Splendor on the harbor

It is one of Newport Beach’s many landmarks. John Wayne, Hollywood

couple Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, even Ronald Reagan walked

its halls. For more than 50 years, it has provided a harbor-front

lifestyle that was the envy of, well, even other people in Newport

Beach.

On Wednesday, that lifestyle opened to the public with the

unveiling of the new, expanded and upgraded Balboa Bay Club & Resort.

The Bay Club’s $65-million expansion adds a 132-room hotel, a

restaurant, piano lounge and banquet room. There are 300 new

employees ready to greet guests. At the top -- literally, for it is

perched on the third floor, above the harbor -- is the $3,000-a-night

Presidential Suite. Another $500 gets you a third bedroom, but the

view, from almost every square foot, comes with the room regardless.

This vision of splendor, courtesy of Beverly Ray, chairwoman of

International Bay Clubs Inc., is expected to fill a needed niche in

Newport Beach. Now, only the Four Seasons has earned a

top-of-the-line Five Diamond rating. The new Bay Club is aiming to

join the Newport Center hotel and provide a luxurious spot for

vacationers and a spectacular location for business meetings.

The Bay Club is entering a crowded field of competition that

includes other high-end resorts stretching along the Orange County

coast. Newport residents should be rooting for its success, for a

winning resort will translate into dollars for the city, which relies

on such revenue to maintain the quality public service residents have

come to expect.

How many nights in the Presidential Suite, do you suppose, would

pay for a repaved road?