A Dana Point landmark enters the JW Marriott portfolio
JW Marriott, part of Marriott International, and Aimbridge Hospitality announced plans on 14 September 2026 for The Ocean Cliffs at Dana Point, a JW Marriott Resort. The property trades today as Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point, California, under Aimbridge Hospitality. The release carries a Dana Point dateline of Sept. 14, and Aimbridge's own news page dates its copy 15 September.
The announcement sets out a phased transformation. It names no completion date and no project cost.
What a group planner gains
The release lists enhanced ballroom and meeting facilities, including a new 6,000-square-foot ballroom, among the core changes. Pre-function meeting areas will become indoor-outdoor environments.
The multi-acre event lawn will be expanded and relocated beside the Richard Henry Dana Ballroom. The release states the move lets the resort welcome larger groups and multiple simultaneous events, each with its own program. The lawn sits steps from Lantern Bay Park.
The resort's 371 guest rooms will be refreshed. A new central pool will hold the middle of the property and face the Pacific. The recently renovated family pool area, cabana rentals, Kid's Club and Splash Zone stay in place, with new programming for multigenerational groups. A signature chef-driven restaurant is planned, and the spa will receive updates.
The entry drive and porte cochere have been refined, and the lobby will flow through the dining spaces onto an ocean-view deck.
What the announcement does not fix
The release names no meeting-room dimensions beyond the new ballroom, no seating capacity for any room and no opening sequence. A planner can record the new ballroom, the relocated event lawn, the reimagined pre-function areas and the 371 refreshed rooms as program elements the operator has announced.
The release points bookings and additional information to oceancliffsresort.com and to the property's social accounts at @lagunacliffs.
The design team
HKS and ROAM are named on the project. The release points their work at Dana Point's painted cottages, the historic Lantern District and the town's surf culture. Guest rooms will carry a coast-spun palette with layered interiors.
The harbor around it
The release describes the work as ideally timed to the ongoing restoration of Dana Point Harbor. That harbor program runs separately from this conversion.
The Log reported on 10 September 2026 that the more than $700 million Dana Point Harbor Revitalization continues on its marina and commercial core while the hotel component stays unresolved. The Orange County Board of Supervisors took up updated 66-year ground leases on 25 August, and the proposal failed on a 2-2 vote with one abstention. The hotel portion would replace the Marina Inn with The Doheny, a 130-room boutique hotel, and The Salt Haus, a 169-room surf lodge, both from R.D. Olson Development.
Brand and operator scale
The release's own blocks give JW Marriott more than 95 hotels in more than 30 countries and territories, and describe Aimbridge as an operator of over 80 globally recognized lodging brands. Both figures are the release's claims.
Ben Ly, general manager of The Ocean Cliffs at Dana Point, a JW Marriott Resort, said the renovation and the entrance into the JW Marriott portfolio show the resort's commitment to the Dana Point community. The release describes a property that has overlooked Dana Point Harbor for nearly four decades.