Kimkim Trip Reviews for Patagonia

The Leandro team was professional and planned us out a wonderful trip. Overall, the trip, which had many moving parts, went off as planned, and saved us many hours of research. We liked the amount of time spent in each place, the lodging chosen for us, the guide and transportation services. The details were all taken care of, and we could transition from place to place without stress. We found the people we met to be warm and welcoming.
Our Buenos Aires team, tour guide Andrea and driver Fabio, went out of their way to make our few days there memorable. We felt we made some true friendships and had a glimpse of authentic Argentina.
The Explora Hotel experience was one of our most memorable experiences. We didn't understand how it worked, but the all-inclusive experience was fantastic.
Our transition in Puenta Arenas was a bit more confusing. We didn't get timely notification of our transportation arrangements, and the Rey Don Felipe Hotel had us in a tiny room, with no window and a shower in the corner of the room. However, any time we reached out to the tour concierge service, we got a quick response and solution, if needed.
We will use the Kim-Kim platform again.

My husband and I decided to go to Patagonia for our 10-year anniversary, but we knew there were a lot of logistics. We decided to look around online for help and came across kimkim by chance. From the get go, the responses from Erin and her team we wonderful and so helpful. Erin took the ideas I had in mind for our trip and made them a reality. I really appreciated that she was patient with all of my questions and that she was so quick to get back to me on each aspect of the trip. She even made time to chat with me on the phone when messaging was too hard to convey some of my questions.

Our actual trip was absolutely everything I hoped for and more. Every day we woke up to new adventures that made memories that will be with us forever. It was so easy to have each aspect of the trip planned out and to have transfers that I didn't have to worry about to cart us from place to place. The tours we took were a blast and we loved all of our guides and the staff we encountered. Patagonia was stunning in every aspect and I cannot recommend it enough to people.

Thank you to Erin and her team for making this dream happen. We could not have done it without you!

The whole team was very helpful and knowledgeable with planning our trip. The W trek was an amazing experience. Shout out to Erin especially for all her help, she was wonderful to work with and did a phenomenal job!

Hotel Reviews

Refugio El Chileno

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Refugio Los Cuernos

Torres del Paine - W trek Circuit Reserva Cerro Paine

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Refugio Paine Grande

Puerto Natales, Chile

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Refugio Grey

Torres del Paine National Park

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Vendaval

Puerto Natales

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Trip Briefing at Dittmar Adventures

Puerto Natales

Please verify next time before the meeting that we need to bring our stuff for the porter to the meeting and whether or not we need to provide a bag.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Erin did an awesome job and communicated very well with us!

Transport

Direct flight to puerto natales would be preferred

Erin was fantastic and very helpful in planning my trek on the W circuit in Patagonia. Communication was always prompt and concise, and she definitely took the time to answer all my questions.

My trip to Patagonia was amazing and the logistics worked out so well. I had never worked with a company before to help plan my entire trip but working with Kim Kim and Erin/Nara was great. They answered all my questions leading up to and throughout the trip and helped planning this trip painless. I knew exactly what to expect and everything went according to the itinerary, there were no surprises besides ones that had nothing to do with planning. I had few guided tours, seeing penguins, a hike to the Base Towers in Torres Del Paine, a glacier trek tour, and a hike to Fitz Roy in Argentina. All the guides were great and very knowledgeable. My two favorite hikes were to the Base Towers and Fitz Roy, part of that is just due to that being the best hikes on the trip but also having a guide made the experience that much better as I was able to learn more things. I highly recommend using Kim Kim when traveling as it makes figuring out all the logistics painless and have nothing to worry about.

Activity Review

Guided hike to Las Torres lookout [Central - Base - Central]

Patagonia

The hike to Las Torres Lookout was amazing. The view are incredible and having a guide made it that much better as I was able to learn things I would not have as I would have just been hiking. Having a guide makes the experience that much better.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Thanks to Erin and her team we managed to pull off the best 3 weeks itinerary in Patagonia on a very short notice. Experienced what both Chile and Argentina had to offer without worrying and planning any of the details. All was perfectly taken care off; from local transportations, hotels, meals, treks, tours, and guided tours..
Would highly recommend !

Jad

I loved all the guides we had. Each one was so unique and different. Most of them went out of their way to give us a very special experience. And each of the places were so memorable and special. I especially liked seeing Torres del Paine, Camp Grey and Glacier Grey. Ditmar did a great job of coordinating all of the transportation and the excursions.

Erin, Dittmar Adventures and Jass all managed to make our trip wonderful.
Erin was incredibly responsive in the planning phases, flexible and creative in finding ways of helping us make the perfect itinerary.
Nara, as Dittmar's local Patagonia representative, provided real time help and support by Whatsapp (despite questionable 3G in locations).
Jass provided flexible solutions in the Puerto Varas region, especially when faced with ranger strikes that got in the way of our plans. Also tasty home made cookies and replacement hiking sticks for those of ours who broke on the trail!
Generally I was grateful for the local knowledge, the real time flexibility and responsiveness in changing plans, and the refunds (and wine bottles!) offered where money had been spent but the activity was no longer possible.
Chile is amazing!

Activity Review

Kayaking on the Reloncaví Fjord + Termas del Sol

Puerto Varas

Great fun - even on a rainy day! Bit daunting at the start given cold water and all the wet gear, but a really amazing day out!

We had a fantastic time on our trip overall though there were some logistics that I wish had been communicated better. I had provided the hotels and general itinerary and I was pleased with my choices. The guides in El Chalten were wonderful. Some items that could have been improved upon:

- When telling us the documentation necessary to travel, it would be helpful to have been told the tipping expectations for our trip.
-Seeing a detailed price breakdown for the total cost
-Park fee for the Perito Moreno was not included in our cost and we were not told how much to bring, that should've been mentioned
-Private transfers were requested for the entire trip, but my transfer to the Perito Moreno glacier was in a large tour bus of over 50 people and the guide there did not know how/when I would meet my mother later in the day.
-Every excursion had two options, one for me and one for my mother. I assumed this would be communicated to Awasi, as when we got there, they did not know we needed to do different activities. They luckily had an extra guide one day, but if not, we would have had to choose between my mother not visiting Torres del Paine park or me skipping the iconic Base de las Torres hike. This caused several hours of miscommunication upon arrival that should have been avoided.
-Unsure if Awasi communicated with you, but the hot tubs were not working due to weather and the park was partially closed off due to a strike - we would have appreciated knowing that prior to arrival.
-Awasi requires a guide to accompany us on every activity (this was unclear to us) and the guide who I was given to do my trek with had never done the trek and therefore did not know the correct signed route up, was not knowledgeable about the weather and climate (he claimed my outfit would not be enough, turns out it was completely fine), and walked over 30m ahead or behind me most of the way. Guides should match the speed of the guest they are with.
-It would be helpful to have been told about the various exchange rates in Argentina, it was confusing to see different ones across the country.
-We requested a private driver only for four hours in Santiago and I was shocked that the quote was $750 USD. We were able to get a taxi each way for less than $60 each way. No follow up was made to try and find us an alternative.
-We would have appreciated being told about a ten hour layover in Santiago, as we were not able to check in until four hours before so that would have left us six hours with no plans and our suitcases. Had we known before, we could have planned something earlier than day before.

Erin and her team were all phenomenal from start to finish with this trip. We were initially very overwhelmed with planning it out until working with the team who were super attentive and gave us so many options for activities to book based on our interests, as well as booking all of our accommodation for us and bus transport between cities. They were so helpful when we finally arrived in Chile, gave us a briefing on arrival and a very detailed itinerary outlining where we would be going and when we should leave. One of the highlights was that they arranged for us to have a private tour of Torres del Paine National Park with an amazing tour guide who was super friendly and knowledgeable, cannot recommend Christian enough and our driver for the day Miguel was also a very safe and careful driver!
We ended up missing one of our tours due to a misunderstanding and Nara really stepped up and helped us find a fantastic alternative activity to take up that day, where we had an unforgettable horse trek at Pingo Salvaje outside Puerto Natales, another highlight of the trip!
Erin, Nara and all the team were amazing and we cannot thank them enough for helping us make the most unforgettable trip happen!

Activity Review

Torres del Paine Full Day Private Tour

Chile

Amazing and unforgettable tour with the best tour guide!

Quality of Experience

Tour guide was so knowledgeable and took us to the best spots, was also very patient

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide and driver were great. Driver was super safe

Transport

I did a 5 day/4 night W Trek in Torres del Paine National Park. From start to finish, kimkim.com and Ditmar Adventures were easy to work with, put my mind at ease, and took care of the details. I told them my preferences and what kind of hike I was looking to have, and they built an itinerary that matched my budget. Everything was timely and everyone was friendly. I have planned my own trips before but this time wanted to take the guess work out of transportation schedules, places to stay, and things to see/do. The airline lost my bag on the way in and the Ditmar team provided real time support and advice that made a potentially disastrous situation much more manageable. They helped me rebook a later bus and communicated with the hostel about my (now) late check in. The value they provided exceeded my expectations and I recommend them wholeheartedly. I had a great hike and great experience in Chile.

Hotel Review

Amerindia Patagonia B&B

Puerto Natales

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Trip Briefing at Dittmar Adventures

Puerto Natales

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My mother and I traveled to Argentina in January of 2022 and had an amazing experience booking with KimKim.

Hotel Review

Calafate Parque Hotel

El Calafate

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

San Antonio de Areco & Estancia el Ombu

Buenos Aires

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Erin is simply the best travel agent I have ever worked with. She spent time up front understanding how we wanted to travel and then helped create an itinerary to accomplish this. Her manner is low key, yet responsive. She suggested a unique experience to visit Estancia Mercedes which was one of the highlights of our trip. She stayed with us for 3 years as we rescheduled several times due to covid. She was timely and responsive to every request we made, offering suggestions of her own. On her day off she made sure that there was a backup person we could reach out to if necessary. This trip involved so many logistics due to covid and she coached us along the entire way, even sending reminders when it was time to upload an affidavit or take a covid test during the travel process. We received a detailed day by day itinerary that we both carried with us which was helpful as we navigated various modes of travel and experiences. I highly recommend her services.

Hotel Review

Hotel Lunajuim

El Chalten

Great location and price. The beds in particular were very comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Trip Briefing at Dittmar Adventures

Puerto Natales

Nara met us at 1o pm to review our upcoming trip. She was pleasant, had all our materials and provided helpful information. We had one activity where we met a boat early in the morning at an out of the way spot and she even sent us a photo the night before to help us be sure we arrived at the correct location. This was useful since the cab driver used it to find our drop off location and we felt is was above and beyond by Lara.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We worked with Laura to customize a two week trip and it occurred flawlessly. Despite still some COVID restrictions, she helped plan many details we would not have been able to execute on our own with such ease.

Every pickup was on time, every detail perfectly managed. Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, El Chalten, El Calafate, Bariloche, Villa LA Angostura, St Martin De Los Andes and back to Buenos Aires with many treks, kayak trips and activities along the way.

Highly recommend letting the local experts guide your way here! Thanks again Kim Kim Team

Hotel Review

Cyan Recoleta Hotel

Recoleta, Buenos Aires

Great location next to Recolea and being able to walk around the city.

Authenticity & Character

H

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Half Day Hike in Tierra del Fuego National Park

Ushuaia

Doing it with a guide so much better. Parts were difficult to navigate and it’s LONG but we’ll worth the effort.

Quality of Experience

Mo

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip was well organised and everything was as expected - thanks to Erin's thoughtfulness and preparation. Gothe was excellent as our day guide - she was sharing interesting information about the landscapes, geology and the animals . Hotels were comfortable.
I will definitely recommend Erin & Dittmar as a travel agent for Patagonia.

When my wife and I had dreamed of going to Patagonia, but we weren't really sure where to begin. We had no knowledge of the region and what it would take to navigate around each town within Patagonia. After contacting KimKim, Erin quickly put together a detailed itinerary with great day to day activities. She was very responsive and easily made adjustments to customize it to make it our dream trip. She provided different options, and did all of the work to make the appropriate changes.

The pre-reading they gave us before our trip was also very helpful to know what to expect about the culture and what we needed to pack. Her itineraries were detailed and we knew exactly what was supposed to happen on a daily basis during the trip.

She kept us informed about the ongoing Covid situation for each country that we were planning to visit as things were rapidly changing. She took the time to call us to help us make informed decisions when we needed to make changes to our trip. This was so helpful because we would not have known each countries regulations without her and her team.

When we found out the week before our trip that the land border between Chile and Argentina was going to remain closed due to Covid, Erin and her team promptly informed us and wasted no time in finding alternative solutions that would still allow us to go on our trip.

Erin really went above and beyond to assure our trip was great. She rearranged our entire itinerary and accommodations in just a few days before we left. Despite all of the last minute changes, our entire trip still went off without a hitch. Transportation showed up as promised and hotels were as described. She was also able to recuperate most of the money we would have lost for canceling and changing everything last minute.

I would highly recommend KimKim and Erin to anyone looking to have a worry free trip. They really helped take the stress of planning everything and dealing with covid out of the picture. We felt very taken care of and that we were in good hands the whole way. This trip would not have been possible for us without them and we are very grateful and appreciative!

We had a great experience using KimKim. They helped us create the perfect itinerary. This was our first time using any sort of agency to plan a trip and we would definitely use them again. Highly recommend. Especially Erin and Laura - they were the best!

Hotel Review

Hotel Lunajuim

El Chalten

We loved our stay at Lunajuim! The staff was super friendly and helpful! We would absolutely stay here again if we ever return to El Chalten. Highly recommend

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Kayak Lago del Desierto

El Chaltén

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It's a 17-day trip to Chile and Argentina involving activities that's 95% outdoor. Clearly, I am an outdoor person. Enjoyed meeting gracious people with different personalities in both countries. Overall, there are many great places to visit but not enough time. I would like to visit South America again in the near future.

Hotel Review

Quijote Hotel

Argentina

Activity Review

Full day Hiking Base Las Torres - 20km approx

Puerto Natales

Made it easy to do a bit more of an adventure than the normal vacation.

Overall, we had a great trip and with minor exceptions all the logistics and tours went very smoothly. Some notes regarding our specific experiences in each destination:

1. Bariloche
- Gabriella, our guide for the first two days (Kawen Adventures) was exceptional. She was extremely knowledgeable and provided a wealth of information regarding the geology, flora and fauna, etc. She was very attentive and accommodating to our individual needs and interests.
- Both drivers (Tricky sp?, and Freddy) were very good. Freddy in particular was very attentive and functioned almost as a 2nd tour guide rather than just a driver. He shared Mate with us, helped with lunch, and assisted us in navigating some rough terrain when we hiked to a waterfall near Lake Traful.
- Kawen Adventures was very responsive with including Rupert in our tours when his plans for fly fishing on 24 and 25 February did not work out.
- The gluten free lunch we requested through Mery was not provided for Patricia on the first day. Gabriela made the effort to ensure a gluten free lunch on Day 2, but the lunch providers need to improve their ability to respond to dietary restrictions in a creative way.
- The Design Suites hotel was comfortable and the restaurant at the hotel was very good. However, the rooms did not have good sound insulation, and the showers did not drain properly. The front desk staff were a bit surly and not very customer friendly.
- We thoroughly enjoyed all of the tours and activities in the Bariloche area, including strolling around town.
- The white water rafting was well organized and a fun day. Lack of changing or bathroom facilities at the shore where we began the trip was a challenge. The lunch provided was very nice.

2. El Calafate:
- The Esplendor Calafate Hotel was comfortable and had a good breakfast. The front desk staff was very helpful. We had to arrange our own laundry service in town as the hotel's clothes dryer was broken. I don't understand why the hotel could not have taken our laundry to a private facility, but this was a minor inconvenience. There was a problem with elevator floor not stopping at the same level as the corridor floor, which resulted in Carol tripping and falling. The hotel did take the elevator out of service, and fortunately Carol was not injured.
- The Perito Moreno Glacier tour was spectacular, and our guide Natalya was exceptional. She was fun, knowledgeable and responsive to our interests and requests. The itinerary incorrectly identified the meal to be provided as "breakfast". In fact, we ordered our box lunches to take with us from the hotel's kitchen.
- The bus trip from El Calafate to Puerto Natales was OK, but not the most comfortable bus we have experienced. The bus departed about 45 minutes late. The immigration and customs process to enter Chile was time consuming, and we waited in line outdoors in a very fierce wind.

3. Puerto Natales:
- The Weskar Lodge Hotel was cozy and comfortable, although the rooms are a bit small (challenging when you are traveling with luggage). The Ennos Restaurant in the Weskar Lodge is very good, as were the breakfasts. Nicole at the front desk was exceptionally helpful, and even adjusted the breakfast serving time to accommodate our schedule. They also were very helpful with arranging taxis, and coordinating the pick-up times with Patagonia Planet.
- We clearly did not receive the same level of personal service from Patagonia Planet that we enjoyed with Kawen Adventures and Huellas del sur. When we went to the pre-tour briefing on 29 February, Macerana of Patagonia Planet told us we would be in a group of seven (7) rather than with a private guide as per our itinerary. She also seemed to exaggerate the difficulty of the trek. We worked with Ines of Say Hueque while at the briefing and Patagonia Planet honored the commitment for a private tour.
- The vehicle that Patagonia Planet sent to pick us up at the airport appeared to be a personal vehicle and was too small for all our luggage (so we had to hold some bags on our laps).
- They did not provide the gluten free lunch that we had requested for Pat.
- They required that we travel to their office for the briefing rather than meet us at our hotel.
- It appeared that the first time they really paid attention to the requirements that you had arranged for us was when we showed up for the briefing on Saturday evening.
- The the trek in Torres del Paine National Park with Rosanna (our guide) went very well. Rosanna made adjustments to the pace, and Carol decided to stay at the "refugio" (where the cafe and bathrooms are) while Rupert, Pat and I continued. We did not make it all the way up the the lookout over the lagoon, but we made it onto the moraine. We were tired and it was getting late, so we decided to return. On the way back, Rosanna took us to a 2nd lookout behind the ranger station where we ate our lunch. We got back to the vehicle at about 6 p.m. We had a very good day. A little rain at the end, but otherwise the weather was very good (and not windy), although when we arrived at the lookout the clouds and fog was coming in and partially obscuring the 3 towers.
- Overall, Patagonia Planet seems more focused on the physical logistics of moving bodies to the Park, and not really focused on providing personal service and an experience matched to the needs of the client. That said, Rosanna was very attentive and accommodating to our needs and we had a great day.
- The tour of the Balmaceda & Serrano Glaciers was enjoyable, although a bit crowded due to the size of the group on the boat and on the trail. We very much enjoyed seeing the sea lions, and the interesting flora along the trail to the Serrano Glacier. The itinerary indicated that we needed to get a taxi to town to the 21 de Mayo office, but the Weskar front desk was able to call and confirm that they would pick us up at the hotel on the way to the dock.

4. Santiago de Chile:
- Luis, our driver, was great. It was nice that he did all the transfers for our stay.
- The Cumbres Lastarria Hotel was very luxurious and comfortable, and the staff very helpful. We had a great dinner at BocaNariz just a short walk from the hotel.

5. Regarding the entire vacation, we are very pleased with everything. The only significant issues have been that the tour providers did not provide the requested gluten free meals for Pat (although Kawen Adventures made an effort to provide a gluten free meal for Pat on the 2nd day), and the disconnect with Patagonia Planet regarding the private guided tour to Torres del Paine.