For Pelican Heights residents, living two minutes from a Forbes Five-Star property offers proximity, while access to its facilities is subject to the resort's policies. You can see the Coliseum Pool's tile work catch the afternoon light from certain streets. You know which gate the golf carts use. You've probably eaten at Caffè & Market more than once. The resort's visitor valet rates and the status of its dining are also relevant details for nearby residents. The renovation schedule provides a useful starting point for understanding how the resort’s facilities are changing.

The Pelican Hill renovation calendar

According to the Newport Beach Indy, Marriott, which took over day-to-day operations at the resort on July 1, 2024, ahead of an eventual move to the St. Regis brand, announced a multi-phase refresh last fall that it's calling a renaissance. The golf work is the most disruptive piece for anyone who plays there. Golf course designer Brian Curley of Curley-Wagner Golf Design, working with contractor McDonald & Sons, is leading a renewal that includes full bunker reconstruction, tee-box leveling and resodding, cart-path repairs, and refreshed landscaping across the Tom Fazio-designed 36 holes. That work runs from November 3, 2025 through October 18, 2026, with specific holes closing on a rotating schedule for the better part of a year.

Inside, the Main Estate Lobby, The Great Room, and Caffè & Market began an aesthetic refresh on January 12, 2026, described as preserving the existing layout while updating finishes. The Spa Boutique and the Men's and Women's Lounges and Salon started their own round of what the resort calls discreet enhancements on June 1, 2026, with services continuing uninterrupted during weekday work hours. None of this touches Andrea, the resort's Northern Italian flagship, because Andrea has not run as a nightly restaurant since it closed at the start of the pandemic. It resurfaces occasionally for ticketed events, like the Italian Culinary Masters weekend in spring 2024 that brought in Gucci Osteria's Chef Mattia Agazzi, but there's no announced date for it to reopen as a regular dining room.

Resort access and visitor policies

The renovation also offers a reason to review the resort's visitor policies. The resort's own posted policy sets local visitor valet at $50 with no purchase, or $25 with a validated purchase at Coliseum, Pelican Grill, Caffè & Market, Caffè 2, the Great Room Lounge, the Spa Boutique, the Golf Pro Shop, Allegra, or the Newsstand. Spa access itself carries a separate $15 valet rate for spa guests, and the spa is open daily but reserved for resort guests, not neighborhood residents dropping in for a treatment. These are the resort's standing local access terms, separate from the renovation schedule. Residents can also consider nearby outdoor and dining options beyond the resort.

Buck Gully Reserve near Pelican Heights

Buck Gully Reserve borders Pelican Heights directly. The reserve covers roughly 254 acres of protected canyon owned by the City of Newport Beach and managed in partnership with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, with a trail system that loops about three miles through the gully and a stream that runs year-round. It's open every day, dawn to dusk, while the resort's golf courses have holes closed on a rotating schedule, and it doesn't charge valet.

The reserve does have rules, and they're worth knowing before you go rather than after:

• Dogs are not permitted anywhere in the reserve. The city cites both wildlife disturbance and increased snake-bite risk to pets off leash on narrow trail sections.
• E-bikes are not allowed. Standard bikes are permitted but travel one direction, uphill, so hikers aren't sharing the trail with fast downhill traffic.
• There are no restrooms on the trail itself. The most practical staging point is the Newport Coast Shopping Center at 21181 Newport Coast Dr, which has facilities before you set out.
• The reserve is open daily from dawn to dusk, with docent-led hikes and volunteer trail programs run periodically by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy.

Near the top of the gully, the trail offers a panoramic view toward Newport Harbor and Catalina on a clear day.

Dining options near Pelican Heights

With Andrea still closed as a regular dining room, residents can look to nearby alternatives. Fashion Island, a short drive north past Corona del Mar Village, is in the middle of a restaurant wave landing through 2026. The family-owned Telefèric Barcelona Restaurant Group is bringing its tapas and paella concept to the center this year, and Amalfi, a chef-driven Italian restaurant, is opening within Fashion Island as part of the same cycle. Its arrival gives residents another nearby setting for a special-occasion dinner.

Fashion Island's operators appear to be leaning into these kinds of family-legacy and chef-driven imports at the same moment the peninsula fills up with independent concepts closer to the water, which means the center is functioning less like a mall food court this year and more like a genuine dining destination in its own right. For Pelican Heights residents, the center’s evolving lineup is worth keeping on the local dining list.

Renovation work and standing policies

The golf course work has a stated end date of October 18, 2026. The lobby and Caffè & Market refresh was scoped to preserve the existing layout, so it should read as familiar once finished. Other resort policies and dining plans follow separate timelines. The valet and spa policies predate the renovation, and Andrea has no announced date to reopen as a regular dining room.

What the renovation year actually does is put a spotlight on a fact that was already sitting in Pelican Heights' backyard. Buck Gully Reserve offers a nearby outdoor option while golf-course work is underway. Amalfi at Fashion Island is also opening this year, adding an Italian dining option nearby. Together, they give residents outdoor and dining choices beyond the resort while golf-course work is underway.

If you're weighing what a home in this pocket of Newport Coast is actually worth given how its surrounding amenities are shifting this year, Michael Balliet can walk you through it. Request Private Client Access to get a grounded, finance-informed read on the neighborhood before you decide anything.