The hotel approach in 007 First Light begins right after your Operations briefing, once Bond drives the coastal road and parks the car. From there the compound is gated by a security scanner and a cluster of guards, and the mission expects you to find your own way past them. There is no single forced path. You can talk, distract, climb, or steal your way in, and a clean run means reaching the upper corridor without ever setting off an alarm.
Prepare your loadout in Operations first
Before the drive, you select gadgets at the Gadget Testing station in Operations, the same spot where you tried the Dartphone earlier. For a quiet hotel run, take the Dartphone and the Smokepod. The Dartphone handles every distraction and pickpocket prompt the infiltration throws at you, which is exactly what the stealth routes rely on.
While you are in the room, sweep it for collectibles so you are not backtracking later. The Arrowhead Report (Intel #5) sits on the desk by the whiteboard if you turn around immediately on arrival, and the 009 Profile (Intel #6) is on a desk near the Pod after Greenway's cutscene. Speak to Moneypenny when you are ready to start the briefing.
Reach the hotel and grab Card #5 on the way
The chapter opens behind the wheel. Drive the long coastal road to the hotel without wrecking the car, then pull into the marked parking spot to trigger the next objective. Park up and head for the first stairwell on foot.
As you climb, an optional path branches off to the left down another set of stairs. Take it to pick up Card #5: Ace of Acorns before you continue. Once you have it, return to the main stairway and walk toward the hotel entrance, where the scanner and guards come into view.
The four clean infiltration routes
Every route ends the same way. Once inside, you walk to the far end of the corridor, push open the double doors, and step onto the balcony to close the chapter. Pick whichever approach matches your gadgets and Instinct points.
| Route | Key item | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Steal the Press Badge | Press Badge (plant pot) | Walking straight through the scanner |
| Brute force the Press Badge | Press Badge (storage box) | Players with a Dartphone charge to spare |
| Fire distraction | Lighter | Reaching the Staff Only window |
| Staff Only area | Drainpipe | Pure stealth, no badge needed |
Route 1: Find the hidden Press Badge
Step 1: Look to your left for a woman in a suit talking on the phone. Eavesdrop on her, and she reveals that a Press Badge is stashed inside one of the large pots.
Step 2: Head back down the original staircase and follow the path to the right, toward the water well.
Step 3: Open the white plant pot beside the well to collect the Press Badge, then walk through the security scanner unflagged.
Route 2: Take the Press Badge by force
Step 1: Move to the right of the security scanner, where guards are standing over a storage box.
Step 2: Pull a guard away. Either use the Dartphone on one of them, or trigger the generator next to the wheelbarrow full of leaves so a guard leaves to investigate.
Step 3: With the guards distracted, open the white box behind them and take the Press Badge.
Route 3: Use the lighter and leaf fire
Step 1: Find the suited man talking with a maid near the stairwell. A Lighter sits on the bench beside him.
Step 2: Pull his attention away with the Dartphone, or turn on the nearby garden hose. Follow the yellow hose to its tap if you cannot spot it. Then take the Lighter while he is distracted.
Step 3: Set fire to the leaves in the wheelbarrow at the far end of the area. When the guard moves to check the flames, slip past toward the open window connected to the Staff Only entrance.
Route 4: Climb the drainpipe from the Staff Only area
Step 1: Go to the right of the guards protecting the Press Badge in the gazebo by the hotel entrance. A Staff Only area sits just beyond them.
Step 2: Bluff your way in if you have enough Instinct points. If you do not, turn on the garden hose outside the area to pull the first guard off.
Step 3: Hop the fence, crouch in the flowers behind the second guard, and circle around to the drainpipe. Climb it to reach the floor inside the hotel.
How to confirm a clean entry
You have infiltrated cleanly when no guard radios for backup and no alarm sounds during your approach. Once you are inside the building, continue to the end of the corridor, push through the double doors, and approach the balcony. That balcony prompt ends the chapter and confirms the infiltration is complete.
Why a run gets flagged
Most failed attempts come down to timing and Instinct. When you ignite the leaves or trigger the generator, move the instant the guard turns away. Waiting gives them time to walk back to their post and spot you mid-theft. Bluffing the Staff Only guard only works if you have the Instinct points for it, so fall back on the garden hose distraction when you are short.
Of the four, the hidden Press Badge in the plant pot is the least error-prone, since it lets you skip every guard interaction and stroll through the scanner like an invited guest. If you would rather save your Dartphone charges for later, the Staff Only drainpipe climb is the cleanest stealth-only option once the garden hose pulls the first guard away.