Reborn icon: One of France’s most famous hotels still has star power

It might have been a poster from the 1920s when the French Riviera was all the rage. I fling open the tall arched windows of my suite in the landmark Carlton hotel and step on the tiny iron balcony to get a better look at the sunset.

Tall palm trees and the outline of the mountains of the Cote d’Azur are etched against the apricot sky. The Bay of Cannes is shimmering, as the lights come on in the beach clubs along the main boulevard, the Croisette. It’s winter and chilly, but Cannes is lit with a special glow that always makes it feel like summer.

Most people are familiar with photos of Cannes in May, when it hosts the famous film festival and movie stars ascend the red carpet of the Palais des Festivals et des Congres accompanied by a barrage of paparazzi. But not everyone knows that the small French city (population 72,000) is busy all year hosting other cultural events and conferences, such as the Midem music festival and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

I’ve been to Cannes in summer during the festival, but I prefer this quiet off-season. Most hotels and restaurants take a break over winter and shutter for a few weeks in mid-December. I’m here just as everything is winding down.

For the residents, though, it’s perpetual summer. There’s a Christmas market and an ice-skating rink in town, but as soon as there is a glimmer of sunshine, the elderly locals take their places on chairs along the beachfront promenade, most of them darkly tanned and wrapped in furs, with small dogs at their feet (men too.) On the main shopping street, Rue d’Antibes, French swimwear brand Vilebrequin, has posted a sign, “Gone Tanning”.

In summer, guests at the most luxurious hotels, such as the Carlton, the Martinez and the J W Marriott, visit the exclusive beach clubs stationed along the sand and soak up the rays on sunbeds in rows. In chillier weather, the beach clubs transform into indoor bars, cafes and nightclubs, brightly lit with Christmas lights and playing throbbing music in the dark.

The Carlton is the most famous hotel in the south of France. After a painstaking restoration and rebranding as a Regent hotel, it is being promoted as “the reborn icon of the Riviera”. The beautiful Belle Epoque building, which dates to 1913, was named a Historical Monument in 1989, preserving its facade, domes, Grand Salon and two staircases.

It was a trend-setter in its time. The original building had six floors and rooms had rare adjoining bathrooms and living rooms. In its early days, hotels in Cannes were closed in the summer; the rich clientele favouring Normandy for the warmer seasons. In 1928, the Carlton nevertheless decided, for the first time, to open in the summer. The success was immediate and all hotels in Cannes came to follow the example. It was the first hotel to open a beach club and was the site of the first clay tennis court when terracotta pots were crushed to cover sun-damaged turf for a 1926 tournament.