3.14 Hotel

Class: First

Style: Opulent

Rooms: 94

Cannes, for most people, means old-world glamour, and a stay in one of the same opulent wedding-cake grand hotels that have stood over La Croisette since the beginning of the last century. There’s nothing wrong with doing Cannes the old-fashioned way, but novelty seekers may find the 3.14 to be a suitably irreverent departure from the norm.

The next obvious move, as a complement to the grand hotels, would be a Nineties-style minimalist boutique, something in the Schrager mode perhaps. 3.14 isn’t that either. Here the colors are vivid, the décor is unusual, and the concept is endearingly nutty — each floor is meant to represent a different continent, from the dark woods and red silks of the Asia rooms to the Moulin Rouge atmosphere in the Europe rooms.

Compared to the big names, the 3.14 is a little pared-down; this being Cannes, however, pared-down is still somewhat luxurious. There’s a rooftop swimming pool with a view out to sea, a private beach club not fifty meters from the hotel’s doors, and a restaurant and bar, Mahatma, serving cocktails and a globally inspired Mediterranean cuisine. And there’s no reason to shut yourself in; just three hundred meters away is La Croisette, the famous seaside promenade, and beyond some of the finest dining and shopping in Europe.