Kimkim Trip Reviews for Costa Rica

Kimkim made our trip wonderful, worry free, comfortable and beautiful!!
We are sooo happy we found you guys! Rosa was available for every request and last minute changes, getting us the hotels and experiences we wanted and making our trip so wonderful!
We starred Kimkim and will absolutely use Kimkim in our next adventure. Thank you Rosa and Kimkim :]

Private drivers and our guide Andy were fantastic. The hotel for the first night was very nice and great customer service. Unfortunately, the second hotel, los Lagos, I believe that was the name, had extremely low customer service. Especially the front desk and bar. They treated you like a bother. The lodge and grounds was beautiful. The room was very clean. The bar area was dirty. The other two resorts were very nice and friendly. The snorkel trip was the only activity that was a disappointment. They mixed divers with snorkeling which resulted in a focus on the divers ( which should be it is dangerous if everything isn't checked and rechecked) the area was not really a good area to snorkeling. Also, we were picked up at 630, missed breakfast to go and wait at the dive office for over an hour. They were waiting on a diver to be certified in a pool, so the entire group had to wait. By the time we left the dive office for the boat three hours had passed, it was almost 930. The staff was very nice. I would look for another snorkeling company. All other activities were very good.

Hotel Reviews

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Capitán Suizo Beachfront Boutique Hotel

Tamarindo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

La Fortuna

Tips for future travelers

Yes, they do not provide coffee in the room except the first day unless you request and pay for it. Some of the bar staff do not speak any English.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Front desk staff bar staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Presidente

San José

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Snorkeling at the Catalina Islands

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The driver never spoke to anyone and played his music the entire time

Transport

Engage, less waiting

Mangrove & Estuary Safari by Boat

Tamarindo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Canopy Zip line tour or fauna exihibitions at Selvatura

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tabacon Hot Springs Full-Day Visit & Meals

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cooking Class with Organic Farm Fresh Ingredients

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal ATV Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

It representated lunch no lunch.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Río Peñas Blancas Safari Float Experience

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cloud Forest Reserve Privately Guided Hike

Monteverde

Andy was great

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The easiest trip I ever booked.
My original trip to Japan was canceled at the last moment (with another travel company) because Japan is still closed to tourists, and I really wanted to get away from work for a few days. It was so last minute, so I didn't think it would be possible. Luckily, I found Kimkim and they were incredibly easy to work with. After booking everything, I actually didn't think that I was done, I figured it would be more complicated, but it was soooo fast and easy to book.
They really included all the things I loved. I would 100% recommend this for anyone that wants to travel but doesn't want to hassle researching transportation, hotels, etc.

Costa Rica was a wonderful experience for me! Yuliana did a wonderful job planning the itinerary with all of my interest. Even some excursions/tours were included in the reasonable price.
I will come back to KimKim when I would decide to return to Costa Rica.

So happy that we booked our trip with Kimkim!

After cancelling multiple trips over the past 3 years due to covid and having spent months preparing for each of them, we needed someone else to do the heavy lifting and kimkim nailed it.

Rosa was so responsive and helped us update our itinerary to meet our exact needs. We used a pre-built itinerary to start with and changed a few things around for our particular tastes. It was a special relief to know that we could show up at a hotel or for transportation between locations and not have to worry about providing documents or proof of purchase. Everything went very smoothly.

We particularly appreciated our guide on the Hanging Bridges of Monteverde where got a rare look at the ellusive quetzal and bellbird. We also really appreciated the drivers, especially Christopher who went out of his way to adjust for our changing schedule and even booked us a covid check at the last minute.

Overall, we were very satisfied with our experience with Kimkim and plan to use them again.

Thanks for the trip of a lifetime!

From the beginning, Olman listened to our wishes for the trip and worked hard to make our experience a memorable one. There were a few minor issues that were quickly resolved. While we were in Costa Rica, Olman was very responsive to questions we had. The excursions he arranged were great. We especially liked the ziplines in Monteverde. The hot springs of All the accomodations were first rate and contributed to our overall experience of Costa Rica. Would definitely use KimKim again.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

La Fortuna

Phenomenal property, would like a little more variety in the breakfast buffet, but the food was good. Loved all the hot pools!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Koora Hotel

Monteverde

The staff at Koora was second to none. From the moment arrived, they called us by name and made sure we were cared for. The food was great, view was exceptional. The room was like living in a treehouse.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Amazing view from the restaurant

Staff

The staff were exceptional, everyone we encountered was top notch

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Espadilla Ocean Club

Manuel Antonio

The villa had a Bohemian feel, not like a regular hotel. The outside shower and toilet were unexpected, but we adjusted. The beds were not comfortable. The parking was bad, just not enough space for 4 cars. The place was hard to find.

Tips for future travelers

Be sure to get clear directions before going

Authenticity & Character

Location

It was a further walk to the beach than shown in the villa information, had to wade through water to get to the beach, it would be better to have a walkway that goes over the water

Staff

not many of the staff spoke English, so it was difficult to get information from them

Cleanliness & Comfort

beds were uncomfortable

Activity Reviews

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

Interesting to learn about chocolate and coffee, got to make our own chocolate

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Damas Island Boat Tour

Manuel Antonio

This is the only experience that we didn't like. It was not what we expected. We saw more of the amimals on the hike than on the boat tour. The breakfast was not good. The food was cold and seemed to be more of an afterthought.

Quality of Experience

Food

would like to have a made to order breakfast, our food was sitting on the table when we arrived and was not hot.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to Ecotermales Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

The hot springs were amazing. Beautiful and relaxing. They could have used more help at the bar. There was only 1 bartender, to his credit, he worked quickly and stayed focused. The buffet meal was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Arenal Volcano National Park by Arenal Lake

Arenal/La Fortuna

Elaina, our guide was amazing, a wealth of information. She clearly loves her job and is very enthusiastic. Miguel was our driver and Juan drove the boat. All were kind, helpful and made sure we enjoyed our visit.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Costa Rica

Danny was our guide and took a lot of time to help us to view the animals of the park. It was not a strenuous hike and we had time to enjoy the beach.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Danny was excellent

Transport

Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Great experience! All the guides were helpful, they paid great attention to detail and safety

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip was fantastic! The trip started badly with one of the worst aircraft delays I have ever experienced (24 hour delay with 12 hours sitting on plane). We were worried about meeting our driver at 12am as the flight kept getting pushed, as well as missing our morning tours, and being too late for hotel check in. Our local specialist, Brittany, however, made the experience easy and she ensured our driver was waiting for us (even with the delay), that our hotel knew we would be very late, and cancelled our morning tour on our request. The rest of the trip was amazing-we are passionate about wildlife and Brittany's suggested tours were perfect! We saw sloths, toucans, monkeys, crabs, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, dolphins, deer, and so much more all in the wild. My son really enjoyed the night sloth tour, the hike through the Cloud Forest, and snorkeling off the catamaran. We had a great time and will be definitely going back!

Hotel Review

Hotel Belmar

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Sloth Discovery Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

Our guide was so outgoing and knowledgeable! She was great with my son and helped us spot so many creatures we wouldn't normally have seen. My family enjoyed learning about the animals, plants and insects and appreciated hearing about our guides childhood and life in Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our entire experience from start to finish with Charolette and kimkim was fantastic. She made herself available throughout our whole trip, replied quickly and checked in often. No complaints. Will definitely use this service again.

I am so grateful to Kim kim . They truly took the stress out of my trip to Costa Rica . I knew it was a difficult country to traverse but wanted to see as much as possible. The team at KK helped plan 9 different locations over a 2 week period . They even picked us up from our 1st week planned by ourselves in Nosara so we didn’t have to worry about transport . Every driver / shuttle bus was courteous, on time and sometimes even offered humour and added facts about Costa Rica along the way . KK even organised a PCR test for us at our last hotel last minute when we discovered we needed it to fly home via USA . Always helpful and polite and took the stress out allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in enjoying the trip knowing everything that had been planned would flow smoothly and without delay or mishap . I can’t recommend them enough !!!

First of all, our many many thanks to Olman for organizing our trip and looking after us along the way when we had any inquiries!!!

We enjoyed Costa Rica thoroughly in spite of a lot of driving, we had time to rest and discover each area we went to.
I would highly recommend Tifakara Boutique Hotel as the room and staff were lovely and the chef outstanding! We wouldn't recommend the El Establo Mountain Hotel. Although the grounds are beautiful, the rooms had paper thin walls and every word, whisper, movement could be heard day and night.
In addition we especially enjoyed Monteverde - and the Hanging Bridges and Ziplining in Selvatura Park as well as the lovely Nammbu Bungalows. I would recommend a great Argentinian restaurant only a 200 meter walk from there. We enjoyed the cocktails by the pool, but were disappointed inthe dinner in their dining room.

We will definitely use Kim kim again!

Hotel Reviews

Ti-fakara Boutique Hotel

La Fortuna

Great room, with a feeling of being right in the middle of a forest, outstanding staff and chef. We also enjoyed a free night walk to view colorful frogs on the premises! Well located - away from crowds but easy driving access to all around.

Tips for future travelers

Enjoy!!!

Authenticity & Character

Very friendly and accommodating staff

Location

close to all by car but away from crowds, walking distance to waterfall

Staff

Coffee machine, balcony, surroundings

Cleanliness & Comfort

Couldn't ask for more

Pachira Lodge

Tortuguero

We spent only one night at the lodge and we were happy with the rooms and service. I would definitely recommend it.

Authenticity & Character

Nice views and built to

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Wildlife Boat Tour in Tortuguero

Tortuguero

It's a longish drive, there from San Jose, so I would consider 2 nights rather than one - or not doing this tour the morning after a flight... But is was worthwhile. It was also amazing that KimKim arranged to have our car rental from a drop off spot so we didn't have to back track to San HOse just carry on travelling from there.

Quality of Experience

Hotel was fine and everything went smoothly

Guides, Drivers and Staff

On time

Transport

All connections were quite well timed, just a wait for bus at port on way back

I’m usually very sceptical about booking vacation packages, but i have to say that i was really impressed with Randall and his service!

Whenever i go somewhere i’ll always look up top things to do, things to see, places to visit etc… Costa Rica seemed to have many top attractions depending on if you’re going to be staying on the Caribbean side vs the Pacific side. Randall helped us decide & pick hotspots that fit what we wanted to do.

We went right between the transition from the dry season to the rain season so we came prepared with raincoats and extra shoes (i suggest you bring a raincoat because weather is quite unpredictable, especially in the Pacific coast) . Weather was hot & humid. Usually starting off the morning with a bit of rain, some sun throughout the day, rain again in the afternoon, and a calm night.

As for the excursions, they were well planned and the guides were super friendly.

For those who have time to fully plan your trip, i would say you can easily look up pre-made travel itineraries (and tbh, i think this is what we’ll do if we ever go back to Costa Rica), but if you’re tight on time, or simply want an expert to plan your trip, Kimkim is amazing.

Tips if you’re travelling to CR:
- rent a car… just do it. The drive through the mountains and the forest itself is worth it
- pay in colones
- don’t know expect things to be “cheap”
- bring a raincoat
- go to eat where the locals eat… if you go to your typical tourist traps, food is 2x-3x the price, for literally the same food
- Visit Manuel Antonio

Hotel Review

Arenal Country Inn

La Fortuna

Cozy bungalows with breakfast included. View of the volcano.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Arenal Volcano Hike & Baldi Hot Springs & Dinner

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had Pablo from Arenal Star pick us up from the airport, show us around, and take us on tours the first few days of our trip. He was friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating. He was wonderful! He brought us delicious fruit he grew himself, including a pineapple that took two years to grow! He also knew the best sodas to take us to eat. He had his friend, Victor take us on a hanging bridge tour that was amazing. We had a private tour, so could go slow , be quiet, and actually see animals instead of scaring them away or missing them. The other tour guides actually stopped to see what Victor was showing us. Victor had amazing spotting abilities. He actually saw a glass frog somehow on a leaf far away. The frog was transparent other than the eyes so he looked like an outline of a frog on a leaf. He showed us a red blue-jean dart frog, which was tiny, and a viper on a tree, which blended into the tree. We also saw bats and monkeys. Both Victor and Pablo helped us take pictures using their zoom scopes. Pablo showed us the only sloth we saw on our trip and got me a great photo of it. We wished we had Pablo for our whole trip. We also went on a safari raft trip. We saw bats, monkeys, owls, and of course lizards. Charlotte booked Los Lagos at Arenal for our first two nights and it was so nice. So many hot springs that we had our choice of many private. Breakfast was included and delicious. We were so lucky and got many pictures of the whole Arenal volcano! We even saw the top with steam clearly. Pablo also took us to a coffee tour that was great! He is a really good driver and a warm and caring person. We messed up on our ATV tour because we forgot we had locked our drivers licenses in the safe. It turned out ok though because they let us switch to an off road vehicle driven by a guide. It was fun and we saw some great mountain views but not much else. Our next transport driver and tour guide were Jose and Alejandro. We took a boat ride and saw Capuchin monkeys, bats, and many baby crocodiles. We ate at a hacienda on a sugar plantation which had a wonderful breeze, good views and great food. We asked for sangria and the server made it fresh for us. My only complaint is that I really wanted to stop at at least one local craft or artisan shop, but Alejandro said I could get that stuff at our resort on the beach. I explained that I wanted to buy from the artists and not a gift shop or mass produced, maybe not even Costa Rican made, type vendor. I said I wanted to buy wood crafts and maybe jewelry from a local place. There are those places, including a traditional pottery shop close to where we were. He insisted I would find it all on the beach. I had asked at the very beginning when they picked us up to make sure we had time, but I could tell he just didn't want to bother. I already know about pushy vendors on beaches and their string bracelets and trinkets and knew that's not what I wanted. The beach people were mostly pressuring us to get massages from them or to book a tour. The couple of vendors sold touristy beach scarves and cheap bracelets, just like I thought. I ended up buying a wood bowl at the gift shop for about $100 USD. I am disappointed because I was specifically looking for a jewelry box similar to a marked-up $540 USD one I saw in the hotel gift shop. Alejandro had binoculars he looked through to see things on the boat tour but used them for his own nature watching as if he were just another person on the tour. He pointed some things out but we really couldn't see them. The reason we saw anything up close was due to our boat driver pulling over and stopping. Maybe it was that Pablo and Victor set the bar high, but I wouldn't recommend Three Monkeys Tours (where Alejandro was from). I just felt like we were inconveniencing him. Our aereal tour was the worst of our tours, but not because of the tram, that was cool. It was just very strange. The guide would scare off frogs and then tell us what he had seen. We got a few glimpses. He stopped the tram to talk about the plants and trees even though he kept talking about the same ones. Then he took us through the medicinal and edible plants and did the same thing. He was nice, but he seemed like he didn't plan or know what was there. He would see a plant and say "oh another surprise" here is the such and such plant and then look around and randomly walk to and fro. Even at the top of the observation platform he said well you can see all the trees here, are you ready to go back down? At the end the gift shopped was closed, we weren't offered the option to grab snacks or drinks at their restaurant and we were not offered access to purchase the pictures they took of us. They obviously took the pictures to sell as they showed them on a screen and had a place you could buy them, but just shuffled us back onto the van. It was early in the day and there were only a handful of Zipliners there, so I am not sure why they wouldn't want to sell us souvenirs, pictures, snacks or beverages. The whole experience was strange, which everyone was saying on the van. The other two places we stayed were places we had booked. I would recommend KimKim to everyone because they listened to what we wanted and our limitations before our trip and helped us plan well, all our transportation was on time and reliable, Charlotte often checked on us throughout our trip, and we didn't have to worry about anything. The reviews I gave above really don't reflect on KimKim as they made sure we had the tours we asked for and made sure everything went smoothly.

We enjoyed the welcome arrival with Roy, our Driver. The resort was great, very relaxing and food at the bar especially the pizza was something we will remember.
The coffee tour was very informative and fun with Rafael. The hiking at Tenorio National Park was ok because we thought we are also going to Celeste River but we didn't.

Hotel Review

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

La Fortuna

Good for family and couples

Authenticity & Character

No King Bed available

Location

A bit far from town and not as secluded like the other resort that are more close to nature

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

Great tour if you want to learn chocolate and coffee

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a fantastic time in Costa Rica thanks to Diego. He had planned out a trip for my wife and I, and we paid for it with a credit card. 10 minutes later as we were filling out the forms on Kim Kim’s website we noticed that our passports expired the previous month. We called Diego and he managed to put a hold on the hotels. We received an expedited passport on a Monday and called Diego that day and he rescheduled the whole trip that day and we flew out on Tuesday. The trip went smoothly in spite of the last minute preparations. We can’t thank Diego enough. Pura Vida!

Great trip, beautiful scenery with lots to do. Very affordable especially if you use cash.
All the activities were very good and well planned. If getting a rental car get specific instructions on where to return it to and watch out for the return fees.
Most people are very friendly and like to help.
Please don't use the Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort although gorgeous grounds the spa was closed, room service was unavailable and the front desk staff acted like you were doing them a favor by staying there.
We drove from San Jose to Liberia which is an adventure in itself. Not for the faint of heart but was fun for us. A working GPS is mandatory and driving more than a few miles at night is not recommended unless using the highway. We had to reschedule one of our activities to the morning since it was a 3 hour drive at night.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Bosque del Mar

Playa Hermosa

Great Hotel, good location. Beach activities by the locals right on the beach so can book an activity as soon as you step onto the beach(10 yards)

Tips for future travelers

Watch out for the Howler monkeys. They are entertaining.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

La Fortuna

Looks like a 5 star resort but behaves like a Motel 6. Rude front desk staff, no spa, room service not available.

Tips for future travelers

Go some where else

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Location and grounds

Activity Reviews

Zip Lining - Hanging Bridges & Aerial Tram

Arenal/La Fortuna

Scary and fun at the same time

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Catamaran Sailing Excursion

Costa Rica

Party Boat with great staff.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The planning and booking process was very easy. Alberto was very quick to answer all my questions and make the small changes we where asking for. We wanted a mix of adventure and relaxing down time for our honeymoon. The Hanging bridges in Arenal experience was great, Marcos was a very knowledgeable guide of all the animals and very enthusiastic. Rosa was our guide to Rio Celeste and she was also very knowledgeable. Orjel in the Cloud forest in Monteverde was very fun and we even got to see the Quetzal! Fabian in Manuel Antonio was very nice and genuinely happy to be our guide, saw a few sloths! Every driver was very nice, also every interaction with staff at the hotels. We would use kim kim in the future.

Hotel Review

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

This was the best hotel we stayed in! From the greeting with juices to the service at the front desk. They decorated our suite for our honeymoon. The breakfast buffet was delicious and the food at the restaurant too. And the best part were the thermal pools.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Arenal Hanging Bridges Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

It is definitely necessary to use a guide since they are the ones that know the forest and spot all the animals and plants and are so very knowledgeable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Randall knows the country very well and the best things for tourists to visit. He takes into account budget and other constraints! He organiséd a fabulous trip for me and my daughter! Unforgettable ❤️

Over all a very good time for us, the Whitewater rafting with Desafio was really well done and lots of fun the guides where top notch. We loved La Fortuna and really enjoyed staying at "Arenal Springs" a really amazing hotel/resort and the hanging bridges. Good times ziplining at Monteverde and the Poco a Poco.
Beaches, Monkeys and wildlife in Manual Antonio where a highlight of the trip.

In hindsight we would not have done the night walk with Terra Travel and I might have tried to schedule the last days differently so there was less driving. (maybe a day in Jaco or somthing)

But thanks for the good times and well orchestrated adventures.

Diego did such an incredible job planning the girls’ trip to Costa Rica my best friend and I went on earlier this month. He was incredibly responsive the entire time (including when we had real-time questions while we were in Costa Rica), and put together an itinerary that was perfect for us!! It was SUCH a relief not to have to plan anything ourselves and to know that everything was taken care of (especially transportation). I would 100% recommend Kim Kim (and Diego!) for anyone who is looking for a fun, stress free trip to Costa Rica!!

Charlotte was awesome, she created an itinerary which met our needs with a 7 yr old kid and we were yet able to cover a lot of activities including a dinner with a local Costa Rican family, which was the highlight of the trip!
Charlotte was easily reachable on text whenever we had any questions during the trip and even prior.
We wouldn’t have been able to explore and enjoy CR the way we did , if it wasn’t for Charlotte.
A true professional and an expert at what she does! Would highly recommend her to anyone!!