Forever famous by association, here are an array of hotels, restaurants and bars from TV and movies that are perfect for feeding your film-loving head.
To this day, tourists run up the 72 “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, recreating the rousing finale of Sylvester’s Stallone’s training montage from the original Rocky (1976). Fans also routinely line up for photo-ops at the Rocky Statue below. The self-guided “Rocky & Creed Tour” showcases Philadelphia attractions and locations from the franchise.
Nearly 50 years later, this undiminished magnetism exemplifies the destination branding power and tourism appeal of film and TV locations. Star Wars (1977) pilgrims still venture to arid Nefta in Eastern Tunisia to see the decaying set of Luke Skywalker’s desert home. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966) faithful trek to Sad Hill Cemetery in Burgos, Spain, setting for the spaghetti western’s climactic Ennio Morricone-themed shootout. In the northernmost part of LGBTQ-friendly Malta, the Popeye Village set from 1980’s Popeye is a popular tourist attraction.
According to a Croatian university study, devotees of HBO’s Game of Thrones spent more than $203 million visiting principal filming locations in Dubrovnik and Split between 2013 and 2018. Northern Ireland, Morocco, Spain and other Game of Thrones destinations have also significantly benefitted from the show, now in prequel mode with House of the Dragon. On the other side of the world, The Lord of the Rings universe has spawned major tourism to New Zealand.
Ian and Ann Fleming, Goldeneye, Jamaica (Photo by Mary Slater (c) Ian Fleming Estate)
Movie locations are big business for U.K.-based global luxury travel operator Black Tomato, which offers curated programs including limited edition trips with “unheard of access” into the world of James Bond.
Much of the allure comes from the indelible emotional connections that people experience when visiting places associated with landmark occasions or events. Fueled by long-term memory brain chemicals like dopamine, these encounters are literally unforgettable. Forever famous by association, here are an array of international hotels, restaurants, and bars from TV and movies that are perfect for feeding your film-loving head.
Speaking of the $20 billion James Bond universe, 007, introduced by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953’s Casino Royale and on screen in 1962’s Dr No, is cinematic gold, with tourism appeal to match. Fleming penned his 14 Bond novels at his Jamaican beachfront home, GoldenEye. Now part of the exclusive collection of villas and cottages at GoldenEye Resort, the five-bedroom Fleming Villa, featuring his original writing desk, is bookable through Airbnb or the resort.
Fontainebleau Miami Beach (Photo by Fontainebleau Miami Beach)
Forever famous by association, here are an array of international hotels, restaurants and bars from TV and Movies that are perfect for feeding your film-loving head.
Aerial footage of curvaceous 1954 “Miami Modern” landmark Fontainebleau Miami Beach ushers in 1964’s Goldfinger following the opening credits. Debuting as 007 in 2006’s Casino Royale, Daniel Craig meets Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd at Grandhotel Pupp in the Czech Republic, where opulent dining spaces include the Grand restaurant and artful Malá Dvorana lobby bar and restaurant. Cited as the inspiration for Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), this 1701 neo-baroque confection hosts the annual Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Central and Eastern Europe’s premier film event.
Located on Mexico City’s historic Zócalo, the world’s secondlargest city square, Gran Hotel Ciudad de México’s two Bond appearances include License to Kill (1989) and the explosive pre-title sequence of Spectre (2015). This Art Nouveau ornament’s charms include a stunning Tiffany-glass atrium and fifth-floor La Terraza Restaurant and Bar, the hottest rooftop spot in town.
Movie romances also feature hotels to lasting effect. Opened in 1887 as a ten-room bungalow, Raffles Singapore defines timeless luxury. Birthplace of the Singapore Sling and off menu Million Dollar Cocktail, both created by Long Bar barman Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915, this Far East landmark was one of four Singapore oases featured in the 2018 blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians.
Along with Capella Singapore on Sentosa Island and Fullerton Hotel Singapore, the quartet includes Marina Bay Sands, where filming venues included the CÉ LA VI bar and restaurant and the infinity pool on the resort’s surfboard-shaped SkyPark observation deck. Four Seasons Resort Langkawi in neighboring Malaysia served as another filming location.
Other Four Seasons screen stars include the legendary 1928 Beverly Wilshire, setting for the 1990 Richard Gere-Julia Roberts hit Pretty Woman. Guests can experience their own fairytale romance with the “Pretty Woman for a Day” package, which includes an escorted Rodeo Drive shopping experience, couples massage and stay in a coveted Specialty Suite, with in-room dinner for two.
San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel (Photo by Four Seasons)
Following season one at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii, where restaurants include Wolfgang Puck’s legendary L.A. flagship Spago, the producers of HBO’s The White Lotus chose San Domenico Palace, a Four Seasons Hotel in Sicily forseason two. Founded in 1374 as a San Dominican convent, the hilltop palace had quite the libertine reputation before the German army takeover in WW2. Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were among the many A-list guests in the ensuing celebrity era.
Opened in 1927 and host venue for the first Academy Awards in 1929, Hollywood Roosevelt is L.A.’s oldest continuously operating hotel and home of former legends. You’ll sleep famously in Room 229, Marilyn Monroe’s pre-fame abode; The Penthouse Suite, where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard once nestled; and Room 928, where Montgomery Clift stayed while filming 1953’s From Here to Eternity. Other spirited echoes include Shirley Temple tap-dancing with Bill “Bojangles” Robinsons on the Spanish-titled steps near the lobby.
Verona Sky Villa at Westgate Las Vegas (Photo by Westgate Las Vegas)
The hot tub scene and other bedroom shots in HBO’s 2013 Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon were filmed in the Verona Suite at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. One of the three penthouse-level Sky Villas, the 15,400-square-foot Verona is America’s largest hotel suite. Amenities include 24-hour butler service, but rest assured, his lips are sealed.
What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson? California filming locations for 1967’s The Graduate included Berkeley’s 1928 Hotel Durant. Relaunched in 2017 as Graduate Berkeley by Chicago-based Graduate Hotels, this artful boutique features The Graduate movie posters in all 144 rooms.
In 1981’s Arthur, Dudley Moore’s uproarious drunken arrival as playboy Arthur Bach at New York City’s Plaza Hotel is among many unforgettable scenes at the fabled 1907 landmark. Other classic appearances include North by Northwest (1959), Plaza Suite (1971), Scent of a Woman (1992) and American Hustle (2013).
Revitalized in 2022 at a cost of $20 million, and yours for $18,000+ a night, the eighth-floor Penthouse Suite at Fairmont San Francisco has seen plenty of action, from guests Alfred Hitchcock, Elton John, and The Rolling Stones to Sean Connery’s daring outdoor terrace escape in 1996’s The Rock.
In 1945, MGM’s leading set director, Mel Melvin, transformed the hotel’s 1929 indoor swimming pool into one of America’s first Tiki palaces, the S.S. Tonga. Renamed the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar, this lagoon-style time capsule is for Mai Tais, Polynesian-fusion cuisine, weather effects, and more.
And who can forget Elton John at the private beach of the 1913 Art Deco InterContinental Carlton in Cannes, where he filmed the video for 1983’s “I’m Still Standing” and where Cary Grant meets Grace Kelly in 1955’s To Catch A Thief.
Tony Curtis & Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot (Photo by Hotel Del Coronado)
San Diego’s glorious Hotel del Coronado is another beachfront classic with evergreen cinematic appeal for its exterior role in the 1959 Marilyn Monroe classic Some Like It Hot. Daily historical property tours showcase the resort’s rich heritage, while the reimagined Sun Deck is ideal for enjoying coastal cuisine and craft cocktails while taking in “The Del’s” red-roofed Victorian splendor.
“The Del” was the setting for Richard Matheson’s 1975 time-travel romance novel Somewhere in Time, but the hypnotic 1980 film adaption, starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, was filmed at The Grand Hotel on Michigan’s Mackinac Island. Ms. Seymour and other cast and crew members frequently attend the hugely popular three-day “Somewhere in Time Weekend” each October. The hotel also sells Ms. Seymour’s line of scarves and fans can book the Jane Seymour and Somewhere in Time suites.
Another classic “time warp” venue is England’s Oakley Court, filming location for multiple features including 1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Located on the banks of the River Thames near Windsor Castle, this 1859 manor-estate became a luxury hotel in the 1980s. Adjacent Bray Studios was home of legendary horror producer Hammer Studios from 1952 to 1966.
In 1974, Stephen King and his wife Tabitha overnighted in room 217 of The Stanley Hotel, an hour north of Denver in mountainous Estes Park, Colo. They were the only guests on property, and spooked by nightmares, King found his inspiration for “The Shining.”
The historic property capitalizes on the 1980 film adaptation’s legacy with the Stephen King Suite (Room 217), and guided Shining walking tours. There’s a replica hedge maze from the film and your money’s good at The Whiskey Bar & Lounge. Sold at auction for $175,000, the original prop axe from Jack Nicholson’s iconic “Here’s Johnny!” scene was anonymously donated to the hotel for its forthcoming on-property Stanley Film Center, slated to open in 2024.
Sex or simulated? Legend says the love scene between Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland in 1973 horror classic Don’t Look Now was real. If killer red dwarves are your thing, revisit this haunting Venetian tale at legendary 1880 Grand Canal-facing Hotel Bauer (slated to reopen in 2025 under the Rosewood flag), where the sizzling scene was filmed, and 14th century Hotel Gabrielli, where the couple stayed.
In the 1880’s, the discovery of mineral-bearing ore in southeastern Australia, about 750 miles west of Sydney, produced boom towns like Broken Hill, where in 1889, The Palace Hotel was built as a grand coffee salon. In 1994, this colorful block-long former “coffee palace” was prominently featured in Oscar-winning drag classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Sleep like a queen in the well preserved Priscilla Suite from the film or go for the popular annual Broken Heel Festival, a three-day celebration of drag and queer culture based at Priscilla’s spiritual home.
Overlooking the iconic Ponte Vecchio, Room 414 at four-star Hotel Degli Orafi in the historic center of Florence, Italy is where Helena Bonham Carter’s Lucy Honeychurch stayed in 1985 Oscar winner A Room With A View. The hotel’s bar also offers beguiling panoramas of Florence.
Other fanciful departures include the TWA Hotel at NYC’s JFK International Airport, setting for scenes in Catch Me If You Can (2002) and season five of TV’s Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Early in 1996’s Mission: Impossible, which lit the fuse on the blockbuster franchise, Tom Cruise, as secret agent Ethan Hunt, explodes a giant aquarium inside a glass-fronted Prague restaurant to escape a suspected nemesis. Leaping through the window ahead of the cascade, he then flees across Prague’s Old Town Square. From assassinations to executions, the landmark square, originated as a 12th century marketplace, has seen many dramatic episodes, Cruise’s actual run included. The “Akvárium” restaurant, however, was fictional, constructed at London’s Pinewood Studios.
Hollywood’s set wizardry aside, real-life movie restaurants and bars serve up a true feast for the senses. Global travelers familiar with chance encounters with strangers on the road will identify with the melancholy encounter in Tokyo between Bill Murray’s and Scarlett Johansson’s characters in Lost In Translation (2003). Setting the suitably provocative mood for their first meeting is the 52nd floor New York Bar and Grill at the Park Hyatt Tokyo.
New York City, where King Kong climbed the Empire State Building in 1933 (and later the World Trade Center towers in 1976), and John Travolta strutted his stuff in Saturday Night Fever (1977), feels like one big movie set.
Gotham locales for culinary-minded cinephiles include Katz’s Delicatessen. In 1988, a century after the oldest Jewish deli in town opened, Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal filmed the memorable fake orgasm scene here for 1989’s rom-com When Harry Met Sally.
Originally a 1930’s Polish catering hall, 7B Horseshoe Bar aka Vazacs, in the East Village is where the Rosato brothers attempt to kill Frank Pentangeli in 1974 Best Picture Godfather II. The landmark neighborhood bar’s other impressive credits include Serpico (1973), The Verdict (1982), Crocodile Dundee (1986), Angel Heart (1987) and Rent (1995).
Other notable NYC film locations include the Upper West Side fixture Tom’s Restaurant, which served as the façade of fictional Seinfeld hangout Monk’s Café; John’s of Bleecker Street, the 1929 Greenwich Village pizzeria where Woody Allen and Mariel Hemingway lunched in 1979’s Manhattan; and Grand Central Terminal’s subterranean Oyster Bar & Restaurant where you can get your Mad Men oysters and martinis fix.
Now upscale Greek restaurant Avra Madison Estiatorio, the original 1940 location of The Copacabana could have its own Hollywood star. Inspiration and setting for Barry Manilow’s 1978 hit song “Copacabana” the storied Midtown nightclub appeared in classic New York films including The French Connection (1971), Raging Bull (1980), and Tootsie (1982). In Goodfellas (1990), the one-take Steadicam shot of Henry and Karen Hill (Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco) whisking into the venue is famed as the “Copa shot.”
The club was named for the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, where the fabled Copacabana Palace, featured in 1933’s Flying Down to Rio with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, turns 100 this summer.
Emerging today as a film production center, Las Vegas’s numerous screen credits include the original 1960 Ocean’s 11 and its 2001 remake, 1979’s The Electric Horseman, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). In his 1995 mob smash Casino, Martin Scorsese taps local dining landmarks including old school Italian driven Piero’s. Father-son owners Freddie and Evan Glusman preside over this 1982 celebrity magnet, where Robert De Niro’s and Sharon Stone’s characters fought in a booth in the prized “A Room” and Joe Pesci’s Tony Spilotro threw Stone down the back stairs.
Recently restored to 24/7/365 service, kitschy 1972 heirloom Peppermill Coffee Shop & Lounge appears in Casino, Showgirls (1995), and other features. Originally Virginia’s Café (1945) and renamed in 1952, Atomic Liquors, the city’s oldest freestanding bar with great late-night eats at attached Atomic Kitchen, is where Casino’s Pesci stabs a character in the neck with a pen.
