Mango Tiger

What a great trip! After three years of COVID lockdown, this was our first vacation. We spent 18 days in Thailand and Cambodia. It was an outstanding experience. We couldn't believe how smoothly things ran. Pickups were on time, the accommodations were great and the guides knowledgeable and funny. Being the independent travel sort in the past, we have planned most trips ourselves but figured after three years we would be rusty and we had never been to this part of the world before. Emilie... read more

What a great trip! After three years of COVID lockdown, this was our first vacation. We spent 18 days in Thailand and Cambodia. It was an outstanding experience. We couldn't believe how smoothly things ran. Pickups were on time, the accommodations were great and the guides knowledgeable and funny. Being the independent travel sort in the past, we have planned most trips ourselves but figured after three years we would be rusty and we had never been to this part of the world before. Emilie Khautisen, our KimKim trip planner did an outstanding job of arranging transfers, hotels and guides. It's easy to forget how important this is. For example, in many popular areas, there was no parking available. Our driver would drop us and the guide off and pickup us up later - no hassles. In Thailand, our guide, Tui stayed with us until we got on the overnight train from Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai. It was late - 10PM and the train only stops at the station about 5 minutes. The train car numbers were in Thai. We would never have figured it out fast enough to avoid missing our ride. As it was, we had to run to the end of the train. Tui grabbed a bag and ran with us. This kind of help is invaluable. Local knowledge is priceless. We also had the flexibility to change the itinerary on the fly since it was just us, our guide and a driver most of the time.
We would highly recommend KimKim to anyone who wants a great travel adventure with minimum hassle!

Hotel Reviews

The FloatHouse River Kwai

Chang Wat Kanchanaburi

What an incredible place! We wish we had more time there. you get to the hotel by boat and are greeted with a cool drink upon arrival. The floathouses are tethered to the bank and to each other in the fast flowing river. They go up and down a bit when a boat passes by and there is just slight movement that gently rocks you to sleep. The restaurant was also excellent. What a nice place for a tropical vacation!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Aonang Princeville Villa Resort and Spa

Krabi

The hotel location is outstanding, right across the street from the beach and all scheduling for tourist attractions. It's very busy here, being a tourist town. The lobby, pool and restaurant are clean and inviting. The was even a complimentary afternoon Thai pancake bar available. That said, the hotel has seen better days. Our room on the third floor (no elevator) was comfortable and had a nice view of the pool but the housekeeping service left a lot to be desired. The shower was dirty, the shower drain was clogged, the toilet seat didn't fit the toilet and in the morning, if you like to take showers then, it's a challenge as the water turns off and on in spurts. The water pressure gets better in the afternoon. The most frustrating part though was getting the hotel to replace towels. We started out with two bath towels and two hand towels. We were there for four nights and each day, we had one less towel even though we went to the front desk about this several times. By the last day, we had one bath towel between us. Only on our last night did we get back to 4 towels.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Housekeeping

Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom, an IHG Hotel

Bangkok

Comfortable room and great breakfast buffet.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Staff stored our luggage for two days while we were in Cambodia.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Treeline Urban Resort

Siem Reap

This is truly a five-star hotel. Outstanding comfort and a great cooked to order breakfast each morning. Beautiful swimming pool.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rimping Village Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai

Very clean and comfortable and the staff was extremely helpful. The location is just across the river from the night market and there is another market nearby. Lots of street food available. There are even bicycles to check out if you wish.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chanalai Romantica Resort

Phuket

This place has a gorgeous, big crystal clear pool. The water was nice and cool. Important, given that Phuket can be very hot. It provides a nice respite from the bustle of the Pata Beach area which is very crowded. Our room was spacious and very comfortable. We were greeted with a welcome drink and ice cream and the staff arranged a city tour for us. This would make a great honeymoon place! This place was the best thing about Phuket for us.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Legend Chiang Rai Boutique River Resort & Spa

Chieng Rai

This is very large. Clean and quiet and the breakfast is great with an overview of the garden and river. There are even chairs to sit on by the river.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya Historical City / Overnight train to Chiang Mai

Thailand

There is a lot to see in Kanchanaburi and thanks to Tui, our guide, we got to see a good portion of it. Loved Erawan NP. The falls are gorgeous and the water felt great! The fish like to nibble at your toes. We visited the JEATH Museum and walked over the Bridge on the River Kwai and stood back as a train went by. We then drove to Hellfire Pass and visited the museum and the took the trail to the rock cut where the prisoners worked in horrific conditions. After that we stayed the night at the Floathouse Hotel which you get to by longtail boat. We also visited the jewelry and food markets. In the morning we got to visit a cave with a Buddhist shrine before setting out for Ayutthaya. In Ayutthaya, Tui explained the history of many of the temples and took us to a great street market. Later we shared a beer with her and our driver at a nice restaurant before heading off to the train station for our overnight train to Chiang Mai. She stay with us the whole time. Good thing she did as the train was an hour late (apparently this is common) and only stops for 5 minutes at the station. Our tickets listed the car numbers but unfortunately for us, they were written in Thai on the cars. Tui got us on the right car before the train left (it took some running with her grabbing one of our bags). We couldn't have done it without her.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I had an excellent 6 day trip to Bangkok. I was able to chose my budget, choose from 1/2 day & day tours, have transportation to & from the hotel & the assurance that Emilie would be able to answer any questions.
I enjoyed my stay at the Grand Sathorn, nice big room with bathtub, lovely staff, lots of choices at breakfast and wonderful rooftop pool.
I liked that I had a free day to orientate myself on arrival. I then enjoyed 3 tours. My tour guides Ping & Nana were kind, knowledgeable &... read more

I had an excellent 6 day trip to Bangkok. I was able to chose my budget, choose from 1/2 day & day tours, have transportation to & from the hotel & the assurance that Emilie would be able to answer any questions.
I enjoyed my stay at the Grand Sathorn, nice big room with bathtub, lovely staff, lots of choices at breakfast and wonderful rooftop pool.
I liked that I had a free day to orientate myself on arrival. I then enjoyed 3 tours. My tour guides Ping & Nana were kind, knowledgeable & took my wishes into consideration- I like to take lots of photos & they were very accommodating.
I would recommend Kimkim to anyone wanting to do a semi independent tour.

Hotel Review

The Grand Sathorn

Bangkok

I liked this hotel- I had a big room with a fridge & bathtub-bottled water was supplied daily. The breakfast buffet was diverse & the staff were very accommodating. The neighbourhood is relatively safe with local shops, laundry, massage places & a 7-11. The rooftop pool & patio were great. My only complaint was the smoking- one day there were people at the 4 corners of the pool on chaise loungers all smoking. I think there should be no smoking at poolside & maybe a dedicated area i a far corner of the patio.

Authenticity & Character

Big rooms

Location

Safe neighbourhood & near the river & the metro

Staff

Very cheerful & accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Housekeeping was efficient

Activity Reviews

Mahachai and Mae Klong Markets Trainspotting & Amphawa Floating Markt

Bangkok

Fabulous trip-8 modes of transportation!! My tour guide Ping was excellent & knowledgeable & a delight to be with- the Amphawa market with the lifting of the awnings to let the train go by was the highlight! Lunch at the floating market was really good!

Quality of Experience

Knowledgeable guide

Food

Pad Thai & papaya salad! Very good!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

As above

Transport

Diverse-8 different transportation vehicles!

Canals of Bangkok & Temple Delight

Bangkok

Loved this tour on the river & into the canals. Liked the temple we visited & the artists colony. Lunch was good & the the tour went to the reclining Buddha & the Grand palace-both are amazing!

Quality of Experience

Loved it- learned a lot!

Food

Good lunch

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Nana was excellent- knowledgeable, kind & accommodating

Transport

Long tail boat was great!

Flavors of Chinatown by Night

Bangkok

Loved this tour- was not sure what to expect. As it was so close to Chinese New Year there was lots of celebrations in the street. Food tasting was good- lived the soup!

Quality of Experience

Variety of sights seen

Quality of Experience

Variety of sights seen

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ping was excellent & knowledgeable

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ping was excellent & knowledgeable

Transport

Tuk tuk to Chinatown

Transport

Til tuk to Chinatown

I can't say enough about the KimKim process and their team. Our first trip with them was a family trip to Italy in July 2022, and everything that they either arranged or suggested was perfect for us and our expectations. Immediately following our family time in Italy, our kids (19 and 21 years old) traveled by themselves for a week under a KimKim arranged itinerary, and most recently, our kids just came back from a trip to Thailand, also coordinated through KimKim. They have proved... read more

I can't say enough about the KimKim process and their team. Our first trip with them was a family trip to Italy in July 2022, and everything that they either arranged or suggested was perfect for us and our expectations. Immediately following our family time in Italy, our kids (19 and 21 years old) traveled by themselves for a week under a KimKim arranged itinerary, and most recently, our kids just came back from a trip to Thailand, also coordinated through KimKim. They have proved themselves to be responsive, flexible, and reliable for each of our trips, and we have since recommended them to others.

The activities and planning provided by Martin were fantastic - we couldn't have asked for a better combination of places within the 11 days we were honeymooning in Thailand.

Having KimKim book all of these locally and provide transportation to and from was much easier than us managing it ourselves.

That being said, there were some hiccups that I think Kim Kim can improve on. It should be clear what level of service the local specialist is obligated to provide while on the trip -- as... read more

The activities and planning provided by Martin were fantastic - we couldn't have asked for a better combination of places within the 11 days we were honeymooning in Thailand.

Having KimKim book all of these locally and provide transportation to and from was much easier than us managing it ourselves.

That being said, there were some hiccups that I think Kim Kim can improve on. It should be clear what level of service the local specialist is obligated to provide while on the trip -- as certain activities got delayed because of transportation issues. One clear example is when we landed in Surat Thani to go on a night safari in Khao Sok, we were severely delayed (1+ hour) because our driver incorrectly took another passenger! When we faced this issue, we tried communicating with Martin to fix things, but ultimately had to call multiple different kimkim lines to get the driver -- and they ultimately called a taxi to get us there. It would probably make it way easier if they just directly connected us with each local transportation driver.

I also think the digital organization of the trip on kimkim.com could benefit from having a mobile app or some place to clearly attach all of the invoices within a singular trip itinerary. Mobile App makes sense given that you are traveling but always have your phone on you. I had to get around that by uploading this all to my iCloud and managing through folders. It could also make it easier to communicate with local service providers (like drivers).

Hotel Reviews

Chatrium Hotel Riverside Bangkok

Bangkok

Amazing hotel - we had a lot of fun here!

Authenticity & Character

Location

So central to everything!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bodhi Serene Hotel

Chiang Mai

Good location, needs some renovation in the rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Our Jungle Camp - Eco Resort

Tambon Klongsok, Ampur Panom, Suratthani

Staff were amazing and very helpful. Food was great, and I wish we got to stay longer!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Spend a Day with Elephants in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ancient & Hidden Ayutthaya by Bike

Bangkok

Great for people wanting to learn about Thai history!

Canals of Bangkok & Temple Delight

Bangkok

Loved this to kick off our trip!

Take a Thai Cooking Class

Chiang Mai

Amazing to see that we could make thai dishes ourselves!

From beginning to end, this itinerary was the perfect balance of Vietnam for the two of us! Every food tour stood out for us. We especially enjoyed riding with the women of Hue trying different food from around the city. Every guide was excellent and was knowledgeable about the area we were visiting. The travel company Mango Tiger was the best travel agency we have utilized in our travel experience! Mango Tiger was responsive and supported our daily adventures. All transportation was... read more

From beginning to end, this itinerary was the perfect balance of Vietnam for the two of us! Every food tour stood out for us. We especially enjoyed riding with the women of Hue trying different food from around the city. Every guide was excellent and was knowledgeable about the area we were visiting. The travel company Mango Tiger was the best travel agency we have utilized in our travel experience! Mango Tiger was responsive and supported our daily adventures. All transportation was seamless and comfortable throughout our stay. All hotel selections were perfect for our preferences. We are kimkim veterans and continue to explore options with this amazing company in our travels. We could not have selected a better partner to make our honeymoon amazing!

Good itinerary planning and timely support once we are on the holiday in Thailand and Cambodia. Dean and Linda did a great job helping us with this holiday, thank you both!

I have travelled a lot, with the Can military for 23 years and personally. Without any doubt, the professionalism and courtesy that my daughter and I experienced from Emilie of kimkim was the most helpful ever. Thank you Emilie! You were marvellous and we want you to know how much we appreciated your attention to every detail, and your availability to assure us of worry-free travel every step of the way. The three days of trekking with Joe and Robert were remarkable. Such care,... read more

I have travelled a lot, with the Can military for 23 years and personally. Without any doubt, the professionalism and courtesy that my daughter and I experienced from Emilie of kimkim was the most helpful ever. Thank you Emilie! You were marvellous and we want you to know how much we appreciated your attention to every detail, and your availability to assure us of worry-free travel every step of the way. The three days of trekking with Joe and Robert were remarkable. Such care, appropriate attention to our needs, always responsive to our own curiosity, and such teaching! We enjoyed every minute. For our final day in Chiang Mai the city guide was Bab - there could be none better. We were so blessed with her generous spirit and her willingness to make our tour tailored to our interests. Each hotel was ideally chosen, and the hotel staff was friendly, courteous and helpful in every way.
The only glitch in the entire trip was the final pick-up from the hotel to the Bangkok airport. The driver was forty minutes late and unapologetic. The only stressful moment of our brilliant trip!
Thank you again, and again!

Activity Reviews

Bangkok - Wat Pho & Grand Palace – Klong Tour and Wat Arun

Bangkok

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ayutthaya Historical City

Bangkok

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Highlights of Chiang Rai and transfer to Chiang Mai

Chiang Rai

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jungle Trekking - Day 1/3

Thailand

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jungle Trekking - Day 2/3

Thailand

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jungle Trekking - Day 3/3

Thailand

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City, Temple Tour & Doi Suthep Viewpoint

Chiang Mai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our family of four visited Thailand over the first two weeks of August. It was my fourth visit, my husband's second, and the kids' first time. Thailand is always a great experience period. This trip was rather last minute with about 1.5 months to plan given that the country had just fully relaxed all COVID restrictions in July or so and therefore, I decided to call up on kimkim to assist. and Martin and KimKim came through. I knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go, but... read more

Our family of four visited Thailand over the first two weeks of August. It was my fourth visit, my husband's second, and the kids' first time. Thailand is always a great experience period. This trip was rather last minute with about 1.5 months to plan given that the country had just fully relaxed all COVID restrictions in July or so and therefore, I decided to call up on kimkim to assist. and Martin and KimKim came through. I knew exactly what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go, but it was great to know the ins and outs from Martin as a local expert. There was plenty of back and forth between us, but it was to ensure the itinerary was tight and things go smoothly from day 1. And Martin was always accessible and responsive. I think the most I appreciated using KimKim was relying on them to arrange all the transportation without lifting a finger. :)

Bangkok was our command central while we would pack light for 2-3day excursions off to Koh Samui and Kanchanaburi to enjoy everything that each place had to offer. We would return to Bangkok between excursions. Koh Samui is captivating where we stayed at Chaweng Garden Hotel and joined a full day tour to Ang Thong Marine Park. In Kanchanaburi, it was amazing to stay at the River Kwai FloatHouse and visit the beautiful Erawan Waterfalls - these two are a must and worthy to be on anyone's bucket list!

Then there is Bangkok - the city that never sleeps. It's all about shopping and eating. We stayed near MBK and the various shopping malls making it easy to get around especially since the National Stadium BTS station was right near us. One of the major highlight and not planned was riding the Chao Praya River Ferry from the Sathorn Taksin Pier all the way to the end where we visited Nonthaburi, a city very much off the beaten path.

So Thailand was a success! We enjoyed a combination of tours arranged by KimKim and our own free time to discover. I would definitely enlist KimKim's help again and definitely when I return to Thailand in the near future. Thanks Martin!

Hotel Reviews

Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam

Conveniently located near MBK, BTS, and other malls and therefore, in the heart of where all the traffic bottlenecks. Rooms were clean and staff was helpful. Complimentary breakfast was doable. The hotel offered connecting rooms which is great for a family of four. Will probably stay again for the location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chaweng Garden

Hotel was unique and had a lot of character. It has a pool that starts out like a lazy river and ends with a swim up bar. Complimentary breakfast was good. It is located alongside the Chaweng Beach and the water is just beautiful. It's also located on the main street with all the shopping and eateries you can imagine.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The FloatHouse River Kwai

Chang Wat Kanchanaburi

This is a must do if you are visiting Kanchanaburi. The whole experience that comes with Kanchanaburi to stay on the River Kwai and luckily, we were able to grab the FloatHouse for a couple of nights. When you are here, you truly forget the stress of your daily life back home. The complimentary breakfast is okay. We added on dinner with our hotel package and it was alot of food!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Erawan Waterfalls

Thailand

I discovered Erawan Waterfalls from YouTube. It is amazing and you are truly in awe with Mother Nature! The waters are a beautiful glassy blue. If I had known about Erawan a long time ago, it would have been on my bucket list!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I personally want to thank Kimkim and Martin for having organized this wonderful honeymoon trip to Thailand ! We got everything we asked for in the short time span of the trip, and we have great memories of the main places in Thailand. We were active and moving the whole time, local guides and activities were simply amazing, and this really allowed us to go with the flow and discover in a really relaxed way. All the connexions were neatly set up so we didn’t have to worry about anything. Thai... read more

I personally want to thank Kimkim and Martin for having organized this wonderful honeymoon trip to Thailand ! We got everything we asked for in the short time span of the trip, and we have great memories of the main places in Thailand. We were active and moving the whole time, local guides and activities were simply amazing, and this really allowed us to go with the flow and discover in a really relaxed way. All the connexions were neatly set up so we didn’t have to worry about anything. Thai culture, cuisine, it’s people, beaches, natural parks, everything was there. Thanks for your service and your great know-how in creating great trips !

We had the best trip to Thailand! It couldn’t have been better. Martin planned a trip for our family that was perfectly suited to us and the ages and interests of our 3 kids. It allowed us to experience so many different areas and aspects of Thailand. We toured markets by tuk tuk, temples by boat, had an incredible experience with elephants and heaps of fun in a cooking class. We did a night tour in the jungle and stayed in a unbelievable raft hotel in the middle of an beautiful lake.... read more

We had the best trip to Thailand! It couldn’t have been better. Martin planned a trip for our family that was perfectly suited to us and the ages and interests of our 3 kids. It allowed us to experience so many different areas and aspects of Thailand. We toured markets by tuk tuk, temples by boat, had an incredible experience with elephants and heaps of fun in a cooking class. We did a night tour in the jungle and stayed in a unbelievable raft hotel in the middle of an beautiful lake. Everything was made easy and the whole trip went smoothly. All of the tours we had planned and all of our transfers happened seamlessly. I couldn’t recommend Martin and Kim Kim and all of the tour operators we encountered highly enough.

We worked with Martin to book our July 2022 trip for 7 persons (5 adults and 2 teenagers) to Thailand. We were able to see 4 cities in ~10 days so it was a fast paced trip but we enjoyed all of the different experiences and new places. The highlights of the trip included visiting Happy Elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, staying in a tree house and on the lake in Khao Sak national park, and enjoying a day at the beach in Koh Samui. When we arrived in Bangkok we were grateful to check into our... read more

We worked with Martin to book our July 2022 trip for 7 persons (5 adults and 2 teenagers) to Thailand. We were able to see 4 cities in ~10 days so it was a fast paced trip but we enjoyed all of the different experiences and new places. The highlights of the trip included visiting Happy Elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, staying in a tree house and on the lake in Khao Sak national park, and enjoying a day at the beach in Koh Samui. When we arrived in Bangkok we were grateful to check into our hotel right away so we could recharge after the long journey and really enjoyed the Tuk Tuk tour to see Bangkok by night and enjoy some local cuisine. We also really enjoyed our night time hike and river cruises in the Khao Sak national park. Martin was our local expert and helped plan our trip and answer all of our questions. All of our transfers and travel went flawlessly and we were very happy with the trip overall.

Hotel Reviews

Bodhi Serene Hotel

Chiang Mai

This hotel is located within walking distance to several temples and the Sunday night market in Chiang Mai. It has a very boutique feel with friendly staff, a wonderful pool, and a great breakfast buffet. Our room was upgraded to include a balcony and was very nicely furnished. Would definitely recommend this hotel and stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very central location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chatrium Hotel Riverside Bangkok

Bangkok

This hotel is exactly what you would expect from a big city 5 star hotel with an exceptional breakfast buffet. The location is good (keeping in mind Bangkok is a very big city) and the hotel is within walking distance to a 7/11 store. The pool was very large and well kept. The rooms are very spacious with every amenity you could need and are well cleaned and updated. I would definitely stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cheow Lan Lake Explorer

Khao Sok

Our guide for Cheow Lan Lake was Liam and we loved the two days we spent with him. He was very knowledgeable about the plants and animals of the jungle and helped reassure us when we were nervous on our expeditions and answered all of our questions. We really enjoyed the lake cruises and walking trek we did with him to the Pakarang Cave. Would highly recommend him to other travelers.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Spend a Day with Elephants in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai

We enjoyed our day playing with the elephants at Happy Elephant and learning about them from our friendly and knowledgeable guides. The best part of the day was playing with the elephants in the river and watching them give themselves a mud bath. The lunch provided was Pad Thai and it was very delicious however the down time afterward felt too long, we would have preferred to skip it entirely or just have 30 minutes for resting. The only part we did not enjoy was cutting down the grasses for the elephants, we understood it is a necessary part of the upkeep for elephants however we did not have proper attire (long pants/long sleeves) and those that did participate got many scratches and cuts from the sharp grasses.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mixed feelings about the trip. Some amazing people and experiences but very bad ones as well. All in all, we really didn't enjoy Hanoi, however we loved the trek in the rice paddies and the city of Hoi an. We cut short our trip to avoid another potential bad experience in Saigon.