An Insider’s Guide to the Starriest Spots During Cannes Film Festival

This week, the stars once again descend upon the French Riviera for the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Every May, the coveted Croisette undergoes its annual transformation into a stage set of extraordinary glamour, where black SUVs idle outside Belle Époque hotels and publicists in headsets sweep through marble lobbies juggling espresso orders and garment bags. During the festival, Cannes itself becomes a spectator sport, from hotel lobbies, to restaurant terraces and buzzy beachclubs. And unlike the Met Gala — where celebrity visibility peaks for a matter of hours before disappearing back behind closed doors — Cannes stretches across two weeks of sustained spectacle. The festival continues to fascinate after all these decades as it remains one of the last places where celebrity culture still feels unapologetically excessive. There are also Gulf creatives, Arab stars, Saudi filmmakers, and Middle Eastern-founded brands woven naturally into the fabric of the festival itself — reflective of the Gulf’s growing influence across cinema, luxury, and fashion industries alike. The new Cannes feels less Eurocentric than it once did — more international, and better dressed, frankly. This is also where one picks up the unofficial rules of celebrity spotting. Contrary to fantasy, stars are rarely found wandering aimlessly through Cannes. For visitors hoping to participate — or at least observe — the best approach is to lean into the ritual. Order lunch at the Martinez around 2 PM, linger near the starry lobbies after screenings, score yourself a competitive dinner reservation and eventually someone famous will materialise two tables away. Here are the chic addresses where Cannes actually happens, beyond the red carpet itself. The starriest hotel lobbies What the Mark Hotel in New York is to the Met Gala, Cannes belongs to three grande dames facing the Mediterranean: Carlton Cannes, Hôtel Martinez, and Hôtel Barrière Le Majestic Cannes, where Arab tastemakers, French it-girls, and Hollywood A-listers orbit the same hotel lobbies under chandeliers that have witnessed nearly a century of cinema. At the Carlton, recently restored to its Riviera-era glory, old Hollywood glamour still hangs in the air. Grace Kelly stayed here, Hitchcock filmed To Catch a Thief here, and during festival week, the hotel becomes a living archive of celebrity culture itself. The suites overlooking the sea transform into temporary headquarters for jewellery maisons and couture houses, whilst stars descend on the lobby for paparazzi photo opps before making their way to the Palais. Just along the Croisette, the art deco Hôtel Martinez pulses from noon onwards with agents, producers, and fashion teams. Bella Hadid waving from the balcony with a floral bouquet last year has become part of Cannes legend. So has the hotel’s revolving-door cast of models, actors, jewellery handlers, and exhausted assistants. There is always somebody checking in wearing Saint Laurent sunglasses indoors, and the lobby runs on espresso, adrenaline, and Hadid-adjacent Chopard diamonds. Right off the Palais entrance, Le Majestic functions as an extension of the festival itself. Jury members stay here, and so do many of the international delegations shaping the global future of cinema. During festival week, the lobby hums with photographers, publicists, and A-listers moving between premieres, able to step directly from the hotel onto the red carpet. Dining One would find that a dinner reservation at the right restaurant can matter more than a screening invitation. Insiders still gravitate toward La Petite Maison Cannes, meanwhile, Fred l'Écailler remains a low-key industry favourite for seafood and discreet meetings away from the frenzy of the Croisette. Perched above Palm Beach overlooking the marina, Zuma has become one of Cannes’ most reliably impossible reservations, where the crowd skews international and aggressively well-dressed. While fashion people continue to love La Petite Maison and Fouquet’s, both storied Riviera restaurants with a buzzy it-crowd and unabashedly bougie menus. Beach clubs Cannes’ coveted beach clubs are among the most competitive spaces during May, especially hotspot venues like Carlton Beach Club and La Plage du Martinez. Further flung, La Guérite — reached only by boat off the coast — becomes a floating extension of the festival, beloved for its impossible-to-leave lunches that dissolve into sunset dancing with a crowd that usually includes at least one Oscar nominee. For reliable celebrity sightings during festival week, be sure to drift between Bâoli, Mademoiselle Gray, and La Môme Plage, where film stars and fashion insiders spill out from around 2PM. After dark, the energy shifts toward Medusa Cannes, Luigi Cannes and Bisous Bisous Club — the kind of velvet-rope Riviera nightlife institutions where securing a table often feels harder than getting invited to a premiere itself. It-crowd coffee spots One of the clearest indicators of Cannes’ shifting social geography is the popularity of Saddle Café Cannes along the Croisette. The UAE-born café concept has become a daytime headquarters for Arab stars moving through the festival circuit. In many ways, Saddle reflects how Cannes increasingly mirrors Gulf luxury culture during festival season, with the Riviera becoming a temporary extension of Dubai, Riyadh and Doha’s social scene. Nearby, Armani/Caffè Cannes draws a similarly polished crowd, offering a quieter kind of glamour just off the Croisette's frenzy. Between screenings and brand dinners, it has become a favoured pause point for fashion insiders, celebrities and Middle Eastern visitors looking for somewhere elegant to retreat without entirely disappearing from the scene.