Built in 1891 by the same crew that erected the Hotel del Coronado, the oldest hotel on Catalina Island and the second oldest in California; Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Theodore Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart all signed the register.
"The hotel that survived the 1915 Avalon fire by sheer luck, and has been quietly outlasting its neighbors ever since. The renovated suites give you the Victorian envelope with a 21st-century bathroom inside it. Worth the booking for the story alone."
The Glenmore Plaza opened in 1891, built by the same crew that erected the Hotel del Coronado a few months earlier on the mainland. It is the oldest hotel on Catalina Island and the second oldest hotel in California; it survived the 1915 Avalon fire that destroyed most of the surrounding waterfront, weathered Prohibition, hosted soldiers on R&R during the Second World War, and signed in a register that runs through Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Theodore Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart. The current building is a four-story Victorian with the wide porches, decorative bargeboards, and turret-flanked facade that the period was famous for; the white-and-cream paint scheme is original to the 1891 commission.
The recent renovation cycle has been disciplined. Rather than gutting the historic envelope, the ownership group has worked through the suites and many of the standard rooms one category at a time, installing new bathrooms, modern climate control, blackout window treatments, and platform beds while preserving the original ceiling heights, transom doors, and the working windows that ventilated the building before air conditioning. The result is the rare American heritage property where the upgrades feel additive rather than apologetic. Standard rooms remain compact (the 1891 floor plan did not anticipate the modern American expectation of square footage), but the suites comfortably hold two travelers with luggage, and the corner units have working harbor views from the upper two floors.
The hotel does not run a restaurant or a bar; it operates as a heritage room product with a small lobby breakfast service and a sundry shop on the ground floor. The location is impeccable. Sumner Avenue is one block back from Crescent Avenue and the harbor; the property sits two minutes from Bluewater Grill, three from the Tour Plaza, four from the public beach, and seven from the Casino. Activity bookings run through the front desk; the front-of-house staff is genuinely knowledgeable about the island's history and the building's own and will give a competent walking tour on request.
The Glenmore Plaza's value proposition is straightforward: this is the cheapest historically significant booking on the island, the only hotel in Avalon old enough to remember the island before the Wrigley era, and a property that has been quietly restored rather than commercially reimagined. For travelers who care about architecture, narrative, and a believable connection to the building's hundred-and-thirty-five-year history, it is the more interesting booking than the higher-ranked properties down the street.
Book one of the renovated harbor-view suites on the third or fourth floor for an anniversary that wants the patina of a 19th-century hotel without the patina of a 19th-century bathroom. The white-and-cream Victorian facade is a photograph that does not date; the small lobby with the original transom doors makes a quiet aperitif room before walking to dinner. Pair with a sunset glass-bottom boat between dinner courses for the textbook Catalina anniversary loop.
For couples who prefer a heritage room product over a modern boutique, the Glenmore Plaza's renovated suites are the Catalina alternative to the more obviously contemporary Atwater. The combination of original Victorian envelope, modern bathroom, harbor view, and the sub-$300 entry price on most off-peak nights makes the property the best historic-honeymoon value on the island. Two nights minimum; one night does not give the building enough time to land.
118 Sumner Avenue
Avalon, CA 90704
United States
One block back from Crescent Avenue and the harbor; Catalina Express terminal 6 minutes on foot
Standard Rooms from $141/night
Renovated Rooms from $189/night
Harbor-View Suites from $279/night
Premium Victorian Suites from $349/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Built 1891; sister property to Hotel del Coronado; ongoing room-by-room renovation programme
Original 1891 Victorian envelope, modern bathrooms
Working harbor views from upper-floor corner rooms
Historic lobby with original transom doors
Lobby breakfast service
Complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi
From $141/night. The Premium Victorian Suites book four weeks ahead for summer Saturdays and Buccaneer Days; standard rooms remain available within a week even in summer.
View Rates & Dates →The former Wrigley residence on the hillside above Avalon, six rooms with full board, the island's only true hideaway.
The 1920 Wrigley hotel, reborn in 2019 as a 95-room boutique a block off the waterfront on Sumner Avenue.
Twenty-four oceanfront rooms run by the same family since 1920, directly on the Avalon boardwalk.
Off peak pricing, suite upgrades, and subscriber only offers, flagged only when the value is real.