Coronado’s Newest Hotel Party Comes With a Lagoon and a Secret Champagne Bar

When Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888, a stay came with parlors, music rooms, billiards, verandas, a ballroom, and a lobby gallery where guests watched new arrivals register below. A few steps away, Baby Grand picks up the social tradition with 31 rooms and a far more mischievous imagination. For a celebratory group, the hotel has its own siren song: afternoons around the lagoon, cortados giving way to cocktails, dinner beneath planted trellises, then oysters and Champagne behind a lobby statue once the night gets interesting. Post Company and CH Projects conceived the place as a forgotten coastal stopover reclaimed by time, which gives every corner a sense of discovery and makes staying together feel like part of the fun. Baby Grand brings back the delicious old idea of checking into a hotel with your people and letting the party happen right where you’re staying.

 

 

Matching Robes, Clawfoot Tubs, and One More Round Upstairs

With only 31 rooms, Baby Grand keeps the group close, and the bedrooms have enough personality to deserve their own chapter of the night. Tropical Schumacher wallpaper wraps the walls, oxblood trim meets parquet floors, and high-gloss “dead salmon” ceilings hover above iridescent clamshell beds. Oversized in-room bars make the upstairs portion of the evening feel premeditated. This is where the hotel party turns into a sleepover, with room for late-night debriefs, robe photos, room-service raids, and one extremely photogenic bath before checkout.

 

 

A Little Lagoon Before the Late Shift

Baby Grand is dangerously good at making a free afternoon disappear. The courtyard circles a hidden lagoon and four-foot wading pool, with the café, outdoor bar, and Night Hawk all within easy reach, so coffee, lunch, and a swim happen in the same little vignette. Order a coffee, claim a spot near the water, then let the group decide whether the next move involves sunscreen or espresso martinis. Sculpted rock, running water, gas torches, and dense planting give the courtyard its slightly surreal edge, closer to a forgotten garden than a standard hotel pool deck. By late afternoon, everyone is still downstairs, slightly sun-warmed, and already dressed for the next part.

 

 

The After-Party Is Hiding in the Lobby

By dinner, Baby Grand has changed the register. Night Hawk serves Greek open-fire cooking beneath planted trellises and tented structures inspired by Coronado’s old coastal camps, with the lagoon still in view as the table fills. Then comes my favorite part of the night: back in the lobby, a statue conceals the entrance to Fallen Empire. Behind it waits an oyster-and-Champagne bar dressed in mirrored walls, brass, red mohair booths with built-in Champagne buckets, and a sea-life mosaic underfoot. The painted bar takes its cue from The Raft of the Medusa, fresh oysters sit on ice, and suddenly going out after dinner means walking a few dramatic steps through your own hotel. For a group staying at Baby Grand, dinner and the after-party already have reservations.

 

 

The Baby Grand Hotel Party Stopover Guide
Psst... I’ve put together a foolproof, editor-approved guide for a group getaway in Coronado for birthdays, bachelorette parties, and milestone celebrations. 

🌴 Check In: 3:00 PM | Swimsuits Before Suitcases
Check in, claim rooms, and change into swimwear. Meet at the Café for the first coffee of the trip, then take it to the lagoon and let everyone recover from airports and Ubers.

🔥 Night Hawk: 7:30 PM | The Opening Feast
Dinner in Night Hawk’s overgrown courtyard, beneath Mediterranean-style trellises and trailing vines.

For the Table:

• Pita pulled from the hearth
• Scallop Crudo
• Za'atar Pommes Frites
• The Grand Souvlaki Platter, trust me

First Round:

• House Guest quince, cherry, vodka, genepy, lemon, granita
• Trophy Wife (sans alcohol) carrot, Greek yogurt, citrus Croissant Oleo, pineapple, lime*

 

 

 

☀️ Day Two: 11:00 AM | Brunch, Obviously
Reconvene at Night Hawk after a slow morning. Sunglasses encouraged.

Brunch Order:

• NH French Toast
• The Mezze Collection
• Bagel & Lox Tower

Wake Up Call:

• Side Piece quince, cherry, vodka, genepy, lemon, granita
• Late Summer Swim coconut water, strawberry, matcha float 
  *PRO TIP: ADD A MINI SPICED LIME GIMLET

🌊 Afternoon Field Trip: 1:30 PM | Leave the Island for a Minute
Pick one San Diego excursion before returning to Baby Grand for round two.

• Option One: Sea Caves in La Jolla - Pair up in kayaks and paddle through the La Jolla Ecological Reserve toward the Seven Sea Caves, with kelp forests, sea lions, Garibaldi, and the occasional dolphin along the route. The guided tour takes about 90 to 120 minutes, requires zero kayaking experience, and cave entry depends on the ocean behaving itself that day.
• Option Two: Take Over a Sailboat on San Diego Bay - Charter a sailboat for two hours and see San Diego from the water, with the skyline, Coronado, Point Loma, and whatever sea lions decide to join. Sail San Diego offers private boats for groups up to 10, plus a 50-foot yacht for groups up to 22, so this one scales nicely when the hotel-party guest list grows.

 

 

🦪 Getting Ready: 5:30 PM | Robes, Room Bar, Roll Call
Everyone reports to whoever has the room with the most floor space. Put on the matching robes, open the oversized bar, spread out the makeup bags, and get ready together. Take the group photos in Baby Grand’s hallways on the way downstairs. The wallpaper deserves witnesses.

🥂 Fallen Empire: 8:00 PM | Dinner Behind the Statue
Find the statue, disappear behind it, and settle into the red mohair for oysters, Champagne, and dinner.

Order for the Table:

• Kumamoto Oysters
• Lobster Rolls
• Caviar Cones sesame cones, avocado mousse, bluefin, kaluga caviar *meant to be taken in one bite
• Caviar Service crème fraîche, chives, Torres truffle chips

For the Celebration:

• To Be Loved & Hated Corsican aperitif, lemon, olive oil, honey, chamomile, champagne
• Eyes Wide Shut California brandy, Spanish aperitif, biscotti, orange danish oleo, champagne

☕ Departure Morning: 10:00 AM | One Last Cortado
Coffee at the Café, bags packed, sunglasses back on. Make one final stop at the lagoon and allow a brief emotional episode over the fact that you and your friends once played mermaids on family vacations and somehow ended up here doing the adult version together. Then check out before anyone starts discussing extending the reservation.

 

 

Check In With Your Favorite People

Baby Grand has everything a celebratory group trip needs within a few very well-dressed steps of your room, plus Coronado outside the gates when you feel like venturing farther. Book the birthday, bachelorette, reunion, or long-overdue friends’ weekend here, then let the lagoon, late dinners, hidden Champagne bar, and one last cortado do the rest. Ready to pick your dates? Check into Baby Grand, then browse more of our favorite hotels for group celebrations.

Want to keep the party going?

• 🗝️ More Hotels for the Group Chat: Keep planning the getaway with our favorite hotels for birthdays, friend trips, wedding weekends, and a few nights where everyone gets to stay under one roof. [Right this way →]
• 🦪 Planning the Bachelorette?: Start with the hotel, then build the weekend around it. Browse our latest bachelorette stories for places to stay, ideas worth stealing, and celebrations with better taste than matching T-shirts. [Right this way →]
• 🐚 New Hotels Worth Checking Into: Baby Grand is far from our only recent hotel obsession. See the openings, redesigns, and new stays making their way onto our radar. [Right this way →]
• 🛎️ Room Service by Venue Report: Planning a countryside wedding weekend, brand retreat, or private-house celebration with guests coming in for the occasion? We’ll help you find group-friendly stays, secure room blocks, compare rates, and keep the lodging side beautifully handled. Free of charge. [Right this way →]