Home / Planning Fees
One flat fee. No lodge commission. No hidden margins.
We charge a single planning fee for our time and knowledge. Every lodge rate, treatment cost and transport expense goes directly to the provider — we don't mark it up, and we receive nothing from the lodges we recommend. Below are three planning tiers, matched to the scope of what you need from us.
Choose the level of planning you need
All three tiers are independent — no commission, no upselling. The right tier depends on how much of the retreat planning you want us to handle.
Stay Match
The right eco-lodge for your dates, budget and rest goals. You handle the rest.
- 30-min intake consultation (video or written)
- Lodge shortlist of 2–3 vetted properties
- Written comparison: facilities, spring access, atmosphere, price
- Confirmed availability check before we recommend
- Lodge contact details and booking instructions
- One-page arrival notes for Siwa (road, timing, cash)
- Response within 2 business days of intake
Full Retreat Plan
Lodge, treatments, transport and a day-by-day programme — the complete planning service.
- 60-min intake consultation (video preferred)
- Single best-matched lodge recommendation with full rationale
- Confirmed availability and rate negotiation
- Day-by-day retreat itinerary designed by Nada Kamel
- Treatment schedule: sand bath, hammam, spring protocol, extras
- Transport coordination door-to-lodge (Cairo or Marsa Matrouh)
- Desert camp night included if you want it (operator pre-screened)
- Pre-departure briefing document (packing, health, culture, connectivity)
- Practitioner bookings confirmed in advance
- WhatsApp support during travel (Siwa working hours)
- Post-trip debrief if requested
Bespoke & Group
Full-lodge buyout, corporate groups, practitioner-led retreats or multi-destination trips.
- All Full Retreat Plan inclusions
- Group intake and individual preference mapping
- Full-lodge buyout coordination (exclusive use)
- Group meal planning with lodge kitchen
- Parallel treatment scheduling for all group members
- Multi-day Sand Sea camp option for groups
- Olive or date harvest experience if in season
- Coordination with external facilitator if you're a practitioner bringing clients
- Minimum 12 weeks lead time for groups of 6+
- Dedicated liaison throughout the planning period
What each tier includes
| What's included | Stay Match ($79) | Full Retreat ($199/person) | Bespoke & Group ($349/person) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intake consultation | 30 min | 60 min | 60 min + group mapping |
| Lodge matching | Shortlist 2–3 | Single confirmed match | Full-lodge buyout option |
| Availability confirmed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Day-by-day itinerary | — | Yes | Yes |
| Treatment schedule | — | Yes (Nada Kamel) | Yes + group coordination |
| Transport coordination | Notes only | Full coordination | Full coordination, convoy |
| Practitioner bookings | — | Yes, pre-confirmed | Yes, all members |
| Desert camp option | — | 1 night included | Multi-night option |
| Harvest experience | — | — | Yes (if in season) |
| WhatsApp support | — | During travel | Throughout planning + travel |
| Response time | 2 business days | 1 business day | Same business day |
The planning process, step by step
The planning process begins with a message or call — no commitment required at that stage. You tell us your travel dates, your rough budget for accommodation, and what you're hoping the trip will do for you. That context shapes everything that follows, and we'd rather have that conversation before you commit to a tier than have you pay for planning that isn't matched to your situation.
Once you've decided on a tier, we send a short intake form covering the specifics: exact dates, number of guests, accommodation comfort level (off-grid to moderately comfortable), any health considerations relevant to treatment selection, whether you're interested in the desert or prefer to stay in the oasis, and what you're looking for in terms of solitude versus mild social atmosphere. This takes most people fifteen minutes. Your answers drive the matching.
For the Full Retreat Plan and Bespoke tiers, the intake call follows the form — typically thirty to sixty minutes with Farida Hassan directly. The call is not a sales conversation; it is the information-gathering that makes the plan accurate. We've found that the specificity of what people are carrying — the particular shape of the fatigue or the transition they're in — matters significantly to which programme design will actually help. The call is where we get that.
After intake we do our matching work. We check lodge availability for your dates, confirm current rates directly with the manager (not through a third-party booking engine), and if you're on the Full Retreat Plan or above, Nada Kamel designs the treatment sequence specifically for your goals and the available practitioners. This takes between two and five business days. We deliver a written plan — typically a PDF of three to eight pages — that covers the lodge rationale, the day-by-day structure, the treatment sessions with timing, the transport options with our recommendation, and the practical notes for the journey and the oasis. Everything you need to travel confidently and arrive ready.
Payment for the planning fee is due before plan delivery. We accept international bank transfer or credit card via Stripe. Lodge payments and treatment costs are paid directly to the respective providers — either by bank transfer before arrival or by cash (EGP strongly preferred in the oasis) on arrival. We advise on local cash availability and ATM access as part of the practical notes.
What a full trip actually costs
To set realistic expectations: a full Siwa retreat is not an expensive trip by international wellness travel standards, but it requires understanding where the costs sit and how they add up. The planning fee is a small component. The majority of the trip cost is accommodation.
An indicative budget for a seven-night full wellness week for one person, using a mid-range eco-lodge at $120 per night, two hammam sessions ($80 total), two sand-bath sessions ($40 total), a Salt Sea overnight ($110), and transport from Marsa Matrouh by private car ($70 each way): lodge $840, treatments $120, desert camp $110, transport $140, food and incidentals in the oasis approximately $80 — total approximately $1,290 USD paid to local providers, plus $199 planning fee. In EGP at current rates, the local spend converts to roughly 20,600 EGP. That is a week in one of Egypt's most extraordinary locations, with a coherent therapeutic programme, for considerably less than a four-night spa weekend at a European hotel of equivalent character.
Premium options — Adrère Amellal at $300 per night, more treatment sessions, multi-day Sand Sea — can push the trip cost to $3,000–$4,000 for a week. At the accessible end, budget eco-lodges at $65 per night with fewer treatments and the public springs bring the total under $800 for five nights. We plan across the full range; the tier you choose for our fee is independent of the budget of the lodge we match you to.
What the fee is not
The planning fee does not cover lodge accommodation, treatment costs, transport to or within Siwa, entry fees, food, or any on-the-ground expenses. Those are paid directly to the lodge, practitioners and drivers. We never handle money on behalf of providers and we take no margin from any of them.
Is a planning fee worth it?
That depends on what your time and certainty are worth. Siwa has approximately a dozen eco-lodges and properties of varying quality, character and suitability. Researching them from outside Egypt, verifying current quality and availability, understanding which practitioners are skilled and which are variable, knowing what the seasonal roads and connectivity are actually like, and building a treatment sequence that is therapeutically coherent rather than just a list of bookable sessions — that work takes time and requires current knowledge. We have both. If you'd rather spend that time doing something else and arrive knowing the stay will be right, the fee is straightforward value.
If you're an experienced independent traveller who has been to Siwa before and simply wants a lodge recommendation to verify your own research, the Stay Match tier is designed for exactly that. See our full retreats overview or Siwa destination guide for more context, or reach out directly.
Before you book a planning tier
The planning fee covers our time and expertise: the initial consultation, the lodge research and matching, written retreat itinerary, treatment scheduling (Full Retreat Plan and above), transport coordination, and post-trip follow-up. It does not cover lodge accommodation, treatment costs, transport costs, or entry fees — those are paid directly to the respective providers. The distinction matters: we are a planning service, not a travel agency handling your money.
No. Our income is entirely from the planning fee paid by guests. We receive nothing from lodges, treatment practitioners or transport operators — no referral fees, no booking commissions, no paid placements. This is the structural basis of our independence: we recommend what suits you, not what earns us a margin. When we say Adrère Amellal is the right lodge for a guest seeking complete silence and seclusion, or that a different property is equally good for a third of the price, we're drawing on knowledge and fit — not a commercial relationship with either property.
Directly, once we have confirmed the match and you're happy to proceed. Most Siwa lodges accept bank transfer (international SWIFT or local EGP transfer) or cash on arrival in Egyptian pounds. A small number accept credit cards; we note this during matching. USD cash is accepted informally at some properties but EGP is preferred. Treatments are typically paid at the lodge or at the treatment location in EGP — sand bath sessions at Dakrour, for instance, are paid to the practitioner directly. We provide a breakdown of what to expect to pay in cash and what can be pre-paid by transfer as part of the planning document.
We check availability before confirming any plan. We contact lodge managers directly rather than checking through third-party booking engines, which are often out of date for properties of this scale in Siwa. If our first-choice property is unavailable, we present a ranked alternative with a full explanation of how it differs and why we consider it the next best option. We do not confirm a plan against a lodge we have not verified as available for your specific dates at the rate quoted.
For individual and couples retreats in peak season — November through January, when the weather is at its best and the oasis is most visited — six to eight weeks before travel gives comfortable lead time. For group retreats of six or more guests, we ask for at least twelve weeks; full-lodge coordination and group treatment scheduling take significantly longer to arrange. For shoulder season travel in October or February through April, four weeks is generally sufficient. We occasionally handle last-minute requests for the Stay Match tier only, subject to lodge availability — contact us with your dates and we'll advise honestly whether it's feasible.
Yes. If you receive the Stay Match output and decide you'd like the full treatment programme and transport coordination added, we apply the Stay Match fee already paid as a credit toward the Full Retreat Plan fee. You'd pay the $120 difference and we proceed with the intake consultation and full itinerary design. This happens occasionally — some guests want to see the lodge options before committing to the full planning scope, and that is a reasonable way to approach it.
Our planning fee is non-refundable once the retreat plan has been delivered — typically within five business days of payment confirmation. This reflects the work already done: the consultation, matching research and plan document represent real time. If you need to cancel before plan delivery, we refund in full. Cancellation of the lodge itself is handled directly with the lodge under their own cancellation policy; we advise on the specific policy of your matched property during planning and in the written plan document. We strongly recommend comprehensive travel insurance that covers trip cancellation, particularly for the Full Retreat Plan and Bespoke tiers where the lodge costs are more significant.
Ready to start planning?
Send us your dates and a short description of what you're looking for. We'll come back within one business day with the right tier and next steps — no commitment required to have that first conversation.
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