Travel expert offers up tips for post-Cannes Lions fun

Cannes Lions is simply a whirlwind of rose-fueled customer meetings, talks astatine le Palais and late-night parties betwixt La Croissette and Hôtel du Cap — but a engaged schedule isn’t an excuse to not pencil successful immoderate leisure time, according to recreation master Brendan Monaghan.

Monaghan, a erstwhile patient of Condé Nast Traveler, who founded Coolidge & Co., a luxury recreation consultancy successful 2024, offered up immoderate tips to compression successful immoderate nosy for immoderate schedule. 

DAY TRIP OUT OF CANNES

Monaco and Èze

If you person a fewer hours to research extracurricular of nan festival, Monaghan suggests checking retired Monaco and spending immoderate clip astatine nan iconic Hôtel de Paris Monte-Carlo astatine Casino Square.

The historical Belle Époque-style hotel, which boasts 99 rooms, and nan world-famous 3 Michelin Star edifice Le Louis XV and wood-paneled Le Bar Américain, is simply a must-visit — aliases enactment if you person nan time. 

“Hôtel de Paris is nan classical for a logic — nan grandeur is genuinely jaw-dropping, and Le Louis XV (Alain Ducasse) is 1 of nan astir iconic edifice experiences anywhere,” Monaghan said. “Sunset drinks astatine nan Bar Américain are timeless.”

Be judge to besides cheque retired Gustave, nan caller cocktail lounge astatine nan Hôtel Hermitage. The Belle Époque-inspired barroom sits beneath a Gustave Eiffel-designed cupola. 

For a infinitesimal of rejuvenation, he recommended a travel to nan Thermes Marins spa, conscionable steps from nan hotel. “The Thermes Marins spa is among nan champion successful Europe,” he said, noting that nan 71,000 square-foot installation overlooking nan Mediterranean includes a brackish h2o pool, a sauna and a fittingness center. 

For lunch, Page Six recommends going to La Vigi Zanoni Monte-Carlo, a seaside Italian edifice tucked distant connected nan very extremity of nan Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel’s peninsula. The caller conception by cook Simone Zanoni is rooted successful fresh, seasonal ingredients. To complete nan afternoon, reserve a chair astatine nan hotel’s formation nine afterwards. 

“A time travel worthy mentioning is going to Èze village, which is simply a stunning detour — perched dramatically supra nan oversea betwixt Nice and Monaco, comparatively untouched, and breathtaking,” Monaghan said. “Pair it pinch a extremity astatine Château Eza for a portion aliases luncheon and nan views are unforgettable.”

Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Théoule-sur-Mer

If you request to instrumentality person to Cannes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, 1 of nan oldest medieval towns successful nan French Riviera, is conscionable a 40-minute Uber thrust and it’s a must-see. It is known for its modern contemporary creation museums and an enclave for celebrated artists for illustration Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and American writer James Baldwin, arsenic good arsenic a Provençal flair.

While hotels La Colombe d’Or and Château Saint-Martin are celebrated among tourists, Page Six recommends eating aliases staying astatine Toile Blanche, a charming boutique edifice group beneath Saint-Paul-de-Vence. The 22-suite hotel, which houses 2 restaurants, is nan brainchild of modern artists and brothers, Gilles, Gregory and Nicolas Leroy, who person created a unsocial rustic enclave that blends art, farm-to-table cooking  and family-style hospitality.

When explaining nan conception of their hotel, nan brothers said, “Guests will hide what you said, hide what you did, but they will ne'er hide really you made them feel. When we create, we don’t conscionable want to build thing beautiful — we want to make thing that makes group feel.”

Another hidden gem conscionable 15 minutes extracurricular of Cannes is nan seaside municipality of Théoule-sur-Mer. 

The municipality not only boasts hiking trails and jaw-dropping cliffside views overlooking nan Bay of Cannes, but it is besides location to Château de Théoule, a luxury spot that opened successful nan outpouring of 2024. 

Originally operating arsenic a soap mill erstwhile it opened in 1630, Château de Théoule changed hands a fewer times and owes its Tudor-style turrets to Scottish Lord M. Harry Crowford, who owned it successful 1913. That building has go portion of nan latest incarnation — a  44-room boutique hotel, which weaves neo-Art Deco-style interiors that motion to nan colour palette of nan surrounding scenery and vegetation. 

The Château boasts its ain backstage sandy formation — a rarity for nan area (ask for a time pass) — a relaxing spa, and Mareluna, nan hotel’s Mediterranean-inspired edifice overlooking nan sea. 

A WEEKEND JAUNT: PARIS

Paris is ever a bully idea. If you weren’t capable to snag a nonstop formation to Nice for nan show and person a extremity successful nan French capital, Monaghan suggested taking immoderate clip to soak successful nan city. 

The recreation guru recommends Dorchester properties Le Meurice and Plaza Athénée for an eventual luxurious edifice experience. 

“Le Meurice and Plaza Athénée are some bonzer successful wholly different ways. Plaza Athénée is play and romance connected nan Avenue Montaigne — nan benignant of reside that feels for illustration Paris distilled into a azygous building,” he said.  

During nan summer, nan Athénée opens its courtyard for romanticist nighttime eating aliases snag a preservation astatine nan hotel’s buzzy Relais Plaza, wherever Chef Jean Imbert serves up classical French fare. 

Le Meurice, which immoderate telephone a modern-day Versailles successful nan bosom of Paris, is simply a much “quietly elegant experience,” Monaghan said. For an opulent eating experience, reserve a array astatine Restaurant Le Dali, which pays tribute to predominant impermanent surrealist creator Salvador Dalí.

Inside this luxurious eating room, guests tin marvel astatine nan 145-square-meter floating artwork, created by French creator Ara Starck, girl of nan restaurant’s designer, Philippe Starck.

Monaghan recommends grabbing a late-night portion astatine Bar 228, nan hotel’s chic, unrecorded jazz watering hole. Or for a fine-dining experience, effort Le Meurice’s opulent Alain Ducasse restaurant. 

For a boutique edifice experience, Page Six recommends Le Grand Mazarin, a caller five-star edifice successful nan bosom of nan Marais. 

The highly Instagrammable edifice feels for illustration you’re stepping into a Wes Anderson movie pinch its whimsical, colorful decor. The hotel’s restaurant, La Boubalé, is simply a lively, must-try spot wherever nan nutrient blends Mediterranean flavors pinch nan vibrant colors of nan Orient.

For a much classical eating experience, Monaghan suggested Le Voltaire connected nan Left Bank. “It’s an enduring institution — awesome food, beautiful crowd, and nan benignant of room that ne'er goes retired of style,” he said, earlier listing disconnected a fewer different favorites.

“Cherry is nan benignant of intimate, buzzy find our clients travel location raving about. And for lunch, Le Cherche Midi successful Saint-Germain is simply awesome — unfussy, beautiful Italian-inflected cooking successful a room that feels wholly Parisian,” he said.