Our Conscious Eye On
- Hotel La Semilla

Surrounded by lively green gardens on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, Hotel La Semilla set out to offer a more conscious form of hospitality. One of its key goals is to spread awareness about the importance of nature in our lives. To that aim, Angie Rodriguez and Alexis Schärer have launched an initiative called Árboles La Semilla, through which they plant trees to forge a deeper connection to nature and share their message. For this project, La Semilla has become a tree ambassador for One Tree Planted, a nonprofit organization focused on global reforestation. It’s a fitting passion project for La Semilla, whose name means “seed” in Spanish. The owners have also developed a spiritual initiative called Zemillas, which aims to help guests develop self-knowledge for self-transformation and transform obstacles into opportunities. As Schärer says, “How could you be conscious about the external world if you are not connected first with your inner consciousness?” The hotel does good work on the details, too: The breakfast menu is small, locally sourced, and mostly vegetarian. Instead of buying cut flowers, the team uses potted plants for decoration. And when the plants grow too large they are planted in the garden, which nicely illustrates Hotel La Semilla’s dedication to circularity.