Hôtel Martinez – the white liner that still rules the Croisette

Hôtel Martinez occupies the eastern curve of Cannes's Boulevard de la Croisette, a long white liner of a building that has set the tone for this stretch of seafront since 1929. It was opened by Emmanuel Michele Martinez, a hotelier from a noble Sicilian family, who bought the plot's old Villa Marie-Thérèse from the exiled Spanish king Alfonso XII to build his own grand hotel on the Côte d'Azur. Architect Charles Palmero gave it a clean, angular, resolutely modern silhouette at a moment when the Riviera's grand hotels still leaned on Belle Époque ornament. With 409 rooms, including 99 suites, spread across seven floors, it remains Cannes's biggest hotel and, since being awarded France's Palace distinction in June 2026, the only one in the city to hold that title. The MICHELIN Guide includes the Martinez among its selected Cannes hotels. Every May it turns into an unofficial annexe of the Film Festival: the jury's own dinner is served at La Palme d'Or, a floor below rooms where the festival's biggest names have slept for almost a century.

01The house

Before it was a hotel, the site belonged to the exiled Spanish king: in 1927 Emmanuel Michele Martinez, already a manager of hotels in London and Paris, bought the Villa Marie-Thérèse from Alfonso XII to build his own establishment on the Côte d'Azur. Two years later the Martinez opened its doors as one of the largest and most visually striking hotels built in France at the time, its sleek angular white plasterwork announcing a sharp break from the Baroque-leaning Belle Époque palaces along the same seafront. The Second World War interrupted its glamour: the building was occupied in turn by the French Army, the Italian Army, the Commission d'Armistice and the German Army, before the US Air Force moved in after Victory in Europe Day.

The building's bones have survived every redecoration since: a majestic central staircase still spirals up through the lobby, and in the corridors original lithographs by Dufy, Picasso and Nicolas de Staël remain on the walls. The most recent full renovation was overseen by designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, who reworked the public rooms and bedrooms without abandoning the 1929 vocabulary of white lacquer, chrome and pale blue — and the lobby now also hosts exhibitions by contemporary artists, including Damien Hirst. That history and investment were formally recognised in June 2026, when the Hôtel Martinez became the only hotel in Cannes to be awarded France's Palace distinction, the country's highest hotel classification, created by Atout France in 2010 for five-star properties judged exceptional for their location, history and service.

02Rooms and suites

All 409 rooms and suites carry Rochon's palette of white lacquer and sky blue, with marble bathrooms, white terrazzo floors and door handles crafted by master glassmakers on the Île de Bréhat. Many open onto private terraces facing the Croisette, the bay or the Estérel hills. Two signature suites still carry the founders' names: the 80 sqm Suite Suzanne Martinez, in white and navy, with its own private terrace, and the larger 140 sqm Suite Emmanuel Martinez, which adds a dining area and a 60 sqm terrace.

Insider tip

Opened 1929, redesigned by Pierre-Yves Rochon, home to La Palme d'Or.

On the seventh floor, two interconnecting apartments named for the actress Isabelle Huppert and Thierry Frémaux, the Cannes Film Festival's general delegate, together form 1,250 sqm — among the largest suites in Europe — with 180-degree views over the Bay of Cannes.

03Where to eat

La Palme d'Or, the hotel's gastronomic restaurant named after the festival's top prize, reopened on 14 May 2024 under chef Jean Imbert, who has cooked in Cannes's festival kitchens since he was sixteen. Set on a terrace with panoramic views of the Riviera, its cuisine is built around fish and other Mediterranean seafood, sourced locally. The restaurant earned a MICHELIN star less than a year after reopening, succeeding an earlier two-star era at the same address; it has held one star since 2025, and the festival's jury dinner is still served there every year.

Beside it, Le Sud is the hotel's lobby-bar restaurant, opening onto a garden that faces the Croisette. On weekends, brunch moves to the Jardin du Martinez, while summer evenings bring cocktails on the sand.

04The bar

The Martinez Bar is grouped with La Palme d'Or and Le Sud as the hotel's three principal dining and drinking rooms, set within the same Art Deco shell of white lacquer and chrome that runs through the rest of the ground floor — a fitting stage for a hotel that has entertained the Film Festival's jury dinners and after-parties for decades.

05Spa and pool

Wellbeing at the Martinez centres on L'Oasis du Martinez, a 600 sqm spa run with Carita, set inside a garden that spreads over 2,800 sqm behind the hotel. It has seven treatment rooms, including two couple suites built around a calming salt wall, plus a steam area with a sensory shower. The swimming pool, once squeezed at the hotel's front, was relocated years ago into this same garden at the back — a part of the hotel once used as a utility area, now the calmest corner of the property.

06The neighbourhood

The Martinez sits at the eastern end of the Croisette, Cannes's seafront boulevard of boutiques, palm trees and festival crowds. Its relationship with the Cannes Film Festival is unlike any other hotel's: La Palme d'Or hosts the jury's own dinner every year, and each May its suites, terraces and beach club fill with directors, producers and fashion houses for the duration of the festival. Across the boulevard, La Plage du Martinez gives guests the hotel's own stretch of sand and a pontoon restaurant, within easy reach of the Palais des Festivals and the rest of central Cannes.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.