Resort at Pelican Hill Opens in Newport Beach, California

It features 128 villas, 204 bungalow suites, a spa with 22 treatment rooms, restaurants including authentic Northern Italian cuisine at Andrea, a "Coliseum" pool with tiered decks and cabanas, and the 36-hole Pelican Hill Golf Club by Tom Fazio.

Service at the resort begins before the guest's arrival with a Personal Travel Designer planning and arranging every aspect and detail of the Pelican Hill experience, from having golf clubs pre-shipped to the resort to scenting the suite with the preferred aromatherapy. Once at the resort, around-the-clock staff -- including butlers, concierges and chefs to cook personal meals -- customize the experience. The accommodations include 128 two-, three- and four-bedroom villas range from 2,193 square feet to 3,581 square feet with expansive terraces with ocean views, dining areas, private one- or two-car garages, gourmet kitchens, fine table linens, granite countertops, hand-hewn wood-beam alder ceilings, limestone fireplaces, beds with 500-thread-count linens, luxury baths with walk-in showers and deep-soaking tubs, 15-bottle wine cabinets, 60-inch flat-screen HD TVs, and Bose audio systems and MP3 ports. Villa guests have access to the 10,000-square-foot Villa Clubhouse with a living room, private gourmet dining, and a pool with 300,000 hand-cut glass mosaic tiles. In addition, each villa features a personal butler and a 24-hour staff. The 204 bungalow suites ranging from 847 square feet to 2,486 square feet and feature a residential ambiance with wood-beam alder ceilings, limestone fireplaces, marble deep soaking tubs, 42-inch flat-screen HD TVs, wet bars, Bose audio systems, 500-thread-count sheets, and large private terraces with unobstructed ocean panoramas.

The Spa at Pelican Hill measures 23,000 square feet and features a 28-foot-high Palladian rotunda, a wall of flowing water, 22 private treatment rooms, steam rooms, saunas, whirlpools and soaking tubs. Professional naturalists on staff will conduct everything from environmental education programs to tide pool exploration. The spa will also offer a full-service salon and fitness center.

Among the restaurants: Andrea offers classic Italian Tuscan dishes and a glassed-in wine room with 1,200 bottles, predominantly from Italy. The Coliseum Pool & Grill provides casual fare like pizzas, panini, sandwiches, seafood dishes, pastas, specialty salads and smoothies. The Caffé, an Italian coffee bar, also serves light breakfast fare, smoothies, homemade breads and pastries and traditional gelatos, among other fare. The Great Room offers a champagne cart, original Italian cocktails and organic coffees, teas and infusions. The Pelican Grill at the Pelican Hill Golf Club, which opened in November 2007, serves California cuisine and offers a bar with two large HD TVs for watching sports events. The "Coliseum" Pool is inspired by Rome's famed landmark. At 136 feet in diameter, it is the largest circular pool in the world with 1.1 million hand-cut glass mosaic tiles and an amphitheater of terraced decks offering private cabanas, sunbathing areas, dining and ocean views. The cabanas are suite-like with private servers, wet bars, Bose music systems and flat-screen HD TVs. There is also a saltwater pool and a separate children's area with its own circular pool complemented by a circular interactive fountain.

The Pelican Hill Golf Club boasts 36 holes designed by Tom Fazio with ocean panoramas from nearly every hole. In addition, the club offers a 44,000-square-foot clubhouse with separate men’s and women’s locker rooms and lounges; the Pelican Grill and Caffé II Italian coffee bar; a golf shop; and a full-service practice facility with an expansive driving range, a complete practice tee and tour-event Nike Platinum One balls.

The resort offers 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space including ballrooms and meeting rooms in the main hotel, the separate Mar Vista event center with a variety of specialty spaces and its own arrival area, and an outdoor event lawn with a rotunda. For weddings, La Cappella features a bell tower, and the secluded wedding lawn features a Renaissance rotunda. Mar Vista is suited for wedding receptions, with large terraces for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and the high-ceiling main room for dining and dancing. Couples receive a complimentary villa with a personal butler on their wedding night. The Resort at Pelican Hill is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. Opening nightly rates start at $695 for bungalows and $1,450 for villas. For more information, call 800-820-6800 or visit www.pelicanhill.com.