Pelican Hill Resort: Riviera in the OC

It's the closest thing California has to a Riviera.

Orange County is located along the famed PCH Highway defined by Newport Beach to the north and Dana Point to the south. With TV series like Bravo's Real Housewives of Orange County and MTV's Laguna Beach defining its reality, it's not difficult to see why the OC is home to some of America's grandest and most expensive resorts.

It's newest is The Resort at Pelican Hill, a five-star resort property along a world-class, 36-hole, Tom Fazio-designed golf course that is luring destination golfers to a dramatic bluff above Crystal Cove along the Newport Coast.

Freestanding villa room at the Pelican Hill Resort.

How to Get There

Orange County is accessed via daily nonstop flights to John Wayne Airport from most major U.S. gateways. Visitors arrive to one of Southern California's chicest airports, contained within a freshly refurbished terminal with a voluminous ceiling supported by walls of glass that brings aviation back to its glamorous past. The airport is limited to smaller plane categories like 757s and A319s, so don't expect to find flatbed service unless you're flying in on your own G5. Once you arrive, it's a 15-minute drive to the resort, located just a few minutes from the sea and Newport's glitzy outdoor mall known as Fashion Island.

First Impressions

A speedy 60-mph thoroughfare leads to the entrance of Pelican Hill, a short series of driveways and signs hidden under mature shade trees that could just as easily lead to a prized Tuscan estate if not for the head-on ocean views and surrounding community of 5,000-plus square-foot custom homes. The property is owned by the Irvine Co., a real estate management company that also owns the nearby Island Hotel and Resort, formerly the Four Seasons Newport Beach. Modeled after the villages of the Italian countryside and work of Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, Pelican Hill Resort maintains a native California character despite its Italian influences.