Guests report that staying there changes their perception of the human body. "I looked in the mirror and for the first time, I didn’t nitpick my flaws," wrote one visitor in the guestbook. "I thought, 'What would Tinto Brass see?' He would see a curve, a shadow, a story." Beyond the beds and the minibar (stocked with sparkling wine and figs—an aphrodisiac staple), the Hotel Courbet serves a vital cultural function. It has become a meeting place for the Tinto Brass Foundation , which works to restore and preserve the director’s vulnerable film prints. Many of his later works are at risk of degradation, and the hotel donates a percentage of every suite booking to film restoration.
The operates on this very philosophy. It is a place designed to remove shame. The staff is trained not in prudish discretion, but in "sensual concierge." They offer recommendations not just for restaurants, but for private beach clubs where one can sunbathe topless in the spirit of Brass’s Cheeky! (2000). They curate playlists of Italian library music—lounge, bossa nova, and psychedelic rock that soundtracks the director’s work. The Controversy and the Liberation Naturally, a hotel celebrating Tinto Brass has faced its share of criticism. Some reviewers on travel sites have called it "kitschy" or "too explicit." However, the majority of guests defend it fiercely. They argue that the hotel's power lies in its honesty.
In the words of the Maestro himself, displayed on a brass plaque in the lobby: "Eros is not a sin. Eros is life. And life must be lived with your eyes wide open."
Films such as Caligula (1979—though largely disowned by Brass due to producer interference), The Key (1983), and Capriccio (1987) introduced the world to the "Brassian" universe: opulent sets, intricate lighting, a heavy focus on rear-curtain projection, and the iconic —a penchant for shooting the female buttocks as the central aesthetic focus of a scene. For Brass, the posterior was not merely erotic; it was architectural, joyful, and pure. His work is a rebellion against the shame of the body, advocating for a return to a pagan, joyful sensuality. The Location: Hotel Courbet in Cannes Situated just a stone’s throw from the iconic La Croisette in Cannes, Hotel Courbet is a boutique establishment that could easily have been just another elegant Mediterranean hotel. However, its transformation into a shrine of celluloid erotica began when the management decided to pay homage to the director who turned Cannes (the festival’s home) into a secondary character in his films.