Trip GrapevineTop places, picked by travellers

Newport Beach · Hotel shortlist

Cheap hotels near the airport in Newport Beach

Marc Delacroix

Marc Delacroix France

Updated 1 September 2026 · 32 Newport Beach hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Newport Beach, out of the 32 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.4 down to 4.2.

Every one comes in under $130 a night, and the one I would book first is $133.

Ayres Hotel Costa Mesa/Newport Beach

Highest rated of the five

Ayres Hotel Costa Mesa/Newport Beach

★★★★★4.4 from 3,001 reviews

Ayres Hotel Costa Mesa/Newport Beach comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.4 from 3,001 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 4 star property, found under city centre and around $133 a night on the dates we checked.

32 hotels in Newport Beach qualified for this list and five made it. Orange Grove Inn is the one I would book if the first is full.

Why it works for this trip

  • Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
  • Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
  • Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
  • Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
  • Bara drink without going back out

Check rates Read more

All five, ranked

  1. Ayres Hotel Costa Mesa/Newport Beach1

    Ayres Hotel Costa Mesa/Newport Beach

    ★★★★★4.4 from 3,001 reviews

    • Pool
    • Spa
    • Gym
    • Restaurant
    • Bar
    • Parking

    Check rates Read more

  2. Orange Grove Inn2

    Orange Grove Inn

    ★★★★★4.3 from 187 reviews

    • Pool
    • Gym
    • Parking
    • Air conditioning
    • Accessible

    Check rates Read more

  3. Motel 6 Tustin, CA - Orange County3

    Motel 6 Tustin, CA - Orange County

    ★★★★★4.2 from 128 reviews

    • Parking
    • Pet friendly
    • Air conditioning

    Check rates Read more

  4. Costa Mesa Homestay - Private Rooms with 2 Shared Baths and Hosts Onsite4

    Costa Mesa Homestay - Private Rooms with 2 Shared Baths and Hosts Onsite

    ★★★★★4.25 from 52 reviews

      Check rates Read more

    • Lemon Heights Inn5

      Lemon Heights Inn

      ★★★★★4.2 from 45 reviews

      • Pool
      • Parking
      • Air conditioning
      • Accessible

      Check rates Read more

    How this list was put together

    32 Newport Beach hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

    Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

    The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

    What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

    Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

    Marc Delacroix

    Marc Delacroix France

    Closes the shop two weeks each winter and goes wherever people make something fermented. Dairies in the Basque country, the Caucasus and rural Sardinia.

    Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.