Balboa Bay Resort’s latest phase of renovations updates guest rooms, gathering spaces and dining at the Newport Beach waterfront property. At a Thursday evening reveal, guests and club members toured redesigned accommodations and meeting spaces and saw Bar Nineteen48, a new cocktail lounge with light bites including chicken nuggets topped with caviar.
The work continues a longer renovation at the 15-acre property, which began as a social and beach club in 1948 and now includes a public resort alongside a members-only club. Newport Beach-based private equity group Eagle Four Partners bought the property from club matriarch Beverly Ray Parkhurst in 2012 and began a nine-phase renovation that year, according to the Los Angeles Times. The following year, the property was divided into the publicly accessible Balboa Bay Resort and the members-only Balboa Bay Club facilities.
Kevin and Devon Martin, who co-own the resort with Todd Pickup, spoke on behalf of the Martin and Pickup families at the event. The Times reported that Kevin Martin said he hopes future generations will continue to enjoy the resort.
Design Connects Past and Present
The 2026 renovations draw on the club’s connection to Hollywood’s golden age, when the Balboa Bay Club was frequented by movie stars including John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, as noted by the Los Angeles Times. The resort’s own description of the project says the design draws inspiration from the glamour of the 1930s and 1940s, according to Balboa Bay Resort. That throwback aesthetic shows up throughout the property in vintage black-and-white photographs alongside more modern touches.
In the guest rooms, the Times described a shift from beach blue to coastal neutrals, with white oak, walnut and burlwood furnishings replacing older pieces. Lighting now uses softer, warmer tones. The resort’s materials likewise describe warm woods, bronze accents and coastal neutrals with pops of color.
The resort says the guestroom renovation is complete, with updated layouts, furnishings and lighting. Room amenities include Frette linens, Nespresso coffee machines and L’Occitane bath products; suites also have Dyson hairdryers. The lobby redesign aims to make the space more inviting for gathering and lingering.
Bar Nineteen48: Check Hours Before Visiting
The new lobby lounge takes its name from the year the original Balboa Bay Club was founded and is intended to offer an experience distinct from A+O Restaurant & Bar. The Times listed the bar’s hours as Thursday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to midnight, while other renovation accounts have described it as still preparing to open. The conflicting information means visitors should confirm its current status and hours with the resort.
The culinary changes include new leadership: Diego Bernal joined Balboa Bay Resort as executive chef in 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported in its coverage. The resort also hired Mathias Boirie as pastry chef. Boirie began his culinary career in France, moved to the United States in 2017 and previously served as executive pastry chef at Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills. The Times reported that he brings nearly 20 years of experience to the role.
For the reveal dinner, Boirie prepared cherries jubilee, a flambéed dessert made with macerated cherries cooked in liqueur, the Times reported.
The Renovation in Orange County’s Hotel Investment Context
Per a report from the Los Angeles Times, the resort already debuted a revamped harbor-side patio featuring fire pits and heat lamps in winter 2025, a space suited for viewing the Newport Beach boat parade. The latest renovation's reach extends well beyond guestrooms and the lobby: a related redesign and enhancement initiative covers more than 30,000 combined square feet of meeting and event space, according to Lodging Magazine, including updated venues capable of hosting receptions for up to 1,000 people in the Grand Ballroom.
What Sea-Level-Rise Planning Says About Waterfront Risks
Newport Beach’s Local Coastal Program identifies erosion and inundation of low-lying areas, including possible loss of waterfront property, as potential impacts of sea-level rise, according to the city. The planning document describes potential risks to waterfront areas generally; it does not establish a specific risk assessment for the resort.
Balboa Bay Resort's makeover fits into a much larger pattern of hotel investment across the region. More than 30 of Orange County's 56 largest hotels have undergone renovations since 2020, and several more properties began updating guest rooms, meeting spaces, outdoor areas and dining options in 2026, according to the Orange County Business Journal. The outlet also reports that Orange County currently has 67 hotels and 10,649 rooms under construction.
Other properties are following similar paths. Northwest Hotel Corp. is investing $30 million to restore the 60-year-old Howard Johnson by Wyndham Anaheim Hotel and Water Playground, while the Newport Beach Marriott Bayview plans to begin its own property-wide renovation in 2027 and has already built two model guest rooms for visitors to test, per the same report.
