The colonnades and olive-lined promenades at The Resort at Pelican Hill look the same from Newport Coast Drive as they did a month ago. Behind them, weekday crews now work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside nearly every room a neighbor would walk into on an ordinary evening. On November 2, 2026, the resort began what it calls its Next Chapter enhancements. That work leads up to its debut as the world's first St. Regis Estate in fall 2027.
The resort is staying open, and it still has room for locals. The way in has moved, though. For the next six months or so, Pelican Hill's local life runs through two places most neighbors have treated as side doors: The Spa at North Villas and the newly restored golf course.
What Went Dark on November 2
The resort says a set of projects began in November covering the Main Estate, The Spa, Andrea, the Coliseum Pool and Grill, and Pelican Grill. Those are the places a resident would choose for a weeknight drink, an anniversary dinner or a summer afternoon by the round pool. Andrea had already closed in September for a complete rebuild of its restaurant, bar, patio and kitchen. It will come back as a new signature restaurant under a new name, created in partnership with a celebrated chef.
Pelican Grill, with its bar and private dining room, is getting an interior refresh. When it reopens, it will serve new dishes alongside longtime favorites. The Coliseum is getting refreshed cabanas, a retail kiosk, new stone flooring, a redesigned terrace and a private dining room. Inside the Main Estate, the former Caffè & Market is becoming a Signature Lounge. The former Concierge Gallery is becoming The Library, a cocktail room with Pacific views.
The resort's general manager, Kevin Kelly, told the Orange County Business Journal that Pelican Hill would "set the tone" for the new Estates collection. The scale of this winter's closures matches that ambition. Marriott introduced St. Regis Estates as a new brand expression in a December 2025 announcement and named Pelican Hill its first property. Irvine Company remains the owner. Marriott has run day-to-day operations since July 1, 2024.
The Spa Reservation Is Now the Front Door
While the Main Estate's lobby, dining and spa are under enhancement, the resort's everyday dining and pool life has moved to the Villa Clubhouse up the hill. It serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch, and it has a pool with ten private cabanas. The resort describes the Clubhouse and pool as available to Villa and Bungalow guests. There is one exception that matters to neighbors. On the resort's Next Chapter page, locals who reserve a spa service may use the Villa Clubhouse, including its dining and the Villa Pool, based on availability.
The visit works like this:
- Book a treatment at The Spa at North Villas. Many of the resort's signature services have moved there while the Main Estate spa is closed. It offers massages, facials, salon services, co-ed lounges and a spa boutique, and it is open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Valet at the Villa Clubhouse. Locals visiting the spa park there for free, and a shuttle takes them to the spa.
- Stay for a meal or the pool. The Clubhouse serves breakfast from 7 to 10:30 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays. Weekend brunch runs from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner is served daily from 4 to 8 p.m. Pool food and beverage service runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Plan around the seating rules. Only dinner takes reservations. Breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch are first come, first served.
With Pelican Grill closed until May, the closest local equivalent at Pelican Hill this winter is a meal at the Villa Clubhouse after a spa treatment, with a seat subject to availability and dinner service ending at 8 p.m.
Two Holiday Meals Still Open to Neighbors
Most of the resort's holiday program this year is centered on the Villa Clubhouse, and most of it is for registered guests. The resort's seasonal events page marks two meals as open to locals:
- Thanksgiving at Mar Vista. A brunch buffet with seafood and sushi, carving stations with roasted turkey, prime rib and salmon, a children's buffet, live entertainment and family activities.
- Christmas Day Caviar Brunch Buffet. Carving stations with glazed ham, prime rib and New Zealand snapper, plus fresh seafood, caviar and live entertainment.
Both take reservations through OpenTable links on that page. Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year.
The rest of the season is for resort guests only. That includes à la carte holiday dinners at the Villa Clubhouse on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. It also includes the tree lighting and Champagne sabrage on the Clubhouse terrace, scheduled for November 27–28, December 4–5, December 11–12, December 18–19, and December 23 through January 2. The menorah lightings, Santa storytime, carolers and family movie nights are listed as resort activities at the Clubhouse.
The Course Is the One Part Running at Full Strength
Large parts of the Main Estate are under construction, while Pelican Hill Golf Club is reaching the end of its own rebuild. Architect Brian Curley led the restoration of both courses of Curley-Wagner Golf Design. The resort says the work keeps Tom Fazio's original design.
According to the resort's May 2026 announcement, the Ocean South course reopened on May 18, 2026. The biggest visual change is on holes 11 through 14 along Pacific Coast Highway. Those bunkers now hold a custom seaside sand blend modeled on coastal dunes, which makes the holes read closer to the water. Greens that had shrunk over the years were brought back to their original shapes, and every tee box was stripped, leveled and resodded. More than a mile of cart path was repaired, and more than 2,000 fairway sprinkler heads were raised. Forbes covered the reopening in June. It described the bunker realignment, tee expansion and tree cleanup that reopened sightlines across the course.
Ocean North received similar work, and the resort set early November 2026 as the target for its full reopening. While crews finished, the North course was taking bookings for nine-hole loops. Once North is fully back, the club offers 36 restored holes, which the resort's own announcement calls the "fully refreshed 36-hole experience." In the release, Pelican Hill Golf Operations General Manager Robert Ford said the goal was "to honor what has always made Pelican Hill Golf Club so extraordinary while thoughtfully enhancing the overall golf experience."
Caffè 2 serves coffee and light breakfast and lunch fare from an outdoor grill before and after rounds. It is on the 2027 enhancement list, so this winter is the last season in its current form. So for the next few months, the most finished, most current part of Pelican Hill is the course along the bluff.
When the Doors Reopen
The resort calls its timeline a planning guideline that will be updated as work moves along. As of publication, venues are scheduled to come back in this order:
- Around the turn of the year: Bella Vista Pool, with a new surface and new furniture. The Main Estate fitness center follows in January 2027.
- Late winter 2027: Coliseum Pool, with limited food service at first.
- May 2027: Pelican Grill, the Main Estate lobby, and a new European-style caffè and market in the former Allegra retail space.
- June 2027: The Coliseum restaurant, the Signature Lounge and The Library, and the Main Estate spa. Afternoon tea also begins in the Great Room.
- October 2027: The new restaurant in Andrea's former space.
That makes May the month Pelican Hill starts to feel open again for Newport Coast neighbors, with Pelican Grill and the lobby both back. June brings back most of the rest.
Daftarian Group keeps track of how changes at Pelican Hill shape everyday life across Newport Coast, from the closed venues to the reopening dates. If you would like to talk through what the resort's St. Regis future means for your corner of the coast, we invite you to Request a Private Consultation.
