504 keys across an Andalusian-style villa estate on a 504-acre Pacific Coast cliff between Newport Beach and Crystal Cove State Park — Irvine Company flagship since 2008, with two Tom Fazio championship golf courses, the 132-foot Coliseum Pool (largest circular pool in North America), and a 23,000-sqft spa.
"504 keys across an Andalusian-villa estate on a 504-acre Pacific Coast cliff — the only Forbes Five-Star property in Orange County, with two Tom Fazio golf courses and the largest circular pool in North America (132 ft)."
Resort at Pelican Hill opened in November 2008 as the Irvine Company's flagship Pacific-Coast resort property — built across a 504-acre cliff-and-canyon estate on the Pacific Coast Highway between Newport Beach proper and the Crystal Cove State Park nature reserve. The Irvine Company (the Donald Bren-controlled real-estate development holding that owns approximately one-third of the City of Irvine and substantial Orange County land) commissioned architects Hill Glazier and interior designer Pat Cunningham to design the property in a deliberately Andalusian-style villa register — the first US luxury resort modelled on a 16th-century Andalusian-Spanish hill-village vocabulary at this scale, with red-tile roofs, colonnaded loggias, and the signature Coliseum Pool inspired directly by Rome's classical-Italian water feature.
The 504 keys are spread across the central Resort building (204 keys in the main hotel structure) plus a network of standalone Bungalows (76 standalone bungalow rooms with private outdoor space) and Villas (224 multi-bedroom villas in 1- to 4-bedroom configurations, the largest single multi-bedroom luxury inventory on the entire US West Coast). Every key has either a private balcony or terrace; the Villa categories include private outdoor pools and separate dining rooms, configured for multi-generational family or multi-couple bookings. The interior register is the Cunningham contemporary-Andalusian vocabulary applied throughout — restored Spanish-tile flooring, hand-loomed Catalan-style wool textiles, custom wrought-iron lighting, and the deliberate decision to keep the Mediterranean-revival heritage register through every room.
What structurally distinguishes Pelican Hill from every other Pacific-Coast luxury resort is the golf-and-pool combination at scale. The two Pelican Hill championship golf courses — both designed by Tom Fazio in 2002 and 2006 — are the only two-Fazio-course resort cluster anywhere in the world; the Pelican Hill Golf Club (rebuilt in 2007 alongside the resort opening) holds the largest practice-and-teaching facility on the US West Coast; and the Coliseum Pool — a 132-foot-diameter circular Mediterranean-revival pool with classical-Italian colonnades, the largest circular pool in North America — is the property's most-photographed daily-routine asset. The 23,000-square-foot Spa at Pelican Hill runs 22 treatment rooms and the Cucina Bonita Mediterranean-spa-cuisine restaurant.
Pelican Hill is the only Forbes Five-Star property in Orange County and one of three California Forbes Five-Star properties (alongside Montage Beverly Hills and Hotel Bel-Air). The dining proposition runs four restaurants — Andrea (the Italian fine-dining flagship under chef John Frinzi, AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five-Star), Coliseum Pool & Grill (the all-day pool-side venue), Pelican Grill (the golf-club steakhouse), and Cucina Bonita (the spa-cuisine venue). The wine cellar runs about 1,200 bins focused on California Cabernet and Italian-vintage with the strongest Pacific-Coast restaurant-wine inventory anywhere in OC. For a multi-generational family stay, an anniversary or honeymoon that wants the Pacific-Coast cliff-and-Andalusian-architecture register, or a Pacific-Coast multi-bedroom villa booking for whole-family exclusive use, Pelican Hill is the considered Orange County choice.
Pelican Hill runs the largest multi-bedroom Villa inventory of any US Pacific-Coast luxury resort. The 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom Villas — each with private outdoor pool, separate dining room, and full kitchen — are configured for multi-generational family bookings up to 8-12 guests. The Camp Pelican kids' programme (ages 4-12, daily morning-to-evening structured activity) gives children daily routine; the Coliseum Pool, the Camp Pelican junior-tennis programme, and the property-wide bicycle programme close the brief.
The Bungalows at Pelican Hill — 76 standalone bungalow units with private outdoor space, calibrated for romantic adult bookings — are the standard honeymoon unit. Pair five nights at Pelican Hill with three nights at a Big Sur or Carmel cliff property for the Pacific-Coast California honeymoon arc; pair seven nights at Pelican Hill with multiple Camp Pelican-day passes that allow couples to use the resort's adults-only Lounge Pool while the kids' programme runs.
22701 Pelican Hill Road South
Newport Coast, CA 92657
United States
22701 Pelican Hill Road South — Pacific Coast cliff between Newport Beach and Crystal Cove State Park, 15 minutes from John Wayne airport
504 keys across central Resort + 76 Bungalows + 224 Villas
Resort Room: 32 sqm
Bungalow: 50 sqm standalone with outdoor space
1-2 Bed Villa: 80-150 sqm with private pool
3-4 Bed Villa: 220-320 sqm multi-generational with full kitchen
From USD 980/night Resort Room
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Irvine Company flagship; opened November 2008
Forbes Five-Star (only one in Orange County)
Open year-round; John Wayne SNA airport 15 min, LAX 75 min
Only Forbes Five-Star property in Orange County
Two Tom Fazio championship golf courses (only 2-Fazio cluster)
132-ft Coliseum Pool (largest circular pool in North America)
504-acre Pacific Coast cliff estate
Andrea Italian fine-dining (AAA Five Diamond)
23,000-sqft spa with 22 treatment rooms
Camp Pelican kids' programme ages 4-12
Free WiFi throughout
From USD 980/night for entry-tier Resort Rooms; Bungalows from USD 1,400; multi-bedroom Villas from USD 2,800/night with private pool. Pelican Hill books five to seven months ahead for the summer school-holiday and Christmas-New-Year peaks; the November-March winter rates run substantially below summer. Multi-bedroom Villa bookings need eight to nine months for peak-week multi-generational stays.
Book This Hotel →159-key Pacific Coast Highway resort with bayfront marina — the Newport Beach harbour-front alternative.
130-key 2018 Lido Marina Village Cape-Cod-style boutique — the design-hotel village option.
295-key Fashion Island shopping-and-business hotel — the business-friendly OC alternative.