Icon of the Croisette, intrinsically linked to the cinema, the hotel has just reopened its doors and is establishing itself as one of the stars of the 76e Cannes film festival.
By Marion Tours
© Romeo Balancourt
Published on
Subscriber-only audio playback
Dtwo years of work, 370 artistic professions brought together, 780 people mobilized at the height of the construction site and, it is said, between 300 and 350 million euros invested by its owner Katara Hospitality… That is to say if the rebirth of the mythical Carlton enthroned on the Croisette since 1913 was expected. Starting with the stars and festival-goers who have been walking the boulevard since Tuesday and have maintained an unwavering link with the palace for decades. Every day, during the Cannes Film Festival, no less than 6,000 shots of its mythical neoclassical façade in the Belle Époque spirit would be recorded, which would make it the most photographed hotel in the world.
With its recent metamorphosis led by architect Richard Lavelle and interior designer Tristan Auer, who had previously worked at the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris, the Carlton should quickly surpass this figure and explode #CarltonCannes hits on Instagram , so spectacular is its new appearance, both in the privileged volumes, the custom-designed furniture, the selected pieces of art and design, and in the extensions and improvements made. Starting with its peristyle, its Mediterranean garden and its infinity pool, which will be so many opportunities to cool down and whisper in complete confidentiality the latest indiscretions of the Cannes festival.
A tsar’s hotel
Proof that the crown of England does not have the exclusivity of forbidden loves, it is by fleeing in 1909 the imperial court of Russia to freely embrace its
relationship with Sophie de Merenberg, a commoner and also a descendant of Pushkin, that Grand Duke Michael of Russia, grandson of Tsar Nicholas Ier, fell in love with the Côte d’Azur and its newly fashionable sea bathing. Failing to find a hotel suitable for his rank and the receptions he wished to give, he launched into the financing of the Carlton, a project commissioned by a renowned English hotelier, Henri Ruhl, and provided by the architect Charles Dalmas. , to whom we owe some of the most beautiful buildings on the Riviera.
Yes, we Cannes!
From 1946, the Carlton became one, if not ” le”, HQ of the Cannes Film Festival. “At each edition, it’s a hundred movie stars, eight international majors, twenty film market offices, thousands of security guards and personal bodyguards”, likes to detail the hotel. In short, all the stars and patron figures of the event want to be part of it. Thus, of Grace Kelly and Alfred Hitchcock who will shoot some major scenes of The Hand in the CollarGeorge Lucas who will sign his first contract for Star WarsSpike Lee who will have his workstation – and observation – set up at the foot of the listed staircase, Quentin Tarantino who will gladly allow himself to be approached at the hotel bar, or even Gilles Jacob, president of the festival from 2001 to 2014 , who will take up residence there every fortnight in Cannes.
The Carlton is to Cannes what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.Giuseppe Vincelli, general manager of the hotel
Game, set and match
Long before the cinema, the Carlton was the ambassador of another French passion: tennis. It was on his court that the first official use of clay took place, invented a few decades earlier by the Renshaw brothers – several times winners of Wimbledon – from the powder resulting from the crushing of terracotta pots. . We are in 1926 and the match between Suzanne Lenglen, then the best European player, and the American Helen Wills, is about to become “the match of the century”. Match on clay from which the French will emerge victorious and to which the hotel now pays homage through various winks distilled by the decorator Tristan Auer.
golden keys
It was in 1952 and still within the Carlton that the association Les Clefs d’or, founded in France at the end of the 1930s, took on its international dimension. It now brings together nearly 4,000 hotel concierges around the world – representing 80 countries and 530 cities – responsible for meeting the wishes of customers “ranging from the everyday to the extraordinary” – according to the group’s website. Suffice to say that there is no shortage of anecdotes on the subject… Like repatriating a dog from Italy, shipping 40 kilos of ice cream made in Cannes to the Middle East or quite simply opening the doors of a master glassmaker in the town of Biot. At the Carlton alone, Les Clefs d’or has 16 members, including the head concierge, also president of the Côte d’Azur-Principality of Monaco representation (i.e. 100 people), Maxime Nerkowski, 45 years old and 20 years in the house.
We receive an average of two pages of special requests for each artist.Cathy Boillot, Customer Relations Manager, VIP Manager
High season
Since its opening in 1913, the Carlton has been the hotspot for an upscale clientele largely from the aristocracy, who come to seek the mild climate of the Riviera in winter. And go on the beautiful days on the beaches of Normandy. The arrival of ski resorts in the 1920s, and with them the enthusiasm for sliding sports, changed the situation and redistributed the tourist market. The hotel then decided to open its doors all year round and no longer just in winter: it was now time for sea bathing and the joys of the private beach, the first of its kind to be inaugurated in 1930 on the Croisette. With the success that we know of him.
Carlton Cannes. From €800 per night and €1,200 with sea view, carltoncannes.com And www.regenthotels.com