Constructed in 1927 in an Art Deco style, then renovated in 1988, this imposing building has been part of a general inventory of cultural patrimony since 2001. During the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, the stars and other onlookers will surely be surprised to see the words “Grand Hyatt” tacked onto the name “Martinez”; the giant international hotel chain has been put in charge of managing the institution. The hotel will nevertheless keep the characteristics that gave it its renown: 409 rooms including 27 suites, a private sand beach, a 2 Michelin-starred restaurant – La Palme d’Or – that is the only one in Cannes. This restaurant, keeping in line with an old custom, always hosts the members of the jury and its President – this year, Audrey Tautou is the Master of Ceremonies – the night before the opening of the official competition. Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Brad Pitt are all well accustomed to this étoilé restaurant.
Moreover, the private outdoor pool and the 900 m² Spa Martinez make this destination particularly popular with stars and other actors during the festival. French TV channel Canal + has set up shop every year since 1986 on the Martinez’s private beach for their “spécial festival de Cannes” news broadcast. Before the festival’s creation in 1946, the hotel was more frequented by intellectuals like Paul Valéry or industrialists like André Citroën that came to rest and recharge. But it has since become a sort of resort for Hollywood stars and muses of the 7th art with notably Liz Taylor, Charlie Chaplin, and more recently Scarlett Johansson and Monica Bellucci among its clients. The Martinez is also a party destination. Jamiroquaï offered a concert to festival-goers in 2011 that excited and ravished them with a colorful show in the salons of the Martinez.
The owners may now be Qatari while the managers are American, but stars and other actors will still no doubt flock to France to spend time in this iconic hotel during the Cannes festival.
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