Just when you think you’ve explored every sun-drenched corner of the Back Bay, Newport Beach lets you in on a little secret. Tucked beneath the lush grounds of the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, known to locals back in the day as the Newporter Inn, lies The Wine Cellar. If these cool stone walls could talk, they’d tell you stories of high-stakes bluffs, endless bourbon, and a side of John Wayne the cameras never quite caught.
In the 1960s and ’70s, the Newporter was the crown jewel of the local resort scene, but the real action happened below the lobby. John Wayne was such a fixture here that he famously drove a custom station wagon with an extra-high roof, modified specifically so he could commute from his nearby Bayshores house without ever having to take off his signature cowboy hat.
Stepping into one of Wayne’s legendary poker nights meant entering a world of thick cigar smoke and sharp wit. It was a gathering of titans, where legends like John Ford, Henry Fonda, and a boisterous Dean Martin traded stories between deals. While “The Duke” was a fair player, his competitive streak was local lore, whether the game was high-stakes Poker, Pitch, or Hearts.
Because the hotel also served as President Richard Nixon’s “Western White House” press headquarters, it offered a rare level of privacy. Today, that history is still very much alive. The hotel now hosts intimate Candlelight concerts in that exact same cellar, allowing us to sit within the stone walls that once echoed with the laughter of Hollywood’s elite. Surrounded by music and thousands of candles, you can soak in the atmosphere of these storied walls yourself.