Few experiences can match the fun of arriving on the Hôtel Martinez in the course of the Cannes Movie Pageant, the sort of scene that feels ripped from the arrival sequence from any one of many previous three seasons of The White Lotus. It’s a descent into organized, performative chaos underneath the watchful eyes of an unflinching, five-star-trained, white-gloved employees.
Ferraris and Mercedes-AMGs snake by means of the tiny porte cochère whereas paparazzi scream celeb names from behind barricades lining the Croisette. The ropes maintaining the paps and lookie-loos out — and the celebrities and scene-makers in — go up days earlier than the occasion really begins, with simply sufficient distance between the 2 teams to maintain it fascinating. Towering marketing campaign pictures of Bella Hadid draped in Chopard diamonds wrap parts of the driveway, turning the arrival itself right into a luxurious promoting marketing campaign. Safety groups occupy key corners within the foyer as assistants dash garment baggage by means of the sliding doorways. Someplace within the chaos, a stylist balances an iced latte, three telephones and a couture robe price greater than a Riviera residence.
All of this goes down earlier than even one Louboutin touches the surgically clear white marble flooring or ultra-plush Yves Klein blue carpet inside the monumental foyer.
When HBO introduced that Mike White’s Emmy-winning satire would formally head to Cannes for season 4 — with the Martinez serving as “White Lotus Cannes” — the scene was set with maybe the collection’ finest casting but: a stunning grande dame who’s no stranger to the highlight and an professional at checking in and unpacking a lot of baggage.
The Martinez has spent almost 100 years making ready for this function.
In contrast to earlier accommodations which have served as White Lotus areas and relied closely on vacation spot resorts underneath the 4 Seasons Accommodations and Resorts model, Hôtel Martinez is a part of the Hyatt Unbound Assortment, a portfolio of unbiased luxurious and life-style accommodations that retain their very own distinct identities. Arguably, Martinez was already a serious participant with out TWL.
L’Oasis du Martinez, courtesy of Nicolas Grosmond
“The Martinez has been a star long before this,” says Tamara Lohan, Hyatt’s international model chief of luxurious. “This is just another pin in the history of the hotel. Martinez became the definitive French Riviera beach club decades before beach clubs became a global trend.”
Phrase on the Croisette is that the Martinez will in the end obtain the lion’s share of the display time and manufacturing days, regardless of Airelles Château de la Messardière — reimagined onscreen as “White Lotus du Cap” — serving because the season’s different main lodge anchor.
Opened in 1929 by Emmanuel Martinez in the course of the Roaring ’20s, the artwork deco lodge, now with greater than 400 rooms, shortly grew to become one of many French Riviera’s defining social theaters. By wars, movie-star eras, yacht booms and influencer takeovers, it has remained Cannes’ unofficial headquarters for glamour and spectacle.
Actresses descend the seven-story staircase with picture crews like they’re already on the purple carpet. Influencers stage balcony shoots with their breakfast trays, echoing the curated trip narcissism that defines almost each White Lotus visitor. Jewellery couriers carrying armored circumstances disappear into the famously tiny elevators. Even a couple of days earlier than the competition formally started, the lodge already felt like a functioning manufacturing set.
One afternoon, the rooftop penthouses had been being reworked into a brief compound for Chopard, which buys out your complete prime flooring yearly. Beneath, L’Oréal Paris groups moved by means of a magnificence studio buildout with a large picture opp overlooking the ocean, whereas on the seaside, crews create a pop-up Air France lounge.
The seaside, the pool and a ship are the holy trinity of the White Lotus universe, and Martinez has all of them.
The lodge’s L’Oasis pool backyard — hidden barely farther contained in the property away from the frenzy of the Croisette — mimics the present’s poolside energy performs. Surrounded by palms and cabanas, unpacking who’s sitting the place with whom is as juicy because the perfect-cut fruit platters that seem on each desk. Lounge chair positioning doubles as a social hierarchy chart.
Restaurant La Palme d’Or, courtesy of Bob/Remi Tessier
It is usually assured that TWL will faucet into the mythology of the Martinez. The lodge’s corridors are lined with black-and-white celeb images documenting almost a century of Cannes historical past. Grecian-inspired murals stretch throughout partitions. Ornamental prospers as painted skies create moments that already really feel barely surreal, as if they might come to life at any second.
The lodge’s tiny elevators, hilariously unequipped for contemporary Cannes realities like couture robes and glam groups, routinely pressure strangers into uncomfortable proximity. Friends discover themselves shoulder to shoulder with celebrities, all pretending to not discover one another.
Basic supervisor Michel Cottray says a few of his favourite moments happen within the elevators as he escorts stars discreetly by means of the property.
“We shared the same lift for 20 seconds,” he says of accompanying numerous celebrities. “So we already have a history.”
Cottray, who’s main the lodge by means of his fourth Cannes Movie Pageant, says the property’s present infrastructure made it uniquely fitted to White Lotus-level manufacturing calls for.
“We offer a more secure, protected environment, which makes stars and VIPs more comfortable,” he says.
TWL hasn’t formally begun filming on the Martinez but, although Cottray confirms discussions have been underway for greater than a 12 months. Employees members from the property have already visited the energetic Saint-Tropez set at Airelles Château de la Messardière to watch how the HBO manufacturing operates on web site.
“They will transform the property to their needs,” Cottray says. “But they are very professional.”
As in earlier seasons, the manufacturing is predicted to totally or partially purchase out its lodge areas whereas immersing itself deeply within the surrounding vacation spot. Though there’s no phrase but on when the brand new White Lotus visitors will test in, a number of weeks seem blocked off on the Martinez reserving calendar in each June and September.
Whereas Hôtel Martinez has survived a world warfare and almost 80 years of the Cannes Movie Pageant, one factor is for certain: On the planet of White Lotus, someone in all probability received’t survive the journey.
