room for free. The Hotel del runs a paid '90 Minutes of History' tour ($25) every Sunday at 2 p.m. that includes the Kate Morgan story and ends near the haunted staircase. To actually stay in 3327, request it specifically when booking by phone — it tends to book out 6+ months in advance, especially for Halloween week. The room runs about $450–$700/night depending on season.

How to book Room 3327 (step by step)

Online booking engines won't let you pick a specific room number, so the request has to happen by phone or email.

Book any Victorian Building ocean-view king for your dates, then call the hotel's reservations line and ask the agent to add a room-number request for 3327 to the reservation. Follow up 72 hours before arrival — that's when the front desk actually assigns rooms. If 3327 is taken, ask for 3502 (the Crown Room 'lady in white' floor) or 3519, both of which get their own guest reports.

Practical notes: the room is in the original 1888 wooden Victorian building, not the modern towers, so expect period quirks — narrow hallways, creaky floors, and a bathroom that was retrofitted into a 19th-century footprint. Rates run about $450–700 a night in shoulder season and can pass $900 during Halloween week and Christmas. There is no ghost surcharge, and the hotel will not guarantee the room, only the request.

Is it worth it?

If you want the story, the Victorian Building, and an ocean view, yes. If you're expecting a haunted-attraction experience, no — the Del treats Kate as history rather than a gimmick. There's a plaque, a small display near the lobby, and a gift-shop book. Nothing jumps out at you.

Cheaper alternatives that get you the same story: the Sunday history tour ($25), a drink at Babcock & Story Bar in the lobby, or a free walk through the Crown Room and along the beach steps at the hotel's south end where the original staircase wood was preserved.

What's actually documented vs. legend

Documented: Kate Morgan checked in on November 24, 1892, under an assumed name; she was found dead of a gunshot wound on November 29; the coroner's inquest ruled suicide; she was several months pregnant; the pistol found beside her did not match the recovered bullet.

Legend: the identity of the man she was waiting for, the claim that she was murdered by her husband Tom Morgan, the specific 3:30 a.m. timing of activity, and virtually every reported apparition. Historians agree the death happened; nobody has settled why.

The five-day timeline

Nov 24, 1892 — A woman registers as 'Lottie A. Bernard of Detroit,' alone, with no luggage beyond a single small case. Staff note she appears ill.

Nov 25–27 — She barely leaves the room, refuses most meals, and tells staff she is waiting for her brother, a doctor who will treat her.

Nov 28 — She walks into town, buys a .44 caliber pistol at a shop on Fifth Avenue in downtown San Diego, and returns by ferry. She is last seen alive that evening.

Nov 29, morning — An electrician finds her body on the exterior wooden staircase leading down toward the beach.

Dec 1892 — The coroner's inquest rules suicide. Newspapers up and down the coast run the 'Beautiful Stranger' story for weeks before her real identity, Kate Morgan of Iowa, is established.

Who was Kate Morgan before the Del?

Kate Farmer was born in Iowa in 1868 and married Tom Morgan, a gambler who worked the rail lines, in 1885. They had a child who died in infancy. By 1892 the couple were reportedly working trains as a con team — Kate playing the respectable young wife while Tom worked passengers at cards. The prevailing theory is that they argued on a train near Los Angeles, that she went ahead to Coronado expecting him to follow, and that he never did. Whether she then took her own life, or whether someone helped, is where the record ends and the ghost story begins.

Best time of year to visit

October is the obvious month — the hotel leans into the story, the Sunday history tour fills, and Room 3327 is usually booked out by August. If you want the room itself, aim for January through early March: rates drop to the $350–450 range, the Victorian Building is quiet, and the front desk is far more willing to honor a room-number request.

Avoid Christmas week entirely. The Del's ice rink and holiday programming push occupancy near 100% and room requests of any kind get ignored.

Pair it with the rest of a haunted Coronado day

The Del works well as the last stop rather than the only one. A full afternoon: start at the Coronado Ferry Landing, bike the Silver Strand path, walk the Del's Crown Room and lobby displays for free, then take the 2 p.m. Sunday history tour. Finish with a drink at Babcock & Story Bar, which sits in the original 1888 building.

If you have a second night, the Whaley House candlelight tour in Old Town and the El Campo Santo cemetery walk on San Diego Avenue are the two other stops that hold up historically, not just atmospherically.

Frequently asked questions

Can you stay in the haunted room at the Hotel del Coronado? Yes. Room 3327 is a bookable standard ocean-view king in the original Victorian Building. You cannot select it online — book any Victorian ocean-view king and add a room-number request by phone.

How much does Room 3327 cost? Roughly $450–$700 a night in most seasons, $350–450 in deep winter, and $900-plus during Halloween week.

Is the Hotel del Coronado really haunted? There is no evidence beyond guest and staff reports, but the underlying death is fully documented in coroner's records and 1892 newspaper coverage.

Do you have to be a guest to see the haunted areas? No. The lobby, Crown Room, gift shop Kate Morgan display, and the beach steps are all open to the public at no charge.

What floor is the haunted room on? The third floor of the original wooden Victorian Building, ocean side, near the south end.

For the full Hotel del story — Edison, Marilyn, the Wizard of Oz connection, and 16 presidents — see our deep history of the Hotel del Coronado, the full haunted San Diego guide for other rooms and buildings with reported activity, the Whaley House history for California's other famous ghost address, and the Coronado neighborhood guide for what else to do on the island.