• Like its sister establishment in Nice, the Palais de la Méditerranée, the Martinez, which has been closed since October 20, reopened its doors this Friday in Cannes.

  • “We re-trained staff to work, organized training and a lot of motivation exercises.

    It is not easy to stop for so long.

    We must find automatisms ”, describes the general manager of the palace Yann Gillet.

In the endless corridors leading to the 409 rooms and suites of the Martinez, the very comfortable royal blue carpet has been "thoroughly dusted". "And there was a need after more than six months of closure," says Heidi Lofi, the housekeeper. In recent days, the palace teams have gradually come out of partial unemployment to "restart" this art deco establishment on the Croisette and prepare it to welcome customers again.

Plaster retouching and painting in the reception hall, feather duster everywhere in the rooms, "we reviewed everything", explains Yann Gillet, the general manager. "We even had to make sure that the uniforms always went to the staff." Like its sister establishment in Nice, the Palais de la Méditerranée, the Martinez, which has been closed since October 20, reopened its doors on Friday.

Among the large hotels on the Côte de la Côte d'Azur, also weighed down by the crisis linked to the Covid-19 epidemic, it is the Negresco, in Nice on the promenade des Anglais, which was the first to relaunch , from Thursday.

But it is perhaps in Cannes, more than elsewhere, that these establishments have suffered from the cascading cancellations of major events and congresses.

Also on the Croisette, deprived of its film festival last year, the Majestic Barrière has planned to receive visitors from May 12.

The Carlton will remain closed for work planned for a long time until 2023.

"We must find automatisms"

"After so much time spent closed, where only part of our administrative staff were still on the bridge, part-time, to stay in contact with our customers, restarting required a minimum of preparation", further details Yann Gillet after a visit in the new offices of the Martinez, two large open spaces with a start-up atmosphere, the fittings of which contrast with the furniture of the spaces intended for customers.

“We re-trained staff to work, organized training and a lot of motivation exercises.

It is not easy to stop for so long.

We must find automatisms, ”he describes to

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In addition to its 175 permanent contracts, the Cannes hotel is starting to ramp up with the hiring of extras for the high season, which will have to compensate for the start of the year and a 2020 financial year to forget.

“Our workforce will increase by 200 or even 250 people.

And, a priori, while I know that some professionals are worried that some are turning away from the profession, we have a lot of applications coming in.

But it is true that we are seeing the arrival of new profiles that we are going to train, ”explains the Managing Director.

French customers waiting for the film festival

At Martinez, the month of May would be a warm-up, with the gradual reopening of certain dining areas, initially only for hotel guests, and of the private beach.

“On the first day of the announcement of our reopening, we had already received 43 reservations,” continues Yann Gillet.

From a French clientele and even from proximity for the moment.

"

La Palme d'Or, Martinez's two-star Michelin, will relaunch its kitchens next month.

“It's June that will truly mark the start of the season, with the Cannes Film Festival then [postponed for the first time to July, from 6 to 17].

The partners of the event have already reserved their suites and things are looking good, ”he says.

The palace is also refining at the same time the facelift of its two “Penthouse” suites (1,125 m2 in total), which will take for the first time the names of two stars of the Cannes fortnight.

Isabelle Huppert and Thierry Frémaux, the general delegate of the event, are also expected to inaugurate them in June.

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