Hotel Del Monte

The Hotel Del Monte was a luxury resort hotel complex in Monterey, California, from its opening in 1880 until falling into decline during World War II, ceasing operations in 1942. At its height, its properties comprised some 20,000 acres in Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, and Carmel Valley, encompassing eight golf courses (including Spyglass Hill, Cypress Point, Pebble Beach and the Monterey Peninsula Country Club), polo grounds, hunting lodges, swimming complexes, and a race track. The vast resort and sports complex was acclaimed as one of the finest in North America, attracting distinguished visitors, royalty, artists, writers and actors, and hosting lavish parties such as Salvador Dalí's memorable 1941 "A Surrealistic Night in an Enchanted Forest”. During World War II, with luxury travel at a standstill, the hotel and land were leased to the United States Navy for use as a pre-flight training school, with an estimated 2000 cadets passing through its doors. In 1947, the U.S. Navy purchased the hotel and its surrounding 627 acres for $2.5 million. Initially, the former hotel was used as a school for enlisted men who spent three of their 11-month course being trained as electronic technicians. In 1951, the United States Naval Academy's postgraduate school was relocated from Annapolis, Maryland to Monterey, ostensibly to better separate active duty junior officer students

Hotel data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).