diff --git a/goes.go b/goes.go
index 5ff3d1c..99f7668 100644
--- a/goes.go
+++ b/goes.go
@@ -34,7 +34,15 @@ func (err *SearchError) Error() string {
 // This function is pretty useless for now but might be useful in a near future
 // if wee need more features like connection pooling or load balancing.
 func NewClient(host string, port string) *Client {
-	return &Client{host, port, http.DefaultClient, ""}
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(host, "http://") && !strings.HasPrefix(host, "https://") {
+		host = "http://" + host
+	}
+	host = host + ":" + port
+	u, err := url.Parse(host)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return &Client{u, http.DefaultClient, ""}
 }
 
 // WithHTTPClient sets the http.Client to be used with the connection. Returns the original client.
@@ -574,8 +582,9 @@ func (c *Client) AliasExists(alias string) (bool, error) {
 }
 
 func (c *Client) replaceHost(req *http.Request) {
-	req.URL.Scheme = "http"
-	req.URL.Host = fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", c.Host, c.Port)
+
+	req.URL.Scheme = c.Host.Scheme
+	req.URL.Host = c.Host.Host
 }
 
 // DoRaw Does the provided requeset and returns the raw bytes and the status code of the response
diff --git a/goes_test.go b/goes_test.go
index 0050a36..a843c5d 100644
--- a/goes_test.go
+++ b/goes_test.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func (s *GoesTestSuite) SetUpTest(c *C) {
 
 func (s *GoesTestSuite) TestNewClient(c *C) {
 	conn := NewClient(ESHost, ESPort)
-	c.Assert(conn, DeepEquals, &Client{ESHost, ESPort, http.DefaultClient, ""})
+	c.Assert(conn, DeepEquals, &Client{&url.URL{Scheme: "http", Host: ESHost + ":" + ESPort}, http.DefaultClient, ""})
 }
 
 func (s *GoesTestSuite) TestWithHTTPClient(c *C) {
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ func (s *GoesTestSuite) TestWithHTTPClient(c *C) {
 	}
 	conn := NewClient(ESHost, ESPort).WithHTTPClient(cl)
 
-	c.Assert(conn, DeepEquals, &Client{ESHost, ESPort, cl, ""})
+	c.Assert(conn.Host, DeepEquals, &url.URL{Scheme: "http", Host: ESHost + ":" + ESPort})
+	c.Assert(conn.Client, DeepEquals, cl)
 	c.Assert(conn.Client.Transport.(*http.Transport).DisableCompression, Equals, true)
 	c.Assert(conn.Client.Transport.(*http.Transport).ResponseHeaderTimeout, Equals, 1*time.Second)
 }
diff --git a/structs.go b/structs.go
index 75cdc5d..68bca63 100644
--- a/structs.go
+++ b/structs.go
@@ -7,15 +7,13 @@ package goes
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
+	"net/url"
 )
 
 // Client represents a connection to elasticsearch
 type Client struct {
 	// The host to connect to
-	Host string
-
-	// The port to use
-	Port string
+	Host *url.URL
 
 	// Client is the http client used to make requests, allowing settings things
 	// such as timeouts etc