The Hotel of the Stars (Cannes)

Hi, when I decided to find an island to build a fantastic building I assure you that I never thought I was going to enjoy so much, on the contrary, I pondered the idea of to abandon this heavy slab. Luckily for me, Rodolfo, when I choose a path have no reverse gear: until the ultimate consequences (provided that are positive, clear). Such is my joy, that in my last visit to the Capri Island, I had another great idea.

I explain to you briefly: instead of running a residence for my personal use, I will build a Hotel by applying all my good taste… is not fantastic? When finished, I wait you there. This decision also helped me as an excuse to accept an invitation, which have done me my friends from France for the largest European cinematographic event, you know, called the Festival de Cannes.

As it could not be otherwise I stayed in a special place, a Hotel of five stars that represent faithfully what should be «the home of the stars», in fact, during my stay I lived it in first person. There, during the festival, I could hobnob with stars of film of the likes of Woody Allen and the actresses of his last film (Café Society) Kristen Stewart and Blake Lively, the multifaceted Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake or, my favorite, the always exquisite Julia Roberts.

Many have guessed since it’s the Carlton Monumental Palace, renamed as the Intercontinental Carlton Cannes, a building that represent faithfully the Belle Époque in which it was built, remember that this period covers the years 1871 to 1914, when ends with the First World War. This parenthesis in the European life is determined by the «joy», are years of discoveries, inventions and new thoughts, the power of the technology and the growing middle class.

The building was built between 1909 and 1.913, promoted by Henri Ruhl, and designed by the architect Charles Dalmas. The French authorities have dubbed it as a Historical Monument, and it is not only because of its more than 100 years of existence, also by its important evolution, which combines the exoticism (says that the domes were designed based on the breasts of la Bella Otero), Glamour (linked to the Cannes film festival since its first edition in 1946) and importance (the first meeting of the League of Nations, later ONU, was carried out on it).

The first thing I thought when I contemplated the fantastic facade of the monument (we can call Monument it shamelessly) was that it is unbalanced: the access to the building is not in the center, it moves left, disturbing the view and breaking the sought symmetry, curious strategy. It does not disappoint at all, it has been developed when the Portland cement was at the start of its heyday.

The cement is the most versatile and useful construction material, helps to support the loads when it combined to form concrete, serves as pavement, and can be molded to form large decorative elements. The Hotel shows proud the simulations of stones on the façade, forming decorative elements and as railings of its 39 suites with terraces (in total has 343 rooms).

Between flashes and stars I really enjoyed my stay, numerous journalists swarmed the hotel during those days in search and capture of celebrities such as Steven Spielberg, Kendall Jenner or Paris Hilton (who is everything). They also cornered me to questions, as you may have seen it in the journals, in short, anything that is within the usual. However, you will excuse me an outburst: I ignored many famous when I contemplated the details of the Hotel.

The marble is everywhere as element indispensable for stepping safe (and elegantly), an example is the monumental staircase, I don’t lost time to study carefully, are also in the bathrooms, with different shades of red, creams and whites. The wood is a noble material that surrounds the rooms, in the form of pavement of oak or giving life to the furniture of era (beautiful era, of course).

Are 10 the rooms that are available to the users of the Hotel for conferences, meetings, receptions, cocktails, gala dinners or any other social need of high standing, highlights the Great Hall, with its beautiful columns covered with Venetian stucco, its decorated ceilings forming a golden-domed and, as no, its stunning chandeliers.

The construction has a plant in shape of «U», with the main facade facing the Mediterranean and its wings to the interior, in the corners two domes adorn the space, pointing to the sky in a disturbing way, it are covered in slate, a metamorphic rock: the pieces of the dome are being withstood by mechanical means. The slate is an excellent material for use on decks because of its impermeability and ease to be exfoliated in sheets, in addition to the aesthetic finish, clear.

As all five-star hotel, puts at your disposal travel agencies, rental car, limousine rental, laundry, currency exchange, fitness, massage room and beauty treatments. To feed the body and the spirit they offer the Carlton Bar, Cartlon Restaurant and the Carlton Beach Restaurant, on the beach, because if I had forgotten to say it, I do it now: the Hotel has direct access to a little piece of the Mediterranean.

The seventh floor offers the best of the building, nine suites with names that you will remember with affection: Sharon Stone, Cary Grant, Uma Thurman, Sophia Loren, Alain Delon, Sean Connery, Sean Penn, Sophie Marceau and the best of all, the Grace Kelly suite with 278 square meters, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living/dining room and terraces overlooking the sea… A good place to stay, no doubt.

The Festival of Cannes is finished, but I have a large group of cherished memories, a colossal idea (build a Hotel), and the feeling that the spirit of the Belle Époque round again in our lives, with all the positivity and the (healthy) ambition that it entails, but, above all, I take with me the desire to return the next year to this wonderful corner. Bye bye.

Disclosure: The characters that appear in this article, their different personalities and their relationships with each other and with the environment are part of a fiction. The author is not responsible for the views expressed in the article and has no business relationship with any of the companies listed on it.