If I was to tell you that there is a Bond-themed speakeasy bar hidden beneath Whitehall in rooms frequented by intelligence officers during the Second World War, possibly Ian Fleming too, would you accuse me of joking? How about if I added that the bar has an Aston Martin DB5 actually installed into the wall?
Well, I never joke about my favourite bars, 007 fans.
Such a place really does exist. If this is news to you, then that’s fitting: it’s kind of the point of a secret bar to remain, well, secret.
I first heard Spy Bar whispered about a year ago, around the time Raffles London was preparing to open its doors for the first time. The 5 star luxury hotel occupies the site of the abandoned Old War Office, workplace of wartime luminaries T.E. Lawrence, Winston Churchill and Ian Fleming, who was in and out of the building in his role with naval intelligence whilst based at the Admiralty. The Old War Office appeared onscreen as MI6 headquarters in Octopussy, A View to a Kill and Licence to Kill. By GoldenEye, Bond’s MI6 had moved down the river to Vauxhall. But when this building was fictionally destroyed in Skyfall, M and his staff move first into the War Rooms below Whitehall and then into the nearby Old War Office. MI6’s new digs are actually the very old digs. At the close of Skyfall, when Bond meets Moneypenny on the roof, it’s the rooftop of the Old War Office in the foreground. The domed towers are instantly recognisable. Daniel Craig was actually standing on the adjacent roof of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, but let’s not allow reality to get in the way.
Although the Old War Office was leased by the British Government for 250 years to private investors at a cost of 350 million pounds, the heritage of the building lives on: the full name of the luxury hotel is Raffles London at The OWO. After a six-year renovation costing £1.4 billion, Raffles London opened in September 2023.
Based on my experience at the hotel’s Spy Bar, the staff are well aware of the building’s history and proud to share it with patrons. This became readily apparent when we got slightly lost on the way to the Spy Bar. In our defence, there are no signs pointing the way (because: secret), so it’s easy to get turned around. Detecting our confusion, a member of the hotel team sidled up to us, adopted an appropriately clandestine sotto voce tone and pointed us in the right direction to our destination, but not before imparting a nugget of history: “These,” he gestured up and down the tastefully appointed but also slightly intimidating corridor, “were rooms used for briefing, debriefing and interrogating spies before and after going into the ‘field’, and working behind enemy lines in occupied Europe during the Second World War.”
The door he directed us toward looked exactly the same as the rest – except right at the top, below the frame, a small black plaque with gold-lettering: 007.
It’s hard to overstate the impact of walking into the Spy Bar for the first time and no photos will do it justice. Which is just as well really, as you’re not allowed to take your own photos. The bar’s Manager, Sotiris Konomi, told me he wants visitors to the Spy Bar to be fully in the moment and create memories of a true experience, rather than merely get some cool photographs.
It was Sotiris himself who opened the door subtly marked ‘007’. He brought us into an anteroom containing a desk, methodically laid out with a typewriter, dictation machine and a rotary phone: everything needed by a secretary in the mid-20th Century. It was like being transported through time. Miss Moneypenny was clearly away on duty elsewhere, so we happily took turns covering for her. When we’d finally had enough mucking around with phones and the rest, Sotiris prepared us for the Spy Bar itself, but not before placing stickers over our camera lenses. For Your Eyes Only indeed.
And then Sotiris opened the facing door. The one ominously marked ‘You Are Now Entering a Restricted Area’…
It’s a peculiar feeling to see something so beautiful and have to resist reaching for your smartphone so you can take a phone. So conditioned have we become, that it’s almost a reflex. But my first look at the Spy Bar confirmed that Sotiris’s no-photo philosophy was spot on. It was far better to attempt to drink it all in. And it was a lot.
You emerge into plush, Bordeaux-red interiors illuminated by subtle, atmospheric lighting. These rooms, originally numbered 006 and 007, functioned as high-security storage vaults for falsified identity papers and mission reports of MI5 and MI6 agents.
But it’s the Aston Martin that will probably draw the most attention of Bond fans. We were given the choice of sitting at the bar – right below the DB5 – or at a table. We chose to sit with the DB5, although the tables were an attractive option too.
As awe-inspiring as any bar might be visually, it counts for nought if the drinks aren’t up to scratch.
Sotiris talked us through the menu he had created. A signature experience is a tasting flight of Macallan whiskies, a Bond favourite since Skyfall, with perfectly paired nibbles. There’s also a bewildering list of vintage spirits and liqueurs, from forty year old Cointreau (tastes completely different to the mass-produced modern version) to three hundred year old Cognac. Prices are commensurate with antiquity; should your pockets be deep enough, you can pay up to £10,000 for a shot of history.
At the menu’s core there’s an bevy of bespoke cocktails, some inspired by the adventures of 007 and others by the daring exploits of real life British intelligence operatives, including Churchill’s favourite spy, Christine Granville.
Of course, like any self-respecting Bond fan, I had to try the Spy Bar’s signature Vesper before anything else. This is the result of Sotiris’s extensive ‘research’, which included sampling every renowned martini in London, which sounds like my kind of research. Sotiris explained that his aim was to get as close to Fleming’s recipe as possible. The biggest impediment was original ingredient Kina Lillet being out of production for four decades. Sotiris has carefully chosen ingredients to reproduce the quinine-forward flavour. I’ll resist listing all of the ingredients for this and the other cocktails we imbibed to preserve the surprise for when you visit yourself.
No spoilers, then, but I found the Spy Bar Vesper to be incredibly balanced – strong, but not overpowering. I’m doubtful it would be a good idea to order six like James Bond does in Quantum of Solace, but the experience would be a pleasurable one (at least until the next morning).
My friend John was driving, so he ordered the alcohol-free version (“delicious… just the right hint of lemon and very refreshing.”). The Spy Bar’s menu is one of the few I’ve encountered where the ‘virgin’ versions of the signature drinks are almost as appealing as the boozy originals.
Resolutely not getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle myself, I continued to work my way through the menu of spy-inspired libations.
I asked Sotiris which of his creations was his personal favourite and he declared it was the ‘Double O Seven’. Again, you’ll have to find out for yourself what it contains and what it tastes like, but I found it to be worthy of the name.
One of the most overlooked Bond beverages is the Americano. If you order an Americano in a bar these days you’re more likely to be given a mug of lengthened espresso rather than a pleasing concoction of Campari, red vermouth and soda. But this is actually the first alcoholic drink Bond ever orders, in Fleming’s Casino Royale. Sotiris Konomi hasn’t overlooked it. He calls his version a ‘Bijou Americano’. Find out why when you visit.
In its short existence, the Spy Bar has already been awarded the prestigious ‘Outstanding’ grade by The Pinnacle Guide, making it one of only 12 best cocktail bars in the world to receive the accolade. And it more than lives up to the grading. This is a special space in a unique place – and an essential visit for Bond fans.
To visit Spy Bar yourself:
Book via: 00 44 (0)20 3907 7500 or email: undercover.london@raffles.com
Image credits
Signature Vesper, Macallan tasting, Double O Seven, portrait of Bar Manager Sotiris Konomi, 007 door exterior, hotel exterior and rooftop view: Raffles London at The OWO, used with their permission. All other images: author’s own
2026 Membership Aston Martin Bar Cocktail Cocktails luxury hotel
Last modified: 13 January 2026
