Olman Romero

We only had a few weeks to plan before departure and the kimkim team did a great job of planning the entire itinerary, transportation, excursions, and lodging. While we might have been able to save some $ by planning the trip ourselves, the simplicity and comfort of having someone knowledgeable set everything up was worth the added cost. We were picked up at the airport and taken to our hotel in San Jose. the next day we were collected and driven to the east coast where we spent a few days before trekking back to Arenal for a few more days then a scenic drive back to the San Jose airport. All of the transports were clean, on time, and pleasant. The accommodations were above average with breakfast provided. All in all a wonderful and memorable trip. We would certainly use kimkim again.

Olman was truly exceptional — not only was he a great person to spend time with, but his knowledge about so many aspects of the trip made a huge difference. He quickly understood exactly what we were looking for and arranged everything perfectly to match our preferences. His professionalism, flexibility, and insight made our experience even more memorable.
Overall, we are very happy with the service and the entire experience. Thank you once again for taking such good care of us.

Hotel Reviews

Rincón del Valle Hotel & Suites

San José

Location-wise, the hotel was convenient, and the breakfast was excellent. However, the amenities could have been better to enhance the overall stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Few restaurants around to check!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were quite dusty and the bathrooms weren’t that clean.

Hotel Arenal Montechiari

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

WiFi at the room wasn’t available and it was bit inconvenient to go to reception or buffet area to browse the internet.

Hotel Cipreses

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Playa Espadilla

Manuel Antonio

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Great staff and very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

One of the very comforting hotels. Great choice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Whitewater Rafting on the Balsa River Class II & III

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

El Silencio Hike & Visit to Ecotermales Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Olman developed a comprehensive plan based on our requested activities. He was very quick to respond to any of our questions and found that everything was well organized. Everything went smoothly as we progresses through our holiday.

Wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip , we felt safe and secured during travel within Costa Rica and people we met are warmth.

Olman was very responsive, insightful and helpful. He modified plans to fit our needs and budget.

Hotel Reviews

Casa Luna Hotel & Spa

La Fortuna

Probably the best on our trip. Breakfast and restaurant was great. Staff friendly and helpful. Loved the view from our room and the spa was very enjoyable. Our balcony had a view of Arenal and a show of birds every morning. One large negative is make SURE that they have no parties scheduled during your stay. They have a very LOUD party that left us sleepless and tired the next day. Very annoying, however still 4 stars because of the previous days.

Authenticity & Character

Great outside dining and room set up.

Location

Many locations in the area

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Monteverde Country Lodge

Monteverde

Clean, quiet and just minutes from down town.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Jennifer and manager Maria were awesome. Had a broken bed and was fixed in 15 minutes. Really!

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Coast Beachfront Hotel

Tamarindo, Guanacaste Province

Location and staff were great. Continental breakfast leaves quite a bit to be desired, basically toast and coffee. But staff and location and rooms were great.

Authenticity & Character

Right on the beach!

Location

15 min walk to anywhere

Staff

Dashion? Jeffery? Were authentic, friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

El Silencio Volcano Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

Hike brings you up a volcanic debris field, not close to the actual top. But still nice. The green lake was guacamole, kinda meh.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Danny and Alejandro were great. Personable and authentic. Saw a sloth on the drive back and stopped to let us get some closer photos.

Transport

Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Nature, breath taking, beautiful and FUN.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Everything was great all three hotels were wonderful to stay at! The experiences were top notch, both Puerto Viejo and Arenal took our breath away

This was our first time to Costa Rica and we wanted to bring family from several places to join including in-country and from three spots in the US. After some reasearch, we chose KimKim as the company to help us have an all-inclusive trip through the highlights of Costa Rica. Olman was assigned as our travel advisor and, in short, he did a bang-up job arranging our trip and getting everyone gathered into one spot smoothly. We gave KimKim a budget, a wishlist of activities, quality of hotels and asked for private transfers between places as it was the rainy season and the driving sounded iffy. Olman listened carefully and was very patient in revising our itinerary many times before it was set. It became increasingly apparent that who you know is important. Olman connected us with local services, guides, tours, restaurants and hotels that enabled us to not worry about the details and just enjoy ourselves. Any issues we did have, Olman and his team were fairly responsive and got back to us within hours, if not sooner. We never tried the emergency number, so have no info on that service.

Itinerary (8 days): San Jose - La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano. - Monteverde (cloud forest) - Manuel Antonio (beach)

Travel: Private driver (Leo). Olman arranged transport from the San Jose airport to each of our hotels and back again. It went perfectly. I want to put in a kind word for our driver Leo, who stayed with us almost the whole trip and was fantastic. He was unerringly on time, careful, thoughtful, courteous and friendly. He would stop when he saw wildlife he thought we'd like to see, he planned stops and suggested restaurants and was generally flexible and helpful for the whole trip. Leo made going from place to place seamless and stress free (and there is a lot of driving). If you do use a private transport, be prepared to tip your driver $10 - $20 per person, per day depending on your experience.

Hotels & Places:
> La Fortuna and Arenal volcano. We stayed at the Arenal Montechiari hotel, which had bungalows which blended with the landscape and had a terrific view of the Arenal volcano. We took a tour of the volcano area and local waterfall led by the local tour guide Franklin (as recommended by KimKim). Franklin was a character - full of knowledge and stories. We highly recommend him, especially for those who want to know about the local plants and wildlife. This was one of the highlights of our trip.

> Monteverde. We stayed at the El Establo Mountain Hotel. Beautiful hotel with unbeatable views of the clouds and countryside. It has extensive wildlife paths on the property. In the area we enjoyed a tour of the local coffee, chocolate and sugar cane farm as hosted by Don Juan Monteverde - again, the local and deep knowledge of the process was really interesting. We also went to the zip line adventure park including cloud forest canopy bridges and gondola ride. This was another fantastic day. You really get a sense of how naturally diverse the area is. Finally, we also did an amazing night hike at the Monteverde Wildlife Refuge which you MUST have a guide for. Our guide, Mario, did an incredible job spotting snakes, spiders, birds, owls and bats. This was a longer hike with lots of ups and downs - a poncho, flashlight and binoculars come in handy.

> Manuel Antonio. Our last location was at the Kahari Beach Hotel. The hotel is a beach hotel and was a little plainer in it's amenities than our other hotels, however Olman told us to give it a chance and he was right. The staff, food, access to the beach and views were terrific and we would come back again. Beach is a wide swath of volcanic sand n which you can walk into the waves a good distance. They also had beach life guards which we were glad of. Hotel is surrounded by wildlife with sloths, monkeys, iguanas and more hanging around the property. Drinks and lunch on the beach was very relaxing and staff was attentive. We also took a day hike in the nearby Manuel Antonio preserve. Olman had said we did not need a guide for this one, and again, he was right. Paths are clear, wide and well mapped. It's a circle, so you won't get lost.

We ended our trip with a ride back to San Jose and the Hampton Inn by the airport which has shuttles to the airport every 15 min or so. Good hotel, comfortable rooms and a good choice for our last night.

Bottom line was this was a memorable family trip that went amazingly smoothly given all the moving parts. Thank you, Olman and KimKim!

Hotel Reviews

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

We loved our stay here. While very spread out, the views were wonderful. There are walking paths on the grounds, a nice pool with a bar and a decent restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Loved the stone facade and integrated nature.

Location

Up on the hill side, views were beautiful and often dramatic.

Staff

Friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very nicely appointed rooms. Could use screens on windows to enjoy the views but keep insects out.

Hotel Arenal Montechiari

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

Bungalow style was fun an made you feel integrated into the surrounding nature.

Location

Within walking distance of La Fortuna with a good view of Arenal volcano.

Staff

Friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms are bungalow style. AC is each, which was nice. Bathrooms are open air vented. Room was clean and comfortable.

Karahé Beach Hotel

Manuel Antonio

Hotel is adequate, but amenities, grounds, and staff upgrade the whole experience. Higher floor rooms seem nicer than lower rooms. Rooms are basic, but clean and comfortable. Restaurant, staff and beach are terrific. Food was good, standard Costa Rica fare, drinks were good and staff went the extra mile. Direct beach access is a big bonus and the beach itself is lovely. There are life guards, which we liked, and you can go out a long way because it is shallow. Playing in the waves was terrific and you can rent surf boards and boogie boards right there. There are roaming beach vendors, but they were always nice and backed off immediately if you said no. There is lots of wildlife right on the grounds with sloths, monkeys and birds. Would definitely stay again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Direct beach access and only 1.5 miles from entrance to Manuel Antonio Park entrance.

Staff

They did a great job taking care of us.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms are very clean. Beds are comfortable. Furniture is basic. Remember that it is a beach hotel and salt eats everything.

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

Good place to stay by the airport. Very comfortable rooms and dining was fairly good. Shuttle to airport runs 24/7 every 15 minutes. Great place to start or end a trip.

Authenticity & Character

It's a Hampton.

Location

10 minutes to airport.

Staff

Very attentive and friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arenal 1968 Hike & Visit to La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Rustic and outdoorsy. Our guide, Franklin, really made the difference as he knew an amazing amount of info about the volcano, plants, insects and animals. Amazing views and well worth it.

Quality of Experience

Food

A very nice coffee shop by the entrance. Wonderful views from the roof terrace.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide, Franklin, was excellent. Took his job very seriously and had a great amount of knowledge of the area and the natural surroundings.

Transport

Coffee, Chocolate & Sugar Cane Experience

Monteverde

We didn't know what to expect at Don Juans, but turned out great. Our guide was entertaining and was very knowledgeable about the process, uses and market of the chocolate, coffee and sugar cane farms. Lots of opportunity to smell, touch and taste.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde

Monteverde

One of the best excursions we had. You really feel a part of the nature and night time is when you can see the animal and insect world in full swing. The walk is about 2 hours and is up and down, so be ready for a good walk. Our guide, Mario, was excellent and we saw far more than I expected.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

TreeTram, Self Hanging Bridges & Zipline Adventure

Monteverde

We almost skipped this but turned out to be one of the favorite things we did as a family while in Costa Rica. Wonderful guides, terrific views, and it really gave us a chance to feel part of nature. Zip lines were high above the forest, were fast and a long distance so you had time to look around as you went. Suspension bridges were right at tree top level and we spent time with butterflies, monkeys and birds. Walking paths were great to meander along and take time to look around. There is a cafe at the end for a quick lunch, if interested.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Damas Island Boat Tour

Costa Rica

This was at the tail end of our vacation and we’d already taken several nature walks, so we were looking for a different experience. Going through the mangroves by boat gave us an entirely different cut at Costa Rica’s nature. The guides were very knowledgeable and went out of their way to make sure that we saw plenty of birds, iguanas, and snakes, as well as gave us detailed information about the ecosystem. The boat ride was very pleasurable and a great way to take in the nature around at a slower pace. Be sure to bring binoculars for the best experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We visited CR for 8 days and traveled to La Fortuna/Arenal, Monteverde and Manual Antonio. Creating the itinerary was very easy. Transfers to and from every location were on time with friendly drivers/guides.
Hotel in La Fortuna (Lomas del Volcan) was beautiful and amazing. Grounds were lovely and food was wonderful. Loved the hot springs and Wildlife Refuge Boat Safari. The hike up to the volcano (El Silencio hike) was not impressive and not as described. This was the only guide the entire trip who seemed like he didn't want to be there.
Enjoyed the Rainforest chocolate tour - it exceeded our expectations.
Shuttle and lake crossing to Monteverde = lake was beautiful, but roads were tedious.
Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco: not as nice or roomy as first hotel. Nice staff, decent breakfast, clean.
Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde: nicely run and enthusiastic guide. Just rained so hard that we didn't get to see much.
Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining: very unique zip lining adventure - beautiful and well run. The zip lines were very long and high above the tree tops, and also had a "Tarzan" swing. Great guides. Hanging bridges were lovely.
Hotel Playa Espadilla in Monteverde was pretty standard, small room, just ok food, clean. Staff was friendly.
Catamaran Adventure with Snorkeling in Manual Antonio was on a huge boat with about 50 other people. Enjoyed the ride and swimming. No snorkeling because there was no visibility due to rain/sediment issues which was disappointing. Had to eat lunch back at the marina because waves were too choppy. Nice and professional staff.
Transfers to and from San Jose airport were on time, comfortable with experienced drivers.

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My sisters and I had an amazing experience with your crew! From pick up to drop off it was well organized and planned. We could not have asked for a better experience, your staff in every step of the way were professional and prompt.

We highly recommend anyone who is not sure how to plan a trip to Costa Rica to book with you!!!

Thank you, thank you again. For our next vacation and experience we are already considering your services.

Hotel Reviews

Volcano Lodge, Hotel & Thermal Experience

San Carlos, Alajuela

Great place. The rooms could use a little bit of an upgrade but it was very clean and grounds along with hot springs were super enjoyable!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Bosque del Mar

Playa Hermosa

Great location and quaint hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Safari Float & Hike to La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal 1968 Hike & Visit to Ecotermales Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Sailing Excursion

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport