Disneyland Paris Hotel Review: Is Newport Bay Club's Compass Club Worth the Upgrade?

When booking our vacation package at Disneyland Paris, we had our choice of six different resorts ranging from value to luxury accomodations. With the Disneyland Hotel being super expensive we settled on choosing a mid level resort. When we found out Hotel New York would be closed for refurbishment and that the pool at Sequoia Lodge would be closed, Newport Bay Club became the obvious choice. We thought the theming and location would also be great for relaxing, and we were excited to experience a club level room. Read on to hear all the details about this resort…

About the Resort

Disney’s Newport Bay Club is a Cape Cod-style resort that was completely renovated in 2016. and features a relaxing and luxurious coastal style. Sitting on the peaceful waters of Lake Disney with a small lighthouse, the maritime charm reminds us a lot of the Beach & Yacht club in Walt Disney World. You will find sea insured touches throughout the resort such as rich woods, brass fixtures, and nautical prints.

The resort is located on the opposite side of the lake from the Disney Village entrance. The walk to the park gates is about 3/4 of a mile or a 10-15 minute walk. Usually there is a shorter path to take, but with it being closed while we were there, Newport Bay Club ended up being the furthest walk as we passed the other two along our way.

The resort also features Bay Boutique gift shop and a few restaurants:

• Captain's Quarters - enjoy one or two aperitifs in this nautical themed bar.

• Cape Cod Buffet Restaurant - where flavours from around the world combine in a nautical setting.

• Yacht Club - a cosy restaurant that serves up a choice of international specialities. (While we ended up not eating here it was on our list of potential places and we heard it is one of the best meals on property)

The entrance into the lobby.

A Mickey statue in the gift shop.

The Captain’s Quarters Bar.

A foyer near the elevators.

Checking-In

Upon arriving at the main entrance we were thrown for a loop when we were directed to the x-ray machine. Because we had just arrived and had luggage, we were asked to send our items through the machine. We then picked up our luggage on the other side and proceeded inside the lobby. While the decor was all very nice looking, we did notice a lack of a “grand” multi-level lobby.

There is a standard lobby check-in area, but since we were staying in a club level room, we were directed to a separate “Compass Club” room. There are three desks where guests sit down during the check-in process. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the timing of your arrival. When we showed up, there was no one in line so we went right up to the desk. (When we were done, there was a line of about 4 or 5 families waiting to check-in and because there were only two cast members working the desks, it was probably going to take a while.) It was nice to sit down and go over all of the materials we were given (there was a pretty big packet since many things here are still paper based). We each received a yellow “Magic Pass” which was a card that was a room key as well as our ticket to the park.

Our Room

Our room was located on the top floor on the Compass Club level with a view of other sections of the hotel and Disney Studios beyond that. Our particular room was in a good and bad location. While we had a nice view and were close to the elevator, we were also located at the end of the hallway right next to the housecleaning storage room. This unfortunately made for some mornings hearing conversations and moving of housekeeping carts.

As far as the actual room it was much bigger than our hotel room in the city. It featured a large comfortable bed, a dresser with TV, vanity table, and sitting chair. There were many little nooks built into the room for storage that reminded us of cruise boat shelves, and we had plenty of space to put away our things. The decor was nautical with some Disney touches. It had some character but wasn’t too childish.

The queen size bed was comfortable with nice linens.

Some of the storage shelves and sitting chair.

The vanity table featured different outlets.

The dresser looked like a steamer trunk and had extra shelves on the sides of the TV.

Being a club level room we did have some extra touches in the room. We weren’t sure exactly what was specific to club level but these were some of the nice extras we noticed that we think were upgrades:

• A complimentary bottle of water

• Nespresso machine and tea kettle

• Mini fridge

• Robes and Slippers

• Chocolates each night

Tea supplies in the dresser.

Mini fridge.

Turndown chocolates.

In the bathroom area there was a place to hang clothes as well as a safe and ironing board. The sink was separate and had a really weird hair dryer. The other room had a shower/tub and toilet as well as a sitting bench. One weird thing to note about the shower is that there was no curtain, just a small glass panel. Needless to say, taking a normal shower caused us to get water everywhere. There were some Disney Mickey toiletries provided as well (but they weren’t as great smelling as the H2O+ products we love in the states.)

Storage area with safe and iron.

The shower and tub.

The sink area.

Cute Mickey toiletries.

You can see a quick video room tour below:

Resort Amenities

Fitness Center

There is a fitness center at the hotel, wiith a good bit of quality equipment. They stock the room with towels and there is a water dispenser. (We used it to fill our bottles during the day as well). We did see people using the facilities but it never seemed crowded.

Pool Area

The Nantucket pool is split between indoor and outdoor, with the pool passing under a wall and there is a large ship play area inside for kids. There is also an indoor and outdoor hot tub and a sauna. We can’t speak too much about these as we were unable to experience these. This is kind of a sore spot for us but worth mentioning. We chose Newport Bay Club over Sequoia Lodge because Newport's pool was to be open. When we arrived, we found out that the pool area was to be closed for maintenance the day after we arrived. Add to that, all the hot tubs the day we arrived were closed down. If you are visiting the pool you need to check in at a desk and use the changing room.

The Compass Club Lounge

As a part of our upgraded room we received access to the Compass Club Lounge which also included our daily breakfast. This room had a really cool ambiance with comfy seats and screens to look like views of the ocean. The lounge offered drinks throughout the day with a fridge of soft drinks as well as a coffee machine that made drinks like cappuccinos and hot chocolate too. You are only supposed to consume drinks in the lounge but we did leave once in awhile with a cup of coffee or can of soda. The Compass Club was also offered what they call an “afternoon tea”.

We loved the design of the room. Check out that ceiling!

The soft drink options.

A view of our great breakfast spread!

The coffee machine was really good.

Breakfast Buffet

The buffet in the morning was pretty darn impressive. There was a wide range of anything you could want and chefs were constantly refilling stations with fresh items. In addition to grabbing coffee drinks and assorted juices we enjoyed offerings such as:

• Assorted Fruits

• Fresh breads and pastries

• Meats such as bacon and sausage

• Different types of eggs

• Cold deli meats and cheeses

• Yogurts

• Crepes, waflles and pancakes

• Potatoes and Sautéed Mushrooms

• Porridge and toppings

• Cereal and toast

You can see a quick video overview of the buffet below. We loved being able to have a substantial breakfast to start the day. Between this and our one big meal from our half-board plan we were pretty set for the day and only needed snacks otherwise.

Afternoon Tea

At 4pm each day the lounge puts out food once again. They call this “afternoon tea”, but it is not an official high tea or anything. All of the the standard drinks are available (including tea bags if you do want tea). There are mostly sweets, but some small savory snacks as well. The snacks were nice but being an odd time we only took advantage of this once. We initially thought we might treat this as a lunch but didn’t find it substantial enough to warrant leaving the parks. If you happen to be around while the food is out do stop by though. Some of the items available included:

• Cut Fruit

• Small Sandwiches (these weren’t labeled so we played some guessing games here)

• Caprese Salad Sticks

• Tons of tiny desserts

Final Thoughts

We really enjoyed staying at Newport Bay Club. We thought the package we paid for was a very good value and loved being able to keep everything easy staying on property and using the Magic Pass card. The room was spacious with nice amenities. The price for the club level was certainly worth it for some of the perks and the awesome Compass Club. The resort had nice theming and we didn’t mind the walk to the parks. We would recommend Newport Bay Club as a solid option to anyone visiting the Disneyland Paris resort. Make sure to check out our other articles covering this trip as well!