The White Lotus is jetting off to Cannes for its fourth season, once again putting the spotlight on the ultra-wealthy. While the show – which follows the exploits of guests and staff at a fictional luxury resort chain – involves some pretty unpleasant characters, it is hard to fault the glitzy Cannes location.

Filming for the hit HBO anthology series is under way at the Hotel Martinez, but staff at the five-star Hyatt hotel will not tell me much.

“It’s going to be gigantic,” general manager Michel Cottray says.

He knew little about Mike White’s show a year ago, but has now binged it all with his wife.

“I’m an expert, you can ask me what happened in series two episode four, what happened in Taormina? I know,” he says.

Bafta-winner Laura Dern, star of Jurassic Park and Marriage Story, will step into the Cote d’Azur for the morbid satire’s star-studded new season, as well as fellow Bafta-winner Steve Coogan, aka Alan Partridge. French actor Vincent Cassel, known for La Haine and Black Swan, has also been cast, along with Ugly Betty and New Girl’s Max Greenfield.