GOSTELOW REPORT—“I needed to rent 350 car parking spaces, all covered, for our change in clientele this summer,” says Yann Gillet, general manager of the 409-room Hôtel Martinez, Cannes, France.
The hotel, part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, is on Cannes’ famous sea-set Croisette, across the road from the movie-star-themed Martinez beach. When it was built by Emmanuel Martinez in 1929, no guests drove themselves, and therefore no on-site parking was even considered. Until this year, indeed, summer clientele was mainly Russian and Middle East guests, all of whom arrived by plane to Aeroport Nice Côte d’Azur, half an hour away (a few Middle East guests did airlift their not-discreet cars, which they were happy to have parked, for all to see, outside the hotel).
“This year, with lockdown and quarantine regulations, we have been inundated with Europeans driving themselves,” explained Gillet. “Their cars are not exactly throw-away school-run types but Aston Martins, Lamborghinis and Maseratis. They insist vehicles be parked securely under cover. This is why we have had to scour the whole of Cannes to rent parking, sometimes quite a distance away. We had to buy four scooters for our valet parkers.”
Length of stay this summer has been same as usual, at least 6.5 nights. There are more younger guests now, with kids. Other changes requiring the hotel’s flexibility include all customers’ daily routines.
He continued: “Many of our usual summer guests sleep so late they miss breakfast altogether and they have little interest in our fabulous beach. This year our breakfast and beach, both the best in Cannes, have been extremely busy.”
The Martinez breakfast is justly renowned for its multi-station buffet, which includes a vertical display of croissants and other baked goods. All this is complemented by a cook-to-order open kitchen. “We still have our displays, behind Perspex. You can see the items, and choose what you want, but you are served by our people.”
The beach has some 200 loungers, which are socially distanced in groups of 10. For six weeks, to 16th August, the beach transformed in the evenings to become a highly popular open-air night club.
“We have been really busy this summer and I expect weekends to continue like this for the next couple of months. One challenge is last-minute bookings. Another constant cloud hanging over the entire tourism industry in Europe is unannounced quarantine regulations: The U.K. gave 36 hours’ notice of mandatory quarantine needed after returning from France,” he said.
Born in Bordeaux, France, Gillet wanted, as a boy, to be a ship’s captain – to see the world. “I am doing that and, like a sailor, I have to be prepared for every eventuality. My career with Hyatt has so far taken me to such countries as Morocco, South Africa, India and Brazil, where I coped with economic crises aggravated by multiple political scandals, plus a challenging market with significant new competitors.”