Kimkim Trip Reviews for Italy

The hotel was a marvel of renovation and in a great, central location in the upper città. Bed was comfortable, service was excellent, breakfast was good. The only notes I would offer for fellow travelers to this location are that it is adjacent to a tourist destination (park and fountain) over which our room faced, so it was quite loud. The nightly cost to park a car is quite high.

If I had to live in a hotel, this would be the one. Everything about its unique character and exceptional delighted my soul, but the location and staff make it even more special than the architect and interior designer could have envisioned. Every glorious concept is so thoughtfully executed. The rooftop spa is something magical. Truly. I cannot wait to get back to it.

The hotel is an older accommodation in a decent location. Its staff are shining stars, however, and had the attitude and approach of a high-end place. It was relatively quiet and comfortable, with a typical breakfast.

A resort and spa with a very luxe look and feel. Staff were impeccably dressed to indicate their role and function, underground parking was available, including electric charging, the entire facility was gated and closely controlled. The breakfast filled two rooms and included every option imaginable, including accommodating various dietary restrictions. The location was stellar--only a five-minute walk to Scaliger castle. But the spa facilities themselves were amazing. We sadly had little time to enjoy many aspects, as we were doing tours and visiting with family, but we wished we could have booked a few more days to enjoy the thermal baths and spa services. Notes: it is adults only, and the thermal spa comfortably accommodates a small number of guests at a time.

Wonderful, moving experience to the the Last Supper and fully-appreciate how remarkable it is that the piece has survived, and restoration of this meticulous sort, has been achieved. The other highlights of the tour were also fantastic--ancient historical buildings, artworks, culture, politics--across thousands of years. Deborah was patient and excellent.

Wonderful, knowledgeable tour guide who showed us the highlights of Sirmione by walking and private boat ride. Highly recommend.

The chef we worked with was passionate about his craft and taught us special techniques for making homemade pasta, unique to the region. It felt odd cooking in the dining room so near the entrance, using a portable stovetop, and not in a kitchen, but it was still a great experience. A bit rushed.

Loved the bartender!! He was fun! The shower was extremely small but used to American bathroons

Everything about this hotel was amazing from location to staff!

A nice Segway to getting back to American life.

The whole experience from the market to the class was 5 star all the way

This honestly was a GREAT EXPERIENCE with Salvo! He knows the history of not just this area but all of Syracuse.

I mean it’s the Vatican!

Such great knowledge of the area. The wine is spectacular ordered a lot and they graciously are shipping direct to us

The winery itself is beautiful, it’s big production!

Our room was AMAZING! Private pier, kitchenette, excellent bathroom, etc. Easy to check in/out. Staff very friendly.

Nice mid-level hotel. Images over stated the

Great location but need to know that it takes effort to walk there.

Road was a bit too crowded. Shower had mold in our room.

Great but crowd control is over whelming

Enjoyed this trip.

Enjoyed going to Basilica. Sam Domiano, and walking from tops of hill down to the Basilica

We did this on our own

We had a veranda view of Lake Como that wowed us. The veranda was big. We loved the room and service.

Andrea was incredibly helpful. His restaurant suggestions are the best. It’s within steps of everything important to see.

Swiss feel with a close view of the Matterhorn out of your balcony!

We can’t say enough about going to these people’s homes and making pasta,cooking it including tiramisu!

This is how you see it all and save your feet! Jacomo put us in the right spot everytime.

Our private driver Francisco knew the area and all the views. We would get spots and no one else was around. That meant he had greater knowledge and gave us an extra advantage. He brought us to an incredible restaurant with the best water view.

Fantastic guide, we saw more views and sites on this one trip than several put together.

Huge room, charming place, good service. The piazza and balconies offered ways to be outside if the mood struck. I recommend the place.

The room was on the small side, but I didn't spend any time in there, so no problem. Service was great, breakfast buffet was very good.

This activity was so-so. Could be a one night thing, but the soloist was not into performing.

Guide was knowledgeable. Peace altar was the most memorable part of the tour. Overall, very good experience.

We had no problem meeting our driver and getting to the hotel.

Beautiful, but we needed a lot more time.

Anna was knowledgeable and fun.

Good experience. She didn't seem to mind that we ran overtime.

The guide was good, but she was hard to keep up with. I felt like she could have stopped to count us more often. Also, a small thing, but her stick was hard to follow--instead of a flag or scarf, she just had a tiny stuffed animal on the end of it and it was hard to see in the crowd.

This is an activity not to be missed. Elisabetta shared produce and olive oil directly from her farm so we could make a delicious, authentic meal. Also, the setting for this class is gorgeous.

Ivan was an exceptionally good guide. He modified where we went based on our interests and answered a whole slew of questions.

Great location. Very nice rooms. Be sure to enjoy the rooftop bar and restaurant with views of Mt. Etna

Stunning views, Very clean and modern rooms. Beautiful pool. One of the best meals we had in Sicily.

This is probably top-10 in hotels we have stayed in. The views of the temples are incredible. Be sure to plan to enjoy a meal in the outdoor dining area.

We asked for a hotel near the PMO airport because we had a 0550 Flight in the morning. The hotel is a very large convention hotel. The room was clean but smelled strongly of mold and vinegar. The concrete was spalling on the wall. The worst problem was the *very* loud birthday party with DJ in the courtyard until 11 PM our first night. The desk staff promised there would be no party on our second night before our flight. They lied. There was a very loud DJ in the courtyard facing our room and the other courtyard had a party with loud music. At 10PM we insisted on a new room. The Staff accommodated us by moving us to a recently built villa but that required us packing and moving to a new building outside the hotel campus. … Less than 3 hours of sleep before a very long trip home. … FYI the beach was filled with garbage, very unappealing but not under the control of the hotel.

The cooking class with Luca was a highlight of the entire trip. Half the group was gluten free. Luca had a separate gluten-free station set up for the pasta making portion of the class. Luca was fun and engaging and even experienced cooks learned a lot about Sicilian specialties. The class was super fun and the food was delicious and abundant. … Our guide for the Taormina was a solid “B” grade and was the weakest link of the trip. She was grumpy that our lunch ran late and started the tour with “I have a doctor’s appointment so it is OK if you want to have time to walk around.” She was technically ok but seemed rushed and distracted.

Our guide Dario is a serious mountaineer. He was very fun, entertaining and informative. He is also a member of the Italian Search and Rescue team so we knew we were in good hands. We had a fantastic view of the Vale de Bove, a UNESCO heritage site. I have done lots of backpacking and climbed many mountains, but this was one of the most stunning sites I have seen.

Lorenzo was literally one of the best tour guides we have ever had. His deep knowledge of history gave context to the site. His style is extremely entertaining and he made the whole tour super fun. He talked for 2 hours and the tour went by in a flash. Lorenzo is one of the few people I would specifically seek out if I were to visit Sicily again. I wish I could give 6 stars

Ragusa is worth a quick visit. Our driver was amazing. He took us to a great spot on the superior village to get a view and then took us to the lower village. He dropped us in the Piazza, pointed out a great gelato shop and told us he would meet us by the garden. This gave us the perfect opportunity to stroll through the Main Street in an unhurried manner. Occhipinti gave an excellent tour and the wines were quite good. (We ordered a couple of cases to ship home). However, the vineyard is a bit out of the way and probably not worth a special trip unless you are in the area.

Loved this hotel and the breakfast was amazing. It was in a great location.

Easy check in and the room was beautiful. This room was in the perfect location to everything.

This property was beautiful just wish we knew what exact room we were getting. Our trip advisor told us we were getting upgraded and that wasn’t the case so we were very disappointed. The hotel handled it very professionally though and it wasn’t their fault. They were very helpful with luggage etc.

Beautiful property but the fan in the room caused the lights to bang against the wall. This hotel was in a great location and breakfast was great.

Such a great property such a charming room with an amazing view of lake como

Great location and very nice rooms.

She was amazing very informative.

Just ok didn’t interact or offer to take pics etc.

She cared more about the little details in a building etc and skipped over some of the big tourist things saying oh that’s to crowded. We were tourists and wanted to see the Spanish steps trevi fountain etc. She didn’t gear it to what we wanted to see and do.

She was amazing very intuitive to her group - kept things moving offered to take pics etc.

So fun total highlight of our trip.

This was great the boat driver was awesome and patient while we went to the blue grotto.

Great driver very knowledgeable and courteous.

Didn’t get to get bc of winds

The room we had was very large with many windows. We had a king-size bed that was very comfortable. Our room had a very large private outdoor furnished terrace with a wonderful view. The bathroom was beautiful and very modern. There was a private garage which our drivers could pull into. This was very helpful as the street was very narrow with lots of traffic. There were many good restaurants in close proximity. The managers were very helpful and provided us with a shower seat upon request. They also had a cane to loan us. My only criticism would be to get a smart TV that we could either use Mirroring or something that would allow guests to sign into Netflix.

This hotel is world class. The grounds were exquiste. The view of the Temples and the sea were extraordinary. The restaurant had an interesting menu. The room itself was small, but attached to the room is a private plunge pool so it is hard to complain. The staff was very happy to pick us up in golf carts if we found it too long a walk. There is nothing nearby so you have to eat at the restaurant or take a cab elsewhere.

Without the private guide we would not have truly appreciated this site. We have seen mosaics in other places but this villa was so impressive. Each mosaic told a different story and our guide explained them all to us and put them in context for the time. She pointed out many details that we would never have noticed.

This was different than originally planned due to our abilities. We did not go to the Rustic Farmhouse but stayed in Ortigia. We had a snack at the market and then went through the food part of the market with the Chef, Allissia. Then she sent us back to her town villa via Velocar and we cooked and ate there. She was delightful and very knowledgeable. It was amazing how much we cooked in a short period of time. We couldn't eat all the food!

This was one of the highlights of the trip. We actually made cannellonis including the shells and filling. My husband is lactose intollerant and Carlo had lactose free ricotta cheese and also lactose free buffalo mozzerella for his lunch. I was able to take the walk through his farm garden but unfortunately it was too difficult for my husband . there was another couple there and we had a lot of fun with them. We made pasta as well and then we had a magnificent lunch. Carlo was a good teacher and has a beautiful home and setting for this experience.

The staff and place was just amazing! I highly recommend for a getaway close to Siena.

Well situated and staff was very helpful! lots of amenities and cool design.

Well located and very helpful staff. The rooms are modern and clean. Rooftop and garden in the middle of Rome

Dropping off the car in Rome was a bit complicated because we had not been warned there is a dedicated parking for rental cars and we kep trying to go to the rental office. If you know about the dedicated parking, it is no issue, but if you don't, you might turn in circles a bit.

Tour guide was very knowledgeable and helped us move through the crowds.

We loved our tour guide. Was friendly and knew a lot about the Forum and Art.

Staff wasn't the friendliest and the beds they only put two twins together but they didn't have a great bridging system to connect to two beds so they would easily split apart. Breakfast was good but kind of awkward as they sat there and watched you eat.

Great location! Staff was good but dont speak much English. The breakfast was good and room was very comfy and clean.

This hotel was great location, super friendly staff, and clean. Also loved the breakfast choices, you ordered the day before what food you wanted from the menu and they would deliver it to your room at the time you request.

LOVED this hotel, great location, great breakfast, room was comfy and clean, and loved the set up of the hotel parts of it was outside just neat set up.

Larger hotel but great location to train station but kinda far from the stores.

This was an okay class I didn't love it as we all had to make the same pizza you didn't get to customize the pizza.

This was so informative and didn't realize we were the only ones in the group so it was nice that it was small and we got to ask all the questions. It was so nice to skip all the lines too!

Loved everything about this excursion. Make sure you bring cash or card to do the grottos

This was a very cool experience to walk the active volcano Vesuvius but beware its not an easy hike at all.

This was a great experience but beware your mind will be mush at the end with all the information you are given.

This is a very cool experience you must do! Lots of history given during this tour.

Loved this food tour but the portions were huge so was very stuffed after and you feel bad leaving any food behind. It was a great tour!

Transportation was smooth and was able to do it on our just fine.

Loved exploring all 3 wineries and learning about the olive oil process.

Great room, beautiful garden, great breakfast

Great hotel restaurant and beautiful ground, only real issue we had was the lack of air conditioning on a night- rooms got rather hot.

Amazing staff who made our honeymoon so special. We have nothing but positive things to say about our time at Una Villa

What was originally supposed to be a boat day with opportunity to swim just turned into a ferry ride to Capri. The boat never stopped in any of the swimming areas that were advertised and no one else on the boat had planned to swim. Felt like a missed opportunity on an otherwise good day.

Loved our gondolier, he was so nice and welcoming as well as knowledgeable about the area and architecture

We were originally supposed to have a private market tour and cooking class but when our original vendor cancelled. Kim Kim found us a group class in very short time. Overall an enjoyable experience and the chef, Frederico, was an absolute delight.

Our guide was wonderful and so friendly. She certainly put us through our paces over a 4.5 mile hike through all different types of terrain and landscape. We really enjoyed this whole experience and loved the passion and knowledge that our guide had for all things nature.

We had a wonderful time visiting wineries. All the staff were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We also had a driver for the day and he was very courteous and cordial. Overall a great experience

Great location on the water but a lot of stairs if you want to go up to the road. However, nice easy path to get to Positano.

great location right in the middle of Sorreto

Nice hotel but they were supposed to just hold our credit card but they actually charged it and we had to wait 2 weeks to see it get off our pending charge.

This was probably our best memory of our trip. Sorrento is such a beautiful small town on the coast. The shopping was really nice cheap and good stuff. The tour guide was very knowlegeable and interesting.

Food and drinks were amazing. Tour guide too.

Tour guide very knowlegeable and spoke very good English

This was our first day/night in Italy and it gave us a good sample of Rome has to offer. Tour guide gave us some good restaurant recommendations. He was amazing.

Beautiful boat tour along the coast. It was a beautiful day weather wise. The captain was professional and knowledeable.

Tour guide was very interesting telling us all about Pompeii and the history. One of our favorite stops.

What an amazing experience this cooking class is. My husband and I have taken many cooking classes in the past and this was the most unique so far. We were not aware before arriving that the class would be in a locals home. We also expected a "small group" but for our class we were the only ones. A private class, learning from a local---making traditional food, that she has made her whole life, what could be better? We started by making pasta dough and letting it rest. Next was desert, each making a tiramisu for later. After that was a type of Tuscan dumpling made of spinach, a small amount of parmesan cheese, some salt and flour. I was so surprised how this turned out. Are you getting tired yet? Cause there is more...next was a potato filling for a tortellini, that we later made by rolling our pasta, cutting to size, piping the filling, and learning to fold into pillows of awesomeness! Donatella took over from there, giving us a glass of wine, water, and tomato and white bean bruschetta. She cooked the spinach dumplings with a simple tomato sauce with garlic, and the tortellini with olive oil, and sage. Simple ingredients, and unbelievable flavors. I was so surprised, and left full and very happy from the experience.

Our guide, Daniela, was on time and personable, providing history and commentary. We chatted on the hike up the hills and through the trees to the castle. (really more of a tower, but still very cool). We stopped and took pictures part way up, also a good time for a rest, drink and to cool off. Once at the top the views were amazing, but we continued on, going inside the tower and climbing to the top. At the top the 360 degree view as promised was worth the hike. It was so pretty. We could see up Milan in one direction, the Lake and valley in the other. We had a nice tasting of a Barbarossa wine and some crackers while enjoying the view before walking back down, and returning to our hotel.

We had an amazing time learning how to make Neapolitan pizza. Our small group was just us (2 people), and we started by learning what simple ingredients are combined to make the pizza dough. After making our own dough, we were taken back to the pizza station in the kitchen, right next to the wood oven and made our own pizza. We watched the professional cook the pizza and then we got to take it to our table and dig in. A very fun experience, with a bonus friend pizza provided by the restaurant for us to try and take home. (too much good food is such a wonderful problem to have).

This is up to a 1.5-2 hour drive from Naples each way. It's a long day of being in the car. We started at the Cheese farm for a short tour. We learned how they take care of the Buffalo, and got to see them up close and even got to pet them. After hearing about how the farm is run we tasted some cheese. It's so different in flavor and texture from cow mozzarella, you really can taste the difference. It's a nice place, beautiful grounds with coffee shop, restaurant and pastry shop on sight. (our paperwork said light lunch, and all there was for lunch was the cheese, so be aware and ask your guide to stop someone for food or grab a pastry) The ruins in Paestrum are really interesting, it was less crowded and had a very different from Pompeii if you decide to do that. We had a great guide named Mario who gave us history and commentary, taking us through the museum as well. Not as much to see due to the history of the ruins overall, which again is different from Pompeii but if you like history it's really enjoyable.

Really fun, hands on experience. I highly recommend. We helped to make, what turned out to be pretty simple, a small batch of limoncello and our instructor (Valentino) made it really fun. Playing that he had an injury so we had to do the work we peeled, shook, and combined all the ingredients. When it started to sprinkle, and we we went inside from our private view overlooking the water, they quickly got setup to show us how to use more of the lemon (no lemon goes to waste here) to make lemon marmalade. I was surprised how much I like it, and look forward to trying both recipes at home. This was an amazing experience with a friendly family run business, and I will not only buy from them in the future to ship, but I encourage everyone to to stop by for a tasting or to do the hands on experience. They love what they do and it shows.

We have started to do a food and drink tour on all of our vacations because of how interesting they are and how well it's done. Our Venice experience did not disappoint and from start to finish Beatrice was an excellent guide, telling stories, and history and generally keeping our group engaged. At each stop everything was planned and ready to go and the food and pairing were excellent. As a vegetarian, each stop was able to accommodate my diet with substitutions that looked better than whatever one else was having (but I might be biased). From a Prosecco I had never had before (and loved) to wine (you choose white or red) and ending with a nice dessert wine to sip -- everything was delicious and felt very customizable. We left happy with the experience, getting an idea of the overall city of Venice which helped us to get around later. We also left stuffed, with no need to think about dinner.

The drive takes a little over an hour to go to Siena (our first stop) where we got about an hour and 15 minutes to explore before heading off to the winery for lunch and our tasting. After lunch we went to San Gimignano where we had about and hour and a half to explore before heading back to our starting location. Both stops were really nice, with beautiful views and architecture to admire. We got a pastry and some stuff to take home while window shopping in Siena. We had the biggest slice of pizza we've ever seen an a nice glass of a local wine. At the Winery we had a great table outside with a wonderful view. After a brief introduction to the winery and the wines we had our first tasting paired with bruschetta, cheeses and salami. For our meal we had a choice of pastas or a traditional tuscan stew (a vegetarian choice). The food was wonderful, and the wine paired nicely bringing our the fresh flavors in the food. Our last stop was San Gimignano, where we got a gelato while wondering through the streets and shops.

A great activity to see Naples. We met Clemente at Neptune's fountain and started our tour by heading to see the Castle Nuova from the outside because it wasn't open yet, Galleria Umbero I, with all it's beautiful details (being restored to a sparkling white marble), walking by the theater where the Opera was held. Next to the Royle Palace, with statues in every archway. As we continued to walk we went through the narrow streets, hearing history and dodging shoppers. The tour ended at the underground ruins which was really interesting and worth a trip--it doesn't take too long, but it's a good place to cool off it's it's getting warm outside. A nice 3 hour trip taking it all in and hearing stories from a local who loved to show off his city.

Pompeii was so much larger than I expected! Amazing historical site. Our tour guide, I think might have been Mike, was great. The wine tasting was a nice break between larger experiences. The food was very good, but not too much to feel overly full. The grounds were very nice. Mount Vesuvius was more of a hike than I expected, but the guide was interesting.

This was a nice walk that took us a few blocks from our starting point and showed use some history of Florence. Seeing the David and hearing about about that was probably the highlight. I think it was the perfect length for the walk, at the right pace, as well as the time we needed to see what we saw.

This is a fun idea and I did enjoy the trip, but keep in mind how long it will take to get where you are going. We spent a lot of time in the car. The roads are narrow and speeds are low so it takes twice as long to go a short distance. We stopped for an hour which was nice to look in shops and get a feel for these buildings on the side of the mountain. We also did a limoncello experience (which I recommend and have reviewed separately) but that took 2 hours from our day so we didn't go to the 3rd stop on this tour. Additionally the only way home is the same way you came, so it took us roughly 2 hours to get home after our last stop. Even though we were not driving the say felt long, with a lot of sitting in the car.