Reef Point

I'll start with what was nice. The location of the Pelican Hill as well as the overall set of amenities are lovely. Definitely take advantage of the kids activities (story time, bubblemania, etc), the beach trolley, as well nearby Balboa Island. There are fire pits on the beach available as well. Ask for the Inspirato Newport Beach activity guide in addition to using the Pelican Hill concierge.

The shuttle service will take you anywhere on property as well as to a local center with a few nice restaurants.

The on property restaurants were lovely. I would say the Pelican grill was very nice for a special meal. My nephew even enjoyed the filet on the kids menu.

The Villa itself was very well appointed and the patio was a highlight. However, I'll say that there was some deferred maintenance that needed to be taken care of. This included shower handles and dishwashers that were broken. The maintenance staff quickly resolved them, but I wish they never happened to begin with. Also, when the listing says the internet is basic, we experienced it as unusable.

The Villa pool and clubhouse was very nice during the week. But the weekends were chaotic. The 4th of July was insane. It was not a relaxing or peaceful or exclusive environment - to the point where we couldn't find a single place to sit. It felt like there were people from outside the villas at the pool and the team there wasn't policing it well. It took over an hour to get a drink. I will avoid holidays there in the future.

The staff are exceptional and very accommodating - but I'll say are severely hampered by management and some technology issues. Hopefully the technology issues were limited to the transition to Marriott management, but I'm really unable to be sure. We were locked out of our Villa twice and a credit they applied for some items was lost. Their concierge texting service was so overwhelmed they occasionally didn't respond.

Overall, our experience at the property was just okay. To be clear. there were many on the Inspiratio team that made this trip a complete success. Abbie Kim! We couldnt have done it without all her assistance in planning. She was a joy to work with and handled our large group with ease. Chelsea Colangelo also did a great job supporting us once we arrived on the property. There are many things that happened that couldnt be helped, like the weather and the leak into the living room at the main house, Reef Point. The spa did a great job at working to accommodate all the guests that switched from golf. Overall, I think the facilities dont fit our needs of such a large group of couples. There were not enough King bedrooms, the transportation in and around PH was a cluser. With all the rain, everyone was calling for a car to pick up. Some of us waited over 30 mins for someone to pick us up and take us from the Villas to the Hotel. They wouldnt allow a large bus to pick us up at the Villa clubhouse, so running to and from the hotel was a drag. Other Inspirato properties come with a car, so that helps people be more self sufficient. As a planner, when nothing opens until 9 am, it makes it difficult to find help when your team really needs it. I tried to text the after hours member number but they really didnt help us with specific questions. If breakfast was set up at 7:00 and I needed the location of the room it was set, then their standard answer was to call back at 9:00 am. Not helpful. So then my team has to call for a car to take them to Villa clubhouse, eat breakfast, call another car to take them to the Hotel to board a bus. Even your bell staff lady was complaining to me how confusing it all was. You have really great employees, but I think some logistics need to change in order to host large groups of people in the Villas.