The Carlton: A Riviera Icon Reimagined
by Eniko Gasko
Few buildings on the Croisette are as instantly recognisable as the Carlton Cannes.
Its pale façade, twin domes and position facing the Mediterranean have made it part of the visual identity of Cannes itself. But the Carlton is more than a luxury hotel. Its story is intertwined with the development of the Croisette, the Cannes Film Festival, cinema history and the changing idea of Riviera glamour.
A Belle Époque landmark
The Carlton opened in 1913, at a time when Cannes was developing as a winter resort for wealthy European visitors. Architect Charles Dalmas designed a monumental neoclassical building with a strong Belle Époque character. The hotel itself traces its origins to Grand Duke Michael of Russia, who had settled in Cannes and helped finance its construction.
Its architecture remains one of its most distinctive features. The long façade, rotundas and domes have become inseparable from the Croisette.
In 1989, important parts of the Carlton — including its façades, roofs and rotundas, staircases, lobby and Grand Salon — received historic-monument protection.
That helps explain why the most recent renovation was not simply a redesign. The challenge was to modernise a functioning palace hotel without losing the parts that make it recognisably the Carlton.
Cinema, Grace Kelly and To Catch a Thief
The Carlton’s connection with cinema goes much deeper than the annual film festival.
In 1954 Alfred Hitchcock used the hotel as one of the principal settings for To Catch a Thief, starring Grace Kelly and Cary Grant. The Carlton’s own historical archive notes that key scenes were filmed in the hotel, including its Grand Salon and private beach.
The connection survives physically inside the hotel. The Alfred Hitchcock Suite occupies a space associated with the filming, and the hotel states that Grace Kelly and Cary Grant filmed a kiss outside the suite during production.
That cinematic history makes the Carlton especially interesting even for visitors who have no intention of staying there. It is not simply a hotel that celebrities happened to visit; parts of the building are part of the visual history of the Riviera on screen.
A hotel tied to the Cannes Film Festival
The relationship with Cannes cinema began even earlier.
When the first Cannes Film Festival finally took place in 1946, the Carlton hosted the eight journalists attending the event. In later years, the festival venue stood only a short distance away, reinforcing the hotel’s role as one of the social centres of festival life.
That relationship continues today. During festival season, the Carlton remains part of the theatre of Cannes: a place for meetings, receptions, arrivals and the informal social life surrounding the official programme.
The 2023 transformation
After closing for around two years, the Carlton reopened on 13 March 2023 following a major restoration and extension.
Architect Richard Lavelle led the architectural work, while Tristan Auer redesigned the interiors. The project involved 750 people and 450 companies, with the stated aim of bringing the hotel’s heritage into a contemporary setting.
From the Croisette, the hotel still looks reassuringly familiar. The historic façade was restored, while two new wings were added.
Inside, however, the transformation was much more substantial.
The hotel now has 369 rooms, including 52 suites and 37 residences, along with a spa, fitness facilities, expanded event spaces and a newly created Mediterranean garden.
Inside the Carlton
One of the pleasures of the Carlton is the contrast between the monumental exterior and the calmer atmosphere inside.
The renovation introduced a 2,000-square-metre Mediterranean garden behind the historic façade, with an infinity pool and landscaped spaces connecting the newer wings.
This inner world is easy to miss if you only photograph the façade from the Croisette.
The public interiors are also worth noticing: the proportions, decorative details, light and materials give the hotel a very different atmosphere from the busy boulevard outside.
This is one reason I think it is worth stepping inside rather than simply walking past.
A little Riviera luxury without staying overnight
You do not have to book a room to experience part of the Carlton.
The Camélia Tea Lounge is probably the easiest way to enjoy a small taste of the hotel. It welcomes outside guests without reservation, subject to availability, and serves drinks from 10:00 to 22:00, late breakfast from 10:00 to 12:00 and snacks from midday onwards.
For me, this is one of the nicest ways to experience the Carlton: stop for coffee or tea, take in the interiors and allow yourself a small moment of Riviera luxury without turning it into a major occasion.
On Friday and Saturday afternoons, a harpist currently performs in the Tea Lounge, while Sundays feature violin music between 16:00 and 18:30.
It is a simple experience, but it makes the hotel feel accessible rather than sealed off behind the idea of palace luxury.
Stay inspiration
For travellers who do want to stay, the appeal is partly the location — directly on the Croisette and only a short walk from the Palais des Festivals — but also the sense of staying inside a piece of Cannes history.
The most distinctive rooms are the hotel’s themed suites, including the Alfred Hitchcock Suite beneath the west dome and the Suzanne Lenglen Suite beneath the east dome.
The stay itself is unquestionably at the luxury end of the Riviera spectrum, but this is one of those hotels where the building and its history are part of what you are paying for.
Why the Carlton still matters
Luxury hotels can sometimes become disconnected from the cities around them.
The Carlton is different because so much of Cannes history has accumulated around it.
Its architecture belongs to the Belle Époque. Its rooms and salons are connected with Hitchcock and Grace Kelly. Its story overlaps with the birth and growth of the Cannes Film Festival. And its recent renovation shows how a historic palace can be modernised without erasing the identity that made it famous.
Even if you never spend a night there, the Carlton is worth understanding as part of Cannes itself.
And if you have time, do more than photograph the façade.
Go inside. Have a coffee. Look at the interiors and, if access allows, glimpse the garden behind the Croisette.
It is a small way of experiencing one of the Riviera’s most enduring icons from the inside.