We stayed here for a week and while the weather could have been better, the Newport Coast villas are great! We had a great view of the ocean and one hole of Pelican Hill's golf course from our windows. The villas are nicely furnished and have all the necessities needed. We shopped at a nearby Trader Joe's and Albertsons for groceries. The bedrooms are comfortable, spacious and bathrooms very nice. Remember this is not a hotel and in most cases room cleaning is extra, but the units have washers and dryers and we really didn't want the hassle of maid service.

So this was our second stay at the NCV's. Our stay was a mixture of good's and not so great's but nothing terrible.

Pro's

1. Check in was a breeze. We actually showed up a half hour before check in time and were told that our room was ready, this was nice as others on here have commented that they have had to wait at least until 4pm or later to get their room keys. Lisa checked us in and she was very nice and pleasant.

2. A week before we arrived we were sent an email asking us our room preferences, they gave us three room options from most to least desirable. Of course we first picked a top floor corner room with ocean views. To our delite we were given room 2330, top floor, corner room, with ocean views.

3. As was the case with our previous stay to the villa is nicely appointed and spacious, even the second bedroom is a nice size. The master bedroom is a perfect size and has good views of the ocean.

4. Employee's were nice and friendly all around. We were asked once if we would be interested in a Marriott timeshare presentation. I told them that we had been on the tour before and weren't interested. They didn't ask us anymore after that, no pestering, no phone calls. I don't understand other guests experiences of rude selling tacticts.

5. The pool area is large and there are many activities available to families from ping pong to a kids play room.

6. Wi-Fi is free, which is great, a savings of at least $10-$20 for the week. Thank you NCV!

7. We are not Marriott owners, we own through Interval and RCI, so if anyone says that you have to be a NCV owner to get a top floor unit is just plain wrong. If you travel during holiday's or summer and expect to get a top floor unit over a NCV owner then you're just plain delusional. Travel in the off season like we do and get what you want!

For the above listed items I give the NCV's 5 stars.

Con's:

1. I've learned that this must be a Marriott thing as we've now stayed in Marriott's five times, but the sound proofing in this place is not great. As I noted in my first review from 3 years ago wall and floor sound proofing leaves a lot to be desired. Front doors on a lower level and especially doors next door, if allowed to slam, will shake your units walls, no doubt. If a loud TV is on next door or if someone who talks loudly is next door, you will hear them. I even more firmly now believe that anything other than a top floor unit will cause you much anger from listening to loud walkers, loud door closures, running water, and loud conversationists. If we had been given a second floor unit I would have raised hell and possibly "tipped" the check in person to get a top floor.

2. Wi-Fi is free, yes, but it's not very fast. If you try to live stream something like Netflix you will get a lot of stops and buffering. Their Wi-Fi speed is fine for surfing the web but for anything like streaming it's sloooow.

3. The room we were in, 2330, shares a master bedroom wall with a storage room. This is great since there are no neighbors to annoy you. But there was some sort of machinery either in that storage room or on the roof ( I could never tell) that comes on early in the morning (5:30am-ish) and it vibrates the walls right where your head is laying. This is something that needs to be addressed by NCV.

4. There used to be a quiet pool at the NCV but there weren't any this time. NCV needs to reinstitute this practice, at least with the pool nearest the bar area. There are some of us who would like to swim in a pool that isn't being bombarded with kids and their associated pee and suspect diapers. This goes for the hot tubs as well, an adults only hot tub would be nice. A word of warning to those who read this: if there is foam on top of the water in a hot tub it means it's contaminated with bacteria.

5. On our first stay three years ago we found the beds in villa 1620 to be far more comfortable than the ones in 2330. I wish I had brought my foam mattress topper like I usually do. I ended up having sleep on top of the comforter and using the spare bedding to provide better cushoning. You also should bring your own pillows, the ones at NCV are not great, not for me any way.

6. My biggest complaint of the week was this: we were in our room for 7 days. The room next to us, for reason's that escape me, was rented out on a nightly basis. In the 7 days we were there the room next to us was occupied by different guests three times. That means a lot of slammed doors and drawers from all the guests coming and going and a lot of slammed doors and drawers from the cleaning crew who seem to take pride in making as much noise as humanly possible. NCV should really consider this when booking guests who are staying for a night or two versus those who are staying for a week.

So for the above listed items I take a way two stars. Net: 3 stars.

I'm sure we will stay here again in the future but we won't do it unless we have an upstairs corner room and until NCV addresses some of the issues listed above. If I had spent $300 a night on this place my review wouldn't be so favorable.

The location of this hotel is phenomenal with views of the ocean from nearly anywhere. Great pool and recreation area with life size chess and ping pong tables. The shuttle to Crystal Cove State Park was nice. Also a very easy walk to the beach.

This is a great location for a Southern California family vacation. The units are large and very well kept. The development is across the street from Crystal Cove State Park which has a nice beach and tide pools. Marriott provides a shuttle that will take you there. We made it to Disneyland in 20 minutes each morning,however, if you want to stay around and just enjoy the resort, Marriott has plenty of activities to keep you busy!