For a hotel as grand and large as the Hotel Del Coronado in California, it seems a pity it hosts only one ghost. But once you’ve heard the tale of this tragic young woman, perhaps you’ll understand why in some cases one is enough.

The Hotel Del Coronado, affectionately called “The Del,” sits overlooking the San Francisco Bay, dominating the beach with its brick colored roofs and sharp white walls. A true American beauty, it remains a stunning and sprawling example of the traditional wooden Victorian seaside resort. Opening in 1888, the Del has hosted such famous folks as “Lucky Lindy” (Charles Lindbergh), Thomas Edison, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Brad Pitt, L. Frank Baum, Babe Ruth, President Benjamin Harrison, Madonna and King Edward VIII (at the time only the Prince of Wales). The Del was also used as a backdrop to Marilyn Monroe’s 1958 movie “Some Like It Hot.”

But one of the Del’s most famous guests has never checked out and rumors still circulate about her identity. Kate Morgan was supposedly a grifter working the rails in the late 1800s with her husband, Thomas. The two set up poker games on trains all across the country, pretending to be brother and sister so that Kate could use her wiles to help blindside the playing men. They were gifted cheats, but it seems (according to somewhat reluctant eyewitness testimony) they got into a lover’s spat and Kate drifted into the Del, signing in under the name of Lottie Bernard (a passenger on the same train she had recently ridden). Logging in to the Del just before Thanksgiving of 1892, “Lottie Bernard” carried no luggage and looked to be in poor health and a poorer state of mind. She essentially told the staff not to worry about her—she claimed her brother (a Dr. M. C. Anderson) would arrive shortly with her luggage. He would take care of her.

And perhaps “Lottie” truly believed her partner in crime would come to her rescue, but even after several days, he had not appeared. Lottie just got sicker. Distraught, she got transportation into San Diego where she made the biggest decision of her life. She returned to the Del. Returned to room number 3327 (then room 302). The next morning she was found dead on the stairs outside the Del, shot by the pistol she had purchased the day before in town. Nicknamed “the beautiful stranger” by the papers, her identity was finally revealed. But why did she and Thomas quarrel? Why the sudden separation? Police found quinine when they searched her possessions, leading some to believe she had been pregnant, and realizing her life could not continue in the same manner once her condition showed, she decided to try a home abortion. Or perhaps Kate wanted to settle down with a family and Thomas had other plans… Either way, the story seems to end the same way—in tragedy.

Recently, a medium located in San Diego claimed to have contact with this famous ghost and said that the ghost is truly Lottie Bernard and not Kate Morgan at all. Supposedly Lottie stays on at the Del waiting for her real story to be told.

Regardless of who haunts the Del, several odd things are often reported. People have claimed to see a woman dressed in the proper period and style as Kate paging through books and walking the halls. Lights flicker on and off in Kate’s room and the sheets and blankets are played with. In the gift shop, the Marilyn Monroe merchandise used to literally jump off the shelves when it had a prominent place, but stopped its crazy behavior when it was moved to a less visible location. Was Kate angry with sharing the spotlight or might she have had a jealous streak because of some anonymous blonde bombshell making things difficult while she was still alive and with Thomas? Unfortunately we will probably never know, and it seems the more research done into Kate’s story only raises more questions—not more answers.

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