As the "Palm Beach Post" today reports in its travel column, a 200-year-old mansion in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, is going to feature in Casino Royale. The villa called "Buena Vista", contains a legendary restaurant "where waiters in burgundy jackets serve charcoal-broiled lobster and curried grouper to such illustrious patrons as Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine and Julio Iglesias".

The Buena Vista

According to Stan Bocus, who owns the mansion for about 31 years, the old colonial building will be painted to make it look even older when it is transformed into the embassy, where the new James Bond will take on bad guys in the upcoming Casino Royale. The article specifies that the “Buena Vista” is going to double for the Liberian Embassy in Madagascar. So are the Bahamas doubling for Madagascar?

It is also said that filming on the Bahamas is not due before February 23. Last month, sources told different news outlets that filming would commence on January 30 in Nassau. Over the last two weeks, however, several sources reported that filming starts in Prague, not the Bahamas. There are also rumours that the 2nd unit already started filming in the insular state. Hopefully, we will officially know by tomorrow.

The official website of the "Buena Vista" restaurant can be found here.

Casino Royale is the 21st James Bond film produced by franchise holders Eon Productions. The MGM/Columbia Pictures production begins shooting in January and is due for release worldwide on 17 November 2006. Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, it will be filmed in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.

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