9/7/2023: Somewhere in Cannes

Venice, Italy > Cannes, France

After a two-hour train ride from Venice, we arrived in Milan where we had just enough time to grab lunch before hopping onto the second train. We were a little worried that our tickets for the second train wouldn't be accepted, as we had only been able to purchase 1st class tickets online but used our 2nd class Eurorail passes to make the purchase. Additionally, this was one of the few assigned seating trains we’d been on that we would not be sitting together. We weren't surprised to find that the train was packed (hence why there had only been first-class seats available - and they weren't together). We found our seats and both were packed in so tightly we couldn't leave our seat to visit the other (or even use the restroom). After pulling a kid out of the first class restroom and kicking him off the train for hiding in there without a ticket, the ticket inspector came along and hesitantly allowed us both to remain in our spots without paying an additional fee. 

When we finally got to Cannes, it was late and we were both exhausted. We took a taxi to the hotel address we had been sent through booking.com and were dropped off a block or two away from the location. We walked to the building Google Maps led us to, which appeared to be some kind of office or apartment building that was unlabeled. Given that the hotel had messaged us our reservation booking in French and we had limited access to internet to help us interpret any special instructions, we weren’t sure what kind of nuances we were missing, but it didn't seem like the right location. We ran into a man entering the building who offered us help and pointed us down the road with instructions in a mix of French and English, which we didn't totally understand. We found a hotel down the road and asked the person at the front desk where the address was. She saw the name “Martinez” in our booking reservation, and seemed to know exactly where that was and provided detailed walking instructions on how to get there. After another two blocks, we arrived at The Martinez and immediately wondered what we had booked and how much we’d paid for it. 

The hotel radiated high-class, mega-millionaire vibes with a Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls Royce, and Aston Martin parked out front waiting for the valet service. We immediately felt out of place, but hesitantly entered the building, probably looking like hobos off the street. Upon relaying the information that we had reservations there, we were led to a private room and given some fancy cucumber mint-infused water which we guzzled down in a single swallow. A man took our bags and had us sit down in some fancy chairs where we were greeted by a nice woman requesting the last name on the reservation. She was not able to find the name, and that’s when we knew… we did NOT belong there. I ended up pulling out my phone and showing her the reservation which she was able to interpret. 

Turns out, we were indeed in the wrong place. And the place we had initially gone was indeed the right place. We took advantage of the hotel’s wifi and fully translated the message we’d received from our booking confirmation, which revealed some key information. Turns out, there was a a hidden lock box we needed to open in order to enter the building. UGH. So, we strapped back on our bags and walked back to the first building. We located the lockbox and… it didn't open. We tried the code again and… it still didn't open. I called and texted the number on the reservation and awaited a response. Fortunately, someone let us into the lobby of the building so we could put our stuff down, but it was late and there was no one onsite to direct us to where our room was or how to get in. After about 30 minutes, we heard back from the host recommending we try a different code… and it worked! We tried the new code and the lockbox opened, providing us with both the fob to enter the building and the key to access our room. Phew! We scrambled up to our room and after about 15 minutes of trying to unlock the door (this really wasn't our day), we were in our room. It had been such a long and painful day, we were both exhausted and ready for it to be over. We’d try again tomorrow.

One thing's for sure: we will be coming back to The Martinez hotel (the real one) once we reach mega-millionaire status. It's now on our bucket list of places to stay.

~ Savvy