Kimkim Trip Reviews for Ireland

Dingle was my favorite place except for the customer service at our hotel.
Doolin was the best for service. She knew our names when we walked in the door and she served the best breakfast of the trip.
My favorite hotel was The Brehon.
Ballyseede Castle was a little disappointing and I would not go to Cork at all if I could change anything. My favorite dinner was at The 1852 Hotel in Belfast.

We feel the last two days of our trip were not productive. We could have gone to Belfast or seen more areas with our time

When we returned the car, we thought the charges were prepaid by kim kim. We were surprised to find out that these charges were not included in the package

However, when we had an issue at one bed and breakfast, Dean showed up and handed the problem correctly. Ite issue had a great outcome

Many of the pages in the itinerary were out of order and some pictures did not go with the descriptions.

We loved Ireland and felt this was a great way to see the country. Wish we knew more when planning the trip so we could have made better usage of the time we had allocated

We spent nine days in Ireland with everything planned and booked by Austin. It was a great trip! The location of all of our hotels was perfect. He had great recommendations for sites to see and restaurants to check out. We had no problems with anything. I would highly recommend working with Austin and Kimkim. We will definitely be using Kimkim in the future. It was so nice to work with a local travel agent when traveling international.

Hotel Review

Doolin Inn

Doolin, Co. Clare

This was such a great location for Cliffs of Moher. We left our hotel and hit the trail that was two minutes away. Easy walk to restaurants and pub as well. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Highly recommend Doolin Inn if in the area. Rooms were wll equiped with everything you could need. The view from our room was picturesque.

Authenticity & Character

Location

very close to restaurants, pubs, and Cliffs of Moher

Staff

The lady at the front desk was so helpful and friendly. Answered all our questions and made sure we had everything we needed.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Clare Hike, Doolin to Lahinch via Cliffs of Moher

Ireland

Highly recommend the 2.5 mile hike that lives from Doolin Inn. We were the only people on the trail. The views the entire hike were breath taking. The trail is well maintained and easy for hikers of all levels.

Quality of Experience

I feel that Dean did not want to plan a trip that was not self guided. We stated our interests but received very little information about where trails for hiking were. We actually ended up researching our hikes ourselves. When I asked about where to rent bikes, I received no specific In formation on rental facilities or biking paths . The staff were responsive while we were there and encountered a flat tire. Maria was very nice .and followed up to make sure we were ok. I have had other trips with KimKim and received much more personalized service. I would use KimKim again, but would not recommend it in Ireland.

The review is for Ireland Walk Hike Bike as a whole since my interaction with Dean was minimal. Overall they did an outstanding job in understanding my needs and goals for the trip and were flexible in making changes to the travel plan after receiving my feedback.

During the booking phase, I had a chance to have a video call with one of the owners and explained to them what my concerns were, which he took in and offered solutions for.

After a failed hiking trip in Scotland, I asked them to adjust their travel plans to what I thought would be more realistic hiking goals. They did it using ingenious solutions that met my needs and at the same time kept the original backbone of the trip unchanged, so I did not have to change my flights or overall plans.

When I arrived in Dublin, I was not happy with the quality of the hotel they picked and changed to another hotel in the same neighborhood. They not only took in my feedback on the original hotel but also reimbursed me for the night I did not sleep there.

After arriving in Killarney, another owner of the company asked to meet me and we went over the travel plans to make sure I understood them thoroughly and confirmed they met my goals.

This is what I had been expecting of a kimkim experience, and I am glad I finally got it.

Austin Rock was friendly and helpful in booking our hotel accommodations and making recommendations for historical sites to visit along the route we were driving, and sites and restaurants in the cities/towns of our trip.
Trip Highlights:
Visiting Hore Abbey in Cashel in the golden hour and taking some amazing pictures at the site and of the Rock of Cashel in the distance.
The tour of Aillwee Cave in the Burren was very interesting and a great way to learn about the geography of the region.
Walking along the Cliffs of Moher, no matter how short a walk you take, is definitely a must do. Great tour of Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin. FYI: tours are fully booked for about 2 weeks into the future but they release additional tickets every morning around 9:15 AM and also you can walk up and get tickets.

The trip was fabulous. The accommodations were terrific. Steve provided excellent GPS directions.

This was my children’s first time leaving the country. Dean put together a perfect plan for our family of 5 and I will definitely be using kimkim for all of our future summer trips. Thank you!

It was a great trip. Effortless on our part with planning. The b and b’s were great, the app was fantastic and the recommendations were wonderful.

Excellent advice!

Austin helped us find very good hotels for our group of seven. Excellent advice on touring and distance between locations.

This was the first time I’ve used a trip planning service and it was a great experience. Austin provided us with the perfect itinerary for our family and gave some great insider tips to make it extra special. Will definitely use KimKim again!

From beginning to end, the planning of this memorable trip and our experiences of it were over the top! My husband planned the trip with Austin who was attentive to EVERY SINGLE DETAIL. As we became clearer on how we wanted to experience Ireland, Austin pivoted graciously to create just the perfect vacation experience for us. From car rental to places we stayed to helping us navigate Dublin (all during the Covid times) Austin regularly checked in on us and made sure we were happy. He even gave us a private little tour of some of the museums!!! His gracious hospitality should make Dublin proud!!
Some of the most memorable places we stayed were The Wyatt Hotel in Westport, such a beautiful town on the western coast of Ireland and in Kilkenny, at The Kilkenny Hiberian Hotel. These are locations we will return to on our next trip to Ireland, although there is so much to see and explore there. Rest assured we will contact kimkim and request Austin again. Thanks for a fabulous experience Austin!!

All was fine

Austin found wonderful places for us to stay during our trip to Ireland. He also did a great job creating google map routes with suggested stops to use all throughout our trip. We appreciated him meeting us at the airport early in the morning on arrival and getting us started off right!

Austin was great. The process of planning was super and we were responded to in every request. We (kimkim, Austin and my wife val and I)
Crafted a great holiday and then they made it all happen
Our trip required flexibility and adaptation along the way but all the planned details were able to flex with us.
We are home now and already clear that this vacation was one of our all-time best

Activity Review

Guided Walking Tour of Dublin

Dublin

Quality of Experience

Transport

Sean was absolutely amazing. Very knowledgeable in the history of Ireland, up to date politically, very acquainted with Ireland and areas we were interested in, and very flexible in our day to day schedule. Which made touring the island very pleasurable. Because of his experience and knowledge as a native Irishman, he was able to show us sites and places we would not normally see or visit in a large tour group and was familiar w/ areas to avoid crowds (i.e., Cliffs of Mohr). Sean was also able to provide services such as shopping, local entertainment, dining, etc. that again I felt was above and beyond what he was contracted for. In summary, Sean became a good friend that we hope to see in the future if he visits the US or we visit Ireland, again.

I can't speak highly enough about the itinerary that the Ireland Walk Hike Bike team created for us. Dean created a custom 13-day self-drive tour for me and my husband. We loved all of the lodging, restaurants, hikes, bike rentals, and points of interest he recommended along our route. I never could have pulled off a trip like this without his guidance. Other staff at Ireland Walk Hike Bike were also very helpful (Francis, Maurice, and Jess) - assisting with reservations and other specific questions we had, including while we were on the road. Without question, I would recommend them for anyone visiting Ireland. Thank you to Kim Kim for introducing us to Ireland Walk Hike Bike!

Kim Kim Team was great. It was very comforting to know that the hotels we were registered at were ready and that if there was ever a problem the Kim Kim Team was readily available. We were so lucky to have NO Rain.....and lots of sun for the whole trip to Ireland. beautiful .....The car rental was a breeze and we are glad you hooked us up with a hybrid so gas wasn't our enemy. Driving on the wrong side of the car and the road....and those skinny roads was part of the charm. All of our hotels/BNB's were lovely. and the ClonTarf Castle was such a fun addition.
all in all it was a great vacation. thanks for all the work on your end.

Lynne and Holly Magner
We even found CastleMagner....both the town and the actual castle....

We started planning this trip 2 years ago. We always intended to do a 14-day self-drive tour of very specific locations. We requested support to identify locations within those cities that we might want to see, lodging that met our needs, and an SUV that would accommodate my service dog. We were originally supposed to have 3 local tour guides, a few tours, and a ferry passage included. Somewhere these were all deleted and the cost of the trip just included the lodging and the car rental without specifically stating that the plan was changed.
I was informed 5 weeks out that our rental wasn't secured and that we would need to pay for it ourselves. (A refund was finally provided after several phone calls between a Kimkim supervisor, and the local agent.) At 3 weeks out we were informed that our lodgings were not secured. My husband sat down messaging the agent with suggestions for accommodations at 2 weeks out. We were promised that everything would be confirmed at 1 week out as this is their policy. We never received the updated travel plan, and only received confirmation that lodging was secured 4 days prior to our trip. We worked with Austin for most of the trip planning. He was great in the beginning and we were just waiting for the lockdown to end. However, Noel helped finish the details. The locations that Noel booked were not notified of my gluten sensitivity or dairy allergy and thus were not prepared for my dietary needs. I actually had to purchase my own bread for breakfast 1 morning. Another B&B sent their daughter to the grocer to get bread for me, another had to thaw it the morning of. 1 of the B&B's was truly upset that she had no notification that my service dog was going to be present. She was prepping for a huge horse race and had to make spur of the moment adjustments and wasn't able to allow us to use the space as intended because of it.
This trip should have been finalized well before it was and too many details were placed back on our shoulders to plan. Too many of the people who owned the B&B's that we stayed at were saddened that the details were not relayed properly to them, making the statement, "This is why you use a travel agent." and that we had to clarify things with them when we arrived. We won't be using KimKim for future travel.

Our accommodations were great and our Guide, Denis Beakey, was AMAZING!!! Extremely knowledgeable and pleasant. He was a five star guide for a five star experience.