The charming and comfortable seven-bedroom historic 200 years old home has two beautiful gardens and plenty of cool terraces to relax and enjoy the tropical breeze as you accustom yourself to Lamu's gentle pace. Right in the middle of Old Lamu Town.Meals on request.Wine licence.Subira House,a 200-year-old coral stone house was built by the governor under the Sultan of Zanzibar now carefully preserved by its Swedish/Dutch owners.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Centrally Located
Great View
Location
Behind Lamu Fort P.O. Box 341, Lamu Island 80500 Kenya
Subira House
94 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
My partner and I recently stayed at Subira House in Lamu during our trip to Kenya, and were absolutely blown away by this place. The architecture and the interiors are amazing, and it feels like you're being taken back in time. The staff were incredibly attentive, helpful and very hospitable. The breakfasts were also incredible!! A delicious spread each morning of homemade jams, peanut butter and more. And it's right in the centre of town, only a couple of minutes walks to the main square and port. It was very special, and we would highly recommend to anyone who is staying in Lamu.
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Date of stay: September 2022
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We went to Subira house for a 3 course dinner as a large group last night. We were served the most tasty grilled fish, stuffed aubergine and condiments. The service was excellent and it was all served in the most idyllic setting in Lamu town. This was an incredible experience. I would highly recommend. A huge thank you to Chef Oomi, Rosemary and Mohammed for a spectacular evening with stellar service!
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Date of stay: July 2024Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place is absolutely gorgeous, the structure was stunning.. I loved everything about it. Specially the staff, they were wonderful. I never stayed at a place that was truly ecological and I have to say it felt good to not see any plastic and the food was so organic. The toilets were a little an adjustment but none the less it was ok. I didn’t meet Christina and Paul, the owners, but I felt as I did since the staff spoke about them often.. I LOVE THE PLACE!!
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
It was dirty. At breakfast time there was ants in the sugar, the butter had gone off. Our whole family got sick and we left early.
On arrival they changed our rooms, it wasn't the ones we originally booked and they did not advise us until we arrived.
Also the owners overcharged us, we paid a deposit and then they charged us the full amount when we departed. It took me a month to try to get a refund.
There is power cuts everyday for hours and the place has no generator. As a result there was no hot showers or Internet.
It was also very noisy so if you are a light sleeper don't go there.
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Noisy, breakfast is limited, staff speak little English so we got the wrong breakfast
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I just loved being here. The owners are so very lovely and the house is just beautiful. Perfect location to explore Old Town with a comfortable walk to Shela. 3 minutes from the center of Old Town and a quick walk from the pier. Highly recommended! You won’t be disappointed. Was nearly in tears by the time I was to leave. The warmth and kindness of this place is to be revered.
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you, Christina and Paul, for the warm welcome and fabulous stay. We very much enjoyed our stay and above all meeting unconventional and remarquable people like you. Well done on the extraordinary rehabilitation work you have done on Subira House, the house is gorgeous. The staff took great care of our little daughter 5 years old. It was very kind.
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Date of stay: December 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Great house, I enjoyed the hosts. I enjoyed the vegetarian dinner and the breakfast. The hosts give great advice on what to do around Lamu. The house is amazing with a garden and friendly staff. Its situated in a great location
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Date of stay: October 2021
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We visited for 3 nights - booking 2 separate rooms - during August when the owners were away and unfortunately we were quite disappointed with the service. The manager on duty, Julius, didn't say 2 words to us when meeting us at the airport. We followed him to the guest house and were shown our rooms, but didn't receive any orientation to the house, the bathrooms and drop toilets, or the area. Captain J sold us on a boat trip but we felt badly that perhaps the actual boat captain that he booked us with didn't receive enough of what we paid for this trip - which was quite a lot (we feel we were overcharged and you would do better to negotiate directly with boat captains). Our rooms and the separate bathrooms were not cleaned at all during our stay. The rooms were dusty and things I put on the shelves picked up dirt. The towels in the bathroom were the kind that are used for cleaning floors and mine were dirty - pieces of hair (not mine) and dirt came off on me when I used them after a shower. We were given new towels after 2 days only after asking. We couldn't find anyone on duty, particularly in the evening. One evening the door bell rang at 9:00pm for 30 minutes and no one answered it. As our days went by at Subira house, I felt that Captain J treated us with increasing animosity - resenting our presence. It seems the staff would rather hang out and chat with themselves than serve guests. They were chatting quite loudly one morning, which was distributing at the early hour. I'm not sure if service is better when the managers are there, and I'm also not sure how often they are there. Although the house is lovely and the price is reasonable, I would say it is best not to take your chances with this guest house.
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Date of stay: August 2011
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This place gets a lot of excellent reviews. Mine will likely not be one of them. I doubted for a moment, because it tends to never pay off to be the odd one out, and because the staff was very nice. However, I really wish someone had written a proper review before I did my booking, hence I am sharing my views. In short: I think the place is overpriced for the cleanliness and comfort that is offered and I don’t think it is presented rightly in the existing advertisement and some other reviews --- but that is my opinion of course. I added some pictures where I thought my arguments needed supporting evidence.
To start with the positive: The public areas are very nice. Well renovated, nicely decorated.
So what follows below is based on my experience in “room 3”. I have not seen or slept in any of the other rooms, hence I am uncertain as to whether this is an exception or the rule …
First, a lot has been written on this forum about the Subira House eco-toilets, so let me start with that one --- to ease into it all, let’s say. I personally hated them, but that may be just me. I simply don’t like (the thought of literally) sitting on top of a pile of faeces from other people (or from myself for that matter). To quote another reviewer: “one should balance eco-friendliness and hygiene and I felt like the hygiene part was losing out.” The whole bathroom smelled like open latrine – or maybe that was because the latrine smelled off ashes and there was an open bucket of ashes right there ... Personally, I prefer my toilets to feel, smell and look clean – whatever shape they come in. This one did not score on any of the three levels. Now, I read the arguments, and I understand them, but I think there are better ways to set this up … Then I read somewhere it is used as manure in their garden … no no no … in case this was meant to make us feel better about the whole thing: it doesn’t! On the contrary. There is a reason (actually more than one) why any community that the means, all over the world, stopped doing this ages ago …
But it’s hard to see whether a wooden toilet is clean or not … smell aside … so maybe my opinion on the toilet not being clean had nothing to do with the style of toilet, but much more with nothing else being clean – a projection let’s say – a wild assumption that if nothing was visibly clean, the toilet probably would not be either.
Moving to the shower: First of all, the shower has cold water only, which, like the eco-toilets, is not mentioned when booking. And that while solar heaters are quite common now … even in Lamu, even with an eco-label … Also, Subira House is not a 10USD-a-night hotel, so warm water is kind of expected within its price range. But that was only an inconvenience that made the place feel overpriced … It wasn’t actually much of an issue, since it was hardly possible to get into the shower in the first place: I have added a picture to help my further description, because it really does need visuals. There was not much of an actual shower, just a tab and a shower-head sticking out of the wall in a space filled with other stuff … There was a plastic bowl (with some brown residue in it) and a (used!) toilet brush (or something), a sweeper for the floors, a plastic can, and unidentified black stains … It all looked a bit like the cleaner had left the room on an emergency halfway through his/her chores … Any holiday- or “hotel-room”-feeling was very far away. Anyhow, I was not entirely sure what I was supposed to do with/in the shower space ... What were the bowl and the brush and the sweeper and all these other things doing in there? – unless they were expecting me to clean my own room and do some dishes while I was using the water anyway? Was I supposed to remove all the items before showering or just find a spot in between them? Was it an attempt to prevent us from showering, and save some water? Was I to use a dirty bowl and brush to clean myself?
The only other items in the bathroom – a small sink and a mirror, had not been cleaned in a while either. The mirror had random white stains all over (I am not talking about the brownish stains from ageing), but spats from toothpaste and the like (not mine, it was there when I arrived) and the sink could definitely do with some cleaning product … or water for that matter. I could see far too many traces of the presence of whomever had been there before me. Pictures added, though it is hard to capture this on photo.
Anyhow, let me move out of the bathroom and into the room itself: the bed - the mattress, the pillows, the sheets … They all came with the heritage of the previous 20-odd guests, who, from the smell of it, had not figured out how to use the shower either … I will not get into the quality of the mattress because I guess this is the type you get in Lamu whenever not importing things from Nairobi or Mombasa, but will focus on the things that could easily be improved. For example: How hard is it to provide clean pillows in a hotel – the type without stains and that don’t make your imagination run wild once your nose gets rested near them …? Or sheets that are white? Mine had semi-washed-out stains on them and what had once been white had turned into several shades of grey (I added another picture with some printing paper as a colour sample, and a nice close-up of the stains that were all over). Again, I understand that laundry probably needs to be done by hand and that the weather is not always ideal for drying. BUT, if your laundry stinks, rewash it! If your pillows are brown, replace them. If there are bloodstains or other bodily fluids on the sheets, wash them out and if you can’t remove the stains any longer, throw the sheet out … Here I am actually assuming that they had been washed before I arrived. There was only the vile smell of badly dried laundry to go by. Same for the mosquito-net. I am not sure they know that these things also need washing, especially in dusty environments where the windows have no glass … In room 3, the net was as grey as the bedsheets, sticky and with all kinds of random stains from dead insects (always pleasant to see other people’s blood around the remains of a mosquito while lying on your bed…) … I had luckily done some fabric shopping on a previous leg of my trip, so had enough with me to create some sort of a sleepeable environment. This is again something I am used to doing while staying at really cheap hostels in places where there are no other options, but not when I am actually paying a more than fair price for my room.
My room was not cleaned throughout my stay, even though the cleaner was sweeping the room across, which was empty … apparently, rooms that are not in use have priority for cleaning. An odd standard. Not sure if it is common practice in Lamu town not to clean rooms where guests are staying … I definitely have never had this elsewhere in Kenya or elsewhere on Lamu island. Maybe another eco thing? Anyhow, considering the level of cleaning that had been done before I arrived, I am guessing here that I did not miss out on much.
Bear with me, I’m almost finished. Just one final one on the hygiene side of things: bat poop – pardon my English. Again, I get it, there are hundreds of bats flying out from the Lamu Fort every evening. These things drop things ... Fine. Not the hotel’s fault. HOWEVER, if they poop in between and underneath your breakfast tables at night, I would highly recommend to clean that mess up, and preferably before breakfast. Instead, the bat droppings were there and the waiter was serving breakfast, barefoot (!!!) in the bat poop … Walking barefoot through a rather large amount of bat dropping and pretending it is not there, is bad enough in itself; when serving food, it becomes outright disgusting. Breakfast seemed lovely. It was a bit hard to enjoy it though …
To conclude, I understand that Lamu is Lamu, that it has an infrastructure and public facilities problem, that the building is old, etc. I read the folder and the philosophy. I think the Subira house itself is gorgeous and full of potential. I fully understand that this is a 14th century place full of limitations. I even think it is great that one tries to find sustainable solutions for living in a place like this. I read the owners describing Lamu as 1000 and 1 night … there’s quite a big difference between the fairy tale version of that and the reality back in the day … I guess, if they were really referring to living and hygiene standards of a few centuries ago, it was not a lie. My bad to have interpreted it otherwise. Anyhow, to conclude, I think we can all agree that there is a not-so-fine line between respecting the heritage of the 14th century and downright wanting to move back to the 14th century… I enjoyed the old building. I would have enjoyed it far more if I could have had a shower and a proper night’s sleep in a clean bed.
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Date of stay: July 2017
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from 922Christina, Owner at Subira House
Responded 8 Jan 2018
Dear Elke, i am sorry not to have been present in Subira when you came to stay this last summer! I was of course very shocked to see this kind of very negative review. Michal wrote to us in Sweden that we had a guest who was not at all pleased with her stay but I only recently came across your detailed comment. We have been seriously considering your words together, our staff and myself. About Subira House bathrooms. The objects are there as a help for the guest. She might want to wash some underwear, the Muslim people need the plastic jug after visiting the toilet as they don't use paper. The rubber scraper is to push the water away so not to slip. The stains on the mirror should of course not be there. Sorry for that. Subira House has a hot water heater since September. Thanks to you Elke! Miscoloured sheets. A few of our bed sheets are not bright white as we try to not use the poisonous bleach products, like Klorin. Our well has a somewhat tinted water. Sorry! If you felt a smell from the bed sheet I can imagine the reason being they put a sheet that had not dried properly. ''old " house smell. The time you stayed was still a bit wet. I think our room steward has missed to wash the mosquito net. He says sorry! I will be more active to check the rutines. Room cleaning. He assures that he cleaned your room the two days you were there. The bats. I cannot remember seeing bats poop inside Subira anymore since we put the nylon strings in the room of the large gallery opposite the Fort. The way you describe the breakfast sounds quite horrible. Sad! I can only hope that you had some kind of happy feeling in Subira! My Best Regards Christina and Paul Aarts
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
This hotel is totally different from any hotel I have stayed in, and for many reasons... Maybe because of its charming atmosphere, or beautiful decoration, or eco-friendly facilities, its excellent restaurant, or maybe it is because the hosts Christina and Paul really care about the place they live in. They care about every little detail in this place, they have put a lot of effort into making it a great Home.
The level of eco-awareness with which the hosts organise everything is amazing - they recycle, grow organic fruits and vegetables, use bio-degradable products, and they even participate in projects of a major scale - town or even country. This deserves a lot of respect and admiration, and I wish Christina and Paul a lot of luck and success with their plans!
Christina knows a lot of people in town, so if you need a massage, a pedicure, or need to call a doctor - she will help you. Also, they run a little restaurant, and we had dinner there almost every evening - it was so delicious and affordable! Every dinner included a hearty vegetable soup (different each time), the main course (mostly fish with several side dishes!!!) and a dessert. Highly reccommended!
The bed is very comfortable and has a mosquito net. The toilets were described in several posts below, and Christina and Paul explain why they chose this system and give you a lot of information on how the infrastructures of the town work. I absolutely support all their ideas and I think what they do is fantastic.
Overall, we had an amazing stay and will be back!!!
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Date of stay: September 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from crilamu, Owner at Subira House
Responded 7 Oct 2011
It is a very inspiring feedback to hear how you felt while here! Lamu is a very very fantastic place to live in. And to show to our visitors. For sure there are not many more old settlements like this where guests are so warmly welcome! Let's hope it can be well preserved and looked after! Christina, owner of Subira House since 1990
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
There are more places to choose from in the Lamu Island area.
PRICE RANGE
HK$351 - HK$624 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
KenyaCoast ProvinceLamu Island
NUMBER OF ROOMS
7
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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