Hôtel Martinez

Before the hotel, 73 Boulevard de la Croisette was home to a villa called La Coquette, which the deposed King Francis II of the Two Sicilies bought in 1874 and renamed Villa Marie-Thérèse. Emmanuel Michele Martinez, son of Baron Giovanni Martinez, had managed hotels in London and Paris when he bought the villa on 22 September 1927 and had it demolished to make way for his own hotel: seven storeys, with a façade of about a hundred metres flanked by two wings. Building work began on 1 December 1927 under the Nice architect Charles Palmero.

The façade is decorated with marble, granite and mosaic in gold and colour. Martinez inaugurated the hotel on 17 February 1929, and it opened three days later on just two floors. During the Occupation it was partly requisitioned in turn by the French, Italian and German armies. Since 8 February 2001 the building has been recorded in France's Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel.

Since 2013 the hotel has belonged to Constellation Hotels Holdings, a Luxembourg-based company controlled by Qatari capital, and the American group Hyatt was chosen to run it. In April 2013 it was renamed Grand Hyatt Cannes Hôtel Martinez.

After a complete renovation, with the hotel closed from 30 October 2017 to 5 March 2018, it took back its original name and joined Hyatt's Unbound Collection. The interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon reworked the common areas and the rooms, mixing Art Deco with contemporary luxury, and the MICHELIN Guide describes today's interiors as updated neo-Deco. In 2020 the hotel began a third phase of works, which included restoring the north façade, creating a garden of tranquillity, a spa and a swimming lane, and renovating the 1,250 m² seventh-floor penthouse in homage to Isabelle Huppert and Thierry Frémaux.

In June 2026 Atout France awarded the hotel the Palace distinction.

The hotel stands at 73 Boulevard de la Croisette, on the famous seafront promenade of Cannes, and faces the Mediterranean, the Bay of Cannes and the Lérins Islands. The Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes is 0.65 miles away, the Vieux Port 0.8 miles and Le Suquet, the old town, 0.99 miles; the Lérins Islands are 2.12 miles from the hotel.

Nice Côte d'Azur International Airport is 29 km (18 miles) from the hotel and Cannes railway station 2 km (1.2 miles). Limousine and helicopter transfers can be arranged on request from either.

Rooms are furnished in white lacquer with touches of sky blue and light yellow, a palette the hotel describes as soft and relaxing. The smallest, of about 24 m², have a king bed or two twin beds, a kettle, a rain shower and a city view; both versions are on the lower floors and have limited storage. The Deluxe rooms, of about 31 m², look onto the gardens and come with twin beds or a king bed and a rain shower.

Sea views begin with the Premium Vue Mer rooms. The Chambre Premium Vue Mer avec Balcon, of about 36 m², opens onto a balcony with Art Deco columns and has a king bed and a bath or rain shower. The Chambre Premium Twin Vue Mer and Chambre Premium King Vue Mer, both about 38 m², differ in their beds and also offer a bath or rain shower, while the city-facing Chambre Premium Twin, of the same size, has a bath.

The junior suites, of about 45 m², come with a king bed, a sofa bed and a Nespresso machine and face either the sea or the city; the city-view Suite Junior King has both a bath and a rain shower. The Suite Junior avec Terrasse adds a private terrace of about 30 m² to its 50 m². Two further suites, of about 41 and 43 m², are set within the hotel's garden and wellness area, each with a sitting area in a winter garden, a sofa bed and a Nespresso machine; the smaller one has a private terrace.

Larger suites begin with the Suite Executive Vue Ville, about 60 m² with a separate living area, and the Suite Suzanne Martinez, about 80 m² with a private terrace and a separate lounge, both facing the city. On the sea side, the Suite Prestige Vue Mer King has 110 m², separate living and dining areas and a dressing room, and the Suite des Oliviers combines 130 m² with a private terrace of 250 m² overlooking the sea. The Suite Emmanuel Martinez covers 140 m² with a terrace of about 60 m².

Above them all, on the seventh floor, the two Appartements Penthouse total 1,250 m². Named after the actress Isabelle Huppert and Thierry Frémaux, Délégué Général of the Festival de Cannes, they have a décor dedicated to cinema, two bedrooms with bathrooms each and a 480 m² terrace looking over the Bay of Cannes. Bookings are made for the Isabelle Huppert apartment by default; the Thierry Frémaux apartment, or both together, must be requested from the hotel.

La Palme d'Or, the gastronomic restaurant, holds one Michelin star and looks out over the Mediterranean. It serves dinner only, from Tuesday to Saturday. Chef Jean Imbert has led the restaurant since 2023, succeeding Christian Sinicropi, and the MICHELIN Guide describes a dining room that pays tribute to cinema, panelled in wood like a yacht from Hollywood's golden age and filled with authentic film props and posters.

Le Sud, at the centre of the hotel, serves Mediterranean cooking from breakfast to dinner, with a terrace surrounded by a lush garden and a décor inspired by yachting. Breakfast runs daily from 07:00 to 11:00, lunch and afternoon service from 12:00 to 19:00 and dinner from 19:00 to 22:30. Room service is available 24 hours a day.

The Martinez Bar revisits the elegance of the 1930s in a décor by Rémi Tessier, pairing signature cocktails and refined food with rare vinyl records. It opens from Tuesday to Saturday, 18:00 to 02:00, with DJ sets on Friday and Saturday nights from 22:00.

On the beach, La Plage du Martinez serves refined Mediterranean cooking in a setting modelled on the terrace of a chic boat, with views of the sea. Pierre-Yves Rochon redesigned it during the winter of 2018 in a yachting spirit of white and blue with touches of wood, and it reopened in April 2019. Lunch is served daily from 12:00 to 16:00, the bar opens from 10:00 to 17:00 and the beach club from 09:00 to 18:00.

The hotel's Spa by Carita offers massages, manicures and pedicures, with a hairdressing salon and a barber, and access to the spa is free on reservation. Children aged 6 to 14 can book the Little Star Ritual, a gentle back scrub and body massage.

The fitness centre has cardio and weight-training equipment and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The hotel also has a pool.

For families, the Chambre Famille connects a Junior Suite of about 45 m² with a city-view Premium room of about 38 m², giving 83 m² for up to five people. Baby cots are available on request, and in rooms with a balcony the hotel asks parents to keep a close eye on young children.

Inside the hotel, the first Eleventy boutique on the Côte d'Azur stocks the Italian brand born in Milan. Modular function spaces host events from small meetings to large conferences, seminars, exhibitions and gala dinners, and weddings are celebrated in the hotel's Art Deco setting on the Croisette.