Hôtel Martinez

The Croisette Address That Defines a Category

Stand at the eastern end of the Boulevard de la Croisette on a May evening during the Film Festival, and the neon rooftop sign of Hôtel Martinez functions less as a hotel identifier than as a civic landmark. The building's Art Deco silhouette has been part of Cannes' working skyline since the 1930s, and its position at 73 Boulevard de la Croisette places it at what most visitors would agree is the commercial and ceremonial spine of the French Riviera's most concentrated strip of luxury. That address is not incidental to the experience; it is the experience. The hotel sits directly across from its own private beach, La Plage du Martinez, meaning that the distance from your room to salt water is measured in metres rather than minutes.

In the Riviera grand-hotel category, proximity to the sea and the Croisette promenade is the primary asset that separates the top tier from the rest. The Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel occupies a comparable stretch of the boulevard, while smaller properties like the Five Seas Hotel and Hôtel Belle Plage offer more intimate alternatives without the same scale of facilities. The Martinez, with 410 keys, holds a different position: it is large enough to support a full complement of restaurants, bar, spa, and private beach infrastructure, yet it operates within the Unbound Collection by Hyatt, a brand tier reserved for historic landmark properties rather than standard international hotels. That distinction matters when you consider what the building is actually housing.

Interiors That Negotiate Between Eras

The architectural tension at the Martinez is the one that all grand Riviera hotels must manage: how do you honour a building from the 1930s without making it feel like a museum? The answer here leans toward the nautical. Designer Pierre-Yves Rochon worked with the palette that the Mediterranean itself supplies: blue, white, and yellow, carried through the 410 rooms in white lacquer furniture, white terrazzo floors, and door handles made by master glassmakers from the Île de Bréhat. Bathrooms use white marble and mosaic tilework. The effect is fresh rather than period-preserved, though the public spaces retain the high ceilings and ornate chandeliers that anchor the building's original register.

Room categories here range from standard sea-view rooms to the Penthouse, which at more than 12,100 square feet is among the larger hotel suites available anywhere in Europe. The Penthouse combines two separate suites and includes bathtubs oriented toward the sea, a private cinema room, and wellness areas that can be configured as a yoga space, massage room, or hair salon depending on guest preference. Garden suites come with expansive private terraces. Many standard rooms carry sea views, and the hotel's position means that even hill-facing rooms overlook Cannes' rolling backdrop rather than an urban void.

Four Food and Drink Formats, One Kitchen Direction

The Martinez concentrates a significant amount of its current identity in its food and beverage programme, all of which operates under the direction of Chef Jean Imbert, whose twin references are gastronomy and cinema. That combination suits a hotel whose highest-profile annual moment is the Film Festival, when the property operates as a working venue for industry events as much as a place of accommodation.

La Palme d'Or, which holds one Michelin star, reopened in May 2024 during the Film Festival in a redesigned space that references a vintage boat: lacquered wood, a cinematic interior, and a seafood-forward menu drawing from Mediterranean produce. The restaurant is the most formally ambitious of the four outlets and carries the weight of the hotel's gastronomic credentials. It is also the most explicitly Riviera-specific in terms of its reference points, pairing sun-driven produce with the kind of theatrical presentation that the Film Festival context rewards.

La Plage du Martinez, the beach club on the sand directly across the Croisette, runs a more casual Riviera format: fresh-pressed juices, cocktails, local fish, and Mediterranean dishes served in director's chairs facing the water. The collaboration with Imbert brings the same kitchen direction down to a beach-casual register without losing coherence across the property. Adjacent to the restaurant, the private beach itself provides sun beds on both the sand and a pontoon, which extends the footprint of the hotel's coastal offer into the water.

Le Sud handles the hotel's all-day dining function: indoor and outdoor seating with garden access, a Mediterranean-leaning menu, and a reference to the energy of the Roaring Twenties that echoes the hotel's own period. The breakfast service here draws particular mention in inspector notes as among the stronger hotel breakfast offers in Cannes.

The Martinez Bar sits on the Croisette side of the building and operates in a 1930s speakeasy register: red and gold interiors, plush seating, a vinyl bar, and live DJ sets on weekends and through summer. It functions both as a hotel bar for guests and as a destination in its own right for evening gatherings on the Croisette. For broader context on where these outlets sit within the Cannes food scene, see our full Cannes restaurants guide.

Wellness at Scale

The spa operates under Carita, one of the heritage French beauty and skincare names, and is situated within the hotel's interior garden, called L'Oasis. The facilities include seven treatment rooms, an outdoor pool, a glass-fronted fitness area equipped by TechnoGym, and a bar oriented toward detoxifying drinks. The garden setting places the wellness zone inside a green interior courtyard, which creates an acoustic and visual separation from the boulevard outside without requiring guests to leave the building. Compared with the spa formats at villa-scale Riviera properties like La Réserve Ramatuelle, the Martinez spa operates as a full-service urban facility rather than a retreat-focused programme, which suits the hotel's profile as a place that balances events, gastronomy, and relaxation simultaneously.

Awards and Peer Context

La Liste Leading Hotels awarded the Martinez 90.5 points in its 2026 edition, placing it within a recognised tier of European grand hotels. Gault & Millau added an Exceptional Hotel designation in 2025. These are the two primary third-party signals attached to the property and they position it within the same conversation as other documented historic hotel addresses across France: the Domaine Les Crayères in Reims, Baumanière Les Baux-de-Provence, or Cheval Blanc Paris, each carrying landmark status in their respective geographies. On the Riviera specifically, the Martinez competes directly with the Carlton for the full-scale Croisette grand hotel position, while properties like Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, The Maybourne Riviera, and Château de la Chèvre d'Or in Èze operate in adjacent geographies with different physical formats.

For travellers comparing the Martinez against design-forward alternatives, the Mondrian Cannes offers a contemporary counterpoint within the city, and further afield, properties like Airelles Saint-Tropez, Casadelmar in Porto-Vecchio, La Bastide de Gordes, and Villa La Coste represent the Provence and Mediterranean villa-hotel alternative to the grand boulevard format. Those seeking comparable grand-hotel energy in other European cities might reference Aman Venice, Aman New York, or The Fifth Avenue Hotel as points of reference in different geographies. Within France's alpine and wine-country tier, Cheval Blanc Courchevel, Four Seasons Megève, Les Sources de Caudalie, Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, Castelbrac in Dinard, and Hôtel & Spa du Castellet each represent what the French luxury hotel model looks like when removed from the coast.

Planning Your Stay

The hotel is located at 73 Boulevard de la Croisette, which places it within walking distance of the Palais des Festivals, the main conference and event venue for the Film Festival and other Cannes congresses. During Festival weeks in May, the property operates at full occupancy and the atmosphere shifts markedly from the rest of the year; if the Film Festival is not your primary reason for visiting, late spring outside of Festival dates, early autumn, and winter offer considerably different conditions. The 410-key footprint means the hotel can handle conference and event groups while maintaining leisure guest operations, but it also means public spaces are more animated during high-season peaks than at smaller properties.

FAQ

What room should I choose at Hôtel Martinez?

For most stays, a sea-view room positions you to use the Croisette-to-beach axis that defines the hotel's core offer. The Suite des Oliviers adds a private terrace with loungers, dining table, and water views for those wanting outdoor space without the Penthouse scale. The Penthouse, at over 12,100 square feet, is suited to extended stays or group bookings requiring private cinema and configurable wellness space; it combines the Suite Isabelle Huppert and Suite Thierry Frémaux into a single floor. Garden suites are the quieter alternative, with expansive terraces opening onto the hotel's interior garden rather than the boulevard.

What's the defining thing about Hôtel Martinez?

The combination of a Michelin-starred restaurant (La Palme d'Or, one star, reopened May 2024), a private beach directly across the Croisette, and an Art Deco building with La Liste 90.5-point recognition makes the Martinez one of the few addresses in Cannes where all major hospitality functions operate at a documented award level under one roof. The Gault & Millau Exceptional Hotel designation (2025) adds an independent French gastronomy-focused signal that few Riviera hotels carry simultaneously with waterfront scale.

What's the leading way to book Hôtel Martinez?

Given the hotel's Film Festival profile and its position as a Cannes landmark, direct booking through Hyatt's Unbound Collection channel typically provides the most access to room-type preferences and event-period availability. If you are travelling during the Film Festival in May, the property reaches full occupancy weeks in advance; off-season dates in early autumn or winter carry significantly more flexibility. EP Club members should consult the club's booking channel for preferred-rate access.

What's the leading use case for Hôtel Martinez?

The Martinez suits travellers who want a single address to cover beach access, fine dining, evening bar programming, and event attendance without moving between properties. The private beach, four food and drink outlets, Carita spa, and boulevard position make it the most self-contained of the major Cannes hotels. It is particularly coherent during Film Festival week, when the hotel functions as a professional and social hub for industry visitors alongside leisure guests, though that same quality makes it the most animated and logistically demanding period to book.

Does La Palme d'Or at Hôtel Martinez operate year-round, and when should I plan a reservation?

La Palme d'Or, which holds one Michelin star under Chef Jean Imbert, marked its reopening in May 2024 to coincide with the Cannes Film Festival, which is historically its highest-profile operating window. As a gastronomic restaurant within a seasonally driven Riviera hotel, its programme aligns closely with the hotel's peak periods; diners specifically targeting the restaurant should factor Film Festival timing into their planning or consider shoulder-season visits when the rhythm of service is less compressed. The restaurant's cinema-themed interior and seafood-forward Mediterranean menu make it a strong pairing with a stay rather than a standalone destination, given the hotel's full suite of facilities.