Odynovo Tours Co., Ltd

We had such a great experience with KimKim! Everything was planned well and the guides/drivers/experiences chosen were perfectly curated to what we wanted to do on our trip. The trip was seamless and went so smooth thanks to the planning that they did and the accommodations they chose were in great locations for both Seoul and Busan. We will be recommending KimKim to all our friends planning to travel abroad!

Hotel Reviews

G2 Hotel Myeongdong

Seoul

We really enjoyed the location of this hotel! Though not quite as nice as the other one we stayed in on our visit (L7 in Busan) in terms of amenities and general quality of rooms, we still really enjoyed our stay.

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

L7 HAEUNDAE by LOTTE

Busan

This hotel was the perfect location and the rooms were great. Breakfast was amazing!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Haedong Yonggungsa and Gwangalli Night Food Tour

Busan

Our second day with Luke was amazing! He showed us so much of what Busan had to offer and even adjusted our schedule to see some new things that weren't on the itinerary because we had already explored some on our own. He showed us some of the best food we had on our trip. We could not recommend a tour with Luke more!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gamcheon Village, BIFF Square and Jagalchi Market

Busan

Luke was the best tour guide ever! We had such an amazing couple days with him - when it was rainy he suggested a different indoor activity at an art museum and it was the perfect alternative to being outside in the rain. He was so friendly and knowledgeable. We couldn't have asked for a better guide!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Korean Full-Course Meal Cooking Class at Local Home with Local Market Experience

Seoul

This was such a fun activity for our trip! The food was amazing and the class was educational and fun. We couldn't have asked for a better guide/instructor!!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Seoul Highlights

Seoul

We had such a great day with Jun! He had the whole day planned out perfectly and we got to see so much without feeling like it was too packed. We couldn't have asked for a better guide, he gave us a lot of fun details about everywhere we visited and answered any questions we had! We were so happy with this tour!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

the organization and input from Lisa on what to see and do was great. it really helped to use a local travel assistant instead of one who does not know the region. The idividual guide and driver were good and the guide had good knowledge about the local sights - he was able to indepth explain the history of the various monasteries we visited. The hotels were modern, clean and the service was extremely friendly. The local food was delicious, fresh and well prepared in clean environments. i would highly recommend to use Kimkim for similar local flavor tours.

Hotel Reviews

LUX* Tea Horse Road Shangri - la

great views, centrally located. clean, friendly

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

LUX* Tea Horse Road Benzilan

clean, luxurious, well located.

Authenticity & Character

nice architecture, good views

Location

in the middle of Benzilan

Staff

extremely friendly, helpful to ensure we understood everything

Cleanliness & Comfort

could not have been better

Activity Reviews

Highlight of Shangri-la with Napa Lake, local family visit

Shangri-La

napalake was good to drive through. not a must. we did not do the local family visit.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Shangri-La Day Tour: Pudacuo National Park and Gedan Songzanlin Monastery

Shangri-La

massive monastery with lots of history

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Benzilan Old Town, Temples

Benzilan

off the beaten path. we spend 2 nights, 1 would have been sufficient

Quality of Experience

old monasteries, drive through the valley along the Yangste river were super. much historic perspective

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

having a large car was a good recommendation

Our initial interaction with Christine were excellent. Also, she was very responsive to any questions we had and so we trusted Kim Kim to have all the arrangements made per our requests. We would have given both a 5 star review but due to the following, we are giving 4 stars:
1. We had requested aisle seat plus second seat next to aisle way in advance but when we checked out we were given middle seats on the way to Seoul and return. This may seem trivial but due to medical reasons, an aisle seat was very important
2. We had specifically requested small group tour but in Seoul ended up being on a 26 person tour. Another disappointment was that the tour was a Viator tour that we could have booked on our own.
3. Our time in Jeju was a little disappointing as we thought we would have a tour guide who was more informative on the history and culture of Jeju. She is a lovely person who drove us everywhere but for what we paid for this tour and what our expectations were for having a driver/tour guide- it was a bit disappointing. We also felt that the content of the tour was not as we had expected. We are unsure if it could have been more interesting.

Having said this, we appreciate all the timely pickups by drivers and Christine’s responses to our questions and concerns. She tried to make up for the complaints by a credit and a lunch.

Hotel Reviews

GoldOne Hotel & Suites

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lotte City Hotel Jeju

Jeju

Authenticity & Character

Location

I

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

L7 HAEUNDAE by LOTTE

Busan

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Soi Hanok Stay

cheongju

We booked this hotel on our own and lived it. Excellent place

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

HOTEL THE BOTANIK SEWOON MYEONGDONG

Seoul

Excellent location. Service was fine and room was adequate

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Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Seongsan Ilchulbong and Dongmun Traditional Market

Jeju Island

This day was a bit disappointing. Tour area were a bit touristy.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Hallasan, Tea Plantation and Spirited Garden Tour

Jeju Island

The hike to the the peak was fun and informative. The spirited garden is a must see for all!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Bulguksa Temple and National Museum Tour

Gyeongju

Jino was an excellent guide. He shared all Sorts of historical and cultural information that made our time more memorable!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Small Group Full Day Busan Tour (Max 6 Pax)

Busan

Quality of Experience

Hi

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Seoul City Sightseeing (Gyeongbokgung Palace, N Seoul Tower & Namsangol Hanok Village)

Seoul

Due to group size

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I thought all our guides were good but Tomoe in Tokyo was the best. We also really liked our last day with Fuji in Kyoto.

I booked this trip with my travel agent, Cruises-for-Africa in South Africa who uses kimkim in Japan.

Generally speaking, it was a good trip with very few things to complain about.

If I were forced to complain, then my big complaint would relate to the size of the hotel room in the first hotel we stayed in when we arrived at Tokyo. You couldn't swing a cat in it. It's a pity that they chose to compromise in that way on cost. I would happily have paid more to get a room of similar size to the rest of the hotels on our itinerary. The room in the Mount Fuji Hotel was enormous. The only problem was that there were no normal beds. There were just futons on the ground, but it was interesting, nevertheless.

As for the rest of the hotels, they were excellent, and all hotels, including the first one, had very good breakfast buffets.

Your correspondents, KimKim were quite responsive, albeit at times a little slow. All in all, they did their job well.

The vehicles that were used to transport us privately from place to place were of very good quality, with really nice features.

Our guides were generally good, save for the last one in Osaka whose English was way below par.

From a personal point of view, I found the itinerary to be too busy, and I ran out of steam, forcing me to shorten the day by eliminating things that I wasn't particularly excited about seeing. These related primarily to temples and shrines. When you've seen a few, they all become the same. If I had it over again, I would exclude many of the temple/shrine visits and do something else.

Selecting food to eat was quite intimidating as there is very little description as to what each Japanese dish comprises. Towards the end of our trip, we became a little more adventurous and I must say we had some very nice meals.

If asked whether I intend to return to Japan, my answer would tend to be no. I found that there was very little unique about Japanese cities beyond the shrines and temples. Tokyo itself wasn't particularly pretty. It seems that every square meter of space has been populated by skyscrapers of the size that I have seldom, if ever, seen. They might have been interesting if the architects had shown a little creativity, but sadly, there was nothing pretty about them, just monoliths all standing in a row with remarkably little space between each building. Could never tolerate living there.

The highlight for me was the Japanese people themselves. Disciplined, extremely respectful and very kind people. If the world was populated by such people, it would be a much better world than the one we live in.

Therefore, all in all, a good trip, but not for me to be repeated.

Thank you very much for your help and support throughout the process. You were, as normal, excellent.