Pelican Hill
My family and I just spent the most marvelous weekend at the Pelican Hill Resort, between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach.
We drove there Thanksgiving morning. It took a little more than an hour, going 70 the entire way. The return on Sunday with a bit of holiday traffic took less than 1 ½ hours. What a pleasure to drive for such a short time to get to “Italy”.
The hotel has bungalow suites in the main hotel and 2, 3 and 4 bedroom villas about ¼ mile from the main resort.
We took a 4 bedroom villa – 4 bedrooms, 4 baths for the 8 of us, plus the baby. The villa was an individual house, 3600 square feet, complete with full kitchen, fireplace, living and dining room, 2 car garage, washer and dryer, huge terrace with outside dining area and wonderful lounge chairs.
There are huge flat screen TV’s and DVD players in the living room and every bedroom.
Strange fact: Every bedroom has an iron and an ironing board, but there is only one safe for the entire unit! I don’t know if they thought we were going to take in laundry. I have a vision of us all ironing after dinner. I did mention this to Mark and he knows they need to put safes in every bedroom. I also thought the bathroom sinks were way too high. I think they are 4” to 6” higher than mine at home.
The bedrooms and bathrooms in the villas are not equal.
Four bedroom: one master bedroom with king bed and large bathroom with 2 sinks, bathtub and separate shower (upstairs with beautiful view); also upstairs a bedroom with 2 queen beds and bathroom with one sink and shower; downstairs a bedroom with king bed a porch and bathroom with 2 sinks, bathtub and separate shower. The fourth bedroom is small with a queen bed and a bathroom across the hall with one sink and a shower.
Three bedroom villa is all on one floor: one master bedroom with king bed and large bathroom with 2 sinks, bathtub and separate shower; bedroom with 2 queen beds and bathroom with two sinks and bathtub and separate shower; one small bedroom with queen bed and a bathroom across the hall with one sink and a shower.
I didn’t see the 2 bedroom villas, but I was told they are across the road and are built like a 4plex around a patio. They are 2 bedroom, 2 ½ baths. One master bedroom with king bed and large bathroom with 2 sinks, bathtub and separate shower; other bedroom with 2 queen beds with bathroom with 2 sinks, bathtub and separate shower and a powder room.
I didn’t see the “regular” hotel rooms which are bungalow suites. I know they are large and beautiful.
The kitchen was fully equipped. It had a Wolf Stove (I wish I had room for one at home), microwave, refrigerator and freezer, dishwasher, coffee maker, tea kettle, All Clad pots and pans, dishes, flatware and more.
The villas are about 1/4 mile from the main hotel. They have their own guard gated entrance. When you arrive at the gate house the guard gives you a pass to keep in your car so you can travel in and out. Someone escorts you to your villa. Many people come to bring your stuff from your car. Your butler supervises everything and the “check-in” is done in your villa. I can not rave enough about the people working at Pelican Hill. It was like being on a Crystal cruise. They can’t do enough for you. They are caring and attentive. If you ask for directions they go out of their way to take you there. There is a button on the phone for your butler. Just push the button and make a request. It will be done, whether it is a dinner reservation, a spa reservation, a tee time or summoning your Mercedes 8 passenger van to take you to the beach or the mall.
You never need to leave the Villa area. The Villas have their own salt water pool, cabanas, gym (with every kind of equipment), restaurant, bar, concierge, front desk, beautiful large lobby area with couches – like a very, very large living room.
We walked to the main hotel. When my 4 year old granddaughter saw the Coliseum Pool she said “Oh my goodness”. It is 136 feet in diameter! It wasn’t really swimming weather, although there were a couple of brave people in the pool. They have cabanas on the second floor, I don’t know if they also have them at pool level. There is a grill restaurant there that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is also a snack area with tables and chairs that serves gelato, sandwiches, drinks, bagels and other stuff.
There is also a spa. David and Eric had massages. They said they were great. I thought they were expensive, about $220 each, including tip. There are two golf courses, Phil played on each one – expensive $270 each. He played with a friend who is a pro and they both thought the courses were excellent.
Back to our experience. When we arrived, set up in the dining room was a snack – muffins, croissants and jellies. There was also a plate with cookies and candies with Brooke and Avery written in chocolate on the plate. There were cereals, milks, juices, coffee, beer, waters provided complimentary for us. There were also bottles of wine to be purchased and an honor bar that I didn’t open.
They are very child friendly. They provided a crib and diaper genie for the baby. They brought a step stool for the little girl’s bathroom and also had bed rails. Each child received a welcome gift and a note. The baby had baby amenities.
Thanksgiving dinner was served in our dining room, family style. After dinner they came and cleared and cleaned. I sat in the living room and watched tv.
We ate at both restaurants. Remember we were with a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 5 month old. We ate at 6pm. Andrea is their signature Italian restaurant. The food and service were outstanding. The Pelican Grill food and service was excellent. We never drove our car, we called for the van to take us everyplace.
Speaking of the van. On Friday they took us to Crystal Cove where we had lunch and played in the tide pools. On Saturday we went to Fashion Island. When we were ready to return we called the resort and were picked up promptly.
Everyone wants to return this summer.
What a wonderful resort. I know this report is way too long, but I wanted to cover everything.
Karen Kasen
818 990-4053
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