Kimkim Trip Reviews for Singapore

Less than stellar. The unfortunate thing was slow communication with the Travel Provider. There were often delays during the planning. Most critically, there were major delays DURING the trip which caused us to have to scramble and make alternative arrangements on our own. Ultimately the service provider/agent did make things right, issuing refunds and becoming more responsive. But it left a bad taste in our mouth re: Kimkim.
I will say the KimKim platform is cumbersome. Having to login to mobile web browser to chat, instead of a dedicated app with chat capabilities, is not ideal.

We used kimkim to help plan our itinerary for Singapore and Malaysia. This was our second time using kimkim as last year we used it for China and had a wonderful experience.

Our overall experience was positive working with Nick. We used kimkim for everything within Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi. However, we had a few issues during the trip that I wanted to be transparent with. Nick was stellar assisting and navigating but a few local vendors missed the mark.

1- Singapore - we had requested a booking for a 4 person suite but when we arrive we were assigned a 3 person room. Nick immediately worked with his local contacts and got us upgraded (at no cost to us) to a 4 person but it took 2+ hrs after an already long flight of 24 hrs from nyc. Nick proactively also offered a half day tour / driver for our 3rd leg in Langkawi. That was thoughtful and what we had come to expect from kimkim as their service does charge a premium, which is likely for situations like this. We had a nice cultural city tour which we’d recommend for first timers. All the local agencies contracted were professional and on-time.

2. Kuala Lumpur - flights to KL were arranged for us. We stayed at an amazing hotel, Ruma, which we highly recommend for the rooms and location. We had an amazing time as a family with the fireflies/blue tears tour, elephant sanctuary, and cultural city tour. The only thing that missed the mark was the foodie tour. We walked through Chinatown and went to a beef roti stall and hawker station for chicken & rice. Other tours we went to the food was all ready with vendors and we had a large sampling of stellar food. This one was extremely mediocre; we had very little portions, we had to order and pay for extra food at the hawker ourselves (because we were told it wasn’t covered) and we even had to go out to eat again after because we were still hungry and the family didn’t love the food options on the tour. I wouldn’t suggest the foodie tour at all for those considering if this was not an anomaly.

3. Langkawi - the flight to Berjaya was arranged on firefly. The planes were extremely older and subpar compared to batik and Malaysia air. The hotel stay at Berjaya was amazing and we highly recommend the mangrove boat tour and local guide Kent. He took us to the Atv tour through the jungles and to the mountain top as well as a local beach. The only issue aside from the flight the local transport to the airport. Nick was able to schedule with the local vendor 4 rides, but the first two rides experienced accidents. The first one was driving grandpa to the airport and the driver passed out and drove into a storefront. Luckily there was no oncoming traffic and grandpa escaped with only whiplash. The driver randomly got someone at the scene to drive him to the airport, but never notified the agency (ITT or kimkim) of the incident and they had to find out from me. Not cool. It tarnished an otherwise wonderful stay as it would have cost grandpa his life.

Overall, things that were in kimkim and Nicks control were fantastic. Our issue with the hotel was rectified immediately, and maybe the foodie tour negative experience was an anomaly. But the transport situation really was a surprise and although we received an apology from the local vendor, it still tainted an otherwise wonderful stay there as grandpa is 80 and that could have been the last time we saw him.

Hotel Reviews

Berjaya Langkawi Resort

Langkawi Island

Lovely hotel. A bit dated but would recommend the seaview or ocean suites and not rainforest. The new years gala was a wonderful experience. The staff and food was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

RuMa Hotel

Best hotel of the entire stay. Wonderful facilities and staff as well as location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Orchard Hotel Singapore

Singapore

Location is central, service is great. The rooms were a bit dated and our room situation was mixed up when we first arrived. Overall, would recommend though for the location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Langkawi Island (Free at Leisure)

Langkawi Island

Had the driver take us to do an atv jungle tour, go to the peak of a lookout, and also tanjing ruh beach.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mangrove Boat Cruise

Langkawi Island

Amazing experience. Wish we could have walked where the fireflies were but unique nonetheless

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kuala Lumpur Foodie Tour (Evening)

Kuala Lumpur

This wasn’t really a foodie tour for real foodies. Went to a beef roti stall and subpar hawker market.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary

Kuala Lumpur

Unique and amazing experience to get up close with elephants. Highly recommend

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kuala Selangor Fireflies Cruise & Dinner

Kuala Lumpur

The fireflies are more at a distance and look like Christmas tree lights, but the blue tears was really cool. We also ended on a thunder storm so that added to the overall fun of the experience actually.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kuala Lumpur City Tour & Batu Caves

Kuala Lumpur

Guide Andrew really knowledgeable. Great guide for a cultural tour. City tour was a great overview.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Singapore River Cruise with return transfers

Singapore

The evening boat tour is low key (slow and limited guide) and if you’re a bit jet lagged you might want to skip this. You do get a great view of waterfront and MBS but if you’re tired it’ll be a drag for the kids max

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Singapore Half Day City Tour

Singapore

Great to get a feel for the local neighborhoods and cultures in Singapore. We had friends locally that took us to Sentosa but also their neighborhood outside the city center at Joo Chiat rd which is really cool. Had a more hipster feel to it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A fantastic trip.

Nick, our trip has been amazing and thank you for arranging it.
I thought that you might like some positive feedback.
Singapore - the hotel Boss was very close to nice eateries and easy to get around.
The room was small but I guess that’s to be expected without paying top dollar.
Melaka - Hotel Puri was in a great location and Jason was a great guide to this interesting town. There was also a good breakfast choice.
Kuala Lumpur - Anggum Hotel. Good sized room and comfortable bed in a great location for the street food which was amazing. Breakfast was strange
We had to choose what we wanted the night before from 1 of 4 options and also the exact time we would be down. There was no help yourself tea/coffee/juice - you got what you were given. The staff were nice though
It was also a faff checking in and there was a limited window of manned checkout time.
Cameron Highlands. Bala Chalet. Nice clean room and a nice breakfast. Internet was very hit and miss.
Ipoh - hotel not very central. Needed a ‘Grab’ to get to a decent restaurant.Hotel was clean. Breakfast was in the next door restaurant and was from a small choice but was ok.
Penang - E&O - wow! fabulous!
Langkawi- a lovely resort opposite a fantastic fish restaurant.

Hotel Reviews

M Boutique Hotel

Ipoh

Our stay in Ipoh was somewhat underwhelming. The hotel was located a bit far from places of interest, which made it inconvenient. It felt more like a stopover location with not much else to offer.

Eastern & Oriental Hotel

Penang

The Eastern and Oriental Hotel in Penang was amazing! The accommodation was fantastic, providing a luxurious and comfortable experience. The staff was attentive, and the overall atmosphere of the hotel made it a memorable part of our trip.

Activity Review

Kuala Selangor Fireflies Cruise & Dinner

Kuala Lumpur

The Kuala Selangor Fireflies Cruise was a bit disappointing. Unfortunately, the fireflies weren't out as much as we had hoped, which took away from the experience. However, it was still a pleasant evening.

Overall other arrangements were good. But, I would like to point out delights & things that need improvement.
Delights:
Malaysia team of guide (Lawrence) & driver (Jason) was outstanding. They did a great job and were very patient. They were nice to all 10 family members. Everyone liked them. I will recommend them very very highly.
Airport pick up & Airport Drop Off drivers were very good - Friendly, helpful & safe drivers.
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Traveller – The company who was responsible for Singapore transportation & sightseeing arrangement. We had mixed experience:
Their first day’s driver, Raymond was good – flexible, friendly. He handed me tickets for all sightseeing. They did a good job on tickets.
Now the disappointments (These are not meant to get anyone fired & are not meant for complaining):
The other 2 drivers were not flexible, not friendly (Could be because of their limited vocabulary). Finally, they showed some flexibility. We follow time, rules very seriously. But, we had kids, elderly people with some limitations. That’s why we wanted private tour. Anyway, we managed. One example – the 3:00 pm return time (to be changed to 4:00 pm) from Sentosa was never conveyed to the driver. He wanted me to talk to the office, if I wanted it changed. When you are on sightseeing, we did not have the luxury to waste time for that. We kept it at 3:00 pm. The next day’s driver insisted that we return from the bird park at 12:55, even 5 minutes before the agreed time of 1:00 pm. We managed, but had to run. He later on was flexible to change the pick up point for afternoon sightseeing.
SGMY Taxi – They transported to & from Malaysia
The drivers were good hearted, skilled. But, they drive at real high speeds and their distance from the front car is way less than required for safety. (They were keeping 10 to 20 feet between cars while driving at 70+ mph) I am mainly concerned for their & future traveler’s safety.
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Dat did a great job listening to our likes and what we were looking for on our trip. We booked our trip with very little notice and he created a trip we will talk about for years! His team met all our bucket list items. I can not express enough how great our guides were. They took such good care of us. Our drivers made getting places easy. Our hotel locations were spot on for being close to anything we wanted to do, or getting to any place easily. It was an amazing trip. Thank you!