The staff here were not very friendly or helpful - with only one or two exceptions. On our arrival the staff barely acknowledged our prescence. We were then told, that despite there being tea/coffee making facilities in the room - that we were not allowed milk for it! The elvators do not currently work as the hotel is being renovated. We were expected to carry heavy suitcases up flights of stairs ourselves. Only when asked several times, did somebody from reception reluctantly help.
Our room contained two large beds, a microwave and a 'fridge.
The hotel is currently being renovated, so they have decided that guests shouls eat breakfst in the car park and in the hotel lobby - or in their rooms. I found this very odd. All of the guests crammed around a small juice machine and toaster trying to balance food - I'm sure there must've been a better solution.
The hotel is not very centrally located - it is a long long walk to the beach. If you're not driving - then walk down to Newport Blvd, and catch the 47 bus from there- which takes you to Newport and Balboa pier.
If I were to stay in Newport again I would definitely not stay here again.

I have spent one night in here and it was a good express stay :) Cleanliness is perfect.

Stayed here with my family in August 2006 (only now getting round to writing a review). A good example of what Holiday Inn Express are capable of doing, i.e. plain, simple, clean, reasonably priced and convenient. It is quite a long walk to Balboa Island or the Beach but there are good restaurants nearby. The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful and the free mid-afternoon cookies were a nice touch. Parking was free and useful as finding a parking space anywhere else in the town seemed to be impossible!

We picked this hotel because of all the wonderful reviews but I have to say that the negatives outweighed the positives for us.
On the plus side the rooms have recently been refurbished and were extremely clean but the noise issue is a real problem here. As another TA member has reported, we too were woken from our sleep by extremely loud inconsiderate guests next door partying until 4.00am, going in and out of each others rooms, slamming doors and cheering and shouting. The walls are paper thin and you can hear the next rooms televisions, their showers and even them opening and closing drawers. We stayed for four nights and we encountered the most miserable, unhelpful front desk staff with absolutely no knowledge of any shopping, restaurant and local attractions. One in particular (Cesar) was downright rude, every time we needed assistance he would be on the phone, deep in personal conversation, laid back in his chair. He plainly could not be bothered to tear himself away from his conversation to answer any of our queries. The answer we got each time was "I don't know". Having said that, on the morning we left there was a new face on the desk (Marco) and he was extremely pleasant and so helpful. Another issue is the breakfast room. It is a good size but there are not nearly enough tables in there. On a couple of mornings there were people waiting to sit down for breakfast. We finished eating and took our drinks away with us so they could sit down to eat. We definately wouldn't choose to stay here again.