Kate Morgan, a pretty young woman in her mid-twenties, checked into the hotel alone under the name “Lottie A Bernard” from Detroit. Five days later, on November 29, Kate was found dead on a hotel exterior staircase leading to the beach. She had a gunshot wound to the head, which the San Diego County coroner later determined to be self-inflicted (some skepticism still surrounds this finding).

Today, Kate’s spirit seems to have remained at The Del, where she tends to occupy and haunt her former guestroom. But her beautiful vision – and ghostly pranks – can be experienced throughout the rambling resort and grounds. As described in the hotel-published book “Beautiful Stranger: The Ghost of Kate Morgan and the Hotel del Coronado,” Kate is a relatively harmless ghost. “She generally limits her activity to fleeting appearances and inexplicable antics. … Guests in Kate’s room report everything from breezes that come from nowhere to having to deal with a television set that turns on and off by itself.”