The Cultural and natural heritage of Lanzarote is the island’s dearest treasure creating a unique tourist attraction all-year round. However, knowing how to honour this heritage for sustainable tourism development, preserving and promoting it at the same time, is not a simple task. Kamezi Boutique Villas is an outstanding example of embodying Lanzarote values sustainably and authentically.
If you are looking for a luxurious, authentic getaway with plenty of privacy, Kamezi Boutique Villas in Canary Islands is the perfect choice. Kamezi Villas are sustainable holiday homes, unlike any others. Located in the southernmost town of Lanzarote, Playa Blanca, Kamezi is a place where sustainability goes beyond environmental practises.

What makes Kamezi an authentic holiday experience?

Kamezi team is dedicated to offering their guests a sustainable luxury, an authentic experience honouring the local culture, art, and people. We met with Eduardo José Marcos Lorda, director of Kamezi, and he explained that the founding idea of Kamezi was based on a simple principle – to leave this Earth better than we found it for the next generations. And in essence, that is the main goal behind Kamezi.

Canary Green meets director of Kamezí Boutique Villas - Eduardo José Marcos Lorda

Aside from this ideology, there are many more details shaping Kamezi as a sustainable and unique holiday experience. Eduardo highlights the architecture and design, inspired by César Manrique – perhaps the most famous Lanzarote native. The blueprint of Villas Kamezí was developed with respect to the island’s climatic conditions – the sun, the wind and rain, native vegetation, ocean, altitude, and the overall spirit of the landscape. It’s called bioclimatic architecture.

Rather than disrupting the existing landscape, Kamezi is built aiming to blend into the Lanzarote landscape, mitigate negative impact on the environment, and adapt to the local conditions. Indeed, Kamezi is perfectly embedded in the landscape offering guests the luxury of privacy right on the oceanfront.

“Koldo”, the owner of Kamezi, built what the Genius loci (the spirit of place) was asking them to build, not what they simply wanted” Eduardo continues. The pervading spirit of Lanzarote is so strong, so powerful that ignoring it is not an option. The sense of continuity and authenticity of this island, its history, and culture are fundamentally important for any business to belong and thrive in Lanzarote.

Canary Green in Lanzarote, Canary Islands

What authentic experiences can you indulge in while staying at Kamezi?

Kamezi strives to encourage their guests to discover the local culture, meet the local people, and enjoy Lanzarote as a whole, not just lay by the pool at the villa.

Kamezi offers many authentic experiences:

Experience a traditional pottery workshop with artist Jesus Lizaso. Create your own bowl or plate with natural Lanzarote elements just as the ancestors did centuries ago.
Join a Kamezi cooking workshop. Bake your own bread in a wood fired oven or learn to cook other local, traditional dishes.
Enjoy Lanzarote wine tasting. The Kamezi Deli & Bistró winery is a celebration of local wine.
Ask reception to recommend lookouts around the island loved by the locals. The Kamezi team always encourages their guests to have local, authentic experiences.

Kamezí Boutique Villas Lanzarote Deli Market

Kamezí Boutique Villas Lanzarote pottery

How is Kamezi embodying sustainability?

Here at Kamezi, local culture is a key dimension of sustainability, but there is so much more than that. What makes Kamezi most special is their attention to guests and their empathetic attitude towards people and the planet.

Sustainability at Kamezi is rooted in:

Landscaping and architecture

All villas are built with a natural ventilation system, therefore mechanical air-conditioning is not needed anywhere in Kamezi.
Landscaping is designed to encourage guests to get in touch with nature.
Building exterior and interior accentuates local, natural building materials.

Local culture, art, and history

Kamezi design follows César Manrique guidelines.
The complex is an art gallery for sculptures inspired by the island.
A workshop, hidden in a cave, serves for crafting their own, unique interior from novel materials like iron and wood as well as their own plates and bowls for the restaurant.
Guests are invited to join a pottery lesson with artist Jesus Lizaso and learn to make their own bowls or plates.

Canary Green enjoying pottery workshop at Kamezi Boutique Villas Lanzarote

Waste management and renewable energy

Kamezi has a wastewater treatment plant for recycling greywater and waste recycling is available in each villa.
They also have a desalination plant to produce fresh water from seawater.
Kamezi generates their own green energy – rooftops are covered in solar panels for heating water.
Natural ventilation is used instead of an air-conditioning plant, saving 10 – 30% of energy.

Sustainable living in Lanzarote at Villas Kamezi

Health and wellbeing

The Kamezí Deli & Bistró follows a zero-kilometre food philosophy and offers local produce from Finca Machinda farm.
80% of the building materials used are natural, meaning – less embodied carbon, less energy used in their production, and interiors are less likely to emit toxic VOCs.
Kamezi famous bread is made in their own bakery from organic flour using long fermentation and baked in a wood fired clay oven..
Wellness Kamezi offers an oasis of tranquillity for the mind and body with a spa, sauna, jacuzzi, gym, yoga, and even custom treatments using natural certified skincare.

Canary Green enjoying sustainable and healthy stay at Kamezí

Social consciousness and awareness-raising

Kamezi embodies a spirit of solidarity. They collaborate with the NKLIC foundation (New Keys Learning Investigation Center) that works in the investigation and treatment of children with educational difficulties.
All Kamezi Villas are named after famous historical figures like Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Bill Gates, Agatha Christie, Erin Brokovich, etc. Aside from fame, they all have one more thing in common – they are/were dyslexic. This adds to the feeling that each villa is unique with its own character, and raises social awareness among Kamezi customers.

3 tips from Kamezi for other hotels on their way towards sustainability!

Invest time in shaping the mission, vision, and values of your business. Without a strong and honest foundation, your hotel will not be sustainable in the long term.
Respect the spirit of the place. If you are a hotel in Lanzarote, you have to safeguard our local culture and history and honour the spirit of Lanzarote.
Encourage your guests to have local experiences. Only when your guests resemble your sustainability vision, only then you can consider yourself successful. Instead of just spending their days laying by the pool, encourage guests to have authentic experiences and help them learn about the local culture.

Lastly, Eduardo emphasises something worth keeping in mind: “The idea of luxury is changing. People now are curious about unique, different experiences. They want to feel something not available at home.”

Coming back to the founding idea of Kamezi – conservation of cultural heritage is very important for the future of our planet and people. The culture and our story-telling abilities once distinguished us from other mammals and allowed us to form emotional connections with places and people. Today our culture is a driver of sustainable development, a treasure to protect, the essence of our survival really.

We are proud to have experienced a sustainable hotel like Kamezi honouring the history and origins of our people and places, and we invite you to do the same.

Find out more about Kamezi Sustainable Villas on their website: https://www.villaskamezi.com