Espíritu Travel

We are so glad we made the decision to go through kimkim for our trip to Italy. It was very daunting to coordinate all the accommodations, excursions, and transportation in four different cities in a different country but Manuela did a great job easing our worries. Manuela curated an exact experience we were looking for with safe and comfortable accommodations, seamless transportation, and desirable experiences that brought in history, romance, and adventure. Any questions we had were answered promptly. There were many logistics to plan out with our itinerary and every single one happened without an issue. The only recommendation we have is to include the name of the company for any of the excursion to make finding who we need to meet easier. Oftentimes there were multiple tour companies at the same meeting spot and the same time and when we didn’t have a name of the guide, it would’ve been helpful to know the name of the company to ask around. Thank you so much, Manuela and the kimkim team for making our 5 year anniversary a trip of a lifetime.

The whole trip was unbelievable. Well planned out and completed for the most part without any hiccups.
We had two excursions in Lagos but felt the second one that you planned was too similar to the first. We felt this should have been picked up by one of your staff and we could have ordered something different. The sunset tour which took place first, was quite uncomfortable for that long of a drive and we were advised a picnic was to be provided but we were given a full meal which was great. Our only problem with this tour is we were not advised of the length of time and we were not prepared with jackets or sweaters to be driving late at night - a note should be sent to people taking this to advise to bring something warm. The jeep was quite uncomfortable for the length of time as well. The second tour our guide Rue was very accommodating. We experienced a wonderful unplanned trip after he spoke with uas and it was decided that the previous days excursion was too similar. He took us to some wonderful areas in the region and showed so much passion for what he was showing us. We called it "Rue's Romantic Tour" He was awesome and
so was his boss for allowing him to do something different with us. Thank you - It truly was a trip to remember.

Hotel Review

Seda Club Granada

Granada

Absolutely stunning hotel - extremely comfortable and staff were exceptional. I would take one star off for a service which was provided for us. One thing negative it was the price of the laundry service - We received it back and it was still too damp to pack and compared to all other locations their prices were at least 3-4 times higher. That left a bad taste.

Authenticity & Character

It was just over the top. - who gets Dyson hair dryers at a hotel. Just extreme comfort.

Location

It was a beautiful hotel situated in a park area. Easy access to squares for restaurants and shops.

Staff

Very pleasant and accommodating.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds were lovely as were the towels. Ambience in room was top notch

Activity Reviews

4X4 Algarve Sunset Experience

Spain

Over rated. Beautiful at the top. Long cab to get there, get in a jeep and go quite a distance uncomfortable Chilly at night should advise people to bring a jacket or sweater.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

shorter trip in another vehicle

Monumental Seville on Foot & Visit Real Alcázar

Seville

Great tour - guide was a little too quiet. She was very knowledgeable but tough to hear.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

a microphone would have helped

Private Transfer {{start_location}} to {{end_location}} via Ronda & the White Villages

Spain

Beautiful scenery - long drive. Not sure what happened but we had a driver who could not speak English. He tried very hard. Two drivers showed up and he was given us. Felt it should have been better organized. Not fair to him but he was unable to tell us about what we were seeing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

vehicle good, driver good, poor roads

Guided Visit: Alhambra & Generalife Gardens

Granada

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A Night of Flamenco in a Sacromonte Cave

Granada

Was an experience to share a cultural passion. Too cramped in the facility

Quality of Experience

better venue

Toledo Highlights Day Excursion

Madrid

Wonderful tour of Toledo with a guide who was passionate about what he was telling us

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking Madrid’s Old Town

Madrid

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Small-Group Montserrat & Penedès Region Winery Excursion

Barcelona

The experience was so so. I felt having to pay for everything to enter once there was ridiculous. Considering we paid for the tour. Montserrat was a bit of a bust for that reason but beautiful atmosphere. winery was ok

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Taste Barcelona: Authentic Tapas & Neighborhood Walk

Barcelona

Great food with a wonderful tour guide

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Traditional food was excellent

Transport

Barcelona & Gaudí: An Architecture Walk

Barcelona

Experience was great and a very knowledgeable guide. Enjoyed his enthusiasm.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

a taxi was required for transport which worked out fine

My moms birthday trip was beyond what we expected. My mom wanted to travels to the Azores to experience where her grandparents had come from and Giorgia played a big role in creating a fabulous trip. She listened to all of the wants and needs for the trip and found the best tour guides on Sao Miguel...EVER!! Natacha and Vauchon were both with us for three days. The made the five of us traveling feel like part of their family and showed us all the amazing parts of Sao Miguel. We also did a walking food tour with a company called Hungry Whales and it was the right amount of sampling food and walking. The guides were very organized. The second island of Terceira we experienced a lovely town and beautiful winery. I can't wait to go back.

Highlights include the Pintxos food tour, excellent guide and good food. We both liked Ainsa and the Pyrenees where we had a wonderful hike. The city walking tours were good we got to see a lot of Porto and Lisbon. The recommendations for the small towns like Aveiro which had cool Art Nouveau architecture were really interesting, Overall the lodging locations were ideal and the breakfasts were really good.

Hotel Reviews

MeraPrime Gold Design Hotel

Lisbon

Great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Costa D’Oiro Ambiance Village

8600-544

Far from everything and the bathroom was just a walled section a bit strange but there was access to a pool.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Évora Olive Hotel

Évora

This to me was the best hotel great location, great food, just a wonderful hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Oslo Coimbra

Coimbra

Great breakfast and good location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa dos Lóios by Shiadu

Porto

Great location just very small and a very tight elevator.

Authenticity & Character

Unique

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Rincón de Usana Zona Zero

Usana

Quite unique and very hospitable host with kitchen and hot tub just a bit far from Ainsa.

Authenticity & Character

Unique

Location

A little far from downtown

Staff

Very hospitable

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sercotel Codina

San Sebastian

The staff was really nice great breakfasts.

Authenticity & Character

Location

A bit far from the beach

Staff

Just very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Miró

Bilbao

Great location

Authenticity & Character

Clean comfortable

Location

Close to museum

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

The guide was a bit tough to hear and I found the your a bit to heavy on the dates and facts but he knew a lot.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Secret Porto: Hidden Alleys and Stories

Porto

Well done

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat ride

San Sebastian Pintxo Experience

San Sebastián

Excellent, fun, and tasty, great group of people.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have used Kim Kim twice for planning trips. My experience could not have been more different for each trip.

The reason is that Kim Kim simply assigns your trip to a local travel agent for each trip. They do little quality control or monitoring or supervising to see if planning or execution of the trip is proceeding well. So it’s the luck of the draw as to whether or not things work out.

My first trip to Portugal was spectacular. Our trip was assigned to an agency who carefully listened to what we wanted to do, found the perfect guide, transportation and accommodations based on what we said we wanted and stayed in touch with us throughout the planning process and the actual trip.

Our second trip to Portugal was assigned by Kim Kim to a different travel agent, located in another country. That trip turned out to be a miserable experience. Among the problems:

1. The transfers provided by that agency were hit and miss. One transfer did not have a child seat as we requested. One transfer didn’t show up at the airport when it was supposed to. One transfer dropped our party off at the wrong hotel, leaving the party to walk in the pouring rain to the correct hotel in the middle of the night. Another transfer was given the wrong address by the travel agent, miles away from the right villa in the Algarve.

2. This travel agent demanded full payment early on in the process but would not turn over travel documents until a few days before the trip. When I finally received the documents (accommodations and transfer details), the booked tours and transfers were still incomplete.

I asked for a preliminary itinerary with details a month before the trip (three months after I had paid for the trip) so that our three families could get together to discuss them. Not only was it not provided, but no one even replied to me from the assigned travel agency. The agent simply ignored me.

3. The travel details provided days before
the trip included very problematic issues. For instance, the details said that often flights that time of year were full and it took longer than an hour to go through customs and immigration. It ALSO said that your transfer companies would not wait longer than an hour and, if that happened, you were on your own. Had I known this way back before I was made to pay the bill in full, I would have foregone the transfers and just gotten Ubers at the airport. What a racket. They make you pay for the transfers then, right before the trip, tell you that you will probably be too late to get the transfers and have to get an Uber anyway.

4. When we experienced the many issues with this trip, often the travel agency was closed and you had to solve the problem yourself.

5. Early in the planning process, I asked for private tours. I got drivers with varying degrees of knowledge. Only one of several was a tour guide with substantial knowledge and information.

I loved Kim Kim after my first trip to Portugal but I will not use them again. Kim Kim’s success is only as good as the random agency they assign you to.

Hotel Review

Vincci Baixa

Lisbon

The hotel was okay but the location in Lisbon was different from the area I initially requested.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Finding us a hotel where I requested the location,

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Privately Guided Visit of Belem

Lisbon

This guide was excellent along with the provided coach.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Day Excursion to Óbidos, Nazaré & Fátima

Portugal

The driver/guide knew little about the destinations and left us to ferret out information in each location.