The most important consideration is to find a trip that allows sufficient time for acclimatisation. Climbing all the way up to near 6000 metres in a one week trek is just asking for trouble. My advice is to choose a trip which includes Mt Meru. The extra 4 days and climb to 4500 metres is ideal preparation for Kili. Meru is also a more interesting climb in my opinion.
I went on a private Austrian Alpine Club trek in 2006 and we used the Umbwe route on Kilimanjaro. This is a quiet and interesting route. The plan was to make the final climb by the Western Breach but this was (is?) closed due to the danger of rock falls so we used the Barafu path for the final climb. Umbwe has the reputation of being a tough route, but they have built bridges, etc to avoid difficult spots and we had no difficulty. It is quite steep but the acclimatisation on Meru meant that this was not a problem.

Several years ago I went with KE Adventure & trekked to the walkers summit of Mount Kenya c16350 ft , then a road transfer into Tanzania for the Machame route to summit Kilimanjaro . Allowing time to acclimatise is a must .Many tour companies include Meru but like Kili this can be very popular.

Mnt Kenya by way of comparison is much quieter & I think a much pleasanter trek which will give ideal acclimitisation ; ascending Kili to stand on the roof of Africa at sunrise is a must . The treks enjoy amazing scenery with varied terrain & are very well organised involving camping on trek . By combining both summits the KE trip really stands out .Take a good down jacket ; it’s freezing on the top . February is generally a good time of year to go & taking in Mnt Kenya allows for a direct flight to Nairobi . Link for KE below :

http://www.keadventure.com/trip/kk/mount-kenya-and-kilimanjaro/map.html

Hi - Yes I climbed it 6 years ago with Exodus using the Rongai route and we camped throughout - you'll love it. I think there are 3 or 4 main routes up the mountain, some of them more popular than others and I think some are harder than others. At the time the Rongai route was a quieter route and I didn't see many other trekking groups until the summit day. I think Explore do a version on the more popular route and you can stay in small refuges - a friend of mine did this version, but when someone in the group got Sickness bug, the whole group came down with it so personnally I prefer tents, but be prepared for -15 degrees when you get to base camp!

Overall I'd recommend picking a longer tour that allows more days for acclimatisation. Good luck

Has any one or group of the LDWA members trekked Kilimanjaro, could you recommend the travel company you booked by.