If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR370.09), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Desires to wander will desert you at César Lanzarote, an artist’s residence turned boutique hotel set in sun-kissed Lanzarote countryside – 10 minutes from package-holiday favourite Puerto del Carmen and yet a world away from Puerto del Carmen. Lingering is made art form, thanks to ravishing, rustic rooms and suites, all-day dining, elegant salons, and alfresco terraces in abundance. The main enticement to stay put, however, is the hotel’s pool – a curvaceous showstopper, set in scenery that rolls all the way to the coast. Those day trips to the beach may have to wait…
Noon; earliest check-in, 3pm. Both are flexible, subject to availability.
Prices
Double rooms from £339.19 (€396), including tax at 7 per cent.
More details
Rates include a buffet breakfast with à la carte options.
Also
César Lanzarote has one ground-floor room with the dimensions and features to accommodate guests with limited mobility.
Please note
A spa tucked away at basement level is in the works for 2024.
At the hotel
Salons, outdoor gym, bikes to borrow, paid laundry service, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: air-conditioning, minibar, Nespresso machine, tea-making kit, free bottled water, beach towels, and Eight & Bob bath products.
Our favourite rooms
There’s a polished simplicity to all rooms at César Lanzarote: whitewashed walls and wooden floors create a rustic backdrop for the villa’s original features teamed with shades of green, statement stripes and sculptural motifs, plus a pleasing number come with a freestanding wooden tub. We love the ground-floor Superior Rooms with Terrace and Sea View, which overlook the pool and deliver oodles of outdoor space. The Master Suite with Terrace and Sea View earns top spot with a corner position and a private roof terrace that’s one of the biggest we’ve seen (and we’ve seen a lot).
Poolside
Accompanied by rolling views to the coast, the heated outdoor pool is a curvaceous wonder that takes centre stage at the rear of the property and – given the boutique size of the hotel – is surprisingly large (open 10am until 8pm). It’s edged by black sand, palms and cacti and sits on a terrace above a striped-countered pool bar: bar level is also where you’ll find the curved stone-wall basking spots for two, each furnished with a pair of striped-cushioned loungers and utterly private (their design is not unlike the windbreaks you’ll find in the vineyard).
Packing tips
Charcoal, pencils and paper to capture the arid island landscapes; wide-brim hats to counter the Canaries sunshine, and basalt-proof boots for navigating Natural Park trails.
Also
The hotel has an outdoor gym with timbered cardio machines, benches and free weights; personal training can be arranged, too.
Pet‐friendly
Well behaved dogs, weighing 10 kilogrammes or less, are welcome and stay for free, but must be under their owner’s supervision and not disturb the peace and quiet. See more pet-friendly hotels in Lanzarote.
Children
The hotel has a sophisticated grown-up feel and is for over-16s only.
Sustainability efforts
César Lanzarote has some measures in place to reduce its environmental footprint: energy efficiencies include the use of LED light bulbs, electronic automation and resident solar panels. Water-saving plumbing eases the drain on natural resources, too. And the hotel recycles refuse and reduces kitchen waste in the first place with an effective system of cooking to order.
Tucked behind the sunset lounge area is a pergola-shaded dining spot where up to eight guests can enjoy a private dinner. And downstairs from the main dining room is another intimate spot for two. You’ll need to book with 24 hours’ notice.
Dress Code
Dining at an artist’s former home calls for artistic flourishes – bright hues and sculptural accessories would both get the nod from César.
Hotel restaurant
César Lanzarote’s restaurant is open all day, starting with an accomplished buffet breakfast (pastries, cereal, yoghurt, fruit, juices, and coffee), plus egg dishes cooked to order. Then it’s onto brunch for the late-risers; followed by lunch à la carte: as with dinner, you can expect Canarian cuisine – surf or turf – incorporating island produce as the seasons (and chef’s whim) allow. The hotel’s tasting menu, for private dinners, is a 14-course feast.
Hotel bar
Pull up a high stool at the gleaming white bar mounted on a slab of volcanic rock or head to one of the lounge-bar’s low-slung sofas and order spirits and mixers from a high-calibre optics run. As you’d expect from a vineyard-side stay, wines are in ready supply, too. On a terrace below the pool, an outdoor bar is your option for daytime refreshments to your sunlounger.
Last orders
Breakfast is served, 8am until 11am; then it’s brunch until 1pm, lunch between 1pm and 3pm. Pool service is available, 11am until 7pm. For dinner, it’s 7.30pm until 10pm.
Room service
A dedicated menu stars a choice of caviar, seafood snacks (anchovies on toast, clams or pickled mussels), sandwiches and burgers; available 8am until 11pm.
In Lanzarote’s south, overlooking the coast and not far from Mácher, charming finca hotel César Lanzarote has vineyard and volcano views.
Planes
Sharing a namesake with the hotel, César Manrique International Airport is a 15-minute drive away: the hotel can arrange private transfers from €70 one-way, or €120 return.
Automobiles
Taxis may be all you need for forays to the coast or island towns, but if you are hiring wheels, there’s a free outdoor carpark at the hotel.
Other
Playa Blanca has a ferry service to and from Fuerteventura; for Gran Canaria, and routes to mainland Huelva and Cádiz, it’s the port of Arrecife you want.
Worth getting out of bed for
If hiking across lunar landscapes is on your wishlist, the walking trails of Los Volcanes Natural Park are on your doorstep. Make a day trip of exploring Lanzarote’s windswept beaches to the north, starting with famed surfer spot Famara, then making a beeline for the village of Órzola, at the island’s northern tip, where there are beaches east and west, of which the island-atypical white sands at Caletón Blanco win by a nose. Head back via the west coast, and Playa del Risco, where a broad sweep of cliff-backed sand looks across the sea to La Graciosa. Let César Lanzarote’s namesake be your inspiration for cultural jaunts: wander the Manrique-designed Cactus Garden at Garafía, head to Jameos del Agua, a series of volcanic caverns transformed by Manrique that are now home to a restaurant, museum, and picturesque lagoon: for a different perspective, they also hold Jameos Nights here, when the basalt formations are illuminated. On the outskirts of Arrecife, the Castillo de San José, a former fortress, houses the International Museum of Contemporary Art (no prizes for guessing which creative force directed its transformation), where Canarian, Spanish and international works hang in storied stone galleries. And there are extra points if you can spot a César ‘wind toy’ on any of the island’s roundabouts.
Local restaurants
Harbourside in Arrecife, Restaurante Lilium is a refined dining room with linen-topped tables and nautical blue accents where polished Canarian plates showcase island-reared meat and produce as well as market-fresh catch on a menu that’s seasonal and often supply-inspired; book ahead. Domed, whitewashed spaces feel more Santorini than Canaries, and yet at Kamezi Deli & Bistro, the market cuisine is strictly regional, and much more sophisticated than its name suggests. Choose from a choice of tasting menus (dishes change daily) and dive into the restaurant’s wine cellar to sample local and small-batch vintages. Glass-walled, pared-back surroundings framed by bold geometric architecture are matched in modernity by artily presented Canarian cuisine at La Cocina de Colacho in Playa Blanca, a restaurant and art gallery run by a husband and wife team.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this unique island stay in the Canarian countryside and unpacked their sketchbooks and straw hats, a full account of their bucolic break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside César Lanzarote…
Artist César Manrique is a big deal in Lanzarote: the airport is named after him, his sculptures dot the island, and some of its most admired gardens were landscaped by the man himself (now deceased). Staying at Manrique’s former home, César Lanzarote, comes with covetable perks. Like any wise aesthete, César chose a location that’s easy on the eye, edged by vineyards, overlooked by a majestic volcano, with bucolic views that stretch all the way to the coast. The historic villa is untouched in structure: wooden ceiling beams, original stonework and glorious grounds are all intact, and rooms come in unique shapes and sizes. We’re sure César would approve of its landscaping, too, with a sprawling pool terrace, neat sunbathing nooks, and sculptural furnishings and potted plants outdoors and in. Dining here is also creative – available all day in a choice of spots, at rustic tables indoors, out on the terrace, or book a private dinner, alfresco under the pergola, for a meal to remember.
