Villas Umma House  

28 Sep 2024

Beautiful house with private pool, spacious bedrooms and several terraces to hang out on. Great location in old Lamu, close to shops, museums and the sea with great boat rides to wonderful beaches Manda and Shela.

16 Sep 2024

Good swahili breakfast. Farid was an exceptional help that made our stay seamless.

07 Sep 2024

A great home for a group visiting Lamu. You have your own pool and the house is so spacious with 3x bedrooms each with an en suite. Check in was so smooth, we chose the option where the captain picked us up from the airport and escorted us to the boat (definitely do this as it’s tricky to find the house yourself the first time). He was amazing and offered to carry our bags, we had a great boat ride across and he showed us to the house where the housekeeper met us. We had some problems with the water being lukewarm during our stay but apart from that we felt so looked after by the housekeeper. Their captain organises boat trips on he Dhow and we really recommended you take this up, he was brilliant. The location is on Amu (Lamu Old Town) with lots of restaurants on the waterfront and Shela is a short boat ride away. It’s a traditional house so don’t expect ‘mod cons’ everywhere but the WiFi was superb and every bed handily has mosquito nets.

02 Sep 2024

We had a truly memorable and amazing experience staying 4 nights & 5 days at Umma house. We had a warm and welcoming greeting from the staff Zeinab and Farid who were amazing. Zeinab stayed in contact the whole time and she booked all of our activities for us. We gave her a budget and what we wanted and she made sure everything was organised and that our stay was stress free so we could just focus on enjoying Lamu. On our last day she let us check out later at 1pm because our flight was at 2:55 which was amazing so we could enjoy our final houra. Farid is the young house keeper and he was exceptional. He did all of the house work including laundry, dishes, ironing, cleaning the house and pool everyday and he even went out to the markets to get our groceries. He was so friendly and we were able to go with him to the markets and he showed us around and was helpful with anything we needed. If he is there you can ask him to show you around and he is very enthusiastic to do whatever you need to make the most of your stay in Lamu. The house itself is beautiful and we spent a lot of time in the pool and on the rooftops for sunset drinks. There are lots of different areas in the house to relax including 3 different balconies / roof tops. The best bedroom in the house is located on the top floor which has a lot of stairs so may not be suitable for elderly or people who struggle getting up stairs. This didnt bother us though and we got used to it quickly, it is so worth it for the amazing big bedroom! Umma house is located in Lamu old town so you are bound to hear the mosques and prayers but it is a beautiful way to experience the true essence and culture of Lamu and the prayers only last 5-10 minutes at most. If you are easily disturbed by loud noises then maybe bring ear plugs but if you are genuinely interested in the rich culture of Lamu then it should not be a problem.

31 Aug 2024

Very beautiful house. It is big plenty of space. Rooms are very nice and staff great. Farid is very helpful with everything you need.

05 Aug 2024

The house is incredible and it deserves to take time to enjoy it. Farid, the person in charge of the house and to take care of all we needed, is a really nice person, he took care of everything and helped us a lot. Asante sana for all of it!!

29 Jul 2024

Thanks to the housekeeper Fadir our stay was 10. We spent 3 nights in the house with all the comforts and the incredible kindness and closeness of Fadir. He gave us many recommendations like the guide Abu who show us around very professionally and close, everything was in detail. We also thank the cook Barak who came to make us breakfast and dinner, it was incredible! If we ever come back to Lamu we will come back to Umma. Asante sana!

08 Jul 2024

Very nicely designed and maintained. It is quite big with 3 floors with a great architectural design. Not too far off from the main road of lamu with easy access and shops nearby (<5 min walk) to top up on any essentials. Comfortable and cleaned well in a quieter side of Lamu town (except for call to prayer from the mosque next door) which you just have to manage if you want to visit a culturally rich Islamic & historic town such as Lamu and especially if you want to stay inside the town where there are 23 mosques. Well secured property.

22 Jun 2024

Very clean and friendly staff, the villa is cozy and there’s many spaces to relax on. Everything worked well and the Umma house team catered to all our needs. It’s better to prepare because there is a lot of mosquitoes

22 Jun 2024

Umma house is an architectural gem. We felt like we were in a period movie set. Two well-appointed ensuite bedrooms on second floor. Master bedroom on 3rd floor is stunning - airy and sunlit. Expansive views from roof top. Ceiling fans in bedrooms a real plus. Peter, the house keeper, was most helpful and obliging. He did our laundry, ran to the shops to get us water, candles, mosquito coils; even took us to a supplier where we got wine and beer for the house. We also recommend their in-house chef, Baraka, who cooked us breakfasts and delicious seafood dinners. Arrival and departure were pre-arranged; porters met us at the airport, carried our bags first to the boat and then through a circuit of narrow lanes to the house. Same deal going back. We also enjoyed our day sailing on the dhow.