Diaspora Directory - Accomodation

Going to Nigeria nowadays is completely different to how it was a few years ago. Gone are the days of having to stay to with family and relying completely on them to help you navigate your way around.

Now you can rent a place, hire a car, arrange a party and even arrange to have your food shopping delivered to your door like Tesco and Asda home delivery and all before you have even set foot in the country. But you have to be careful of cowboys.

I recently went to Lagos with my family and because we are a family of 5 my husband and I didn’t feel comfortable “crashing” at relatives' with our battalion so we rented a place, absolutely one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. It worked out to just under £150 a night for a 3 bed property in 1004 in Victoria Island Lagos.  We pretty much had the same sort of life we have in London including WIFI, running water and steady electricity plus tight security.

The main problem we encountered was getting reliable trustworthy information in the first place. There were a lot of places online but how do you distinguish friend from foe. Hence this travel guide.

Accomodation

Family friendly short let properties in Lagos

Fair Heavens (vetted by June's Secrets). It is run by a man named Derek. He has two sites including:

1. The 1004 Apartments in Victoria Island Lagos (Vetted by June's Secrets).

 Price list  

- 2 bed fully furnished apartment - N30,000/day

- 3 bed fully furnished apartment - N35,000/day

-4 bed fully furnished apartment - N45,000/day

All prices include electricity and housekeeping. If you are staying for more than four weeks then there is a discount applied.

1004 is located in the heart of Lagos and within walking distance to many amenities. It comes with a large apartment and a communal pool. There are actually two pools per block a small one for the children and a large adult one. They are cleaned regularly and there is even a swimming instructor who can teach you how to swim if you don’t know how to. Ikoyi is a 10 minute drive away and the mainland a 15 minute drive without traffic. You have the following within walking distance:

-Grand square supermarket. This is a 5 minute walk for Block C and D and perhaps a 7 minute walk from Block A and B. I found the prices of products here quiet reasonable. You can get things like cereal, bread, spreads, cakes etc. It also has a pharmacy on the premises.

-Banks. If you have business to attend to, most of the major banks including Fidelity, Sky, Stanbic, Zenith etc are about a 20 minute walk away.

-ATM. There is an ATM machine within the estate which is safe.

-Palms shopping centre. This is about 25 minute walk or a 10minute drive and is home to Shoprite supermarket, a cinema, several shops and restaurants in case you fancy a night out or a spot of shopping.

-Civic centre. This is directly opposite the estate and is great for occasions.

-Elegushi beach. ( I hope I spelt it right) This is about 35minute walk or a 15minute drive. I wouldn’t recommend it though because I personally found it to be quite dirty, but perhaps I was just there on an off day for the beach so might still be worth checking out.

-Quinox night club. This is less than a 10 minute walk from the gate of the estate. Didn’t get to go there so can’t really give much info about it.

There are lots of different agents that rent out properties in 1004 so be very careful. I can only vouch for agent that I have tried and tested and found to be credible.

2. Ikoyi Towers

This is located on Awolowo way. I didn’t vet this is so I cannot give you much information about what it is like to stay there. 

Price list

-3 bedroom fully furnished apartment on the 4^th floor – N45,000/day

-3 bedroom fully furnished apartment on the 7^th floor – N50,000/day

These ones are more expensive due to their location. I will update you with more info about it as soon as I find out more.

If you would like to get more information about any of the properties featured on here please email me on junessecrets@mail.com.

Also if you know any other family friendly short let properties please let us know and we will check it out and feature it!