For the fifth stop on our quest to experience the best luxury coastal resorts in Southern California, we enjoyed two nights at the stunningly beautiful Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California.

The Resort at Pelican Hill, located along the coast of Newport Beach in sun-drenched Southern California, opened its doors on November 26, 2008.

Within one comprehensive destination, the Resort offers 128 Villas with unparalleled privacy and around-the-clock butler service; 204 residentially appointed Bungalow guest rooms and suites with private terraces and hand-carved limestone fireplaces; a Five-Star Spa with 22 treatment rooms and rejuvenating amenities across 23,000 square feet; world-class restaurants including authentic Northern Italian cuisine at Andrea; an iconic Coliseum Pool, one of the world’s largest circular pools, with tiered decks and luxurious cabanas; and Pelican Hill Golf Club with 36 dramatic ocean-view holes designed by Tom Fazio.

Look below to find complimentary Virtuoso® VIP amenities we’ve arranged just for our readers!

And while this resort is relatively new, it has quickly catapulted to the top of nearly every luxury resort award list with accolades like a AAA Five Diamond rating for the last five years, Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Rating for the past two years; and the spa, signature restaurant, and golf course have been winning best of the best awards of their own.

In short, this is one of the best resorts in the U.S. and is quickly on its way to becoming a favorite luxury destination for travelers from all over the world.

Our Favorite Memories of The Resort at Pelican Hill

• The Resort at Pelican Hill takes the privacy of its guests very seriously.  In fact, I got a little upset with the hotel staff when they wouldn’t let me capture my own photographs around the resort.  While we were free to photograph inside our resort villa, capturing photographs and video around the resort was strictly verboten.  In retrospect, when a resort caters to the world’s rich and famous, privacy is paramount.  Just imagine some starlet enjoying the pool with paparazzi lurking in the bushes.  While I’m certainly not the paparazzi, I understand and respect what they’ve accomplished to protect the privacy of their guests.
• The Resort at Pelican Hill has set out to shift the paradigm as it pertains to lodging in the resort industry.  While the resort offers 204 fabulous bungalows and suites (the smallest being 847 square feet), they have thoughtfully created a “hotel within a hotel” offering guests 128 two-, three-, and four-bedroom villas.  In fact, Pelican Hill has more luxury, ocean-view home-type accommodations available than any other resort.  When we visited Pelican Hill, we had friends from Michigan come join us in one of the resort’s two-bedroom villas. And, what a fabulous experience we enjoyed.  Our Pelican Hill Villa offered us every imaginable ultra-luxury appointment and amenity; a personal butler available 24/7, a staff of chefs, concierges, and housekeepers who were available 24/7, unparalleled pre-arrival services (stock the fridge, etc), and truly one of the most fabulous and quality spaces we’ve yet to encounter. It was not only exceptional in every way, but truly warm and cozy.  Once we closed the door of our villa, it really did feel like home!
• When you drive under the resort’s Roman-styled aqueduct, and make your way to the front door, you are certain to be immediately awestruck with the resort’s beautiful architecture. Pelican Hill is a truly inspired adaptation of the architectural style of Italy’s Andrea Palladio, the most acclaimed architect of the High Renaissance whose work was based on the classic building principles of ancient Rome and Greece. Andrea Palladio believed that humans are uplifted by striving for perfection, and when Pelican Hill was built, there was mandated an emphasis on detail unsurpassed in the resort world.  Absolutely everywhere you look, you will find beauty, craftsmanship, and attention to detail.  For example, while visiting a restroom on the property, I caught one of the resort’s staff carefully embossing the resort’s logo on the facial tissue sitting near the sink.  Not only was the bathroom absolutely spotless, and beautiful, the resort was telling me with unspoken words that they are paying attention to every detail.  We like that!
• Oh what a pool!  Pelican Hills offers its guests the world’s largest circular pool. Perfectly circular and 136 feet in diameter, the Coliseum Pool is one of the largest circular pools in the world. It’s the most strikingly unique swimming pool of any resort with vaulted arches, a radiant-blue bottom of 1.1 million glass mosaic tiles and ultra-luxurious private cabanas.
• As you can see in our photographic slideshow above, our Pelican Hill Villa offered us fabulous long-range coastal views.  Not only did we enjoy sweeping views of the Pacific, but we’ll soon not forget a stunningly beautiful sunset with the silhouette of Catalina Island looming on the horizon.

One of the best resorts we’ve ever visited!

While our schedules didn’t allow us to experience the resort’s fabulous restaurant, and their world-renowned spa, we now have a very good reason to come back for another visit.

Listen, we’ve had the high privilege of visiting some of the best resorts on the planet, and our visit to The Resort at Pelican Hill instantly put this resort on our short list as one of the best resorts we’ve ever visited.  It was that fabulous.

Complimentary Virtuoso® VIP Amenities

As travel advisors with the Virtuoso Travel Network, we’re pleased to have some very special VIP amenities exclusively for our readers.  When you book your stay at The Resort at Pelican Hill through us, you will receive:

1. Best available unrestricted rates.
2. A complimentary room upgrade on arrival, subject to availability.
3. Daily continental breakfast for up to two in-room guests.  
4. $100 USD Golf or Spa Services credit
5. Early check-in/check-out (subject to availability).
6. Plus, stay three consecutive nights and receive the fourth night complimentary! (this benefit is valid through 4/30/2014)

Pelican Hill does not charge guests for parking, Internet, or a Resort Fee, and rates start from $425/night.  May not be combined with any other offers.

When you book your room through us, our complimentary VIP amenities can easily add up to hundreds of dollars in value depending on the length of your stay.

Note: to obtain these exclusive, complimentary VIP amenities, you must book your room through us!

We highly recommend that you visit The Resort at Pelican Hill, and when you do, please enjoy these fine amenities brought to you by the Roaming Boomers Travel Services.  

Note: these complimentary amenities are for 2014 and may be subject to change in future years.

To book your room at The Reort at Pelican Hill, and to receive these complimentary amenities, call us at (480) 550-1235, or let us know of your request by using our handy online information form: CLICK HERE