The Hôtel Martinez is an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

hotel on the Promenade de la Croisette in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

. It was opened on 20 February 1929 by Emmanuel Michele Martinez, son of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Giovanni Martinez and Giuseppa Labiso Costanza, members of a noble Italian family of Spanish origins from

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

. Karan Singh, the

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

of Jammu and Kashmir, was born there in 1931.

History

In 1927, Emmanuel Michele Martinez, a manager of hotels in London and Paris and the director of the Cannes Luxury Hotel Association, decided to build his own hotel on the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

. Using the connections his family had with nobility, Martinez bought the "Villa Marie-Therese" on September 22, 1927, from

Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as ''El Pacificador'' (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 D ...

. The Hôtel Martinez opened in 1929. Karan Singh, the crown prince of Jammu and Kashmir and later a high-ranking minister in the

government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, was born at Suite 318-319-320 at the Martinez when his father Maharaja Hari Singh was holidaying there on March 9, 1931, and had reserved the entire third floor for the occasion. During World War II, the hotel was occupied successively by the French Army, the Italian Army, the Commission d'armistice, the German Army, and (after

Victory in Europe Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

) by the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. In 1981, the hotel was sold to the Concorde Hotels & Resorts Group (belonging to the Taittinger Group). In 2005, four hotels, including the Hôtel Martinez, were sold to Starwood Capital Group. The hotel was sold in 2012 and joined the

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...

Group on April 9, 2013. It was renamed the ''Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez''. The hotel closed for renovations on October 30, 2017, and reopened for business on March 5, 2018, under its original name.

Location

The Hôtel Martinez is located on the Croisette at

, 500 meters from the palais des Festivals, facing the Mediterranean Sea, the Bay of Cannes and the Lérins Islands.

References

External links

Hôtel Martinez
(hotel website)
La Palme d'Or
(La Palme d'Or restaurant website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel Martinez 1929 establishments in France Hotels in Cannes Buildings and structures in Cannes Art Deco hotels Art Deco architecture in France Hotels established in 1929 Hyatt Hotels and Resorts Hotel buildings completed in 1929