Grand Cuvée Tours

Our trip to the Cote d'Azur, just like our trip to Paris last year, was better than anticipated. So many beautiful views, so many art masterpieces, so much history.
In addition, the hotels were clean, comfortable and conveniently located.
Everyone involved in our trip was tremendously cordial and knowledgeable. From the hotels’ staff, to the tour guides, to the drivers. Plus, we had some wonderful food, especially delicious seafood.

We saw so many beautiful sights, too many to list here. The churches are like museums, of course. Along with several look-out points all along the coast, the castles and citadels offered wonderful views, but be ready to climb lots of steps.

We were expecting to see beautiful views, masterpieces and history, as these are all listed in tour brochures and tour books; but a couple of things still managed to surprise us. One was the Cosquer cave attraction in Marseille. For someone like me, who loves history and prehistory, that ride was both fun, educational and a wonderful surprise.
We were also wonderfully surprised when we went to visit Port Grimaud, dubbed "Little Venice" by the locals. It is not Venice, by any means, but those beautiful canals and romantic bridges definitely reminded us of “La Serenissima”.

The staff at KimKim was extraordinary. Quite knowledgeable and able to accommodate even our last minute trip changes.

I would definitely highly recommend a similar trip to anyone.

We employed Kimkim's services because of its use of local talent to provide the best experience when touring a foreign city and country. We had an incredible trip with Kimkim to Athens. We expected the same level of concern to planning and detail on our just completed trip to Austria and Poland. That was NOT the case. When we arrived in Vienna, our private trasport driver was nowhere to be found. We circled the arrival hall multiple times. We utilized one of our Verizon cell phone travel passes to call the driver's cell (provided in itinerary). We finally located him and headed to our hotel, K+K Maria Theresia to freshen up after a long flight. The toilet in the room malfunctioned and the bathroom had no soap. We called the front desk and were told that the toilet had just been repaired with the wrong part so would not stop flushing and that soap would be provided. We checked out the following morning and boarded our OBB train from Vienna to Krakow- all according to our Kimkim itinerary. The Austrian conductor scanned our tickets and gave NO indication that there were any issues with the journey. Our tickets were scanned again by a Czech Republic conductor once the train crossed the border. Again nothing was said regarding the journey. When the train reached Hranice, the conductor announced that our journey has ENDED. He told us that due track damage, the OBB train would terminate at Hranice. Using very limited English he told us to try to find a local train or bus to either Bohumin or Ostrava but BEWARE because "bad people will try to cheat or steal from you." We were horrified. We had no roaming cell service so the "emergency kim kim number " was useless. We made our way into the train station and found the Regiojet desk. NO ONE spoke a word of English or German and they responded to all of our questions with "NO." We consulted the posted time tables and found a Regiojet train to Ostrava and purchased two tickets ($8.74). We also found a Regiojet bus from Ostrava to Krakow ($78). We had to take a taxi from the Ostrava train station to the bus station ( $10.90). We bribed a bus station guard to allow us to use the pay toilet (We had NO Czech coins) with a 5 Euro note. We managed to get to Krakow by bus with absolutely NO ONE from Kimkim or Grand Cuvee tours aware of the situation. We realize that the local arrangement staff is not responsible for weather related issues HOWEVER, the damage to the tracks was known in Vienna and in the Czech Republic. The only ones in the dark were the unsuspecting passengers who boarded the train. Our time in Krakow was not arranged by Kimkim and went flawlessly BUT OUR TRAVEL BACK to Vienna and onto Salzburg WAS. I contacted Grand Cuvee repeatedly because we were told by our Polish contacts that the OBB train to Vienna would not run. It was NOT until the evening before our scheduled 9/27 departure from Krakow to Vienna that Grand Cuvee confirmed that we would not be able to take the train from Krakow to Vienna. At this point, a private transfer by car was the best option. I paid Kimkim an additional $1000.00 for the private car and driver. The driver (Maciek) was excellent. He deposited us safely at the Vienna central train station for our train trip to Salzburg. We waited in the OBB lounge where we learned that multiple trains from Vienna to Salzburg were either delayed or cancelled. The OBB desk attendant suggested that we take the next available train. Since our tickets were booked as first class we were able to board an earlier train to Salzburg. The Imlauer Hotel Pitter was lovely. I believe Grand Cuvee upgraded the room which was appreciated. Our walking tour guide, Ms Klinger was very good. The Mozard Dinner Concert as arranged by Grand Cuvee was fantastic. We took the train the next day to Vienna with no issues. We returned to the Maria Theresia, stored our luggage and embarked on a walking tour of Vienna with Mojca. I would give the guide a B-. The most effective guides are those who have an itinerary and are able to weave YOUR interests into their plan. Mojca did not explore our interests but moved somewhat haphazardly from one spot to the next. When we passed the Maria Theresia library and my husband discovered that the library was open free to the public because it was Sunday, Mojca relented and went in. It was one of the highlights of the tour no thanks to the guide. The Mozart and Straus concert at the Kursalon and the Schonbrunn palace tour scheduled by Grand Cuvee were excellent. The Danube Tower tour was so so. The Sisi Museum and Imperial Palace tours were excellent. The concert at St Anne's church as arranged was lovely. Our stay at the Maria Theresia went well. The amenities in the room were functional. The hotel staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. Our transfer to the airport with Herr Wolfgang was on time and pleasant.
After our trip to Athens with Kimkim, we not only recommended your services but could not wait to use them again. After this trip- we will have second thoughts about a repeat. Your strength is in the intel that your local agents provide. The local agents did not stay informed. The trip to Krakow was incredibly stressful. The uncertainty of the transfer from Krakow to Salzburg created constant anxiety. Why were we telling Grand Cuvee that the trains were in question?
We feel that we spent a significant amount of money and then had to spend MORE. We also feel that we did not get good value for our money. We asked Grand Cuvee to petition OBB for refunds for our train fares. They have but why did we need to ask. I feel that Kimkim should cover the additional train, bus, taxi and private car fares. The Grand Cuvee team did try to turn this trip around for us but it was too little too late.

I do not think I would this company again for future trips. While we had a mostly enjoyable vacation, there were several avoidable mistakes made for our trip to Switzerland.

The initial issue was that our company waited for about four weeks after our deposit to arrange our hotel reservations. At this point, one of the hotels was full, so the company switched us to a different hotel. That hotel ended up being our least favorite, with stiff beds and no one at reception for much of the day. I believe it was the same tier hotel as the one quoted, but it begs the question as to why they delayed four weeks.

The second issue, which was much larger, was that they booked one hotel room for our trip when we had requested two. When I caught their mistake, the tour company’s response was that this was our fault, since we did not catch their mistake on their first itinerary. They wrote saying we needed to pay them an additional $1300 to get the second room. I had to call Kimkim to sort it out, and ultimately we received the two rooms that we had requested. However, this experience left a bad taste in our mouths given the initial response and having to argue about it. And for the record, follow-up communication from Kimkim was non-existent: I heard nothing from either company for a week while this was being resolved, which was stressful, and in fact never received a single follow-up from Kimkim about it at all.

The third issue was another attention-to-detail mistake. The tour company told us they made seat reservations for our train trip to Jungfrau, a popular tourist destination. This was written, in bold, on our itinerary. When we got to the station, we encountered hundreds of people, and we got stopped at the turnstiles and turned back for not having reservations at all. Two ticket attendants confirmed that we were holding non-reservation 2nd class tickets, and we were told to wait in line for the next available train with open seats. Long story short, our 1.5 hour trip took 3.5 hours, as we waited a full two hours in line, as train after train filled up with pre-reserved travelers and tour groups. This was a truly miserable experience.

My conclusion is that the time needed to double-check and correct the tour company’s mistakes could be better spent simply planning the trip on my own.

Activity Review

Funky chocolate workshop

Switzerland

This was an enjoyable experience. We learned a bit about chocolate, got to taste many varieties from dark to white chocolate and each made three chocolate bars.

Quality of Experience

This was a fun time.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

There was no guide or driver, so this rating isn't really for anything.

Transport

There was no transport.

This was our second trip using KimKim. Tomaz and Zala helped us plan our amazing trip to Switzerland. Each day was an adventure! We went to the ‘Top of Europe’, explored ice caves, hiked down grassy mountainsides, rode e-bikes through the Lauderbrunnen Valley, watched the sunrise on the Matterhorn and the moonrise on Lake Lucerne. Our accommodations were really nice, with only 2 disappointing room selections (one was changed). The breakfasts provided were delicious with local meats, cheeses, eggs and fresh fruits and breads that kept us going all day (the champagne offering was over the top). We had never traveled exclusively by train and we were so appreciative that each train/funicular/tram journey was planned for us in great detail. Within a day we were completely comfortable with not using a car. We do not prefer group trips so our 13 day adventure was designed by Tomaz carefully to allow us to explore all the places and activities we enjoy. The was a trip one that we will always treasure. We have so, so many pictures!!