Newport Harbor Island Resort

I'm in my mid-20s and thought this was a nice place. My SO and I are pretty independent, so we barely interacted with staff, but when we did, it was a positive experience. The room and water view were both nice. The rooms have more character than cookie cutter hotels, and you can tell they put extra care into the decor and look. We only stayed for a weekend in the middle of a cold winter, so we didn't experience much of what the hotel offers. The hotel, like Newport in general, seems aimed more at an older crowd. We felt a little out of place, but the room, view, and property were all good enough for us to leave a positive review.

The weekend was such a hit that our 215 guests are still talking about it. We got married here the day after Thanksgiving, and the property had other events going on that made everything feel festive. The venue looked beautiful for a winter wedding, the food was great, and nobody was stuck waiting for a drink. Staff from the servers to the lead event manager were kind, attentive, and ready to help. They made planning and celebrating easy, mostly as a one stop shop. We’re already looking forward to celebrating anniversaries here.

If you can avoid dealing with the staff, you might have an average stay. Otherwise, I’d avoid this property. Its location worked well for us: outside downtown Newport but only about a five minute drive away, and there’s a shuttle to one downtown spot. The grounds are walkable, and the property itself is fairly average, with rooms a bit smaller than I expected. The service was the real problem. Aside from a few exceptions, most of the staff we encountered were extremely rude and condescending. I’ve since seen that other guests have raised the same concern over many months, and the hotel doesn’t seem to have acted on it. Whatever it says in response to this or other reviews, I don’t get the sense it’s interested in improving. I’m also frustrated with American Express. This hotel is part of its Hotel Collection, which used to be a useful quality filter for booking a vacation. I wrote to AMEX and am calling on it publicly to remove this property, along with similar ones, from its portfolio. Adding places just to grow the number of hotels associated with AMEX risks tarnishing the brand. Now I feel I have to do my own due diligence before booking another AMEX stay, so I can avoid an experience like this. If AMEX cares about its members, the repeated reviews about staff behavior should concern it. Why is this hotel still included?

I’ve written some of my most popular poems after staying here. Inspiration doesn’t sleep, though you might have the best sleep of your life. The place is beautiful, exquisite, breathtaking, and the staff are fantastic. Management is on top of making sure guests have an excellent experience.