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A
special Hotel in Cannes :
Hotel Martinez
Along Cannes' famous seaside promenade, the Croisette, there are many beautiful hotels, but only a few of them are palaces in the true sense of the word: Hotel Martinez is one. First opened in 1929, the Martinez is an Art Deco gem that showcases the fine crafts-manship, glamour and exuberance characteristic of the best of Roar-ing '20s architecture. Acquired in 1981 by the Taittinger Group's Société du Louvre, this beautiful property has recently benefited from a series of ambitious reno-vation projects that have added many new touches while faithfully maintaining its landmark character. Arriving a few weeks before the Cannes film festival was set to begin, settled into a lovely sea-view room entirely decorated in shades of orange and white. Catering to modern tastes, the room is designed for both comfort and con-venience. There's a large, practical desk, two telephones with separate phone lines, plus a separate phone jack for plugging a laptop to a dialup connection— no jock-eying of phone cords is necessary. The bathroom is an equal pleasure: extra-spacious and fully marbled, with a bath and twin sinks in one section and a shower and toilet in a separate area. There
are more amenities, including mini-safe, mini-bar, and satellite
television with 30 channels— but who wants to watch TV
when you've got a Bird's Eye view of the Croisette, where the
rich and the beautiful pa-rade
up and down oh-so fashion-ably! Without a doubt, it's one of
the world's finest places to people-watch. The hotel's 7 th floor has just re-ceived a luxurious makeover, with 11 junior suites (100-150 sq meters each) added. Designed by architect Gilles Leborgne of Ecart, these suites are the cat's meow— and never more than during the Cannes film festival, when the luminaries of the film industry book the finest rooms in the city. The latest techno-logical demands are well catered to in these new suites: DVD/ CD player, computer with infrared key-board, color laser printer, and touch screens. There's also a brand-new Givenchy spa on the 7 th floor— the only one in France, and one of only 7 in the world— offering treatments such as body peels, wraps, facials and massages that will keep you look-ing and feeling your best. We loved one aspect of the new fitness center, too: rowing machines and recum-bent bikes, set outside on an open-air deck that of-fered top-floor views of the hills overlooking Cannes. The
recent renovations haven't stopped with the 7 th floor. After
closing for 2 months during the winter, the Martinez reopened
with a completely new lobby and reception area. Many traditional
features of this art deco landmark were faithfully retained,
although the spaces still didn't seem to be effectively utilized—
we would have preferred seeing, say, a spectacular floral
display occupying the central area instead of the unremarkable
light show that was being projected on the marble floor. In
the evening, the warm colors of a Côte d'Azur sun-set
slowly faded in the pale blue sky, to be replaced by the running
lights of a luxury ocean liner that had anchored just off-shore.
It was time for dinner at Palme d'Or, the hotel's two-star Michelin
restaurant. Recently it, too, has been renovated, with a film
motif in honor of the famous festival prize from which it takes
its name. Here as in the hotel, art deco reigns, but there are
a number of newer design notions in play as well.
In the restaurant's lounge, cranberry-col-ored cushions stand in elegant contrast to char-coal- colored sofas that are upholstered in a felt-like fabric; wooden squares arranged in checkered patterns along the salon walls are in darkly stained oak, teak, and sycamore. However in view of the twenty-first century makeover, record-ings of Frank Sinatra playing in the background (" Chicago's my kind of town!") seemed rater dated. In the dining room, bay windows looked out on three sides, yielding expansive views of the palm-shaded Croisette. Short-cut red roses sat in square vases, echo-ing the modernist tone we had already noted in the lounge. A canopy of loosely-gathered beige cloths turned the ceiling itself into a series of subtle waves— as if the waters of the nearby Mediterranean were somehow lapping up to the restaurant itself. It was time to sample the eclectic cuisine of Chefs Christian Willer and Christian Sinicropi. A filet de thon aux épices was served with tomatoes stuffed with sweet pepper and a cappuccino cup of gazpacho: this dish just sang of the Mediterranean. Crème glacée à la riquette poivrée, or ice cream made from riquette salad over beetroot stew, was an interesting and well-executed palate cleanser between dishes— the first we were to see of the chefs' inven-tiveness when it comes to fro-zen creams and sorbets. Next came langouste de peche locale rotie sous le grill. The serving of shell-fish was set atop a plate warmer, seasoned at table, and drizzled lightly with fine olive oil. At Chef Sommelier André Toscano's suggestion, we drank Rabiega's Chateau d'Ière 1997, with garrigue herbs on the nose and tones of spice and raisin. This concentrated wine was dark in a pleasantly moody sort of way— no "New World" wine, this. At meal's end we passed back into the salon, where a waiter donned white gloves before steeping us a pot of vervaine tea prepared from an impressive herbal infusions trolley. his article was written by N. Medvecky-Riggs
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in Sanremo
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