SATURDAY 
10am I arrive at Hôtel Martinez (from £286 B&B, hyatt.com), 45 minutes from Nice airport. Like its guests, it has continual tweakments to maintain its look (art deco meets slick nautical). It’s on the famous boulevard, La Croisette: a perfect base for city exploration.
11am The hotel spa is partnered with Paris skincare brand Carita. My one-hour Pro.Morphose Regenerating Radio Frequency treatment (£216) super-stimulates collagen, and results are said to be visible for nearly a year. (A month in, I’m starting to see benefits.)
1pm In Cannes’ old town, Le Suquet, we stroll around Marché Forville, which brims with flowers and southern French treats including olive tapenade and socca, a flatbread made of chickpea flour. Lunch is oysters and rosé, standing at one of the barrels in the market.
4pm A 10-minute stroll down the Croisette is La Malmaison, a contemporary-art centre in art deco surrounds. Jean-Michel Othoniel’s nature-inspired glass sculptures explore the interplay of light, material and scale (until 4 January 2026; £5.65, cannes.com).
7pm Drinks and dinner at the hotel: after a smoky negroni in the speakeasy-style Martinez Bar (above) we move on to La Palme d’Or, Cannes’ only Michelin-star spot. All wood panelling and chrome, it’s like a private yacht. The lobster is heaven (tasting menu £208).
11pm The nocturnal ticket is cabaret club Medusa (medusacannes.com): a sexy neon-lit space where girls in sequins and feathers dangle from hoops on high. The Martinez is the only hotel in Cannes that can swing preferential access for its VIP guests.
SUNDAY 
9am A little tired and fuzzy-headed, I take a leisurely breakfast of poached eggs, crusty bread and mushrooms oozing butter (ordered the night before on a little card left for me to fill out) on the terrace of my room. Watch out for the huge, greedy seagulls – they are bold.
10am We amble into the old town, past many luxury boutiques. The real find is Zara, which hits different to the ones back home. I come away with a few impossibly chic pieces – change, too, for pistachio ice cream at Niva Gelateria (£3, nivagelato.com).
2pm At the Martinez beach club we relax in director’s chairs – a nod to the hotel’s starry clientele – for a late lunch of black panko-crusted avocado and baked clams, with top people-watching. Then a last dip in the bluest sea. It’s not called the Côte d’Azur for nothing.
, , Getty Images, Boby
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How to spend the perfect weekend in Cannes, France