Newport Bay Club (Disneyland Paris Resort)

Disney’s Newport Bay Club was designed by Robert A.M. Stern, the same gentleman who designed the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts at Walt Disney World – and the similarities are abundant.

The resort harkens back to the end of the 19th century and the nautical atmosphere of New England. The exterior of the resort is made up of pale yellow clapboard, white trim, and a green roof. Balconies, columns, and dormer rooms accent these outer walls.

In September 2005, I stayed at Disney’s Newport Bay Club. This was my first choice in 1993, but the hotel was closed at that time in order to save money when EuroDisney was hemorrhaging cash.

When you enter the hotel lobby, you come face to face with a large globe of the old world – just like you do at Disney’s Yacht Club in Florida. But at the Newport Bay Club they’ve added a nice detail. On this map you can find a castle at each of the Disney properties around the world.

The nautical motif is extremely strong in the hotel’s interior. Paneled white walls, lattice work, and hardwood floors make up most of the solid surfaces. Shades of blue are used as accents on the window coverings, rugs, and furntiture upholstery. Maritime paraphernalia is used as decorative art.

The Newport Bay Club is the largest of the Disneyland Paris resorts with 1,098 guest rooms. The accommodations continue the lobby’s color scheme and nautical motif. Like several of the other resorts, most rooms sleep two to four guests on either one king or two double beds.

On both of my visits to Disneyland Paris, I have been disappointed with the central air conditioning in the hotel guest rooms. At the Sequoia Lodge, I complained because water continually dripped from an overhead vent which created a puddle on the carpet. When I was moved to another room, I found the coolest temperature available was far from adequate. At the Newport Bay Club, I finally gave up on the air conditioning and opened the window because the warm summer nights were cooler than the air coming out of the vents.

The Newport Bay Club has two restaurants. The Yacht Club restaurant serves an al a carte breakfast. For dinner, New England style seafood is the bill of fare. The Cape Cod restaurant serves a continental breakfast and Mediterranean dishes for supper. Since I’m not a big breakfast eater and I had a “free” option for this meal, I started every morning at the Cape Cod restaurant with fruit and a croissant. Indoor and outdoor seating is available so I usually chose to dine al fresco and enjoy the beautiful view of Lake Disney.

Disney buses are available for free transportation from the hotel to the theme parks. If you decide to hoof it, it’s about a 15 minute walk. A portion of this journey is along a lovely path that passes by Lake Disney. I always chose to walk as it was more convenient than waiting for the bus and the sites along the way were far more interesting.

One evening while returning to my room, I came across a cute little train that was circling Lake Disney. It made stops at the Disney Village, Hotel New York, Sequoia Lodge, and the Newport Bay Club. At first I thought it was free, but upon closer inspection, I found that it cost 2€. My feet were tired so I sprang for the ride.

I’ve now discussed five of the six Disney hotels. However, I’m going to put off the Disneyland Hotel until later as it is closely associated with the entrance to Disneyland Paris and they need to be discussed together.

My next blog will be about PanoraMagique.

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