Compass Club Experience at Disney’s Newport Bay Club Hotel – Review

On our recent trip to France we had the chance to spend three nights in the newly refurbished Newport Bay Club hotel while we visited Disneyland Paris.

The Newport Bay is a four star hotel located on Lake Disney, and just a pleasant 5 to 10 minute walk to both of the Disney parks. The 1093 room hotel offers a range of room types such as standard rooms, premium compass club rooms and luxurious suites, including the presidential suite.  The bedrooms are decorated in blues and whites and carry through the nautical theme of this hotel.

The Newport Bay Club hotel will look familiar to those of you who have stayed at Walt Disney World in Florida, as it is very similar in look and feel to the Beach and Yacht Club hotels.

This is our review of the Compass Club suites at the Newport Bay Club hotel at Disneyland Paris.

As you arrive at the hotel it looks spectacular, and is based on a 1900s New England style coastal mansion, complete with its own lighthouse next to the picturesque Lake Disney.

The nautical ambience starts as you walk through the doors of the main entrance and enter the impressive lobby of the hotel. Hardwood floors, antique chandeliers and the beautiful Christmas decorations made it feel very festive and all of the delightful Disney touches everywhere really stand out.

If you are staying at the Compass Club level in the Newport Bay Hotel the experience begins on arrival as there is a separate check-in via the Compass Club reception away from the main check-in area which can get very busy.

The Compass Club check-in area is an elegant room with lots of plush seating and mahogany furniture inspired by the New England theme of the hotel.

We were greeted by the staff by our name and instantly felt welcome as we took our seat to check into the hotel. It was a lovely relaxing experience as we were told about the hotel facilities, the Disney parks and given an opportunity to make any dining reservations that we required. To cap such a warm welcome by Disney at the Newport Bay we were also told that our room was being upgraded to a suite for our stay.

After all the paperwork was finalised, we received an envelope with our name on it, which contained the park maps, hotel map, dining reservations and the hotel easy pass which is required for compass club level benefits.

As we were staying at one of the suites we received a family VIP Fastpass which was great, as we could ride any of the Fastpass rides as many times as we liked throughout the day.

It’s not just guests in the suites that get Fastpass benefits. All compass club guests receive one complimentary Fastpass per day to use at either park for a Fastpass attraction of your choice

We left our luggage at the compass lounge which would be brought to our room by the porter. Overall it was one of the best check-in processes that we have received, only the Jumeirah Beach Club Level in Dubai has been better.

Our Compass Club Suite

The compass club rooms are located on the top two floors of the main building of the Newport Bay hotel, which is where the Admirals floor level used to be located before the refurbishment. As you leave the lift on the 8th floor which was our floor for the Compass Level, the excellent nautical theme made you feel you were on-board a Disney cruise ship.

Opening the double doors of our room the Presidential suite was so exciting as we couldn’t wait to see our room. We were not disappointed, at 83m² it was spacious, stunning and beautifully appointed, with nautical styling and classic features. Our suite contained a master bedroom, separate sitting area and sofa bed, dining area, small kitchen and two bathrooms.

In all compass club rooms the furniture and bedding is upgraded compared to standard rooms. We had a super king bed which was so delightfully comfortable, with quality bed linens complete with Mickey Mouse details discretely embroidered throughout. The girls had a lovely sofa bed in the sitting area of the suite and soon made themselves at home by decorating their beds with their Disney toys.

If we could frame the view from our window each day we would have, as it offered amazing views of Lake Disney and the beautiful Disney castle in the distance. One night we watched the Disney dreams fireworks from our room.

The room had a large walk in wardrobe with a good amount of hangers and shelving so we had plenty of space to store our clothes. Within the wardrobe, the safe was also located, along with an iron and ironing board. There was also another wardrobe in the lobby area of the room, which was great for storing our coats and shoes.

There were two large HDTV’s in the room with lots of kids TV channels, other amenities included a mini fridge, bathrobes and slippers.

If you needed to get some work done there was ample work space at the desk, with plenty of power points, including a UK specific and USB charging points which I thought was great especially if you had forgotten your travel adapters. The view from the desk was just perfect, as it overlooked Lake Disney and Wifi was complimentary with excellent speeds during our stay.

In our room we found some lovely welcome gifts for us such as champagne, chocolates and a fruit platter. This is just one of the many ways that we felt so much at home during our stay.

One little touch that you receive at compass club level over the standard rooms is turn down service. Every evening Disney chocolate coins are left on your bed which was a lovely welcome home for the children after a long day of walking around the parks.

There are two bathrooms in the room. The master bathroom is large and spacious with double marble vanity basins, toilet, separate shower and large Jacuzzi bath. The other bathroom was smaller containing a sink and toilet. There was a plentiful supply of lovely Disney branded toiletries which were replenished daily along with a full size hairdryer.

Within our room was a small kitchen area with sink and small refrigerator, Nespresso coffee machine, kettle and a wide selection of high quality teas, and Nespresso pods.

Compass Club Lounge

The Compass Club lounge has a delightful art deco theme perfectly in keeping with the period of the hotel. After the recent hotel refurbishment the new Compass Club is a beautiful new addition for club level guests which was calm and relaxing and was a perfect way to start your Disney day.

The lounge is divided into three areas, the lounge, bar and dining area which is where the breakfast and afternoon tea was served. What made this lounge so beautiful were the little touches such as the giant star filled ceiling at the centre of the room to the animated portholes which made you think you were on a Disney cruise liner. Complimentary newspapers (The Telegraph) and magazines were also available for guests.

As a compass club member you are entitled to take breakfast in the Compass Club lounge rather than in the main restaurants The Yacht Club or Cape Cod which can get very busy especially at peak periods. There are no allocated breakfast time slots for compass club members you just arrive for breakfast at your leisure, all you needed to have with you was your Compass club easy pass card to access this room. The lounge was attractive and very clean, and the staff extremely attentive, they couldn’t do enough to help you.

The breakfast offering was extensive from hot cooked breakfasts to cereals and pancakes and the food quality was very good.

Afternoon tea was served each day from 16:00 to 17:45 and was just delightful. After a long day in the park it was lovely to be able to call back at the Compass Lounge at the hotel for a delicious choice of sweet snacks, Disney inspired cakes, fruit, nuts, breads and hot and cold drinks. The cast members were attentive and offered great service.

The lounge was also open to compass club guests from around 12pm-10pm each day for complimentary hot drinks, water and soft drinks.

When we booked our trip at Disneyland Paris we also had free half board plus dining for each night of our visit.

There are several dining options available at the Newport Bay Club, these are the Yacht Club and Cape Cod and both were included in our half board dining plan.

At the Yacht Club a table service restaurant you can enjoy high quality steaks and seafood at the hotel’s flagship restaurant which again is beautifully themed.

Cape Cod was a buffet restaurant serving a good quality range of dishes from around the world. In terms of food quality it was on par with Inventions at the Disneyland hotel but if you are after a relaxed dining experience then this is not the right restaurant as it gets extremely busy during peak times.

There are no character dining options at the hotel which was a shame, although I was told they would be returning in spring 2017. For our character dining experience we dined at the excellent and highly recommended Inventions restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel.

Facilities

In the lobby area of the hotel was a very nice shop called the Bay Bowtique with lots of Disney souvenirs. The store was a good size and had an impressive selection of products for a store its size. It obviously won’t have as large of a selection as what you’ll find in the larger stores in the park, but we were amazed at the product range on offer, and was a popular stop off point for the girls each day.

As with all of Disney properties, the attention to detail that surrounds you is so authentic and perfectly themed to enhance the mood and charm. We particularly loved seeing the lighthouse each morning on Lake Disney as we made the pleasant stroll to the Disney parks.

Even with the lure of two theme parks just a 5 minute walk away from our hotel, the Nantucket Pool and Health Club was another major trip highlight for the girls. The large swimming pool area was a nice way to unwind after a busy day at Disney and is lovely after its refurbishment. It met our high expectations, as it was clean, with complimentary pool towels, family changing rooms, sauna and steam room. The girls loved the fact that it had a large ship that you could swim around.

Check-Out

The check-out procedure was extremely simple at Compass Club. The evening before our departure we visited the Compass Lounge and informed the member of staff our plans for our last day. We just had to leave our luggage in our room as we left for the park for the day and when we were ready to leave for the airport our luggage would be brought out to our transport. This was one of the most stress free check-outs we have ever experienced on our hotel travels.

Overall

On to what really matters – is the Newport Bay hotel worth staying at and is their Compass Club level ultimately “worth it?

With the average Compass Club room costing on average £100+ more per night over a standard room the extra upgrade cost to Compass Club was worth every penny and something I would strongly recommend,

Add in the benefits of separate concierge check-in and reservation assistance, exclusive Compass Club lounge for breakfast, drinks and afternoon snacks, extra fast passes, turn-down service (with chocolates) and upgraded rooms centrally located in the main building this upgraded Pixie Dust seemed worth it to me!

After the recent refurbishment of the Newport Bay hotel it is now a stunning Disney hotel and is our favourite Disney hotel. At the Compass Club level it will give the Disneyland Hotel a run for its money, I’m confident you won’t be disappointed!

Thank you to everyone at the Newport Bay hotel for your excellent service which helped make so many magical memories during our Disneyland Paris visit.