Balboa Bay Resort nears the finish line of its multimillion-dollar renovation

For all its grandeur and a guest list including heads of state and celebrities, the Balboa Bay Club had started to feel like a museum by 2012, when the 15-acre waterfront property was acquired by a pair of Newport Beach businessmen.

The stakes were high for a property with sentimental value, and the luxury hangout, whose private club dates to 1948, was in need of restoration and modernization to help it thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.

About a year into the new owners’ tenure, part of the property was rebranded as the Balboa Bay Resort to be more accessible to the public.

Co-owners and managers Kevin Martin and Todd Pickup, who bought the property from club matriarch Beverly Ray Parkhurst, built a restaurant for members only and set apart the Balboa Bay Club facilities, which include private access to Newport Bay, a hair salon and a spa and pool.

In February of 2013, the properties separated, becoming Balboa Bay Club and Balboa Bay Resort. At the end of the year, an upgrade was announced for the facility’s spa, building and hotel rooms.

Four years later, the multimillion-dollar renovation, which was split into nine phases, is nearly finished but for final touches such as painting the exterior white. It is expected to be completed in December.

The club hosted countless parties where business owners, politicians and actors — among them Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart — roamed its corridors.

But some guests had started to grumble that the maroon and gold carpet was worn, the furniture was dated and the decor needed freshening up.

The formality of the traditional five-star experience needed a renovation too, the management decided, and it looked for a more residential approach while appealing to a younger generation.

“So many Newport Beach people are proud of this hotel,” said General Manager Sam El-Rabaa. “It’s iconic.”

The fact that the resort allows outsiders into the property’s 159 guestrooms seems to be little-known in the community, according to the owners and resort executives.

“People still believe this establishment is still private, and that’s not true at all,” said Kevin Gasparro, marketing manager at the Balboa Bay Resort. “The biggest challenge is to demystify that.”

A&O Kitchen + Bar — the initials stand for Anchors and Oceans — was one of the resort’s first renovation projects, replacing the dark, den-like Duke’s Place.

The restaurant, known for its communal tables, features glass doors that offer wide bay views, plus spacious indoor and outdoor seating, live music, draft beer and a menu spotlighting locally sourced ingredients.

“It helps that A&O is gaining favor. It’s having a good year,” Gasparro said. “We converted it more into a social place with sports in the background, and it’s created very much a place in the neighborhood.”

This winter, Gasparro said, the resort’s Waterline restaurant will undergo a revamp.

Its bar — which is centered in the entryway — will be arranged to face the dining room, and the restaurant’s windows will be replaced with accordion glass doors so visitors may dine and view the harbor inside or on the patio outside.

Today, the club has 1,700 members, and 62% of its patrons are local. The remodeled event spaces ,which have 13 break-out rooms and a ballroom, have held more meetings and special occasions this year, with 50 weddings and 75 charity benefits.

“There’s a cool and casual feel here, and there’s that sense of relaxed coastal sophistication,” Gasparro said. “The resort represents the city very well, and we want to honor that heritage.”

The Balboa Bay Resort is at 1221 W. Coast Hwy., Newport Beach. For more information, call (888) 894-2788 or visit meritagecollection.com/balboabayresort.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi