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Your support makes all the difference.Pera Palace Istanbul
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Bond on film. With Skyfall hitting UK cinemas this weekend, expect the same sharp suits and suave one-liners as Daniel Craig hurtles through a host of exotic locations. Istanbul features for the third time, as Bond ducks and dives through the souks and spice stalls near the Eminonu port. But the city first appeared in 1963’s From Russia with Love, when a smooth-talking Sean Connery checked into Room 32 at the Pera Palace (codename: “Kristal Palas”), only to discover it had been bugged.
Pera Palace, Mesrutiyet Caddesi 52, Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey (00 90 212 377 4000; jumeirah.com). Doubles from €245, room only.
Hôtel Seven Paris
For the ultimate Bond-style bachelor pad, check into the 007 Suite, which oozes masculine muscle with lamps shaped like golden guns, Bond girl graphics and louche LED lighting. Special agents will feel at home under the cool, curved roof, while gadget fans will love the steam-room function in the shower and the “endless” mirror above the bed. There’s also a Nespresso machine if you need a boost after battling baddies and Wi-Fi for touching base with M.
Hôtel Seven, Rue Berthollet 20, Paris, France (00 33 1 43 31 47 52; sevenhotelparis.com). The 007 Suite starts at €447, room only.
Fleming Villa Jamaica
Stay in the house where it all began. Ian Fleming moved to Jamaica after the Second World War and built his house Goldeneye. His writing desk where he wrote all 14 of the Bond books has been preserved in the original Fleming Villa, which is available to rent. After Fleming’s death, the property was bought by Bob Marley and then sold to Island Records’ owner Chris Blackwell, who has added luxury villas, suites and restaurants, which now make up the GoldenEye Resort.
GoldenEye, Oracabessa, St Mary, Jamaica (001 876 6229 007; goldeneye.com). Nightly rental of the Fleming Villa starts at US$6,600 (£4,125). Sleeps 10.
Fontainebleau Miami
Remember the golden corpse? That scene in 1964’s Goldfinger, where Bond girl Jill Masterson meets a fateful end, was filmed at the Fontainebleau. The hotel also features in the opening credits as an aircraft carrying a “Welcome to Miami Beach” banner flutters past Florida’s coastline and when Auric Goldfinger is seen cheating at a game of gin rummy by the pool. Today, the glitzy goliath has 1,504 rooms, a slew of restaurants and slinky cocktail bars. Mr Bond would approve.
Fontainebleau, 4441 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida, US (001 800 548 8886; fontainebleau.com). Doubles start at US$470 (£293), room only.
The Peninsula Hong Kong
The ninth film in the franchise, The Man with the Golden Gun, had the action move to Asia. Bond travels first to the casinos of Macau, following a trail of golden bullets left by Christopher Lee’s Scaramanga. After spotting the villain’s mistress hop into a green Rolls-Royce, 007 tracks the smouldering beauty back to The Peninsula in Hong Kong. The hotel continues to flaunt a 14-strong fleet of the exclusive cars today, along with remodelled rooms and a Philippe Starck-designed restaurant.
The Peninsula, Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong (00 852 2920 2888; peninsula.com). Doubles start at HK$5,880 (£476), including breakfast.
St Ermin’s London
The hushed history of espionage whispers through every corridor of this Westminster hotel. In 1940, Churchill gathered a group of volunteers in the building and formed the SOE (Special Operations Executive). Tasked with waging covert operations in Europe, they used St Ermin’s as their base. In the Fifties, further subterfuge ensued when Cambridge spy Guy Burgess met his Soviet counterpart in the Caxton Bar to pass intelligence to the USSR. The hotel has emerged from the shadows with theatrical interiors and 300 rooms.
St Ermin’s Hotel, 2 Caxton Street, London, UK (020-7222 7888; sterminshotel.co.uk). Doubles start at £140, room only.
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