Stays Inspired by James Bond

Given it’s Bond’s place of employment, England features in nearly every film. For a 007-inspired stay here, choose either a countryside experience at Buckinghamshire’s Stoke Park which has been featured in both Goldfinger and Tomorrow Never Dies. Alternatively, make it a heart-of-London one at Great Scotland Yard (pictured), a new hotel occupying a former Metropolitan Police headquarters near Trafalgar Square that feels oh so Bond.

No Time to Die, the latest Bond film, features Matera, a famous Italian town with 9,000-year-old cave homes carved into the hillside. Skip the car chase on the narrow winding roads of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and instead hideaway in one of those historical cave dwellings with a stay at Sextantio le Grotte Della Civita. We doubt 007 would have time for a long, luxurious bubble bath here but we sure hope you do.

Another iconic Bond destination, Jamaica is not only a repeat locale—in the first film Dr. No and again in Live and Let Die and No Time to Die—but also where author Ian Fleming wrote more than a dozen Bond novels. The very spot overlooking Low Cay Beach where he posted up every winter is now a luxury resort. Record producer Chris Blackwell bought GoldenEye in 1976 and added more villas, cottages and beach huts over the years.

In Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s Bond moors his yacht at Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, Venice, with the terrace restaurant making an appearance. Secluded on Giudecca Island, a four-minute boat ride from the heart of Venice, the plush property offers views of St. Mark’s Square and lagoon, along with an Olympic-sized salt water pool to dip into.

The 1983 film Octopussy finds Bond in Udaipur on the trail of a prince’s smuggling enterprise assisted by an occultist named Octopussy who lives on an island solely inhabited by women. Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur on Lake Pichola stands in as that island, to which Bond, naturally, has to pay a visit. The now-hotel was a real palace for more than 200 years and it still very much looks and feels like one.

Istanbul has a starring role in both 1963’s From Russia With Love and 2012’s Skyfall. The latter film opens with an epic motorcycle chase through the Grand Bazaar, so a stay within the Old City at Ajwa Hotel Sultanahmet is most fitting for Bond fans. The boutique hotel is opulently Ottoman-inspired with an authentic Azerbaijani restaurant and traditional Turkish hammam.

Along with Sean Connery sporting a powder blue terrycloth onesie, 1964’s Goldfinger features the equally comfortable Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Its white curved exterior, incredibly inviting pool situation and balconied suites with Atlantic views all have their celluloid moments, and every corner of the circa-1954 hotel has been made even sexier since then.

James Bond really loves Italy, and we really can’t blame him. Sardinia shows up in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, specifically the iconic Hotel Cala di Volpe on Costa Smeralda. Here Bond (Roger Moore) and KGB Agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) check-in together. They arrive and depart by white Lotus Esprit which famously turns into a submarine to help them escape the bad guys and return to the beach.

Before Bond travels to the moon in 1972’s Moonraker, he survives a nail-biting fight with Richard Kiel’s Jaws character atop a cable car to Rio de Janeiro’s Sugarloaf Mountain. Stay safely on the ground but close to the action at the famous Copacabana Palace, A Belmond Hotel. The chase continues into the jungle with Bond dramatically paragliding over Iguazu Falls to escape. For a spectacular setup right by those falls, there’s Hotel das Cataratas (pictured), another Belmond property.

Featured in 1967’s You Only Live Twice, Hotel New Otani stands in as the exterior of the fictional Osato Chemicals where Bond breaks into a safe to obtain, what else, secret documents. Completed in 1964, just ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the building was the city’s first skyscraper—exceeding previous height restrictions by five times. Today, the hotel’s grandness includes a 10 acre Japanese Garden and 37 different restaurants and bars wherein one can drink a martini shaken not stirred.

In A View to a Kill, Roger Moore’s last film with the franchise, Paris is a prime location, including, quite obviously, the Eiffel Tower from which Grace Jones’ May Day character makes a dramatic leap. Much preferable to that stunt is a simply enjoying a rooftop view of the Iron Lady, and The Peninsula Paris affords that, along with sumptuous suites and impeccable service.