This is where Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier, here Hitchcock filmed To Catch a Thief, and here Elton John partied with Duran Duran. After three years of renovation, Carlton Cannes is a new hotel behind a façade from 1911.
In this story · 6 sections
In the middle of La Croisette in Cannes stands a long white façade with two black domes, one on each corner facing the sea. The Carlton Cannes is the city's most photographed hotel and the address most often associated with the film festival. Since spring 2023, an essentially new hotel has stood behind the 1911 façade.
Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel
Hotel · La Croisette
© OpenStreetMap contributors · OpenFreeMap
- Address
- 58 boulevard de la Croisette, 06400 Cannes
The Belle Époque palace that reopened in 2023 with a new garden, pool and spa.
01A Russian grand duke and a Swiss hotelier
A first Carlton already existed in Cannes in 1834, according to the French Wikipedia, but it was a simple bathing hotel. In 1909, Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich of Russia moved to Cannes, in exile after his forbidden marriage to Sophie von Merenberg, Pushkin's granddaughter. He was dissatisfied with the old Carlton and helped finance a new one.
It was built in 1909–1910 for the Swiss hotelier Henry Ruhl, designed by the architects Charles Dalmas from Nice and Marcellin Mayère from Cannes. The hotel opened on 30 January 1911 and was such a success that the neighbouring Hôtel de la Plage was bought and demolished. In 1912–1913 a new wing was built with the second dome, and the hotel took on the form it has today.
02The domes and La Belle Otero
According to a long-standing story, the domes were modelled on the breasts of Caroline Otero, La Belle Otero, the Riviera's most famous courtesan in the years around the First World War. The restaurant on the seventh floor was named after her. It later closed, and in 2004 the whole floor was converted into seven suites, according to Wikipedia.
During the First World War, the hotel was partly used as a hospital. From 1946, when the film festival started, it became the film world's hotel in Cannes. Since 10 October 1984, it has been protected as a historic monument.
03Grace Kelly, Hitchcock and Elton John
The Carlton was one of the main locations in Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. When Grace Kelly was staying at the hotel during the 1955 film festival, a meeting and photo shoot were arranged with Prince Rainier III of Monaco. They married in 1956.
In the summer of 1983, the video for Elton John's I'm Still Standing was filmed at the hotel and on its beach. According to Wikipedia, he also held a party with the band Duran Duran that has become a legend at the hotel – and which caused significant damage to his suite. Parts of Lawrence Kasdan's French Kiss from 1995 were also filmed in and around the hotel.
The hotel also has a history of jewel thefts. On 28 July 2013, jewellery worth 136 million dollars was stolen from a Leviev exhibition at the hotel, according to Wikipedia. No one has been convicted of the theft.
04Owners from Grand Metropolitan to Katara
The Reynaud family and its partners owned the Carlton for almost half a century. In the late 1960s it was bought by the British Grand Metropolitan, and in 1982 it became part of Inter-Continental. In 2006 it was sold to Morgan Stanley, in 2011 to the Lebanese businessman Toufic Aboukhater, and in 2014 to Katara Hospitality, which is owned by the State of Qatar.
05The 2020–2023 renovation
On 10 September 2020, the hotel closed for a renovation and extension which, according to the French Wikipedia, cost 300 million euros and was carried out with Vinci. The interior architect Tristan Auer and the landscape firm Land'Act were given the commission. On 13 March 2023, the Carlton reopened as one of the first hotels under IHG's Regent Hotels & Resorts brand, and the grand reopening was held on 17 May 2023 during the film festival.
The hotel has gained two new buildings with suites, an inner garden of 2,000 square metres with a bar and infinity pool, a spa and gym, and 1,800 square metres of conference space. According to the regional tourist board, the hotel today has 369 rooms and is open all year round. Down on the sand lies the Carlton Beach Club. In 2025, the hotel received five stars in the Forbes Travel Guide.
06Cannes around the hotel
The Palais des Festivals is about a kilometre away along La Croisette, as is the railway station. Nice airport is 25 kilometres along the coast. More destinations can be found among our Riviera guides on metromode.co, and if you want to follow Grace Kelly's footsteps further, our Monaco guide is the next stop.
