Rene Rodarte

Overall the trip was brilliant. Knowing nothing about Mexico we didn’t know where to start but I knew I wanted to see Mexico City and Frida Kahlo house and Diego Rivera murals. We added in mesoamerican history, and seeing something of the amazing national parks. This set us on I think a pretty standard tour of MC, Teotehuacan, Puebla, (and stunning trek of a high altitude, dormant volcano in national park which was a real highlight and not standard), Oaxaca with art tour and Monte Alban, and Puerto Escondido. We also did a small
Detour into the mountains en route to Escondido.
Our top guides were Clara from Food Mexico who gave us a tour of street food and the markets in MC. She was a true authority on Mexican eating and culture and was such a good introduction to eating as a local! Our guide Pablo took us to Diego Rivera’s museo Anahuacalli in neighborhood of Coyoacan , a 40 minute taxi ride outside of MC. Another trip highlight giving us an in depth understanding of pre Hispanic Mexican culture as represented in their artefacts. Loved this! Pablo was amazing , so much enthusiasm for the subject and we then went into Frida’s and Rivera’s house. Gorgeous .
Being Londoners we like to travel by metro and explore areas not necessarily of the typical tourist agenda and I do think a little more help could have been offered here in the itinerary. If you like to get off the proverbial beaten tourist track and experience MC as lived by Mexicans where do you go? We sort of worked it out though! We loved the metro. Easy to use, felt safe ( with common sense) and cheap! Often quicker than a taxi.
Our trip to Teotehuacan was fascinating but our guide a little confusing on his history which may be due to the fact so much of the archaeological understanding of Teotehuacan is down to informed interpretations of the era as there are no written records. Onto Oaxaca city which is a beautiful and vibrant city . It’s everyone’s favorite and it’s filled with gorgeous art murals, museums , funky little cafes, and exquisite food. Our guide Diego from Coyote tours was amazing and showed us his favorite murals providing a detailed background to the relevance of different murals(social, political, and cultural) that I would never have understood by myself nor gleaned from a tour book. We did a bicycle tour which meant we could cover more ground and was fun but you can do walking tours.
Only low point of guides was our visit to Monte Alban in a group tour. Place is fascinating but could have done it as well with a book! I think a personal guide is really worth it on everything.
Finally Puerto Escondido for our beach rest. We moved our hotel to Punta Zicatela as we prefer a funky beach scene. It’s very lively but we found a quiet place end of town and had a fabulous day watching the surfers and enjoying the sunshine. A morning with our guide Ishmael on the lagoon 30 minutes along the coast was another highlight. We kayaked and saw a range of unusual bird life, mangroves and a baby crocodile! It was a totally chill experience and I highly recommend it. Ishmael provides the guided info. whilst other members of his family work behind the scene to provide kayaks, organize etc. I love the fact we were benefited from the knowledge of truly local people, living on the beach or local town. All so proud of their regional defining cultures. We leave Mexico feeling excited by what we have seen and learnt an appetite for more exploring of this wonderful country as we only saw a tiny part.
Now at the airport about to go back to England. 😥
Rene and Mariana did a fabulous job of planning our trip. Mariana always available to sort out any problems and giving us lots of advance notice of guides, taxis etc. It was a real comfort to know we had such great background support. Thank you.

Hotel Reviews

El Sueño Hotel & Spa

Puebla

Beautiful boutique hotel just on the edge of Pueblo. Loved all the exotic greenery, tasteful decor and location

Authenticity & Character

A characterful building of Pueblo creatively reimagined for the discerning tourist who loves plants, water and spacious spa style rooms. Very clean and staff so helpful.

Location

Easy to walk into Pueblo, lots of cafes and great restaurants on your doorstep

Staff

Smiling and so helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Los Pilares

Oaxaca

Beautiful boutique style hotel , spacious, light filled with the most fabulous roof top lounge area , small pool, sun lounge and restaurant. Food was uncomplicated, delicious and beautifully presented . The staff at Los Pilares were so helpful and efficient. Always with a genuine smile. Loved this place and was so sad to leave it!

Authenticity & Character

Space, decor and amazing plants thoughtfully arranged. Gorgeous

Location

In a fascinating local community bug only 20 minutes walk from center . Absolutely top location. Quiet and unusual.

Staff

Efficient, attentive and kind

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything exceptionally clean from rooms to bathroom to restaurant

Hotel Punto Mx

Mexico City

Excellent central location within walking distance of Museum Belles Artes . Vibe is rather corporate and formal, lacking charm, the rooms dark and soulless although very clean and well appointed, huge bed, smart bathroom but the water wasn’t hot. Room right by atrium so noisy whilst breakfast was being set up early morning. Breakfast food rather average, good fruit and juices, everything else rather stale and dry. Redeeming feature were the restaurant staff who were all so sweet and attentive and a few of the reception staff

Authenticity & Character

Everything . Nothing about it was Mexico

Location

If you like being central great but you’re in a city center

Staff

See above

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Casa Elba Cabins

Damp, our room was right at bottom of Stoney track and staff totally disinterested. Didn’t even know we were arriving and it was not busy. Dirty sofa was our first impression of room and not enough hot water for a shower.

Authenticity & Character

All of it

Location

It had a beautiful view of the valley. Short walk outside of town . Quiet.

Staff

Interest and enthusiasm

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sofa dirty. Made me feel it was all grubby

Hotel Suites Villasol

Oaxaca

It’s everything I don’t like in a hotel. Big, soulless down a development of other horrid hotels. Big rooms , soulless and the air conditioning has an awful chemical smell that made me feel sick. It was clean and staff were very nice. Breakfast was awful.

Authenticity & Character

Everything.

Location

Whole thing reminded me of a cheap English holiday camp, not a compliment. Hated it so much we moved hotels. Soulless neighborhood.

Staff

The few we met were very nice

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean room .

Activity Reviews

Explore the Casa Azul Museum

Mexico City

Pablo is a real authority on this . Not to be missed

Quality of Experience

Our guide Pablo made this very special as he had such an understanding of Frida, his her health affected her art and the social political context that influenced both her and Diego

Guides, Drivers and Staff

So knowledgeable and kind

Transport

Pablo driving

Visit the Museum Diego Rivera - Anahuacalli

Mexico City

Again it was our guide Pablo that made this one of the most enjoyable cultural tours we did. His knowledge of the artefacts and Diego’s motivation to collect , what each piece represented was astounding and thus knowledge lay the foundation to every thing else we went into see. Brilliant experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Biking in Teotihuacán "The City of the Gods" & Overnight in Puebla

Mexico

Fascinating place and guide good

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Great driver who spoke good English and gave us lots of tips

Hike in the Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl National Park

Mexico

Another wonderful guide that transformed this experience. Very knowledgeable about the national park and genuinely a mountain lover! We started at 4000 meters and climbed to 4500 meters of the “ white lady”. Hard at this altitude so got a real sense of achievement. We also met some very funny and friendly fellow climbers.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our driver , Alberto was excellent. Punctuatuek, courteous and a amazing driver, we felt very safe.

Transport

Oaxaca Street art walk

Oaxaca

Without this tour we would never have fully appreciated the significance of the street art we saw. Stories of the artists, the subject matter and techniques. Our guide Ariel was an absolute gem. So knowledgeable and passionate about his city and art. Fabulous English too. We had a great morning with him cycling around the best of the murals. This is a must activity to really fall in love with Oaxaca

Quality of Experience

All of it

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bikes , good enough

Free Afternoon in Puebla

Mexico

Loved this city and our hotel. Easy to walk around and absorb the atmosphere.

Quality of Experience

Kayaking in the Manialtepec Lagoon

Puerto Escondido

Already given a description of this. Top experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rural cooking workshop in Oaxaca

Oaxaca

We started with a tour of the local market, a local church to soak up the vibe and cultural richness of this small town just outside oaxaca. Our guide Alejandro was so knowledgeable and relaxed and really knows food and the history of his country. Our cooking experience was so special and we felt so privileged to spend time with this family and cook with them. Dalia planned a menu to suit our unsettled tummies and used herbs to promote digestion and healing in the most delicious soup and chicken broth. We made tacos which was great fun and ground cacoa nibs and made them into a delicious treat. We will always remember this . So special.

Quality of Experience

Food

Everything!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover the flavors and colors of the exotic San Juan Market

Mexico City

Already reviewed. Fabulous

Quality of Experience

See my general review. Book Food Mexico with Clara

Food

We tasted the best street food from best vendors and samples in market

Rene was prompt, clear and professional in attending to my questions prior to the trip. This is consistent with other travel agents that I have used for other countries. I found out quite late that one of the hotels did not have air-conditioning and hence wanted a change. We ended up cancelling the hotel booking by Rene and I booking the hotel myself using Booking.com. Rene refunded me the "cost"of the hotel but refused to provide a breakdown of how he arrive at the refund amount which I thought was a bit on the low side.

Things also didn't go so well with the 'Trip Support' (the Rutopia team) during the trip itself. The team have to check with 3rd party providers most of the time and takes a while to respond to changing situations or questions. Some examples of areas that definitely needs improvement:

1) Drivers were late on 3 instances. Once by 0.5hr (we woke up early to be picked up at 5am for the hot air ballon tour but the driver came at 5.30am) and a second time by 10mins (we had landed at Cancun airport but the driver only showed up later) and a third time by almost 1hr (after we took the ferry from Holbox back to Chiquila). In the 3rd instance, my family was left standing in the open at the entrance of the jetty waiting for the driver for 1hr. To escape the hot sunny weather, we had to seek shelter at a nearby public toilet! When the driver eventually showed up, he expected us to go find his van which was supposedly parked in front of some restaurant instead of coming directly to our location at the entrance of the jetty. The driver also picked up an additional passenger along the way without explaining why (is this appropriate for safety reasons?)!

2) I reminded 'Trip Support' before the trip and a few times during the trip that we are a family of 4 adults with big luggages. However, they still arrange for small cars to pick us up on a few occasions. We were told that this is what the 'package' provides for which I am very surprised given that this is not a budget tour package! We have to spend time figuring how to fit all the luggage into the car as well as squeeze 4 adults into a small car for long journeys. I find it most unacceptable when there are no shortage of vans or big SUVs in Mexico and other travellers in smaller groups are travelling in comfort in larger SUVs and vans. I have used travel agents in the US, South America, Europe and Asia and they are all able to ensure that my family travels in comfort when it comes to transportation but the experience in Mexico is definitely below par.

3) We were booked into Ventus Ha Resort at Puerto Morelos for 1 night. However, we were not told beforehand that we were booked into 1 room instead of 2 rooms. We only found out when we checked in at the resort. Although the room at Ventus Ha are a little bit bigger, it will be normal expectation for us to be given 2 rooms which is the arrangement for all our other hotels during the trip. As we were given 1 room, the resort only provided 2 complimentary wifi access and we can't even share the access as they are fixed to 1 person each! The 4 of us have to squeeze into 2 double beds for the night and a single toilet. It's a beautify resort but our experience was sub-par due to the arrangements.

4) There were huge demonstrations along the main streets of Mexico City and in Zocalo Square due to the elections but the travel agent did not give us any warning or advise beforehand or did not do anything to adjust the itinerary to help us avoid the crowds or disruptions. During the tour of historic Mexico City on May 19, the tour guide did her best to navigate through the rowdy crowd in Zocalo Square and the surrounding streets but I feel that the travel agent should have switched the tour to another day given that we had multiple days in Mexico City and the date of the political rally in Zocalo Square on May 19 is known beforehand. When I requested to stay 1 more night in Mexico City on May 29 in a hotel next to Zocalo Square, the tour agent also didn't advise me that there will be a big political rally at the square on that day and the roads surrounding the square will be closed. We had to walk 45mins out from our hotel in order to get an Uber to travel out of the area. In fact, our hotel had to roll down the metal shutters in its front entrance in order to protect the premise from the rowdy crowd. For basic security and safety reasons, these are things which I expect the travel agent to discuss with me in advance and help me avoid them rather than leave it to me to figure things out myself on the spot!

Overall, I find the tour arrangements to be sub-par for the price that I paid. This is the first time I used Kim-Kim for my travel arrangements and I had high expectations. However, I have to say that given the sub-par experience, I will think twice in using Kim-Kim again.

Pros:
1. Constant communication
2. Convenient and stress free- having a driver take you to remote locations is a lot more reassuring than driving yourself.
3. The drivers provide an authentic perspective of the way of life for people in Oaxaca.

Cons:
1. Pricy since you’re paying for the service
2. The itinerary is subject to change- some of the activities mentioned in the itinerary were not offered. For example, we were not given the opportunity to paint our own alebrijes (which was what my son was looking forward to)
3. Some of the activities felt like sales pitches rather than interactive workshops.

Overall, I recommend for those who want a stress free adventure in Mexico.

I am almost 77 years old and my biggest complaint is the number of activities that are packed into one day. I had the same problem in Spain last year and even though I purposely added a number of rest days, I would say the trip was still too exhausting.
Mariana the logistics person should be awarded a gold star. She was excellent and without her help the trip could have been absolute disaster. She should get a pay rise.
The hotels were excellent.
The guides were good and especially the guides to Uxmal, Rio Lagartos and the operator Bejil-Ha.

We had one guide named Lewis for our hike to the butterfly sanctuary. He was great. Our other nonguides were drivers who did not speak any English. That was a major communication problem and lessened our experiences to two day trips. One trip was to the tenezcal. It was nice but there were no towels or dressing instructions. They did bring a person who helped to explain the temezcal but he did not stay and we had to decipher the shamans instructions. The other activity was a hike to a high overlook and two women and one child came with us. No English again The hike was changed from the one on our itinerary.

Hotel Review

Cinco Rodavento

Ciudad de México

Wonderful caring staff. Beautiful rooms. Great rooftop deck. Lovely courtyard and room patio. Plush towels and bed linens. We were charged for one day when we were not there and for a spa service that was not wanted. It totaled over $400. Which they gave us in hotel credits. Half of which we found out about one day before we left. I had told our planner that we would device about spa treatments when we arrived but they were scheduled and charged to us without our knowledge.

Authenticity & Character

Rooftop deck

Location

Close to downtown market and lake.

Staff

So friendly and eager to please.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shower was amazing with lots of hot water

Activity Reviews

Head to Amanalco for a unique Temazcal experience

Mexico

I have already said some of the things but will repeat them. They should have provided towels or told us to bring them. They should have had one English speaker in the temezcal to explain things. The shaman and his associate singer was very good. The lodge was nice and there were places to change.

Quality of Experience

The experience with the chants and herbs and gear

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Car was extremely dirty. Again no English speaker. No guide.

Transport

Clean car and car windows.

Sailing at Valle de Bravo

Valle de Bravo

First time sailing. It was a beautiful day on the water. You got a new perspective of Valle de Bravo from the lake.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

No staff. We walked to the lake and found the person that had the sailboat.

Hike through the forest to see the Monarch Butterflies at the Matlazinca Sanctuary

Mexico

We went to a different sanctuary called Almanalco. It was fantastic but it was a very difficult hike through the forest not on a tail. We had to bushwhack through the glorious forest.

Quality of Experience

In a private sanctuary we were the only ones there.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Let med the English speaking guide

Transport

Terrible road to get there .