How to Enjoy an RV Without Having One

Speaking of upscale digs, Orange County’s newest luxury lodging comes with a transmission.

Newport Dunes Resort, dubbed the “Ritz of RV Parks,” is now renting luxury motor homes to overnight guests at the 110-acre Newport Beach resort.

Geared toward the motor-homeless, the new program allows easy riders to experience all the comforts of a first-class hotel on wheels without having to learn to parallel park, according to Newport Dunes spokeswoman Laurie Kajiwara.

“People without an RV wanted a convenient way to try out the RV lifestyle,” Kajiwara said. “This gives them a way to do that.”

The RVs can accommodate up to six people and come with housekeeping service and a full range of amenities such as kitchen, bathroom, dining area, television, stereo and VCR. High-season prices range from $80 a night for a 19-foot travel trailer to $95 a night for a 29-foot motor home.

Site rentals are extra and can cost anywhere from $27 nightly for a small standard lot to $85 a night for a prime beachfront spot on a holiday weekend--still a lot cheaper than many of the fancy hotels listed in that Gourmet magazine survey.

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Marla Dickerson covers tourism for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5670 and at marla.dickerson@latimes.com.