Salomé Deroyer

Our tour of Ireland for our family of 11 was everything I hoped it would be and more. Our specialist Salome, and local specialist Marine-Heloise, were wonderful at helping us plan everything and then troubleshooting when we had to change some plans. I was able to be in touch with Kimkim while in Ireland to help us change some times and rearrange activities on the fly. We just couldn't have coordinated everything on our own, so it was so wonderful to have their knowledge, expertise, and local contacts to rely on.

Hotel Reviews

Randles Hotel Killarney

Co. Kerry

We loved this hotel and was within walking distance of most things in Killarney. It was beautifully appointed and so comfortable. Staff were gracious and so helpful. We loved the restaurant and especially the bar. They made the best martinis we had in Ireland.

Authenticity & Character

Very European in style and beautifully appointed

Location

convenient to everything with free parking underneath the hotel

Staff

Courteous and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

No complaints

Clayton Hotel Cork City

cork

Convenient location right on the edge of the tourist section. We experienced some problems though - including sidewalk and road work happening right outside the front door, which made foot and car traffic tricky. The air conditioning in the hotel rooms couldn't keep up with the summer heat, so two of our 4 rooms were unbearably hot at night. Also, two of our rooms on the back side of the hotel experienced terrible noise all night long from the homeless population that were camped out behind their rooms. They got no sleep! We were told at the front desk that they had security who would run off the homeless people if they bothered anyone, but we didn't know to ask them to do that until it was too late. Seems like if they know it's a problem for guests they would take care of it proactively. We would not stay there again and would not recommend it to anyone.

Authenticity & Character

It's just a big hotel

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

AC not working properly - hot rooms. Loud noises at night preventing sleep,

The Belvedere Hotel

Dublin

Very comfortable and spacious rooms. It's a bit far away from some of the main tourist sites but we were able to walk everywhere. Breakfast was good. Bar was ok. One of the bartenders was rude and refused to make us a martini. The next night the bar manager was there and did make us one, but would not do so according to our specifications. He insisted he had his own secret recipe and that we would love. But we really didn't love it and would have preferred the simpler version that we requested.

Authenticity & Character

It was nice enough but really didn't have any character

Location

Staff

less than helpful when asked to recommend dining locations, and one of the bartenders was rude.

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was fine. Big rooms but tight bathrooms.

Activity Reviews

Private Guided Tour of The Ring of Kerry

Scotland

Our driver, Steven, was outstanding. He tailored the tour to suit our family so well. We couldn't have been happier.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Booster seats were provided for the young children in our group.

Kinsale Private Walking Food Tour

Kinsale

Our guide, Amanda, went above and beyond. We were not expecting her beautiful musical performance, but enjoyed it so much.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Falconry Adventures

Killarney

This was a great activity for our family of 11, ranging in age from 73 to 7. Everyone got to handle the birds, and we learned so much about them.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had an absolutely wonderful time on this trip to Northern Ireland and Scotland! Salome did an extraordinary job planning the trip, and patiently took into account our many updates and requests. We ran into just a couple of minor hiccups during the trip, but Salome and kimkim were instantly reachable and quickly (within minutes) resolved them. I would highly recommend kimkim to anyone, and will definitely use them again in the future.

During this trip, we visited Belfast, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle of Skye, and Edinburgh. Kimkim reserved excellent hotels for us at each location, with the highlight being the Tigerlily in Edinburgh. Of these locations, Isle of the Skye was the only one where we ran into any difficulties. Not only is Isle of Skye out of the way, it is also not equipped for the large number of tourists it receives. We stayed in Portree, the largest town on the Isle, and found it very difficult to find restaurants with availabilities for dinner. Most restaurants and shops there close relatively early. Private transportation and taxi service is difficult to arrange as well.

One other note is that while kimkim arranged for private transportation for most transition points, we did have to move our own luggage to and from the train stations to our local hotels. This was typically a 10 to 20 minute walk that could be uphill over ragged streets. We probably would have chosen this over any additional expense, but others may feel differently.

Hotel Review

Tigerlily

Edinburgh

This is a truly exceptional hotel! The lobby is absolutely gorgeous, the room was massive and elegant, and the hotel and wait staff could not have been more gracious and helpful. I could not give a higher recommendation for this hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Very modern and elegant boutique hotel

Location

Great location in the newer part of Edinburgh near many shops, restaurants, and pubs.

Staff

I have never felt more welcomed than by Tigerlily's hotel and wait staff. They were incredible!

Cleanliness & Comfort

A true 5-star experience!

Activity Review

Eat Walk Glasgow

Glasgow

The food and drinks on this tour were fabulous, and each stop presented a unique view of Glasgow. However, the true highlight of the tour was Megan, our tour guide. Megan was full of personality and highly knowledgeable about the venues, the food, and Glasgow in general. She made the tour a very enjoyable experience for all of us.

Quality of Experience

Great choice of venues

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Megan was exceptional. She was so fun to talk to and had an impressive knowledge of Glasgow.

I will contact Salomé and Kimkim to plan and prepare future trips. They were easy to work with and provided assistance from start to finish. Salomé helped us plan a two week driving trip in Scotland. Working with her was great. She put together a wonderful itinerary based on our interests. Even though I had done a lot of preliminary planning, she suggested terrific activities that I wasn’t aware of that really enhanced our tour. Salomé did all the leg work in booking hotels, ferry tickets, and attraction and tour tickets, a huge job! I truly appreciated her efforts when I asked her to rebooked all the hotels to reduce the overall trip budget. She provided an accurate and detailed itinerary with everything we needed for each day. She was always a responsive communicator during trip planning and during the trip . We had a couple glitches while in Scotland and Salomé was always available to assist. Planning in-depth international travel can be intimidating but Salomé and Kimkim made it easy. If you want international travel that includes more than the tourists highlights Kimkim and Salomé can help plan this type of trip.

We had a great trip! We got to see a lot of different parts of Ireland and enjoy a good range of experiences. The itinerary that was planned for us gave us a good day-by-day framework that also allowed us some flexibility to add in additional activities and be a little spontaneous. The highlights were the interactive experiences - the falconry lesson and the sheepdog demonstration - as well as the opportunities to get away from the tourist crowds. We didn't love every activity that was included in the itinerary or every hotel we stayed in, and we would have done some things differently if we were to do it all over again, but that's just the nature of traveling and it wouldn't necessarily have been any different had we planned the trip ourselves. Overall we had a lovely time and appreciated all the planning and organization that went into the trip.

Hotel Reviews

Temple Bar hotel

Dublin

I would give this hotel zero stars if I could. It's perfectly comfortable from the perspective of the room size, beds, etc. but there is a bar inside the hotel that plays loud music until midnight or later, and you can hear it from every part of the hotel. It's especially bad in the rooms closer to the street but we switched to a room in the back of the hotel for our second night and although the music was quieter, we could still hear it. We were unable to sleep and it affected our ability to enjoy the days we were in Dublin because we were so exhausted. I guess this hotel might be all right for young people who want to stay up partying until 3am, but for a family with a young child it was not suitable at all. The one positive I can say is that the location is great for walking around. The breakfast was good but not amazing.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Conveniently located for walking around Dublin, but in a noisy location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shandon Bell's BnB

Cork

This hotel was fine but not great. It's pretty shabby and the room was very small. There was no air conditioning so we had to sleep with the window open, which let in street noise. We could walk to central Cork but it wasn't particularly close or convenient to do so. However, the bed was comfortable and the breakfast was cooked to order.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cahernane House Manor Hotel

Killarney

By far the best place we stayed. We loved it so much we didn't want to leave. Wonderful service, amazing breakfast, our room was luxurious, the common rooms of the historic hotel are beautiful, the grounds are stunning. 10/10 would absolutely return if we were ever in Ireland again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Leonardo Hotel Dublin Christchurch

Dublin 8

Fantastic location across from Christ Church (walkable to the major sights, while avoiding the loud noise of Temple Bar) and the room was comfortable. Service was friendly and helpful, and the breakfast buffet was one of the best we enjoyed on our trip. The major downside was that there was no air conditioning and we were uncomfortably hot, even with the windows open. However, the hotel was in the process of installing air conditioning so future guests might not have to deal with this problem.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Victoria Hotel

Galway

We enjoyed our stay at this hotel for three nights. The family room was spacious and very comfortable for the three of us. The location was very convenient to central Galway as well as to the ferry docks - we walked everywhere. Service was very friendly and helpful. There were only two negatives - the rooms lack air conditioning and can be uncomfortably warm depending on the weather, and the breakfast buffet was not the best with no variation from day to day. Overall though we would recommend staying here when in Galway.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Falconry Adventures

Killarney

We loved this experience! It was wonderful to chat with the guide, learn about falconry, and interact with the birds. We didn't get to see them do all they're capable of because it was raining, but we had a great time nonetheless. We liked that it was a personal experience and not part of a group tour. We would definitely recommend this.

Self-Guided Guinness Storehouse Experience

Dublin

This was fun, even for kids. It was great enjoying a pint of Guinness from the rooftop bar and enjoying the view of Dublin. The one downside is that considering it's a brewery tour, you don't get to see any part of the actual brewing process - it must all be in a separate building or something.

Traditional working sheep farm and Sheepdog demonstration

Ireland

This was really lovely, even in the rain. The dog demonstration was extremely impressive and then we got to watch a sheep being sheared and help feed the babies! Our daughter loved all of it. The location/scenery is also stunning.

Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher Day Cruise sailing from Galway

Ireland

We all got very seasick over on the ferry from Galway - this is probably unavoidable, but in the future we think travelers should be advised that the crossing is very rough before signing them up for this tour, because some people might not want to risk it. So many people on the boat were throwing up, it was awful. However, the ferry was on time and we did enjoy sailing past the cliffs of Moher on the way back (which was not as rough).

Guided tour of the island of Inishmore ( Aran Islands)

Ireland

The Aran Islands are incredible and we ultimately had a good time, but there were a couple things about this tour that we didn't love. We were put into a group tour in which we were crowded into a small bus, it was a pretty impersonal experience. And because of the schedule of the group tour, which didn't start right away when our ferry docked, we wasted a bunch of time on the front end and then had to rush to get back on the ferry at the end - because most of the other people in the group were on a different ferry schedule. I would not recommend that Kimkim put travelers into a group tour like this in the future, it is worth a small extra expense to get a private tour of the island that is more comfortable and allows more time to actually see the sights instead of waiting around.

Got back a week or so ago from a 'UK Highlights Trip.' Trip itself was 14 days, including 2 days for air travel. We were able to hit Ireland, Scotland, and England....overall, I would say every interaction I had with locals was pleasant, everyone was very friendly, and didnt feel unsafe....

Planning for the trip through KimKim took a lot of the guesswork out of the plannig the logistics for going city-to-city, offering suggestions on the top things to see and do in each city, based on our preferences, and they were able to set a lot of it up and manage for us (domestic flight, trains, tours, etc). Would like to thank Emily, Romane, Salome, and Stephen, who were all very helpful.

With taveling 14 days, we did understand and anticiapte the potential of a fewtravel hiccups, here and there (train delays / cancellations, for example). Any issues we did have, KimKim was very responsive in getting back to us and making sure the they were resolved in a reasonable time, and we were satisifed.

these are some highlights from each spot we hit:

-Dublin - really cool city. if you're going, definitely plan at least 2 days... would recommend getting a drink at the Brazen Head, one of Irelands oldest pubs (going back to 1100s). We also checked out the Viking Museum, Church of Christ Cathedral, and Guiness Factory... we closed one of the days out at the Church Bar and Restaurant

Day 2 was St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Dublin Masonic Lodge, Trinity College Library / Book of Kells Experience, and the popular Temple Bar!

Day 3 - Galway Ireland - take a train from Dublin, to this cool, underrated city...some of the medieval fortifications are still standing, and one of the guides did mention that Christopher Columbus had visited it at one point.

Day 4 - we took a bus trip, which featured a short stop to Dunguaire Castle, and Cliffs of Mohr

Day 5 - we took a flight from Galway to Edinburgh, Scotland....would recommend taking a walk to Calton Hill, one of the highest view points of the city. we had dinner at The Dome, which featured wonderful ambiance, and if you're a fan of Harry Potter, would check out The Department of Magic, where you can make magic 'potions'

Day 6 - Edinburgh walking tour, and Edinburgh Castle - you can easily spend a whole day here...right next to it is St Giles Cathedral. Very underrated pizza place btw, check out Dough Pizza

Day 7 - Inverness, Scotland...we took a 3-4 hour train ride to Inverness, Scotland, where we took a tour of Clava Cairns, which were an important place for ritual activity, and thought to be older than Stonehenge, going back 5000 years...as well as Culloden Battlefield - now more well known, due to 'outlander,' it was the site of the last battle of the Jacobite uprising. Food and Drink, check out Aye Eat, and Scotch and Rye

Day 8 - Isle of Skye Bus tour - highly recommend booking this 2 day tour

Short hike to Rogie Falls, followed up by a trip to Dunvegan Castle, which dates back 800 years to clan MacLeod;
additionally saw other famous landmarks of Skye, including Kilt Rock, Lealt Falls, and the Old Man of Storr;
we wrapped it up with a Highland Cow encounter, and short walk around the small town of Portree

-Day 9 - York - -We visited York for a quick overnight stay - would have liked to check that city out further had we have had time, as i found it interesting some of the city's original medieval wall was still standing

Day 10 / 11 - London - Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and Churchhill War Rooms

Hotel Reviews

Harbour Hotel

Galway

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ashling Hotel Dublin

Dublin

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tigerlily

Edinburgh

Service, rooms, and breakfast service were all superb - i did however have to do laundry here, and it may have been cheaper just to buy new clothes from one of the gift shops than pay them to do it, so just something to keep in mind when traveling with light luggage

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

River Ness Hotel, a member of Radisson Individuals

Inverness

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

No.1 York

York

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Plaza London Riverbank

London

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit of Christ Church Cathedral

Dublin

Galway Private Walking tour

Galway

Cliffs of Moher Day Trip from Galway (small group)

Galway

Secrets of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile - walking tour with castle tickets

Edinburgh

Tower of London Timed Entry Tickets

London

Two-day tour of Skye from Inverness

Scotland

Churchill War Rooms Small-Group Walking (plus discovery of the area around Westminster) Tour

London

Tickets for St Patrick Cathedral, Dublin

Dublin

Trinity College Library : The Book of Kells Experience

Dublin

Culloden Battlefield private tour

Inverness

Tickets to Westminster Abbey

London