Amazilia Travel

In an airport on our way home last night, my 8 year-old grandson was reading posters for various travel options. "Where do you want to go next?" I asked. "Nowhere," he said. "I want to go back to Costa Rica.." That sums up our experience. When you work with an unfamiliar travel group, you never know if you can trust the literature. We could. Everything in our week-long trip went exactly as scheduled.
The hotel our family met up at, Buena Vista Chic Hotel, was beautifully situated. The staff was kind and the breakfast was delicious. The shuttle made it possible for us to arrive on three different flights.
Our personal driver, Cesar, accommodated all of our schedule requests and navigated challenging roads and traffic conditions carefully. He even brought a booster for our youngest traveler. Translation apps on our phones helped us out when we had plans to make that exceeded our language skills.
Our tour guides in Tirimbina (Ralph on the river trip and Valeria on the night walk at the Lodge) were fun to be with as well as very knowledgable about the wildlife at hand. The children overcame their initial fears about hanging bridges and became confident discoverers of monkeys, frogs and leaf-cutter ants.
The folks at Los Lagos let us swim before our afternoon excursion to the Mistico hanging bridges, even though check in wasn't until after 3. The adults loved soaking in the hot pools and the kids adored the water slides in the cool pools. We had lunch poolside and dinner in the dining room. Everything was delicious and beautifully presented. And breakfast the next morning was absolutely incredible. It was hard to tear the kids away after just one night.
The drive from La Fortuna to Quepos was challenging in its length and the hardest part of the trip. We arrived after dark and didn't know until the next morning how beautiful our beach location was at Karahé. Our rooms on the lower (beach) level were perfect both for the kids and the 2 grandmothers, giving us easy access to the water and restaurant. (I would NOT have wanted to need to cross the busy road dividing the property.) Breakfasts were very basic but dinner in the restaurant and lunches on the beach were great. We also took Ubers to 2 other restaurants.
The children skipped our excursion to Manuel Antonio Park in favor of playing on the beach. (The early start was too much for them although it put 4 of us at the front of the crowd at a very busy park). The easy walking and a good guide (Lisandro) with a telescopic lens made this visit comfortable for 2 of us with some vision and mobility issues, although I much preferred the quiet of Sarapiqui.
It was a pleasure to reconnect with "our" driver for the trip to the airport.
The trip was a total success for our family of folks ranging from 8 to 76. Thanks!

Hotel Reviews

Buena Vista Chic Hotel

Alajuela

This hotel far exceeded our expectations. Yes, it was close to the SJO airport and had a shuttle. But it also had a beautiful location over-looking the city, very kind staff and a great restaurant. It was a perfect start to our week n Costa Rica.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The skyline at night was beautiful.

Staff

Our group arrived on 3 different flights. All were met and the staff helped navigate the challenges of finding supper for the last ones in. (The first person to arrive mentioned the kindness of the bartender)

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

La Fortuna

The children in our group would happily have lived here!

Authenticity & Character

The landscaping! The hot spring pools! The birds! The water slide! And the food!!! Breakfast was particularly lovely.

Location

Although clouds kept the volcano shrouded most of the time, it was lovely to be in its presence.

Staff

Check-in isn't until 3pm and we had an excursion scheduled for 1-3. The kids were eager to swim and the kind staff at reception had no problem with giving us early access to the water and restaurants.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Every inch of the property is beautifully landscaped. Staff was constantly keeping it all pristine.

Karahé Beach Hotel

Manuel Antonio

It was a pleasure to end our trip here with private beach access, the pool and the restaurant just steps away from our rooms. It was fun to have a sloth and her baby hanging in a tree by reception and a mischievous group of monkeys swinging past the restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

We were especially well cared for at the beach and in the beachside portion of the restaurant.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tirimbina Rainforest Lodge

Sarapiquí

I wanted to start my family's first trip to Costa Rica in this quiet location away from crowds.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Having constant access to trails meant the adults could talk short walks with the children without it being an "excursion."

Staff

Valeria was the guide on our night walk and she was so great with the kids!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Manuel Antonio

More than 3,000 people a day visit this park, so it was always busy. I much prefer quieter locations but the level paths and a guide with a telephoto lens on his scope made this a great final excursion for 2 of us with vision and mobility issues.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The driver met us on time. Our guide, Lisandro, and his nephew were informative.

Transport

Boat tour at Sarapiqui River

Sarapiquí

Our family had the boat to ourselves! Ralph was charming and informative. He and the boat captain spotted birds, reptiles and mammals that we certainly wouldn't have seen on our own. What a great lazy way to enjoy the area: motoring down the river. Ralph also shared some 3-D goggles that were a revelation to us all.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ralph had a relaxed style and tons of information. We all enjoyed spending time with him.

Transport

Night Walk at Tirimbina Rainforest Center

Sarapiquí

Our children were feeling a bit apprehensive about walking in the jungle at night. Valeria hit just the right tone to keep them engaged and comfortable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

God suggestions, and good planning, great hotels, cool activities, good communication. The kimkim was very patient with me as it took me 5 years to finally get to Costa Rica.

First off thank you for making my wife’s dream holiday come true. All of our drivers pickup us on time and we’re highly professional. The three hotel we stayed at were great. The Crowne Plaza first class accommodations and great restaurant and bar. Don’t remember names but the man and woman who waited on were fantastic. There singing of happy birthday and cupcake very special. Hotel Los Lagos was a little dated but after full of activities hot springs made things better. Restaurant and bar were good. Lastly the Sibu Hotel very modern with great bar and restaurant. Highlight there was wait staff first started singing happy birthday in English quietly and we then asked in Spainish and with gusto they belted it out fantastic.Activities number one Canyoning & Balsa River rafting combo was the best by far! The leader of the canyoning was great forgot his name and Adrian and his crew on the River were the best we had on the trip. The Selvatura Park zip lining was awesome hanging bridges ok. The volcano hike was very informative and fun. Only issue we had and maybe not your fault. The Cano Negro boat safari 2 hours 15 minutes one way and the same coming back was not really fun. We did see some wildlife but wondering if it could have been closer? Other then that it was a fantastic trip. We all will highly recommend your company to our friends and colleagues. Hopefully we will use your services in the future.

We had a fantastic trip! Yuliana came up with the initial itinerary and was very helpful and responsive with modifications. Even though our booking was relatively late, she got the four of us on all the adventures we asked for as well as hotels and transportation. All the transportation was on time and friendly. The adventures (rafting, jungle walk, zip line, etc...) were great and well planned. Overall, I would highly recommend the Kim Kim team (especially Yuliana) to plan a trip to Costa Rica.

Hotel Reviews

Crowne Plaza San Jose La Sabana by IHG

San José

It was fine, only stayed there overnight and left at 5:30 in the morning for the rafting adventure.

Hotel Faro Arenal

Fortuna

Nice grounds with a trail through the rainforest and a view of the Arenal volcano. The rooms were very basic, but clean.

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

Beautiful setting. The buildings with the rooms are scattered over the huge property. You have to take a shuttle to get around. The shuttles were fairly prompt. Nice room with a view. They have trails through the rainforest ($20) and other amenities that we did not get a chance to use. We would have liked to stay here for a few more days!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Whitewater Rafting on the Pacuare River

Costa Rica

Awesome! The guides were great. The rafting was amazing through the rapids! The thrill of the whole trip!!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

El Silencio Volcano Hike & Visit to La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was overcast and we weren't able to ee the volcano. The guide was very informative and it was educational to learn about the region and the volcano.

Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde

Monteverde

fun night walk through the rainforest. We saw some interesting bugs and a snake. Not much more wildlife. There were a lot of people in several groups during the walk. The guides were very informative.

Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Thrilling to go over the rainforest. A highlight for the teenagers.

Everyone was great.

Kimkim was very easy to work with. Yuliana put together a. Very memorable trip meeting our requirements - budget and adventure and cultural experiences. Thank you!

We really liked using Kim Kim for the expertise and the ease of planning the perfect trip. I built off one of the preplanned itineraries and customized it a fair amount for our desires, which included animals, surfing, beach time, and finding the right balance with a five-year-old in tow. The hotel choices were all very nice and I felt like the quality of the tours that Kim Kim and Amazalia selected were unique and beyond what I could’ve done on my own. (There are so many operators in Costa Rica! On one hand, this would seem to make it easy to do it all yourself. However, there is a difference in quality at least in the number of people on other tours where we had smaller groups). I wish I could’ve understood the pricing of Kim Kim a bit more. That was my only slight irritation. But, I did feel like the overall experience was well worth it, and I would like to book a trip through them elsewhere in the future. The itineraries, tour options, ease, and helping us do everything without a hitch was well worth it to me!

Hotel Reviews

Olas Verdes Hotel

Nosara

Loved this hotel!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Hotel Heliconia

Monteverde

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tamarindo Diria Beach Resort

Tamarindo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Night Excursion at the Wildlife Refuge in Monteverde

Monteverde

We saw so many animals! Well run tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

I

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Peñas Blancas River Floating Safari Adventure by Raft

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

El Silencio Volcano Hike & Visit to La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Sailing Excursion

Costa Rica

Well run and fun experience. We weren’t sure if this was a good fit for doing with our 5 yo, but she had a great time. The food, drinks, dancing, views, swimming, and staff were all wonderful.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tamarindo Kayak Estuary Tour

Tamarindo

It was neat to paddle up the estuary. It wasn’t very easy to see much wildlife, so I wouldn’t choose this activity if that’s your main goal. However, it was nice to get on the water and experience it at that level. Much better than going on a boat, in my opinion. There had been some miscommunication and they didn’t have a PFD the right size for our daughter.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport