Kimkim Trip Reviews for Mexico

We spent three weeks in Mexico on a trip organised for us by Rutopia. Mexico was astonishing, beautiful, interesting, fun and we cannot wait to return. But we will not be doing so with Rutopia. We were put in contact with Rutopia via the site Kim Kim, which is an independent travel website putting users in touch with country experts… ostensibly. I’d used Kim Kim before and had been happy with the resulting trip. Not this time.

Rutopia seemed great before setting out. They were friendly and efficient in their communication and their detailed itinerary also seemed fine. Their local contact – via WhatsApp was helpful, friendly and responded quickly. But the sheer number of providers they subcontract to and the subcontractors in-turn subcontracting to others make for a supply chain of chaos. And we start to see things change a day or two before we depart.

First, Rutopia was unable to book us tickets to the Frieda Khalo museum (this was part of the detailed itinerary we paid for). They blamed the large visiting New Year’s Eve crowds buying up all the tickets. I thought it was odd because we had planned the trip with them months before, so if Rutopia – as local experts – would expect crowds, they’d be able to jump on the tickets right away. Or Rutopia would have alerted me to this possibility so I could’ve made sure to be on the alert as soon as the tickets went on sale. Rutopia proposed a virtual reality Khalo experience instead, but we weren’t interested. I opted instead for a free day in CDMX. Did Rutopia offer a refund for that day? No. And I thought it was odd, but I didn’t ask for one. The reason: at our request, Rutopia got us an upgraded room in the hotel they had booked for us. We requested the upgrade because our original room had a paper-thin connecting door to the next room and we could hear our next-door neighbours clearly as if they were in the room with us. Five days of that was a non-starter. So, considering the upgrade, I didn’t ask for a refund for that day. We had a lovely time on our own and visiting Teotihuacan as per our itinerary.

Second, we depart CDMX and our flight arrival time was not listed properly on our itinerary. That didn’t affect us, but the transfer driver had been told an even earlier time and had been waiting for us for something like three hours. We thought it was odd, but again, didn’t suspect what was about to happen.

Third, our departure from San Cristobal was scheduled for 3am via a private transfer. This was clearly stated in our detailed trip itinerary Rutopia drafted for us and which we agreed before paying them a five-figure sum for our trip. We would then stop en-route to visit two waterfall areas.

At 3am on the designated day, a large, multi-person van pulls up. The driver is cross seeing our luggage and says he would’ve sent a different vehicle if he knew we had luggage. We thought this was odd. It wasn’t a lot of luggage for two people travelling for three weeks: a weekend-sized rollaboard, a large duffel bag (these were the two largest pieces), two small rucksacks/daypacks, a small camera bag and a small handbag. This attitude and the type of vehicle prompted me to ask if we would be the only persons. The driver said no. He needed to pick up more people between 3am and 5am. We were merely the first stop.

We were stunned. I explained, in my basic Spanish, we had paid for a private transfer. The driver calls his boss (not Rutopia – each driver we’ve had so far and would have for the trip is from a different company – supply chain hell as I previously mentioned) and the boss tells him he doesn’t know what’s going on. The driver asks us for a confirmation voucher. We never received any vouchers from Rutopia and no one until then had asked us for any. It’s the digital age after all, and we had our detailed itinerary, which I showed the driver. The driver is now visibly annoyed with us and asks us what we want to do. It’s after 3am, we’ve checked out of our hotel and we are trapped. So of course we say we will stay on the bus and make the several hour journey like this. But this wasn’t satisfactory to the driver! He drives us back to the hotel and dumps us there. In Spanish he says to the passenger in the seat next to him that he’s washing his hands of us. My spoken Spanish isn’t good, but my understanding of it is excellent. I hear this clearly.

We’re now back at the hotel. I’ve messaged Rutopia, called them and nothing – obviously, it’s almost 4am. I next call the transfer company and I speak to who I believe is the driver’s boss. That person tells me there’s no private transfer for that day and if I want the same driver to return. Of course I say yes to have him return. That’s what we had said to the driver originally. We had no choice!

When the van arrives back at our hotel, it’s full of passengers and there’s no room for our luggage. We spend the next six hours jammed with most of our luggage on our laps, in seats not next to each other, on the tortuous roads of Chiapas. Because we had believed we had a private transfer, we had left our bathing suits (for the waterfall stops) in our luggage as we believed we would have easy access to them. The reality was our luggage was piled with others’ and things had to be moved just for all the passengers to be able to get out of the van. We were utterly unprepared for the hell trip this was and were extremely disappointed we couldn’t go swimming. Of course the sights were beautiful, but they were marred by the utter discomfort of the trip. Had we paid for this type of transfer and had a backpacker trip in mind, then fine. But that’s not what we paid five figures for.

Our itinerary also detailed a sunset visit to the ruins of Palenque as the final activity for that day. Did that happen? Nope. We were dropped off at our hotel around 12.30 or so. Check-in wasn’t until 3pm, but were able to get into our rooms a little earlier.

When the Rutopia in-country representative came back on line I requested a refund. The in-country representative said the transfer was meant to be shared and didn’t know why her colleagues had written private. We were shocked by this. I pointed to the detailed itinerary showing clearly the transfer was private. The itinerary is the contract we agreed to with Rutopia and they couldn’t change significant things and just say oops. I asked about the sunset tour of the ruins and nothing. That didn’t exist either. So we had had a hell trip from 3am for nothing.

I asked for a refund of that day. Reluctantly, Rutopia agreed and said it would be in my account a few days later. It’s now weeks later and it’s not there.

After this incident, there were others. For example, one driver was told to pick us up at 8am, but our itinerary says 9am and that’s confirmed the day before by the in-country representative. During the day, we discover he had been waiting for us from 7.30am. And no wonder he was sullen when we stroll up at 9am with no apology. Both of us had been under different instructions.

Another example, I had mentioned several times in the discussions with Rutopia we are vegan. And where do we go for one of our activities – a crocodile farm. The activity listed was for a boat trip, but it didn’t list we would be going to a crocodile farm, which we would have refused. The boat trip itself was nice, but the nature of it was totally different on the detailed itinerary. And that happened a lot. Things would be described in one way on the itinerary, but would be quite different in reality. It was as if Rutopia hadn’t updated themselves on what was actually happening on the ground.

Our breakfasts were included, but only one hotel during the entire three weeks seemed to have gotten the message we are vegan. And kudos to them. The irony was there were even vegan hotels in many of the places we stayed, but Rutopia didn’t suggest them to us. And as this was not a trip I planned, I didn’t do all the research. After all, I believed I was paying for someone to do that.

This disconnect between paper and relity was reflected in some of the hotels. In particular, the hotel in Punta Morelos. Ostensibly a three-star hotel given the three stars on its façade. In reality, a mouldy, 1980s nylon curtained, tired two stars at best. Again, if that’s the trip we had paid for, then ok. But at the five figures we spent, then no. Not acceptable.

Rutopia is disorganised. They have to make their margins wherever they can and so do their subcontractors. At the end of this stick is the driver and the traveller. And the poor in-country representative who has to hear the traveller’s complaints. So, never again Rutopia.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel El Moro

Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo

This is a two star hotel at best. Mouldy, badly in need of an update, motel style nylon curtains and a common area which could be the site of a crime show. Avoid

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

everything

Guayaba Inn

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

Lovely place, spacious room, beautiful gardens. No vegan food available.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Punto Mx

Mexico City

Do not get a room with a connecting door. The connecting doors are paper thin and you'll be able to hear next door as if they were right in the room with you. However, the location is great. And the upgraded room we eventually got was terrific. No vegan food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel La Aldea del Halach Huinic

Palenque

The rooms are bleak and need an update. But they're clean and the bed is comfortable. The location is great though with lots of wildlife and trees. The restaurant was pretty good too. They had vegan food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Don Gustavo

Campeche

This was the best hotel of our trip. They were the only ones who actually had gotten the message of our dietary requirements and prepared accordingly. The location is perfect. The rooms and the entire property are gorgeous.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Lucia Hotel Boutique

Mérida, Yucatán

Location was good. But the rooms were tired and noisy. Clean though.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Le Muuch

Valladolid, Yucatán

Small room with nowhere to put luggage other than in a corner on the floor. But nice property. Impossibly slow breakfast service. Thirty minutes just for a cup of coffee, which was all we ordered. Good location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Transfer from San Cristobal to Palenque - visit Agua Azul and Misol Ha en Route

Mexico

This was hell and it wasn't a private transfer at all. I've set this all out in my detailed feedback letter. But here's an excerpt: Third, our departure from San Cristobal was scheduled for 3am via a private transfer. This was clearly stated in our detailed trip itinerary Rutopia drafted for us and which we agreed before paying them a five-figure sum for our trip. We would then stop en-route to visit two waterfall areas. At 3am on the designated day, a large, multi-person van pulls up. The driver is cross seeing our luggage and says he would’ve sent a different vehicle if he knew we had luggage. We thought this was odd. It wasn’t a lot of luggage for two people travelling for three weeks: a weekend-sized rollaboard, a large duffel bag (these were the two largest pieces), two small rucksacks/daypacks, a small camera bag and a small handbag. This attitude and the type of vehicle prompted me to ask if we would be the only persons. The driver said no. He needed to pick up more people between 3am and 5am. We were merely the first stop. We were stunned. I explained, in my basic Spanish, we had paid for a private transfer. The driver calls his boss (not Rutopia – each driver we’ve had so far and would have for the trip is from a different company – supply chain hell as I previously mentioned) and the boss tells him he doesn’t know what’s going on. The driver asks us for a confirmation voucher. We never received any vouchers from Rutopia and no one until then had asked us for any. It’s the digital age after all, and we had our detailed itinerary, which I showed the driver. The driver is now visibly annoyed with us and asks us what we want to do. It’s after 3am, we’ve checked out of our hotel and we are trapped. So of course we say we will stay on the bus and make the several hour journey like this. But this wasn’t satisfactory to the driver! He drives us back to the hotel and dumps us there. In Spanish he says to the passenger in the seat next to him that he’s washing his hands of us. My spoken Spanish isn’t good, but my understanding of it is excellent. I hear this clearly. We’re now back at the hotel. I’ve messaged Rutopia, called them and nothing – obviously, it’s almost 4am. I next call the transfer company and I speak to who I believe is the driver’s boss. That person tells me there’s no private transfer for that day and if I want the same driver to return. Of course I say yes to have him return. That’s what we had said to the driver originally. We had no choice! When the van arrives back at our hotel, it’s full of passengers and there’s no room for our luggage. We spend the next six hours jammed with most of our luggage on our laps, in seats not next to each other, on the tortuous roads of Chiapas. Because we had believed we had a private transfer, we had left our bathing suits (for the waterfall stops) in our luggage as we believed we would have easy access to them. The reality was our luggage was piled with others’ and things had to be moved just for all the passengers to be able to get out of the van. We were utterly unprepared for the hell trip this was and were extremely disappointed we couldn’t go swimming. Of course the sights were beautiful, but they were marred by the utter discomfort of the trip. Had we paid for this type of transfer and had a backpacker trip in mind, then fine. But that’s not what we paid five figures for. Our itinerary also detailed a sunset visit to the ruins of Palenque as the final activity for that day. Did that happen? Nope. We were dropped off at our hotel around 12.30 or so. Check-in wasn’t until 3pm, but were able to get into our rooms a little earlier. When the Rutopia in-country representative came back on line I requested a refund. The in-country representative said the transfer was meant to be shared and didn’t know why her colleagues had written private. We were shocked by this. I pointed to the detailed itinerary showing clearly the transfer was private. The itinerary is the contract we agreed to with Rutopia and they couldn’t change significant things and just say oops. I asked about the sunset tour of the ruins and nothing. That didn’t exist either. So we had had a hell trip from 3am for nothing. I asked for a refund of that day. Reluctantly, Rutopia agreed and said it would be in my account a few days later. It’s now weeks later and it’s not there.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lucha Libre Experience & Mezcal Tasting

Mexico City

Fantastic night and great guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Shared biking experience through Teotihuacan "The City of the Gods"

Mexico City

Brilliant day. Terrific guide.

Quality of Experience

Food

restaurant had clearly marked vegan options!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Every driver, every guide every encounter exceeded all expectations.
The passion exhibited by each and every guide was palpable
I will recommend this to everyone

Hotel Reviews

Casa Quetzal Hotel Boutique

Valladolid, Yucatán

Old world charm in which we were made to feel welcome and wanted

Authenticity & Character

300 year old structure lovingly maintained

Location

Villaldolid is absolutely charming

Staff

Accommodating!!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless!!! The bed wasn’t great but it worked out fine

Hip Hotel Tulum

Tulum

Lovely hotel right in the beach. Very touristy but incredibly comfortable

Authenticity & Character

The structures are perfectly rustic

Location

Literally on the ocean

Staff

Cheerful and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless!!!

Activity Reviews

Explore the mysterious area of Ek Balam

Chichén Itzá

Our guide was wonderful

Quality of Experience

Passion

Guides, Drivers and Staff

So friendly and fun loving!!

Transport

Comfortable

Explore Chichén Itzá: A Wonder of the Mayan World

Chichén Itzá

Breath taking The immensity of this place along with the stunning beauty left a mark on all of us

Quality of Experience

Our guide painted a vivid picture as he shared his passion for this amazing place

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Just so warm and friendly

Transport

Very comfortable

Mayan jungle, culture, cenotes and lunch in Yalcobá

Mexico

The cenote is amazing but not for everyone!! Very physical The lunch was wonderful and the local family were charming They were so open and welcoming

Quality of Experience

I will never forget this

Food

Delicious

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lovely

Transport

Comfortable

Eco Center & Traditional Mayan Meal

Mexico

Stunning!! Food was amazing and the forest was beautiful

Quality of Experience

Beautiful!!

Food

Maybe the best meal we had on this trip

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Passionate, friendly and fun!!

Transport

Very comfortable

Float in the Muyil Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve with transportation from Cancun.

Cancún

Breath taking!! The canal trip was unlike anything I’ve ever done Stunning

Quality of Experience

Every aspect of this part of the trip was perfect

Food

Delicious The meal was wonderful

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Friendly and passionate and fun loving

Transport

Comfortable

We were a bit skeptical of the whole process at first, but went with it and now that we have returned and reflected on the experience it was amazing to have KimKim there for us every step of the way. We have traveled a lot in Mexico previously and wanted an authentic experience without the stress. Leslie was super kind and accommodating throughout the planning and booking process- I highly recommend using her and KimKim. Then, once we were on our trip Ximena was there on What’sApp to help with anything we needed - even sending reminders every evening for the next days activities which included things to think about doing on our free days. We were especially grateful to have Tere waiting for us at the rental car agency to help us navigate that after a long international flight, and to have her there at our departure to make sure everything was correct. It was just such a huge relief to have her and the entire KimKim team available for anything we needed!

Activity Reviews

Immerse Yourself in the Peaceful Yokdzonot Cenote

Mexico

We visited several cenotes in the area and this one was our favorite. It’s an hour drive from Valladoldid, but close to Chichen Itza. We drove to the cenote for an afternoon arrival and then did the Nights if Kulkulcan at Chichen Itza (to avoid the heat and my 5 year old whining). It worked out great for our family. The only odd thing was that the people who worked there seemed very confused about our entrance including a meal. We were given menus, then they were take away once they knew we had food included, but then they told us pretty much everything was available for us to order… it was a little confusing.

Quality of Experience

Food

The food was awesome! The soup was amazing

Coba and the sacred Mayan roads

Cobá

We enjoyed Coba - especially the biking and the more shaded cover Vs Chichen Itza. Our guide was just ok. We went on New Year’s Day so perhaps he was a little tired from the night before. We picked him up at the Pemex near the entrance and he helped us find parking. He slowly explained some things about the ruins before we went in (he was very patient with my kids asking a ton of questions). When we got the main ruins, we sat under a palapa area in the shade while he told us about the ruins. He then opted to stay in the shade instead of walking with us over to the main ruins. He said it was to allow us to walk around but it would have been nice to have him there (and to have a picture of all of our family in front of the ruins!). Selfies will work just fine.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Eco Center & Traditional Mayan Meal

Mexico

We arrived in Nuevo Durango and Blanca and her family welcomed us in and showed us how to make hammocks. My son, who is 9, absolutely loved it and didn’t want to leave. Blanca offered lemonade and we took turns weaving. I speak fluent Spanish but no one else in my family does, and none of the other hosts spoke English. Thankfully I was able to translate for everyone but I’m not sure how it would work if someone was going that didn’t speak Spanish…? The food we ate was amazing, and my kids loved it. I was convinced they weren’t going to eat it but they did! And they loved it

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Float in the Muyil Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve with transportation from Cancun.

Cancún

This was the highlight of the trip for me! We loved floating in the canals carved by Mayans 2,000 years ago. Don’t book the ruins option - it’s an hour walk to get to the ruins. Stick with their most popular tour. Our guide Memo was amazing as was the food we enjoyed after. Highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Extremely professional coordination and guides. We had a wonderful time. We felt safe and impressed by the degree of timeliness and punctuality of all the folks who tended to our needs.

Hotel Review

Casa Pepe Puebla

Puebla

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Experience: Tacos, Chelas & Mezcal in Narvarte

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Learn how to prepare delicious traditional food

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private walking tour of Teotihuacan "The City of the Gods"

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Between the Izta and the Popo in Puebla, México

Puebla

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gastronomy and culture on the streets of Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Oaxaca's Hidden Gems: Discover Mitla, Hierve el Agua, Teotitlán & Mezcal!

Oaxaca

We couldn't go to this tour due to illness.

This was a great trip filled with very positive and unforgettable experiences. Everything worked out as planned. The itinerary we had was excellent and the gastronomic, geographic, archaeological, and artisanal tours were excellent. The hotels were great with a couple of exceptions. They were all centrally located and we could easily move about on our own and explore the places not included in the formal itinerary. All the guides were knowledgeable and spoke english as promised. The drivers that took us on our city tours and long distances from city to city were friendly and drove with great care. All the guides and drivers were very punctual and we could complete all the activities in the time that was planned.

Ximena out travel coordinator was outstanding! She checked in with us every day to ask how the day went and also to inform us about the next day's plan. The couple of times we had an issue with hotels, she was very quick to get them resolved.

Hotel Reviews

Histórico Central Mexico City

Mexico City

Very centrally located with extremely friendly and helpful staff. The breakfast that was included had a lot of choices, and the free food all day long was amazing.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casona de los Sapos Hotel Boutique

Puebla

Very centrally located. The staff were very accommodating even though it was Christmas eve.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Boutique Casa Garay

Oaxaca

The hotel is very centrally located and that was the only positive aspect about it. The room was windowless and had very poor ventilation. Unfortunately, to improve ventilation we could not leave the door ajar since it opened directly into the dining area. The room was not serviced well and one morning the water ran out in the bathroom and it took a lot of time to restore. The air conditioning unit was very noisy, but we had no choice to use it since the room had no air circulation. The hotel was understaffed and the couple of employee there were doing multiple tasks and as a result everything took time. We had breakfast at the hotel the first morning, but it was such a bad experience that we decided to eat elsewhere the next day. We were also very frustrated with the wifi which was very very slow and at times we could not even connect to it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Please refer to my detailed review.

Hotel Parador Margarita

San Cristobal de las Casas

Nice hotel. very centrally located. Large rooms. The only issue was that the rooms did not have any heating, but fortunately we could get spot heaters from the hotel. The breakfast was wonderful and the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The heating could be improved.

Piedra de Agua Hotel Boutique Palenque

Palenque

It is a nice hotel, but it is far from the town center. Also, there are no shops anywhere within walking distance. Continental breakfast was served at the hotel, but besides that the hotel did not have a restaurant and since we did not have a car, the only option was a restaurant that was 75 meters away. We had to eat all our meals at that single restaurant, The room was a bit small and it was strange that the light for the bathroom also switched on a light that was in the bedroom. That did not work out well at night when my wife or I had to use the toilet.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Please see my detailed review.

Hotel Plaza Campeche

Campeche

Nice hotel, very centrally located.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice large room and everything worked.

Hacienda Mérida

Mérida

This is nice hotel, but we had a bad experience. We were assigned a room with clearly had an issue with the plumbing. The water pressure was extremely low and therefore we informed the front desk who sent someone to attend to it. After sometime they reported they had fixed the problem, but the situation was still the same. It is hard to accept that the hotel was not aware that this room had a plumbing issue, but still decided to assign the room to a guest.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

I have mentioned about the issue with the plumbing in my review.

Activity Reviews

Tour of historic Mexico City with street food tasting

Mexico City

This is a good introduction to Mexico City's historic center and street food. The tour is a bit early in the day to truly enjoy the street food especially after a hearty breakfast.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Knowledgeable, friendly and could speak English.

Transport

This was a walking tour and so there was no transport.

Be amazed by the pre-hispanic beauty of the chinampas in Xochimilco

Mexico City

This is a very unique tour. We enjoyed the serene and quite environment and the demonstration of how farming is carried out on the small islands on the canals.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Coyoacán

Mexico City

Very nice neighborhood of Mexico City with its colonial ear houses, markets, and food courts. The zocalo and church are very picturesque.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the archaeological site of Teotihuacan

Mexico City

Must visit archeological site.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Afternoon in Puebla

Mexico

Very charming city with a nice zocalo and cathedral.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Oaxacan Markets: A Culinary Journey through Colors and Flavors

Oaxaca

This is a fun tour, but to do justice you have to start on an empty stomach since there are many stops for food.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the history and crafts of Oaxaca through Monte Alban, Arrazola, Cuilapam and Coyotepec.

Oaxaca

All wonderful sites and places on this very enjoyable tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to the Sumidero Canyon & Chiapa de Corzo

Mexico

The Sumidero Canyon is amazing!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cultural Immersion: Cooking in Zinacantan

San Cristobal de las Casas

This was a very very unique tour. The visit to Chamula and especially to the church there was a truly one-of-a-kind experience. The visit to Zinacantan was also special, with an exposure to the milpa form of farming and being invited to the house of a local artisan to see how they create their wears and to share a meal with them.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The beautiful waterfalls of Misol-ha & Agua Azul - Night in Palenque.

Mexico

Agua Azul is beautiful, but Misol-ha is special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover the Palenque Archeological Site

Palenque

A must visit archeological site of the Mayas.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Uxmal, a city with Puuc style

Mexico

A must see archaeological site of the Mayas. It is laid out much better than Palanque, the first Mayan archaeological site we visited.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jícara Engraving Workshop & lunch in a Mayan Community

Mexico

A very unique experience. We loved the hands-on workshop on how to polish and engrave a jicara shell.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Chichén Itzá: A Wonder of the Mayan World

Chichén Itzá

Unfortunately, we could not visit Chichen Itza since the site was closed due to local protests. However we did visit Izamal which was nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From beginning to end, a big shout out to Natalia and Ximena! Natalia tailor-planned our trip to our interests and it was a pleasure working with her enthusiastic personality. Our family was looking for an authentic experience for our trip of Colonial Mexico. From the diverse activities to the beautiful accommodations, they exceeded our expectations. We will never forget hiking the volcano Popocatepetl, visiting archaeological sites, and seeing the vibrant colors of the colonial towns. Ximena was available at all times during our trip, and she was responsive to every question we had and did so in a very professional, kind, and timely manner. Our guides Emiliano, Jorge, Lupita, Rafael, and Maria were passionate and very knowledgable about their culture. Our drivers were also very professional. Thank you Kim Kim Mexico team!

Hotel Reviews

Casa Jacinta Guest House

Del Carmen, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México

This hotel was very personable and authentic. It was perfectly located walking distance from the center of Coyoacan. We very much enjoyed the breakfasts as well--freshly made in the kitchen and traditional Mexican food! The staff was extremely helpful and accommodating.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Posada del Tepozteco

Tepoztlán

We very much enjoyed this hotel for a couple of restful days! The grounds and views are beautiful, and everyone in our family was able to find activities that suited them: reading by the pool, massages, or walking into town. Located near the town center, it was easy to walk into town to explore the local market or climb el Tepozteco. The staff were also very friendly and accommodating--and the breakfasts were divine!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tour of historic Mexico City with street food tasting

Mexico City

Emiliano was a wonderful guide! This was our first day in Mexico City and he gave us a great introduction to the city and the food. He tailored his tour to our interests (more history over gastronomy) and brought us to some hidden gems such as Plaza Loreto and the Cultural Center. The food was also AMAZING with lots of variety. It was so nice to have a guide to show us the safest foods to eat as we were a little worried about getting sick on our trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit of Teotihuacan and the Basilica of Guadalupe

Mexico City

As an anthropology professor, our guide Jorge was incredibly knowledgable and passionate about the Teotihuacan and the Basilica. We felt that we were able to really understand the importance of Teotihuacan in the Aztec culture as well as the significance of the Virgen de Guadalupe among Mexican catholics. We also felt that we had plenty of time to wander through Teotihuacan as well as the Basilica by ourselves and did not feel rushed at any point.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover the Magical town of Cholula

Mexico

Our guide Lupita was incredible! She is so passionate about her city of Cholula and took all of her time explaining the history behind the city as well as its beautiful churches. Although the tour says 5 hours, she spent more like 8 hours with us. There is so much to see and learn about!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Between the Izta and the Popo in Puebla, México

Puebla

We so much enjoyed hiking with Rafael! He is very knowledgable about the geology and landscape of the park as well as the volcano and its activity. He is also wilderness-medicine trained so it was very interesting to learn about his work in the park. It was a wonderful way to see Popocatepetl and and the vast nature in this area. We also appreciated that Rafael took all of his time on the hike and paced us well, asking us if we were doing well with the altitude change.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our Christmas Mexico trip was perfectly planned - everything ran smoothly, our guides were extremely knowledgable , flexible and friendly, and the suggested tours and experiences were fun and all worth our time and money! The best guides were our 'Mexico a pied' guide Emilio in Mexico City who showed us the culture and history and food culture in a tour around the historical district, Alex from etnotouristica for our Oaxaca tour of Monte Alban and the crafts people, and the guides from Huatulco Salvaje who guided us through the National Park's ecosystems and to the magic waterfalls. We are grateful to them for sharing so much of their beautiful country with us!

Hotel Reviews

Zócalo Central

Mexico City

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Boutique Casa Garay

Oaxaca

Images on web are not what the hotel looks like. Rooms are a dark, all face in towards an atrium / common spaces + staircase so you hear when everyone comes home at night. Roof terrace and balcony are not in use. Breakfast is not served until 8:30, which is a problem if you are leaving for tours in the morning. It is generally clean but looks very 'lived-in' and is in need of some upgrading. Def. not a "5 star boutique hotel" and not what could be expected at the price. During our stay there were plumbing problems (black water, water turned off at night on one of our rooms), which eventually got fixed but no extra water, refunds, move to other rooms were offered. Would def. not recommend

Authenticity & Character

Location

right in the middle of center, close walk to cathedral and other attractions

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Las Brisas Huatulco

Santa Maria Huatulco

Great place for beach fun! 3 beaches (1 with water sports) and 5(?) separate 'pueblos' break up the large complex. Recommend to stay in "Mar" section - it has a separate lounge ("Beach Club") for Continental breakfast and happy hour from 5-7. Great service, friendly and helpful. Food is soso (especially the lunch buffet), but La Crocecita with fun (La Crema Bar + Pizzeria) and other good food options and the amazing 'Ocean' restaurant in the Cosmo condo complex next door are only a short taxi ride away. "El MExicano" is the nicest restaurant on site, located on one of the beaches. Be prepared for a lot of walking in the complex - it has beautiful walks along the beaches to get from one end to the other (or hilly walks and steps, depending on where you live), but shuttles can also take you around. Great entertainment with DJ's, bands, cultural groups, evening shows., and kids' crafts. On site store with everything you could need for the beach and your OTC medicine cabinet. Tour into the National Park and surrounding beaches with Huatulco Salvaje!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tour of historic Mexico City with street food tasting

Mexico City

Emilio from 'Mexico a pieds' was amazing. He knew everything....

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the history and crafts of Oaxaca through Monte Alban, Arrazola, Cuilapam and Coyotepec.

Oaxaca

Alex from etnotouristica was an amazing guide!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gastronomic Indigenous Roots

Oaxaca

THE BEST MEXICAN FOOD on our entire trip was in Oaxaca!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Wild Huatulco

Mexico

Fascinating tour through the National Park. Our guide knew all fauna and flora and their medical uses. Great snorkeling, too!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Magical Waterfalls Adventure

Mexico

The waterfalls were fun - our guide Raoul was always the first one int he water, unter the falls, climbing through the crevices!

Quality of Experience

Food

Expect local dishes.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the archaeological site of Teotihuacan

Mexico City

Interesting. We had an average guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The kimkim team (Leslie and Ximena) were very helpful in:
1) Planning my trip, giving me options, suggestions, etc. The trip was well planned (for the exceptions see below).
2) Helping me with any and all issues during my trip. Ximena was very responsive to all my messages and very nice.
3) My tours of Puebla and Oaxaca were very good.

Suggestions for the future:

1) Please book hotels that have a return policy, even if it costs a bit more. Something always comes up, hotel fees need to be returnable up to 24 hrs before the stay, this is international practice.

2) If a tourist needs to spend a night near the airport, the hotel needs to be near the airport and not in the Historical Center. I feel silly even writing this. I mean, hello? All the traffic and 250 pesos to get to the airport in the morning, for what?

3) That my original flight was cancelled due to the cold weather is nobody's fault. But in the end I was in the MC for the two full extra days. And the team that was SO helpful in planning everything before I bought the tour kind of left me hanging. I went on internet and booked my own tours, one tasting tour in Polanco and one private guide tour through the Historical Center. The hotel staff recommended museums and how to get there. It probably cost me more, I am sure you have your contacts and your discounts. I could not even get into Palacio Nacional because there were no tickets. I was expecting, for this price, that the team would come through and help me plan those two unexpected days with the same care they helped plan the original tour BEFORE I paid. But I guess when you don't have anything else to sell, it's not that important. It left a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.

4) Xochimilco is a tourist trap. That was a unanimous opinion of all 18 people in our group. There are no flowers - they say they don't buy them anymore due to the inflation. There were a million of garishly painted cheap wooden boats in dirty water. No flowing at all because there were centimeters between these boats and they kept hitting each other. No views except the aforementioned garish boats and huge crowds. Mariachi that wanted $10 (that's $220 pesos) for ONE song. Noisy sellers of junk and drinks coming over all the time. Nothing to see, really. Maybe it was nice 30years ago but now during the holiday season? Plain awful.

That whole tour was not very successful. The guide gave a saliva-spitting raging rant about the conquista (get over it, it's been 500 years; a guy from Chicago next to me commented, "what sore losers") and kept bragging about his sexual conquests while in college. Coyocan was nice but we spent less than an hour there. Xochimilco, as I said, was awful, long waits, huge crowds... I could have spent my day better.
A good tour would be to visit Coyocan, visit the Frida Kalo museum, visit the Trotsky museum, etc.

Final note: they came at 9:07 am, not sure why I was told to be ready at 8:30 am sharp. I have no problem waiting but I need to be told that there is a time range. I worried they forgot about me.

5) The tasting tour in Oaxaca is a LOT of food. Please tell your guests not to eat anything before. I was told to have a light breakfast and in the end completely missed the last two tastings because I physically could not fit anything else in me. It's a feedback for them, not for kimkim, but it needs to be related to them. Each stop is a lot of food. They need to plan it better. They are very nice people and I really enjoyed working with them, don't get me wrong. But one can only eat so many big pieces of dough stuffed with meat/veggies.
For example, the tasting tour in Polanco in MC had seven stops but was PERFECT in terms of the quantity of food: a small cup of tortilla soup here, a (very) small tortilla with some topping there, etc. In Oaxaca they want to feed you all the good stuff that there is to eat in Oaxaca, in regular portions. It's like eating six lunches in a row. I was almost sick after it.

Again, thank you for all your help. Please take my suggestions with a good heart - I am simply trying to make it better for the next tourist. Mexico is a beautiful country with a lot to see. I will be back.

Wow, what great service!!!! This was the first time I've worked with a travel agency and they made our last minute mother daughter trip an absolute breeze! It was so nice having someone on-call to answer any questions I might have while traveling out of the country. We truly had a seamless experience and I'm SOOO HAPPY I used them. Highly recommend!

Activity Review

Rio Secreto: The Mayan underworld

Cancún

The highlight of our trip!!! It was so cool being underground and swimming! The caves were absolutely beautiful and I felt completely safe the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My local specialist was not Natalia, it was Ximena. Natalia booked the initial trip and then it changed for some reason that I was not made aware of.
There are several areas of improvement in communication and research that could have/should have been done prior and during to make the trip better. I had to make decisions on my own a few times due to the specialist not understanding timing/our needs etc. and the roads in the Yucatan. They clearly have not traveled there, or not driven themselves or to make arrangements with more time allowed because of construction/closures/ road issues etc.
Just having some more life experience would be helpful for your specialists, and also knowing the area well is even better. Taking in mind lack of cell service in areas we were going to, and the cultural differences taken into consideration. Thankfully, I can figure my way around without a cell phone and have traveled to many different countries in the past. It was a little exhausting having to explain to communicate better to the specialist and why things weren't doable. We ended up doing about 70% of the planned trip and was able to find my own way around but it ended up costing us more money. One of the more expensive hotels (Hotel Okaan) we booked on my birthday (Dec 24th- xmas day 25th) had no working toilet inside the rooms and they didnt seem to care or want to refund any money. I will be returning to Nuevo Durango on my own and that was worth it. The pueblo was great, The experience was great. The specialist....was OK.

Our trip to Mexico was amazing!

Rutopia basically set us up with a personalized guide in both Mexico City and Oaxaca for our family of four. We felt totally taken care of -- private car, private transfers, and private tour guides showing us around everywhere -- flexible to our needs. It was totally a luxury, and not how we usually travel. I think we could have done this trip for about 30% cheaper if we did it on our own. But, we were traveling with two small kids, without knowing much Spanish, so I was glad we paid extra for the luxury. It was worth it. We would have never found all these tours and private guides without the help if Rutopia (via KimKim).

Also, Rutopia found us two gem hotels to stay at -- little boutique hotels in quiet neighborhoods with easy access to everything -- Casa Decu in CDMX and Hotel Tabaa in Oaxaca. We LOVED where we stayed.

Highlights:
* Food Tour of CDMX with Adrian from Eat Mexico. Learned about all the foods of Mexico and their history. Fruits, pastries, cheeses, mole, and tacos.
* Seeing the CDMX Anthropology Museum with our guide Jose.
* Dinner at Rosetta in CDMX. One of the best restaurants we've ever eaten! (We did this on our own)
* Seeing the Pyramids of Teotichuacan with our guide Jose. Good explanation of the site and plenty of time to explore on our own. I just wish we could still climb the pyramids.
* Private transfer from CDMX to Oaxaca stopping in Puebla and Zapotitlan Salinas. The cactus reserve near Zapotitlan Salinas was particularly awesome to visit. Way off the beaten path -- but spectacular to be among the cactus like that.
* Street Food Tour of Oaxaca with Pepe from Ethnoturstica. We ate ALL the things and learned so much about the history of Oaxaca, Mexico, and all the different types of food -- from memelas, to agua fresca, to mezcal.
* Guided tour of Monte Alban with Alejandro. Learning all about this ancient Zapotec site that I'd never heard of before the tour.
* Visiting the alebrije workshop and the black pottery workshop near Oaxaca.
* Private cooking class in the Oaxacan country side -- starting with a visit to the market to buy everything, cooking everything from scratch, and eventually eating it all.

Things I would do different:
* Xochimilco in CDMX was meh. It was a Mexican party boat. It wasn't what we were looking for with two small kids. Most people can safely miss.
* Don't book a tour everyday. If I had to do it again, I would have one "dead" day in CDMX where we can do things on our own, e.g. visit the Centro Historico and another "dead" day in Oaxaca where we can just wander the city.
* Tell your guides early on that you want to have lunch and to work it into the plan. The working assumption was usually "no lunch". Which didn't work for the kiddos.
* Don't book fancy dinner reservations on the days that you are doing food tours. After the food tour I basically didn't want to eat for another 18-24 hours I was so stuffed.
* Note that Guides are important for context at various sites -- but you don't need them all all the places. For example -- Centro Historico, Coyoacan, the more "tourist markets", and many other places in CDMX are easily visitable on your own. I would strongly recommend getting the private guide for Teotihuacan, the Anthropology Museum, Monte Alban, food tours, and the cooking class.

All in all though, an amazing experience -- we really felt like we got to see large swaths of Mexico, learn a lot about the culture and food, and be taken good care of the whole time.

Hotel Reviews

Casa Decu

Mexico City

Fantastic boutique hotel right in the heart of Condesa. It's on a quiet street just steps from the greenbelt that circles the neighborhood (Amsterdam Ave). The room we were in (a suite) was well appointed for our needs. We had one room with a queen bed and a crib. Our older daughter slept on the couch in the living room that could be converted into a comfy twin size bed. There was a kitchen as well with a fridge, microwave, and sink -- perfect to store water, milk, make bottles, etc. One of the best parts of Casa Decu is the rooftop. We had breakfast on that roof every morning . There is a nice spread of juice, coffee, bread, cereal, yogurt -- with the option to purchase hot food if you wanted. It was really relaxing to go up there every morning overlooking Condesa and have a lazy breakfast and chat with the other tourists at the hotel. The staff was really helpful as well -- pointing our restaurants, letting us store our baby stroller and car seat on the ground floor, and keeping the room sparkling clean.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Tabáa Oaxaca

Oaxaca

We loved our stay at Hotel Tabaa. It's located just three blocks away from the Historic Center of Oaxaca in the neighborhood of Jalatlaco -- just a short walk from all the action, but on a quiet corner away from it. The inside of the hotel is a beautiful courtyard that feels like a little oasis in the middle of Mexico. We loved spending time in the courtyard having breakfast, tea, and hanging out on the hammock with the kiddos. Our initial room was a single room with a double bed -- that wasn't big enough for our family of four (which includes a baby). But after talking to the owner, he was able to switch us for the last three days to their master suite that had two separate rooms -- a master and a "family room". That was a perfect fit for us on the ground floor. I wish it had a kitchen, but we made do. The little breakfast kitchen in the courtyard was just ten steps out our front door, so we ended up using that to store our milk and make bottles for the baby. It really just felt like our courtyard. The staff was *super* nice and helpful as well. They went out of their way to make us feel welcome and helped us order food when we arrived there late at night on the first day, store our baby stuff under the stairs, help us switch rooms, and just talk and get to know us (and us them). It felt like staying at a family house rather than a boutique hotel (in the best way). Super authentic.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Rural cooking workshop in Oaxaca

Oaxaca

This was one of the highlights of our trip. It was such an authentic experience. Pepe, our guide, took us to meet Dalia, our cook, at the market in Tlacolula. There we picked out all our vegetables and meats and took them back to Dalia's house in the village of Santa Ana del Valle. There she has a big kitchen where we got to work. Dalia only speaks Spanish, but Pepe was there to translate for us. We made: * a mole from scratch with dried chiles, corn, and other herbs. We ground it down on an old school moler stone. This was much of the fun. * A pumpkin flower soup with zucchini in there. So good. * mashed down corn to make empanadas and the mole base * sweet empanadas from our corn mash and corn husks We ate: * our mole over chicken * said soup * chile relleno * agua fresca * said sweet empanadas We would do this again in a heartbeat. My 8 year old loved it and participated in everything. The baby was happy there crawling around on the floor and interacting with all the other people.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Be amazed by the pre-hispanic beauty of the chinampas in Xochimilco

Mexico City

This was meh. It's a Mexican party boat. Wasn't the right fit for us as a family of four with a baby. We just sat on the boat for 2 hours and in traffic for another 3 hours to get there and back. Would not do it again. It felt very "manufactured", e.g. a tourist trap like experience where it's just a bunch of other tourists on boats and people trying to sell stuff to us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our team was great in setting up a quick getaway to Mexico City packed with fun, cultural adventures. Would absolutely recommend for anyone wanting to get a good taste of the city.

Activity Review

Tour of historic Mexico City with street food tasting

Mexico City

Lots of great insight! Fun and good food. Loved the tacos. Would, if anything, mix in some other non-tacos (churros perhaps?). Very fun and informative, though!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The hotels were all great. The guides were friendly and knowledgeable. The local support team was there for me when difficulties arose.

Our Mayan trip was wonderful. Our guide, Joyce Guia was so knowledgeable and accommodated our need to move a little slower and take breaks. He could also answer our questions about the current culture, flora and fauna. Seeing Palenque and The famous Bonampak murals were a highlight as well as the Olmec sculptures in Villahermosa.

Hotel Review

Hotel La Aldea del Halach Huinic

Palenque

The plants were beautiful on the grounds, the restaurant had good food, the pool was lovely and we tried a massage at the spa.

Authenticity & Character

The local food

Location

The tropical plants

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

The rooms were clean and pretty

Activity Reviews

Visit to Carlos Pellicer Cámara

Villahermosa

Amazing artifacts that should not be missed if you are interested in archeology.

Quality of Experience

Accommodated our needs

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Joyce Guia was fabulous

Transport

Ancient Mayan Cities of Yaxchilan & Bonampak

Mexico

While it is an effort to get to these sites, it is worth it. The murals at Bonampak are amazing and should not be missed.

This special trip otherwise known as My Dias de los Muertos Birthday Celebration was beyond amazing & was magnificent!! Leslie was kind, helpful, patience & extremely creative with her planning & designing our 10 day adventure! We also were so very impressed with the constant communication from our "Guardian Angel" Ximena Villavicencio. She gave us the comfort of always being there with confirmation info, questions or problems we had. It was like having insurance our entire journey as she was an excellent communicator & problem solver. This is what makes Kim Kim so special and personalized, Leslie's planning & Organizing and Ximena's follow through & communication. As for the entire trip itself, it was a a dream come true. Starting with The Hotel Morales in Guadalajara was perfect in terms of location, onsite restaurant and amenties was perfect. Our driver Ceaser was a sweet heart, kind, gentle & always on time or even a tad early. We knew we could depend on him. Our tour guide Josue was wonderful, helpful & very knowledgeable. Our trip to Oaxaca was a dream come true and our hotel at Hotel La Parra was amazing. The pool & bar side service were wonderful. Our trip to Mezcal country was a special experience. We also were blown away with the rooftop access and terrace at our second hotel in Oaxaca. Our last night was in the cute Mexico City neighborhood of Coyoacan and we loved our quaint b&b at Casa Jacinta, but the showstopper & grand finale Gastronmic workshop & coffee tasting was beyond any experience we could have imagined. It was the best way to end a dream vacation and left us full with happiness!

Activity Reviews

Tequila Distilleries Tour

Guadalajara

Loved our guide & driver and the town of Tequila. I do think there was a little miscalculation of time and we didn't get to go to Jose Cuervo as we had been told. But what I appreciated about the guide was he wanted to make us happy and found a way to get us a tour at Sauza. That really was impressive to see how much they wanted us to have a good experience. The lunch was a little long in time but was a great choice for food & atmosphere. We really enjoyed the day.

Quality of Experience

timing of sightseeing

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Kind & Helpful

Transport

On time and enjoyed their company. It was great as we got familiar w/ them having them on other tours

Tlaquepaque: "The Magic of Cacao"

Mexico

A mouth watering sensory journey for your pleasure! This was an amazing tasting & educational experience. I learned so much and felt this was a special session that I would highly recommend to anyone.

Quality of Experience

The food, samples, drinks, atmosphere were top notch

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Educational & helpful

Transport

On time and helped with carrying my purchases!

Tlaquepaque: The artisan's route

Guadalajara

This was a magical & visual experience I will never forget. Seeing all the town decorated for Dias de Los Muertos and the vendors and Catrinas was eye candy and made me so happy. I felt like this was my DisneyWorld experience. Loved seeing the town, alters, vendors and more. A special town with a special celebration.

Quality of Experience

Getting my face painted, watching the Brides Parade

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Helpful and knowledgeable

Transport

knew the short cuts to avoid traffic

Archaeological Tour in Monte Albán

Oaxaca

A great place to visit to get the history of the area. It was a hot day and very busy so we cut the trip a little bit shorter. We appreciated the guide letting us cut the trip shorter as the information was alot to absorb.

Quality of Experience

Give options of 2 or more hours

Guides, Drivers and Staff

not sure

Transport

Walk through Oaxaca's colourful streets

Oaxaca

I did not personally do this tour as I wanted to see the Dias De los Muertos parade (we were not told about this by Leslie) but by our hotel and this was a priority. My roomate enjoyed the thour and thought it was great. She left it an hour early to go with me to the BIG parade!

Quality of Experience

seeing the town

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Mezcal Route

Oaxaca

A wonderful day with lots of stops to see many things that make Mezcal country special. Loved the variety of places we visited and the two different type Mezcal Distilleries. They really were informative and the Mezcal was yummy. Our private dinner at a families house was very special and the food was very good.

Quality of Experience

The whole day

Food

Homemade food was wonderful

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Anna was a beautiful lady with a kind heart & very knowledgeable. She just needed to speak a bit louder

Transport

Wasn't so comfortable in the van. The driver never attemtped to talk to us. He wasn't mean just no connection w/ us

Biking tour and street art

Oaxaca

My Birthday Day was kicked off with this amazing Bike Street Art Tour and it did not disappoint! The guide Shai was amazing, kind and spirtual. She made the trip 5 star. Her kindness & help was beyond. Somehow we had no confirmation number and they initially were not going to let us on the trip. I was so upset, but she was kind, patient and spoke to Kim Kim so they could provide an email confirmation. Luckily it worked out. The tour itself was perfect. Plenty of stops to see art, hear explanation and a few stops to galleries as well. A perfect size group too and the best way to cover a lot of ground in the busy city roads of Oaxaca.

Quality of Experience

All

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Shai was the best tour guide ever

Transport

Bikes were comfy and great to have mountain bikes on the cobblestone roads

Learn how to prepare delicious traditional food

Mexico City

This experience was truly one of the highlights of the week and a perfect ending to a perfect vacation! The education & guidance for our cooking experience was superb. We learned techniques on how to chop veggies, prepare food and tricks w/ garlic. The menu that was provided was so much and a great way to learn about Mexican culture and dining. The food was delicious and our Host Chef was excellent. He truly made us feel comfortable and he was very entertaining & engaging. This experience was exciting, enjoyable and full of passion.

Quality of Experience

The Chef, his direction, menu and the whole experience!

Food

The Guacamole, Mezcal, Coffee Drinks, Rice, and putting it all together

Guadalajara and Oaxaca, Mexico. My friend, Deb Weed, organized the trip and worked extensively with Leslie on planning and Ximena on the details. So I was along for the ride. From my prespective, the trip was fabulous. Our guide (Josue) & driver (Caesar) in Guadalajara were friendly, prompt, sincere and flexible. We felt like they were our friends when we left. Day trip to Tequila was memorable. In Oaxaca, our guide for our art bike tour (Shai from Coyote Aventuras) and Ximena helped us through a miscommunication issue which was resolved satisfactorily. Ximena was available every step of the way to help. She was awesome. Last night was in Mexico City before our departure, we did a cooking class with Luis Alfonzo, chef of Barra de Cafe de Malinche which was over the top. I will definitely recommend KimKim to my friends.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Morales Historical & Colonial Downtown Core

Mexicaltzingo, Guadalajara, Jal.

We loved this hotel with its rich history. Beautiful courtyards and centrally located. The restaurant was an added plus since some nights we were too tired to venture out. Staff was very accommodating.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel De La Parra

Oaxaca

This smaller hotel was perfect for us. The location was perfect and within walking distance for all of the Day of the Dead feastivies and sightseeing. The staff was very helpful. Loved the pool area and the ability to get a cocktail in the afternoon. Breakfast was delightful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Suites de la Parra

Oaxaca

Only stayed one night, but loved the penthouse suite. Large suite with outdoor patio and 360 degree views. Lots of stairs to the penthouse.

Casa Jacinta Guest House

Del Carmen, Coyoacán, Ciudad de México

Only one night here but wish it were more. Property was cute and quaint in a good neighborhood.

Activity Reviews

Tlaquepaque: "The Magic of Cacao"

Mexico

Christina Taylor was amazing with this private experience. You could tell she was passionate about her work and shared that passion with us. Loved the pairing portion of the tasting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Josue (guide) and Casear (driver) were professional, knowledgeable and very friendly.

Learn how to prepare delicious traditional food

Mexico City

Loved this private experience! Luis, our chef, was amazing, friendly and professional. The food we prepared was delicious and we learned that everything is used in one form or another. Highly recommend this experience.

We really appreciated Leslie’s recommendation to visit Mazunte. It was exactly the kind of quiet, private, low key beach getaway we were looking for. Casa Lu hotel was perfectly located, clean, relatively upscale for the area, friendly staff, bar/restaurant on the beach. Loved that the infinity pool was steps away from the sand so you could lounge in the fresh water while taking in the dramatic coastline. Outstanding dinners at Navigante in San Agustinillo and Alquamista in nearby Zipolite. Also enjoyed our 3 days in Oaxaca city. Excellent tour guide, Leonardo, took us on a private city tour, as well as visits to local archeological sites, a mescal production facility, the giant Tule tree and a small weaving village. A former teacher, he was incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic. the best! Food was ok, but didn’t live up to the foodie capital reputation we’d heard. Only downside was returning with dysentery as we were not particularly careful about ice in drinks, salads, etc. Otherwise, great trip and Kimkim was helpful, responsive and professional.

I can't recommend Jorge and the team at KimKim highly enough. We will certainly use them again in future. We shared our priorities with Jorge (we wanted a mix of foodie tours and historic sites) and he proposed the perfect itinerary. We felt like we saw all the highlights of the cities, but nothing felt rushed, because of the very smooth transfers and daily updates/info from the local agent.

The hotels were wonderful and very central. The private guides we had were also fantastic and spoke extremely good english (which was helpful as our spanish is non-existing!). The best part of the trip for us was Oaxaca, especially the last few days where we had a couple of trips out of the city to see the Mescal distilleries, participate in a rural cooking class and visit a traditional textile workshop.

This was my first time using KimKim and was phenomenal in many ways. It was like having a personal guide with me and my group of 8 friends throughout my entire birthday celebration.

They set up a personal chef, photographer, five days of transportation and excursions.

The only thing that I am not totally favorable about is the lack of transparency in the pricing model. I had a friend to cancel and hike I understand the no refund policy after thirty days, we all know that all excursions can be cancelled and refunded up until
About 48 hours before the trip.

But, I will let that go because everything was planned out perfectly and took allllllllllll the stress away from me. Any issues that we had Ximena and Melina were only a WhatsApp chat away. I honestly rate these ladies 7 stars!!!!!!

Leslie did great on the planning but was often slower for someone who lacks patience (me), but once the trip was handed over the Ximena and Melina the responses were within seconds. This brought me so much comfort and my group was amazed at how responsive they were at all hours!!!

Activity Reviews

Mexican Dinner Party!

Nuevo Vallarta

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset in a Sailing Boat

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City tour & Tequila Tasting

Puerto Vallarta

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a fantastic experience with the Kimkim staff and the tour guides they connected us with.

Adrian our Mexico City food tour guide was amazingly knowledgeable and conscientious. The food in Mexico City is so delicious and we got to experience all sorts from markets to street vendors to high end pastries. Luis our guide in Tenochtitlán was friendly and easy going with all our questions and our kids. We learned so much about the history of Mexico and how it influences the culture of modern Mexico. Jorge set us up with some amazing food while on the trajiñeras and gave us the historical perspective of Coyoacán .

Willy in Puerto Escondido was a local who knew about everything in the area and was always on time, was great with kids and went out of his way to make the trip great.

I’m so glad we had Ximena on WhatsApp the whole time. It was so great to have her there to confirm tours and adjust schedules, and even in one case help us figure out what to do when one tour was no longer available due to weather.

Activity Reviews

Sweets & streets! Family-Friendly Historic Center Tour

Mexico City

Adrián was an amazing guide, a chef and pastry maker himself he was so knowledgeable about the world of food and about Mexico City’s gems. Great with kids and fun to spend the day with.

Release of baby turtles in La Escobilla

La escobilla

We got to see a turtle lay eggs and release baby sea turtles! What a unique and wonderful experience. Willy was the ultimate driver and guide.