If there’s one thing most of us can agree on, it’s that James Bond has great taste. Suits, watches, the cars, and just as much, the hotels he ends up staying in on every mission. Across six decades and six actors, the franchise has used some of the most striking properties in the world as backdrops, and a few of them are worth the trip on their own merit.
Here are our favourite hotels from the James Bond franchise.
GoldenEye, Jamaica
Before it was a film, GoldenEye was Ian Fleming’s private estate on Jamaica’s north coast, where he wrote all 14 Bond novels. It’s now a boutique resort, with villas, cottages and beach huts scattered between jungle gardens and a lagoon. Guests can stay in the original Fleming Villa, the spot where Bond was technically born.
The Ritz, London
Bond takes a call from M while lounging in a Ritz suite in The Man with the Golden Gun, and it’s hard to think of a more fitting address. The Ritz has been the benchmark for London luxury since 1906, sitting right on Piccadilly with interiors styled in the Louis XVI tradition and a Michelin starred restaurant to match.
The Ocean Club, Bahamas
Bond wins an Aston Martin off Alex Dimitrios at the card table here in Casino Royale, set against eight kilometres of white sand on Paradise Island. It’s now run by Four Seasons, with five restaurants, a Tom Weiskopf designed golf course, and gardens that look like they were built for exactly this kind of scene.
Hotel Danieli, Venice
Bond and Holly Goodhead plot against Hugo Drax from the Royal Suite of the Danieli in Moonraker. The hotel is actually three palazzos joined together, dating from the 14th to 19th centuries, with Murano glass chandeliers and views straight over the Venetian Lagoon.
Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur
In Octopussy, Bond crosses Lake Pichola in disguise to reach the Lake Palace, and the approach alone makes the hotel worth the plot point. Built in 1746 as a royal retreat, it’s only accessible by private boat and floats on the lake like it was built purely to be photographed.
The Peninsula, Hong Kong
Bond chases Andrea Anders from a Macau casino up to Suite 602 at The Peninsula in The Man with the Golden Gun. The hotel has set the standard for Hong Kong luxury since 1928, with sweeping harbour views, eight restaurants, and a fleet of Rolls-Royces on hand for guest transfers.
The St. Regis Venice
Filmed as the fictional Grand Hotel Britannia for Bond’s Venetian investigation in Moonraker, the real hotel sits directly on the Grand Canal. It delivers exactly the kind of cinematic grandeur the location needed, which is presumably why the production picked it.
Bürgenstock Resort, Switzerland
Goldfinger used the dramatic mountain setting around Bürgenstock for scenes tied to the villain’s operations. Perched high above Lake Lucerne, the resort offers the kind of scenery that’s hard to overstate, and Bond films have always known it.
Piz Gloria, Schilthorn
The mountaintop restaurant in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service served as Blofeld’s alpine headquarters, and it’s still closely tied to its Bond history today. Few film locations have leaned into the connection as openly, and the restaurant remains one of the most famous Bond sites in the world.
The Langham, London
Bond meets Xenia Onatopp inside The Langham’s Palm Court in GoldenEye, and the hotel’s Victorian grandeur made it one of the better backdrops for introducing a Bond villain. It’s been part of London’s hotel scene since 1865 and still trades on that kind of old world weight.
The Dorchester, London
The Dorchester appears during Bond’s London sequences in A View to a Kill, reflecting the old world luxury long associated with Britain’s elite. It’s remained one of London’s most recognisable addresses for decades, which made it an easy choice for the franchise.
Raffles London at The OWO
The Old War Office building, now home to Raffles London, served as MI6 headquarters in Licence to Kill, the setting for Bond’s tense run-in with M. The building itself was a real hub of British military intelligence in the early 1900s, with Ian Fleming among those who walked its halls, and it now operates as a 120 room hotel with a Spy Bar that leans straight into that history.
Grandhotel Pupp, Karlovy Vary
Standing in for the fictional Hotel Splendide in Montenegro, this is where Bond and Vesper Lynd check in for the high stakes poker game against Le Chiffre in Casino Royale. The hotel dates back to 1701 and sits at the centre of Karlovy Vary, with a neo Baroque wing and a guestbook that reads like a who’s who of film royalty.