No Man’s Land Fort is fit for a Bond villain

No Man's Land sea fort in Solent near Isle of Wight and Portsmouth

A tiny artificial island in the UK with a rather dramatic history is now being transformed into a super-luxurious hotel fit for a Bond villain.

No Man’s Land Fort, located between mainland UK and the Isle of Wright, was built in the 1867s for an estimated cost of $78 million as protection against a French invasion.

But there was one slight oversight — the French weren’t interested in an attack. So the 80 soldiers who were housed there left and it sat abandoned for decades, until the Ministry of Defence tried to sell it in 1963.

Unfortunately nobody wanted to buy it.

It was turned into an extravagant hotel a few decades later, complete with two helipads, 21 bedrooms and a restaurant. However, unfortunately people still weren’t interested in venturing over.

Fast forward to 2004 and it was then bought by developer Harmesh Pooni, who intended to lease it out for special occasions. But then things got worse — there was an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease from the contaminated water in the hotel’s pool. Dismayed and facing financial ruin, Pooni locked himself inside the fortress, but he was eventually evicted in 2009.

Now the fort has been bought by hospitality company Clarenco, who are recruiting for the job of “Fort Ruler”, who must have sailing and fishing experience, while they renovate the private island.

Hopefully they’ll have better luck!

A typical day would involve a trip via speedboat or helicopter to the island, and the task of arranging extravagant events.

Duties will include clearing the seagulls from the helicopter pads, testing the guns in the laser tag playground, trying new wines and checking the light bulb in the lighthouse tower.