Anita Matijasevic

This trip exceeded all of our expectations. I will use KimKim anytime I do a trip like this. And I will recommend you to my friends. The locations suggested to us by Anita were amazing. Her responsiveness and complete answers no matter what we asked were so appreciated. We particularly loved shopping, touring and eating in Porto, the challenging but gorgeous Sintra hike and our wonderful guide Felis, the great tour with our guide Telma of the Duro Valley and wineries. Breakfast at our Lisbon hotel, Heritage Avenida Liberdade was outstanding but our favorite hotel of the whole trip was the exquisite Eden Boutique Hotel in Boumaine Dades. The owner of the hotel gave us a personal tour of the property and we hope to come back some day. Alex of Lisbon Walker gave us a great tour of Lisbon-- we really felt like we understood the city, and Portugal, afterwards. Our hotel in Porto was great and Manuel gave us a comprehensive orientation and wide-ranging tour. Obidos wasn't that great a stop -- so crowded and our driver Nuno was a bit negative. Our hotel in the Algarve, the Lagos Avenida was so well located and beautiful, with a great rooftop pool and terrific breakfasts. We really enjoyed our 4x4 Algarve Sunset experience and our terrific guide, Carlos. We loved him. We also really enjoyed our Catamaran Excursion--it was a gorgeous day and very comfortable and fun ride. We hiked by ourselves to many beaches in the Algarve and had lots of fun shopping. We wouldn't have changed anything in Portugal really. We are very glad we got to Morocco and especially liked and appreciated Abdulla our guide for our multi-day trip to the desert. He was so interesting and fun to be with. He gave us a wonderful understanding of Berber culture and we will always be grateful for that. He became our friend. Our driver was also really wonderful --I'm sorry I can't remember his name but he was a great driver and very kind to us. As you know, we had an unfortunate incident on the way into our hotel in Marrakesh. My husband was pushed by a man in the alley lunging for his wallet who also hit my daughter. When we finally made it to the hotel they didn't seem to understand what had happened to us and took a very long time --almost an hour to get us into our rooms because hotel staff was busy with other guests. Also the riad we stayed at the first time didn't have the pool we had seen in the pictures and the breakfast service in the morning was terribly slow and the food not that great. We were never offered eggs but we overheard later that they were available. We probably should not have arrived that late into Marakesh and I wouldn't stay at that location again. They were very nice the second time we stayed there, moving us to better rooms than the first time but in general we wouldn't have stayed that close to the palace and the souk if it meant we had to walk that far down alleys from where the car dropped us to the hotel front door. We really appreciated the hands on support we got from Youssef who came with us on our last night shopping in the souk. He was very friendly and professional, and made us feel very safe. We enjoyed buying rugs from Omar in the rug collective but left thinking we probably didn't get that great a deal there. We're hoping the quality made the price worth buying there rather than from someone else in the souk. Our food tour with Morocccan Food Adventures in Marrakesh was probably the highlight of our time there. I can't remember our guide's name but he took us to such great places--it was delightful and we would recommend it to anyone. Our transfers between places were all great, everyone on time, and sending me texts the night before confirming. All the transfers were very professional and made everything happen so smoothly. I'm happy to say that early on my family wasn't sure it would be worth it to use a whole day in the car driving to the desert. But afterwards they said they couldn't believe they saw everything they saw and are so glad they went. It was stunning. The camel ride was longer than I understood it to be and was a little bit difficult and painful to stay on the saddle for some of the girls. But the ATV ride at sunset was beyond great. Our guides were terrific and the experience and views were spectacular. Thank you Anita, Espiritu, and KimKim for arranging such a memorable trip for the six of us!

Hotel Review

Eden Boutique Hotel

Boumalne Dades

this is one of the best hotels we've ever stayed at, anywhere in the world. Can't recommend it highly enough!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sintra Heritage Hike: Hidden Secrets

Portugal

Douro Valley Excursion with Wine & Olive Oil Tastings & River Cruise

Porto

Telma was so so great! Loved her and all that we learned at the places we stopped. And the Douro was so gorgeous!

4X4 Algarve Sunset Experience

Spain

don't miss this -- the view at sunset is spectacular and our guide so fun!

Marrakech Unseen: A Street Food Adventure

Marrakesh

don't miss this! it's the perfect way to see the souk and try Moroccan food--such a good tour!

Marrakech to Boumalne Dades via Ouarzazate

Portugal

Beautiful drive and amazing hotel -- the Eden --at the end

Boumalne Dades to Merzouga Sunset Camel Ride via Tinerhir & Rissani

Portugal

camel ride was much appreciated but a bit uncomfortable for the women. The ATV ride at sunset was much much better!

Anita Was amazing to nowt only to work but out in the three cities that we visited, there were no hitches no gotchas, no surprises. It was extremely well coordinated with the guides that she set up being so good and so knowledgeable. We will use her again and again for any trips that we make back to Italy and we are trying to coordinate one for the next couple years. Outstanding.

This trip was excellent! Anita did a fantastic job accommodating all of our needs for our journey through Spain.

Accommodations:
The hotels were excellent overall, with just one exception on our final night in Madrid. That issue was related to the hotel staff, not the trip planning itself.

Transportation & Guides:
The drivers were outstanding—each transfer was perfectly on time, and the Mercedes vans made travel very comfortable. I especially appreciated that all drivers and guides contacted us on WhatsApp ahead of time to confirm arrivals, which gave us peace of mind. The tour guides were excellent, and I loved the small-group format of the tours.

Overall Experience:
Our 8-day itinerary was full and exciting, with visits to different cities almost every day. It was a wonderful way to see so much of Spain in a short time. My only recommendation would be to allow a bit more downtime to relax and soak in each destination.

Final Thoughts:
I would 100% recommend KimKim and will absolutely use them again for future trips!

Hotel Reviews

7 Islas Hotel

Madrid

Excellent hotel. Wonderful staff. Breakfast was plentiful! Great location. Rooms were very spacious and clean.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Near the Grand Via. Great, fun location.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

U-Sense Granada Catedral Apartments

Granada

This apartment was excellent. Great location. Clean, and easy to find. Keep in mind, if you get here prior to check in, you can store your bags at their office 5 minute walk away, and they charge $5 per bag. Also, if you can check in early, there is a $30 ealy check in charge. (one or the other cost will be incurred). The office staff was amazing, friendly and incredibly helpful desite how busy they were. One note, if you use the washer/. dry and DRY your cloths, the dry will completely wrinkle your clothing..so much that an iron or steamer will not remove wrinkles. It may not be worth using it. My jeans were like a crumpled ball of aluminum foil at the cycle end. despite this, Overall - 5 star.. Loved it and would recommmend!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

H10 Palacio Colomera

Córdoba

Great location, excellent breakfast. Room was comfortable and we were abe to check in a little bit early which was very nice. Friendly staff. Highly recommend.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

One Shot Recoletos 04

Madrid

Staff not so friendly or forthcoming with help or recommendations. I felt like I was putting the reception staff out when asking for restaurant recommendations. The room was cozy, clean and comfortable. Since our checkout was prior to breakfast service, the kitchen staff was nice enough to box take a way breakfast for us. Overall and "ok" experience.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

H10 Corregidor Boutique Hotel

Sevilla

Great location, staff and breakfast! We really enjoyed our stay. The lobby area was warm. The hotel bar was fantastic and the bartender was very friendly and accomodating. Highly recommend.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Toledo Highlights Day Excursion

Madrid

Daniel was awesome. He provided a attention capturing tour and recommended a fabulous lunch spot after.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to Spain was wonderful! We thought all of our hotels were exactly what we asked for. Breakfast in Granada and Seville were both a little thin on options but that just might be the average in Spain. All of our guides were very good (would recommend all of them) but Ruben at the Alhambra was the best. Jesus was an amazing driver and human and we really enjoyed our day with him. If we had a do-over, we would have not gone to Nerja and Frigiliana - there wasn't enough for us to do there and both were more touristy than we like. Instead we would have done an additional day in Seville - both of us wanted more time there. Overall, a great trip - Anita did a wonderful job at planning it for us. Any changes we would make are only because we know more now that we have visited.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Casa Morisca

Granada

Beautiful, very small hotel with a great location. Breakfast could be a little bit better with some more options.

Authenticity & Character

Absolutely beautiful. Our room was on the third floor with a view of the Alhambra. A very old building with so much of the original character maintained.

Location

Right in the heart of the old part of the city. So walkable to the Alhambra and the City Center. Easy access to restaurants, etc.

Staff

The staff was fine but not overly helpful. But that said we didn't ask for much

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was small but lovely. The bathroom is a little dated. Not a good room for anyone with mobility issues but fine for us.

Las Casas de la Judería

Seville

We loved our stay here. The hotel is absolutely beautiful. Our room was enormous with our own private courtyard. The local was great.

Authenticity & Character

So beautiful. It has a roof top pool and bar. While it is a little dated, it is an amazing space.

Location

Right in the middle of old town and very walkable to tons of attractions and other neighborhoods

Staff

They were nice but we didn't have much interaction with them.

Cleanliness & Comfort

While our room was absolutely enormous with a sitting room and a private courtyard the bed was very, very hard. Also, the courtyard and some of the other (lovely) public spaces had either very little or very uncomfortable furniture so while it is great that they are there, not super usable.

H10 Villa de la Reina

Madrid

We were only here for one night. It is right on Grand Via, so right in the middle of things. Made it easy to walk to what we wanted to eat/see.

Authenticity & Character

It's pretty but not a historic property.

Location

Right in the City Center - very walkable

Staff

Had very little contact except for check-in and the AC issus

Cleanliness & Comfort

The beds were very comfortable. Our room was very hot and we had to ask the front desk for help to turn it on, since it wasn't at all intuitive.

Activity Reviews

Granada Tapas Walk: Gastronomic Experience

Granada

Had a great time and ate some very good food. Nice variety of restaurants.

Quality of Experience

Food

Food was great!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Armando was very nice and taught us a lot about tapas and Granada.

Exploring Granada’s Iconic Alhambra & Generalife Gardens

Spain

The Alhambra is incredible. I am so glad we opted for a private tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ruben was our favorite guide - so much information and very interesting

Monumental Seville on Foot & Visit Real Alcázar

Seville

Got a very good overview of Seville and learned a lot of the Alcazar.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was very nice and super informative

Córdoba Revealed: From Mezquita to the Alcázar

Seville

Our guide was great and Cordoba was beautiful but I think the tour could be done in about 2 hours.

Quality of Experience

The old town of Cordoba is so beautiful and the history is fascinating.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

She was great and taught us a lot.

Walking Madrid’s Old Town

Madrid

We cancelled this tour since I wasn't feeling well.

The planning process with Anita was thoughtful and responsive to our preferences.

All three destinations - Bologna, Levanto, and Alba - proved to be excellent and not over-touristed. The three accommodations were first-rate, and the cooking classes were fun.

When we experienced a car problem, Anita and the KimKim team were available and helpful in resolving it.

All in all, we were very satisfied with the experience of working with KimKim, and will be back for future trips!

Activity Reviews

Cooking Class at a Farmhouse in Bologna Countryside

Italy

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From The Vegetable Garden to Table: Cooking class with Locals

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Everything occurred as promised and planned. Our guide in Lisbon, Philip and our guide in Porto, Celia, were both fantastic. They were knowledgeable and answered all our questions. Our excursions in Lisbon to Sintra and the Pena palace were also terrifically guided. Our unexpected favorite was the Taste Porto tour with Miguel! His enthusiasm and choices for us made the experience deliciously delightful!

Hotel Reviews

MeraPrime Gold Design Hotel

Lisbon

Great location. Friendly staff. Great breakfasts.

Location

Walkable to all the old town areas.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Editory Garden Porto Hotel

Porto

Location

Walkable but out of the hubbub of the central city.

Staff

They added balloons and cake to our room for my birthday! The pastel de nata at check in were yummy!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Lisbon Fado Dinner Experience

Portugal

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Our guide was open to what we wanted to see but also willing to take the lead when we wanted her to.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Go West to Belém TukTuk Tour

Lisbon

Very fun. Personable driver. Also flexible but able to make suggestions.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Sintra: Quinta da Regaleira & Coastal Views

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Culinary Highlights of Porto: Food Delights & Bolhão Market

Porto

Our favorite excursion.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Guided Visit of Porto

Porto

Quality of Experience

6 Bridges Cruise

Porto

Relaxing way to see the river coastline. It not very exciting.

Quality of Experience

Day Excursion to Braga & Guimarães

Porto

Guide was just ok compared to other guides we had. It also felt a little rushed in the towns.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a wedding in Valencia and decided to turn it into a two week trip. I gave Anita a list of cities we were interested in visiting and she created an itinerary that went above and beyond. She added stops to lesser known cities, which was our favorite part. We had private drivers and mostly private tours for the entire trip. It felt like we were first class travelers. The app with the itinerary was immensely helpful and some of the guides that we had were the best we’ve had on any trip. Antonio in Mérida was our favorite tour guide and we would have requested him for every tour if possible. Jesús and Paulo were extremely friendly and helpful drivers. There is nothing we would have changed about this trip.

The trip we planned with Kimkim was fantastic. Anita created an amazing experience for us to see both Lisbon and Algarve and also play a little golf. Everything was very well organized. One particular standout was Nuno, our guide on our tour of Sintra and Cascais. He was very knowledgeable and really made our day so enjoyable. I would highly recommend Kimkim.