Its legendary façade, the view of the Mediterranean from its most beautiful suites, its private beach... and even its roof when all the cats are grey at night: the Carlton in Cannes has been used as a prestigious setting to the adventures of John Robie 'The Cat' and Frances Stevens, alias Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in the film La Main au collet. Even today, after a lengthy renovation that has seen this historic monument transformed into ultra-luxury mode under the Regent brandThe hotel has preserved the memory of the filming through its Alfred Hitchcock suite. One of its most beautiful suites is 623, where the future Princess of Monaco and the tanned sex symbol exchanged a languorous kiss in 1954.
(c) Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel
(c) Carlton Cannes, a Regent Hotel
The Cannes palace, also a key protagonist in the comedy Four stars, a linked its history with cinema. Not least since the only eight journalists to attend the first Cannes Film Festival, in 1946, made it their pied-à-terre. Since then, every year - apart from the long period of closure which has just ended - many stars have made it their regular stop-off point during the world cinema festival. It's an event that showcases the hotel legends of the Croisette, from the Carlton to the Martinez, via the Majestic and the Grand Hôtel de Cannes, recently opened a Mondrian hotel.
The festival, which spreads the aura of Cannes and its convention centre around the world, provides an opportunity to examine the close links between the seventh art and the art of hospitality. The glamour of a destination, the intimacy of a room, the intrigue of a corridor: hotels are often very discreet heroes of many films, but are very much at the heart of their plot. Sometimes even key players, like the Park Hyatt Tokyo in Lost in Translationthe Grand Hôtel des Bains in Death in Venice or the Hotel degli Orafi in Florence, where the Room with view can always be booked. For a close-up view of the Rialto or a flashback to James Ivory's film.
As they travel, film-loving business travellers can replay some of the legendary scenes in situ, a night in the starsJust for a drink. Or for a conference or gala evening. Some cities lend themselves more than others to these cinematic detours on the fringes of a business trip. Close to the Holywood studios, the palaces of Los Angeles have lent their setting to numerous film shoots. Known as "Pretty Woman's hotel", the Beverly Wilshire, part of the Four Seasons group, is still exploiting this potential. For example, its 'Pretty Woman for a day' package includes accommodation in a Specialty Suites - with bath, of course - spa treatments and, to complete the mimicry, a tour of the luxury boutiques on Rodeo Drive with a wardrobe consultant.
An open-air studio, where every street has an air of déjà vu, even for those setting foot there for the first time, New York is also an opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the great names of the cinema. Notably those of Cary Grant, Leonardo Dicaprio or Macauley Culkin at the Plaza or, in a more 'franchouillard' style, those of Louis de Funès at the Sheraton Times Square. In the 1960s, when it was still known as the Hôtel Americana, the hotel hosted the filming of the movie Constable in New Yorkinvited to New York for an international police conference. In this film, the hotel's huge MICE area - some forty rooms with a capacity of 2,850 people - takes up all the screen space.
As a result of its nobility, the luxury of the London hotel scene is synonymous with a large number of castings. Attended by Hugh Grant in Lightning in Notting Hillthe luxurious Savoy - which, like the Plaza in New York, is part of the Fairmont - was also the setting for several scenes in the biopic Stan and Ollie. A logical choice, given that comedians Laurel and Hardy were once loyal customers of this star of the London hotel trade. But, above all, the British capital is teeming with iconic locations associated with James Bond. The Thames, of course, with its many river chases, but also the SIS Building, MI6's headquarters since 1994, and the Old War Office, one of the other places where "M" regularly has its offices.
Appearing in the credits ofOctopussyof Dangerously Yours or SkyfallThe former War Office of the British government will soon be open to all travellers. No doubt at a cost of several hundred pounds, but without having to pay a single cent. demonstrate their spy skills. Indeed, the famous building, recognisable by its imposing neo-baroque façade, is preparing to welcome, by the end of the year a prestigious Raffles hotel.
A dip in the pool at the Four Seasons at Canary Wharf, a drink on the terrace of the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, a ride on the roofs of the Atlantic in Hamburg: James Bond has never gone without during his various trips. Nor did Alfred Hitchcock, among the directors. The master of suspense gave the beautiful role of many hotels such as La Mamounia in Marrakech with The Man who knew too muchthe Plaza in New York in the Death on the heels and the Empire Hotel in San Francisco. Filming location for Cold Sweats - often considered to be one of the greatest films in the history of cinema - this establishment has not hesitated to play on this heritage by renaming itself Hotel... Vertigo, the name of the film in VO.
However, business travellers who are fans of all these thrillers shouldn't waste their time searching for the hotel in their reservation system: the hotel has closed, victim of the covid. Nor will they find in their hotel booking tools any Grand Budapest Hotel orHotel Transylvania. From headliners obviously fictitious.
However, without going as far as New York or San Francisco, film professionals will find plenty of places in France to combine their passion and their business. In Saint Nazaire, for example, where the Hôtel de la Plage, now a Best Western, was home in the 1950s to Monsieur Hulot's Holidays. Like this resort, other seaside towns offer travellers the chance to relive the past. great moments in cinema. In Cabourg, the Grand Hôtel, which is part of the MGallery collection, not only inspired Marcel Proust to create his Grand Hôtel de la Plage in Balbec. La Boum, Untouchables, You only die twice, The Heart of Men All these productions have been set in this historic venue with its Belle Epoque façade.
The idyll between Deauville and the world of cinema is also well known. Not least because it was here, in the 1960s, that Claude Lelouch set up his cameras at the Hôtel Normandyof the Barrierto film the love story of Anne Gauthier (Anouk Aimée) and Jean-Louis Duroc (Jean-Louis Trintignant). An establishment that celebrates with its suite " A Man and a Woman" decorated with large black and white photos of the most famous scenes.
Paradoxically, Paris, which is so well represented in films, seems to be less popular with film-makers when it comes to hotels. The Bristol has certainly seen its suites magnified by Woody Allen in Midnight in Paris. The Ritz played host to Professor Langdon in the film based on the novel The Da Vinci Code. The entrance to the InterContinental Le Grand also appears, furtively, in Frantic by Roman Polanski. But no trace of James Bond or Hitchock in Parisian palaces.
For a little cinematic reminiscence, travellers can always stay at the Hôtel Saint-Jacques, the setting for the film Charadea Hitchcock-style thriller starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. In the same way, the hotel Les Rives de Notre-Dame will bring to mind BreathlessEven if this 10-bedroom, four-star hotel in the Latin Quarter no longer has much in common with the Hôtel de Suède, where Godard brought Jean-Pierre Belmondo and Jean Seberg together. And yet, to recapture some of that atmosphereAnd if they don't want to miss out, they can also go and have a drink at the Hôtel du Nord, on the Quai de Jemappes. The façade of this café along the Canal Saint-Martin was recreated near the Billancourt studios where Marcel Carné's film of the same name was shot in 1938. When the real and the fake merge to leave room for the imagination. Just like in the movies.
