Booking your Lamu Retreat holiday with us

Once you decide what kind of holiday you are looking for we can offer advice on other activities or destinations to complement your stay in a Lamu Retreat, and put you in touch with a reliable accredited Tour Operator (all our affiliates are registered members of A.T.T.A and any one we recommend you to purchase airline tickets from will be I.A.T.A bonded. We are not Travel Agents or tour designers, but by dealing direct with Lamu Retreats you deal direct with the home owners and therefore may avoid considerable agency fees and mark ups.

We also know the retreats and the area intimately and will tailor make your booking to fit like a glove.

Try this simple recipe.........

1. Look at the prices for the retreat you are interested in and and divide by the number of people in your party (or take the room rate if one is given) and multiply by the number of days you are staying (dont forget to take dates into account, the peak and off-peak times may vary between retreats and if you are not restricted to school holiday dates etc. then there are great savings to be had).
2. Add in around US $25 per person per day. This will cover your food, soft drinks, beers and basic shopping for the house. It will allow for enough extra for several outings during your stay (perhaps a beach barbecue, a trip to Manda Toto for snorkelling or a dhow sunset sail). It will also probably leave enough in the kitty for tipping house staff at the end of your stay.
3. Check on the Internet for Flight to Kenya. You can get a Kenya Airways or KLM ticket from anywhere in Europe all the way to Lamu (Airport Code LAU) via Nairobi. The cost of this even at peak times should be less than £700. If you want to save even more money look for "Flight Only" or "Self Catering" packages from the big tour operators and charter airlines such as Britannia and Safari-Air. You can usually fly to Mombasa on 7 or 14 day return for as little as £220 from London Gatwick and add on a Mombasa-Lamu return with a Kenyan charter airline for under £100.
4. Total the three figures above and see if you can find a travel agent to match this price with a package. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the low price of freedom! If you prefer the convenience and security of using a travel agent or tour designer to help you book your flights we can recommend the best whether you book your accommodation with Lamu Retreats directly or through an agent.

Let's start planning your escape to Lamu !!

PUSH TO ESCAPE

Here's How it Works.

1. You browse our portfolio of houses and decide which is your favourite and best suits your needs as a party. If you wish make a shortlist in order of preference in case there is no vacancy at your first choice of Retreat.

2. Work out the dates that you would like to arrive and depart. These may be dictated by the availability of your flights so it might be best at this stage to check this with your travel agent or on the internet. Remember you can fly from anywhere in Europe to Nairobi and connect the same day to Lamu, and when outbound you can leave Lamu in the afternoon and be on a night flight back to Europe the same evening. Let us have your arrival and departure dates.

3. Give us any other relevant information about your group (Weddings, honeymoons, disabilities or medical conditions, dietary needs, pregnancy or small infants etc.)

4. We will advise you of the suitability of the property that you have booked for your specific needs and possibly suggest alternatives. Once in agreement we will send Availability Requests to the preferred property/properties.

5. Once Availability has been confirmed we will revert to you and advise you of your options. This will result in a Provisional Booking once you have decided which property to book. You will then have 72 hours in which to organise your travel arrangements (we are happy to advise on this but do not offer a booking service) during which period we will hold your Provisional Booking.

6. Once you have confirmed your travel arrangements and inform us of these we will send you a Booking Confirmation. Only at this stage will we require you to make a committment by the payment of a 20% Confirmation Deposit. You will then be entering into a legally binding contract with the property owner once this has been paid and will be subject to cancellation policies (see Small Print Terms and Conditions)

7. Once this deposit has been paid you will be placed directly in the hands of your hosts at the Retreat of your choice and will make all further contracts and arrangements with them. LAMU RETREATS will monitor your booking and ensure that retreat owners maintain contact with you and that the booking is going smoothly in whatever way we can.

AT NO TIME WILL YOU BE DEALING WITH AN AUTOMATED REPLY SERVICE OR MULTIPLE OPERATORS WHO DO NOT HAVE THE BACKGROUND ON YOUR HOLIDAY NEEDS. YOU WILL BE DEALING WITH A NAMED PERSON (almost certainly me!) WHO WILL HANDLE ALL YOUR QUERIES ON A ONE TO ONE BASIS AND EXPLAIN ANYTHING YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. JUST ASK........................ THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE!

Come and visit us in Lamu

Jake da Motta and Gillie Lightfoot

Owners of Jasmine House and The Lamu Retreats and Tribal Textiles

......Oh! A couple more great ideas - check out our recommendation for a personal photographer and a personally guided safari.