USA – Miami, Hotel Fontainebleau // Goldfinger (1964)

The beaches? Golden! The eateries? Golden delicious! The nights? Golden glitter! And these are not even all the reasons to come to Miami Beach…

Why Bond was here
Personally assigned by his boss, 007 (Sean Connery) has to take a look at eccentric bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger (Gerd Fröbe), as he is staying in Miami’s top-shot hotel Fontainebleau. The latter enjoys a game of gin rummy at the hotel’s pool, but rips off his opponent with the help of his aide-de-camp Jill Masterson (Shirley Eaton). From a hotel room, she spies into the card game with field glasses. Well, Bond enters, sweet-talks Jill and thwarts Goldfinger’s game. While the agent comes out of the stunt alive, Jill has to pay an expensive price: In the Fontainebleau’s hotel room she gets covered in gold paint – and thus dies from – what the movie calls – “epidermal suffocation”.

How you gonna get there
The Fontainebleau resides along the oceanfront Collins Avenue in the Mid-Beach area of Miami. As being one the most iconic hotels in town, every cab driver knows the way. From the Miami airport – prominently featured in another Bond movie – a ride costs around 50 US-Dollar. Also available at the airport, company Super Shuttle offers shared rides, starting from 20 US-Dollar per person. Frugal is the Flyer Bus, operating route 150 from the airport to Miami Beach. The bus goes along Turtle Causeway and makes a stop at 41st Street/Indian Creek Drive – just three blocks south of the Fontainebleau. One ride is 2,35 US-Dollar, the bus goes every half hour.
Note, that Connery & Co. never shot at location, but at pool and hotel room replicas, that had been built back home in Pinewood. Only some basic and aerial shoots established the hotel in the movie – so the room with the iconic gold-painted Jill actually can’t be visited.

Good to know
But staying overnight at the Fontainebleau is still a luxurious treat. After its 1 billion Dollar worth renovation in 2008, the hotel has now two buildings with more than thousand rooms, twelve bars and restaurants and a nightclub. Rooms at the Fontainebleau start at 250 US-Dollar per night, including breakfast.
If you’re just looking for a day at the pool, call in advance for a day pass, maybe in combination with a visit at their Lapis Spa – an oasis not only for Bond girls. Even though they kept the outer appearance of the hotel building, the pool area where Goldfinger played his card tricks, today looks completely different.

Opting for dinner, the Fontainebleau’s Italian restaurant Scarpetta is highly recommendable. Miami New Times wrote, “the restaurant simply excels at serving clean flavors” – sure, as their Chef cook is award winning US-Italian Scott Conant, who knows how to give plain Italian dishes a modern, exotic twist. The Scarpetta is the right place for a romantic dinner as well as a nice start into the hot nightlife of Miami Beach.

Don’t miss
And that you should, because: Coming to Miami and NOT visiting Miami Beach is clearly a sin. Even it’s called the “American Riviera”, Miami Beach has a lot more to offer than just sandy beaches. During the daytime a walk trough the Art Deco district is a must for every architecture lover. From 6th Street to 23rd Street, down the Ocean Drive and West to the Meridian Avenue are more than thousand buildings under monumental protection. Once a year the Miami Design Preservation League throws a big festival in the streets of the district. They also offer guided walking tours through the district, a 90 minutes tour for 25$, students get a discount.
The Ocean Drive is also the hotel strip in Miami Beach, where you can find cheaper accommodations than the high end Fontainebleau. Stylish, with a Spa on the rooftop as well as regular yoga classes, is The Betsy Ross – built in 1942 by Art Deco expert L. Murray Dixon. The slogan of the boutique hotel is as poetic as true to their excellent service: Expect no more. This is happiness.

To explore whole Miami Beach, opt for renting a bike cruising down to the Marina and through the Design District, home to over 130 art galleries, showrooms, creative services, stores, antiques dealers, eateries and bars. Every second Saturday of each month, a community wide Art & Design Night is held from 7-10 p.m. The Design District is roughly divided by NE 36th Street to the south, NE 43rd Street to the north, NW 1st Avenue to the west and Biscayne Boulevard (US 1) to the east.
Tired after all that browsing? Opt for the best burger in the world and stop by Shake Shack in Midtown Miami. (And if you think, we recommend them before … you’re absolutely right)
After all this gluttony, it’s time to dive head over heels in Miami’s nightlife. Two of the most popular and biggest clubs are The Mansion and Bamboo Miami. Gents should come in a crisp shirt and dress pants, while ladies should go for the classic little black dress – well, you know your Bondish appearance. Without proper clothing not even a Connery smile can help you pass the sturdy bouncers. For a calmer night, and combining even more good food with cutting up a mean floor, go for the Española Way. The area is only two blocks long, but houses Spanish tapas bars attended by cool Mexican beer and delicious Portuguese wine and is romantically decorated with lampoons strained over the street.

 

Miami was the last station of our honeymoon. After the calm stay at the Bahamas’ New Providence island, the city really invited us for a good time. Not only because we are foodies and couldn’t resist all the delicacies offered, but also because Miami is a lot like New York: Vibrant, pulsating, but even more colorful. And of course with beaches!

© Flickr/Philipp Pessar (1), © 1964 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. (2,3), © 2015 Huntingbond (4 & gallery)