Striking James Bond lairs that serve up architectural eye candy

For someone as quick-witted as James Bond, you’d have thought that making a visit to a nemesis’ high-security, isolated lair with no back up would be out of the question.

It doesn’t generally end well for him, yet he doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.

In Spectre, Bond catches a train through the desolate Moroccan countryside and ends up with his head being drilled into at the desert lair of Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

While these lairs tend to signal imminent danger for Bond, the good news for us is that these hideouts offer us striking, extravagant architectural eye candy alongside nerve-inducing drama.

ESO Residencia Hotel, Paranal, Chile

In Quantum Of Solace, Bond makes his way to Chile’s Atacama Desert where he visits the eco-hotel of a so-called ‘environmental-entrepreneur’ Dominic Greene, who in fact has evil plans to control the water supply in Bolivia. 

In reality the ‘hotel’ is a residence for the scientists and engineers at the Paranal Observatory.

Tourists are able to take guided tours of the complex, but you can’t actually stay overnight unless you work there.

The award-winning Residencia building has the majority of its structure buried underground. Photo: Alberto Ghizzi Panizza.

Piz Gloria, Swiss Alps

In the sixth Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, James Bond makes his way to an allergy research clinic at the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. 

The clinic is in fact the swish lair of baddie Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of a global criminal organisation called Spectre.

Bond, played by Australian George Lazenby, gets caught but manages to escape by skiing down Piz Gloria in the dark, while giving chase to the baddie’s henchmen.

In real life, the lair is in fact a 360-degree revolving restaurant, which you can get to by cable car.

Schilthorn​ is a revolving restaurant. Photo: Schilthorn.ch.

Hashima, Japan

In Skyfall, James Bond sails to an abandoned island off Macau, where he is taken prisoner by the villain, Raoul Silva.

Silva, played by spanish actor Javier Bardem, is a former MI6 employee turned cyber-terrorist who bears striking similarity to Batman’s nemesis The Joker.

The small island, which is actually 15 kilometres from the Japanese city of Nagasaki, became a coal mine in the late 1880s and a densely populated space that thousands of residents called home.

In the 1970s, the mine was closed and residents were forced to leave, with the abandoned buildings left to deteriorate.

In this June 29, 2015 photo, tourists visit a part of Hashima Island, commonly known as Gunkanjima​, which means Battleship Island, off Nagasaki, southern Japan. Photo: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko.

​Reynolds Bauxite Pier, Jamaica

James Bond, played by Sean Connery, heads off to tropical Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a British Intelligence Station Chief.

In Jamaica, Bond is taken prisoner by the villainous Dr No who lives on the fictional island of Crab Key. which was in fact filmed in Ocho Rios. 

Filming took place near Ocho Rios at Reynolds Pier, a bauxite mine, where Bond manages to escape with quintessential Bond Girl Honey Ryder.

Dr No’s lair is in fact an old Jamaican bauxite mine. Photo: 007museum.com

Elrod House, Palm Springs

In Diamonds Are Forever, Elrod House features as the reclusive Willard Whyte’s summer villa, where he is being held captive.

Upon arriving at the home, Bond (Sean Connery) is greeted and then quickly attacked by two bodyguards employed by villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

The fight begins in the loungeroom of the home, before Bond and the women end up in the striking outdoor pool.

Elrod House is an iconic house in Palm Springs, designed by American architect John Lautner in 1968.

The Elrod House in Palm Springs was designed by John Lautner. Photo: realtor.com

Taj Lake Palace

The spectacular Taj Lake Palace in India’s Udaipur​ is home to Bond villain and jewel smuggler Octopussy. 

Dubbed the ‘Floating Palace’, the building is home to the ‘Octopus Cult’, a group of ‘stray’ women who are fiercely loyal to their leader, Octopussy, their saviour.

James Bond manages to infiltrate the palace by swimming up in a crocodile disguise.

In reality, the palace used for the filming of Roger Moore’s James Bond film in 1983, is in fact a lavish five-star hotel with 83 rooms.

The floating hotel is home to Octopussy in the James Bond film of the same name. Photo: tajhotels.com