Few experiences can match the thrill of arriving at the Hôtel Martinez during the Cannes Film Festival, the kind of scene that feels ripped from the arrival sequence from any one of the past three seasons of The White Lotus. It’s a descent into organized, performative chaos under the watchful eyes of an unflinching, five-star-trained, white-gloved staff.
Ferraris and Mercedes-AMGs snake through the tiny porte cochère while paparazzi scream celebrity names from behind barricades lining the Croisette. The ropes keeping the paps and lookie-loos out — and the celebrities and scene-makers in — go up days before the event actually starts, with just enough distance between the two groups to keep it interesting. Towering campaign images of Bella Hadid draped in Chopard diamonds wrap portions of the driveway, turning the arrival itself into a luxury advertising campaign. Security teams occupy key corners in the lobby as assistants sprint garment bags through the sliding doors. Somewhere in the chaos, a stylist balances an iced latte, three phones and a couture gown worth more than a Riviera apartment.
All of this goes down before even one Louboutin touches the surgically clean white marble floor or ultra-plush Yves Klein blue carpet within the monumental lobby.
When HBO announced that Mike White’s Emmy-winning satire would officially head to Cannes for season four — with the Martinez serving as “White Lotus Cannes” — the scene was set with perhaps the series’ best casting yet: a gorgeous grande dame who’s no stranger to the spotlight and an expert at checking in and unpacking lots of baggage.
The Martinez has spent nearly 100 years preparing for this role.
Unlike previous hotels that have served as White Lotus locations and relied heavily on destination resorts under the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts brand, Hôtel Martinez is part of the Hyatt Unbound Collection, a portfolio of independent luxury and lifestyle hotels that retain their own distinct identities. Arguably, Martinez was already a major player without TWL.
L’Oasis du Martinez, courtesy of Nicolas Grosmond
“The Martinez has been a star long before this,” says Tamara Lohan, Hyatt’s global brand leader of luxury. “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.”
Word on the Croisette is that the Martinez will ultimately receive the lion’s share of the screen time and production days, despite Airelles Château de la Messardière — reimagined onscreen as “White Lotus du Cap” — serving as the season’s other major hotel anchor.
Opened in 1929 by Emmanuel Martinez during the Roaring ’20s, the art deco hotel, now with more than 400 rooms, quickly became one of the French Riviera’s defining social theaters. Through 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 photo crews like they’re already on the red carpet. Influencers stage balcony shoots with their breakfast trays, echoing the curated vacation narcissism that defines nearly every White Lotus guest. Jewelry couriers carrying armored cases disappear into the famously tiny elevators. Even a few days before the festival officially began, the hotel already felt like a functioning production set.
One afternoon, the rooftop penthouses were being transformed into a temporary compound for Chopard, which buys out the entire top floor every year. Below, L’Oréal Paris teams moved through a beauty studio buildout with a massive photo opp overlooking the ocean, while on the beach, crews create a pop-up Air France lounge.
The beach, the pool and a boat are the holy trinity of the White Lotus universe, and Martinez has them all.
The hotel’s L’Oasis pool garden — hidden slightly farther inside the property away from the frenzy of the Croisette — mimics the show’s poolside power plays. Surrounded by palms and cabanas, unpacking who’s sitting where with whom is as juicy as the perfect-cut fruit platters that appear on every table. Lounge chair positioning doubles as a social hierarchy chart.
Restaurant La Palme d’Or, courtesy of Bob/Remi Tessier
It is also guaranteed that TWL will tap into the mythology of the Martinez. The hotel’s corridors are lined with black-and-white celebrity photographs documenting nearly a century of Cannes history. Grecian-inspired murals stretch across walls. Decorative flourishes as painted skies create moments that already feel slightly surreal, as if they could come to life at any moment.
The hotel’s tiny elevators, hilariously unequipped for modern Cannes realities like couture gowns and glam teams, routinely force strangers into uncomfortable proximity. Guests find themselves shoulder to shoulder with celebrities, all pretending not to notice each other.
General manager Michel Cottray says some of his favorite moments occur in the elevators as he escorts stars discreetly through the property.
“We shared the same lift for 20 seconds,” he says of accompanying countless celebrities. “So we already have a history.”
Cottray, who is leading the hotel through his fourth Cannes Film Festival, says the property’s existing infrastructure made it uniquely suited for White Lotus-level production demands.
“We offer a more secure, protected environment, which makes stars and VIPs more comfortable,” he says.
TWL hasn’t officially begun filming at the Martinez yet, though Cottray confirms discussions have been underway for more than a year. Staff members from the property have already visited the active Saint-Tropez set at Airelles Château de la Messardière to observe how the HBO production operates on site.
“They will transform the property to their needs,” Cottray says. “But they are very professional.”
As in previous seasons, the production is expected to fully or partially buy out its hotel locations while immersing itself deeply in the surrounding destination. Although there’s no word yet on when the new White Lotus guests will check in, multiple weeks appear blocked off on the Martinez booking calendar in both June and September.
While Hôtel Martinez has survived a world war and nearly 80 years of the Cannes Film Festival, one thing is certain: In the world of White Lotus, somebody probably won’t survive the trip.