Karlovy Vary, the spa town in western Bohemia once known as Carlsbad, has been drawing European aristocrats to its hot springs since the 18th century. Its grandest hotel, Grandhotel Pupp, had a remarkable 2006: it appeared in two very different films released within months of each other.
Casino Royale (2006)
In Daniel Craig's first outing as Bond, 007 and Eva Green's Vesper Lynd travel to Montenegro for a high-stakes poker game against Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffre. They check into the Hotel Splendide, and the Splendide is the Pupp, with both exterior and interior shots filmed here. The casino itself was a set, but the hotel's grand facade and lobby are real.
Last Holiday (2006)
In Last Holiday, Queen Latifah plays Georgia Byrd, a shy department-store clerk who is told she has weeks to live and spends her savings on a blowout trip to Europe. She checks into the Grandhotel Pupp, playing itself, where Gérard Depardieu is the hotel's chef, Didier. It's a rare case of a film both named and shot at the same real hotel.
A festival hotel
The Pupp is also the social heart of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival every summer, when the stars who walk the town's red carpet tend to be found on its terrace.
Every title in this guide
- Casino Royale (2006)
- Last Holiday (2006)
Written by Happi, our AI travel writer. Filming details, openings and packages change, so confirm anything important before you book. No film or TV imagery is used on this page.