Staff Writer - The Timeshare Beat
July 4, 2000
While the owners of Newport Dunes Resort & Marina wait to find out whether they will be allowed to build
a new hotel and timeshare condos on their property, they will host the resort's 42nd annual Fourth of July celebration
at the 100-acre waterfront site, where families may relax, picnic and play. During the day, Newport Dunes will
provide carnival-style games, crafts, face painting and drawings by caricaturists and other activities, as well
as a visit by Uncle Sam and resort mascot Moe B. Dunes. At 9 p.m. 20-minutes of fireworks will light the sky to
cap the event.
Admission is free, but parking is $25.
Located in Newport Beach, CA, the present Newport Dunes Resort encompasses 75 acres of land and 25 acres of water
on Upper Newport Bay. It is a destination resort with over 400 full hook-up sites for recreational vehicles, with
conveniently located laundry facilities, pool, spa and grocery store. The resort features a large, private lagoon
with one mile of beach and both indoor and outdoor catering facilities. Located on the Upper Newport Bay Ecological
Reserve, the award-winning Back Bay Cafe is open year round, where guests can enjoy casual, bayside dining.
Newport Dunes Marina is a full-service, "state of the art" marina, complete with 450 boat slips, a six-lane
public boat launch, boat and R.V. dry storage facilities and an elaborate marina center.
Future development plans at the Newport Dunes site include construction of a family resort hotel and timeshare
condominiums, but the project has hit repeated roadblocks from government and local citizen protests.
More than 15 years ago, Newport Dunes received approval to build a 275-room motel, restaurant and retail project.
However, with the passage of time the owners decided the original plans were no longer enough and they decided
to build a four-star destination resort instead, with corporate conference facilities included.
The proposed new project will be built on 30 acres of the 100-acre Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort. It will include
a 370-room full-service hotel, 75 timeshare units and 31,000 square feet of meeting and conference facilities.
The new plan for the Newport Dunes Resort Hotel falls within 10 percent of the size of the 275-room motel, restaurant
and retail project originally approved for the site in 1988 under a Settlement Agreement.
Designed by the famed firm of Wimberly, Allison, Tong and Goo (architects for the Four Seasons Hotel in Newport
Beach and the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, among others), the hotel will feature romantic 1920s Spanish Mediterranean-style
architecture with fountain courtyards, porticos and lush landscaping.
Amenities will include:
Last month the local City Council decided to postpone a vote on the project until September, due to the fact
that many council members will be out of town during the summer. Once approved, the resort hotel is scheduled to
open in three to five years, with a total project cost estimated at $100 million.
Many nearby residents were initially concerned that the height of some of the hotel buildings would block views.
Sitting on a site at a lower elevation than most of the surrounding neighborhoods, the revised plans have eighty-three
percent of the hotel project now three stories or lower (the maximum height of the project is 62 feet). In addition
Newport Dunes made several changes such as reducing the timeshare building on the bulkhead from three and four
stories to two stories to blend with the existing marina facilities and minimize view impacts for neighbors in
Dover Shores, and removing the entire fifth floor of the hotel. View studies and multiple 3-D computer simulations
show minimal impacts on views from all directions except from Newport Dunes’ own swimming beach along the eastern
shore of the lagoon.
Information about the Newport Dunes Resort and Marina, which is owned by the Evans family, can be found at http://www.evanshotels.com/
The Dunes is at 1131 Back Bay Drive in Newport Beach. For information about the 4th of July celebration call: (949) 729-3800.