Citadines Cannes Carnot France Hotel Review - Cannes Film Festival Favorite

A Hidden Gem for Business Travelers

Citadines Cannes Carnot hotel in Cannes France is a low-key apartment/hotel that is a great alternative for the Cannes Film Festival. We've had the pleasure of attending the festival 6 times and have always stayed at the Citadines. We are never blown away by the luxury or amazed by the service, but we get a clean, large, safe room and competent service.

If you're rich or spending a corporate expense account, you can stop reading now. There are a lot more fancy, hip, expensive hotels in Cannes and there are many hotels much closer to the Palais where the festival is actually held. If we had a bigger budget, we'd be staying there. May we recommend the Carlton or The Martinez for those with deeper pockets.

The Citadines is located on Avenue Carnot, about 3 blocks up from the main train station and about 3 blocks outside the old town center next to the harbor. It's a pleasant 10-15 minute walk to the Palais and Croissette, and a walk that can be safely and easily made at 2 PM as it can at 2 AM. In fact one of our favorite experiences in Cannes is to be walking home, usually a bit drunk, at 5 AM after a great night of parties, and 2 doors down from the hotel is the local Patisserie (bakery), where at 5 AM you can find the baker hard at work and the wonderful smells wafting out onto the street. Another thing we like is the hotel is outside the tourist area, you get to interact with more normal citizens of Cannes, just going about their normal lives. The stores represent this too, stationery stores, discount stores, barber shops and food shops that cater to the locals. Its a bit of real France amongst the total fakery of the festival and its attendees.

The hotel offers single and double sized rooms, each have a mini kitchenette area, with stove, microwave, refrigerator, cabinets and dishes. We always get a double, which has 2 separate bedrooms. Its great for 2 people, offering privacy for each, and would also fit 4.