Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our guide, Isabel, was amazing. So knowlegeable about everything from Mexican history to city neighborhoods to food. We would return to Mexico City again because there's just so much to do and see.

Audrey, our KimKim planner, did an amazing job of filling our week long trip to France with all the sites we asked to visit. Paris, Normandy, Mount Saint Michele.
From the time we arrived at the airport to the time we left. Every detail was such an easy task! Hotel bookings, event tickets and transportation.
Thank you for making our trip stress free!

From the beginning, Trang aimed to understand the type of trip I was seeking for myself and family. Our trip planning began almost a year before the trip. She was very patient and made so many modifications to my itinerary. I wanted a mix of rural, cultural, city and nature seeking. It’s very important for me to support local businesses and have an authentic cultural experience. All of my accommodations and tours satisfied my requests. 2 in particular - the nonprofit Cardamon Tent Camp and Canvas Orchid Retreat matched our priorities toward socially responsible tourism. Trang was also able to secure adjoining or adjacent rooms for each of our hotel stays. Prior to our departure, I had trouble with my flight and VISA. Thankfully, Trang was proactive in settling the VISA and adjusting my itinerary to accommodate my late change in plans. Throughout the trip, Trang checked in with me to make sure my accommodations and local tour guides were satisfying my needs. I wish that Trang could plan all of my future trips!

This was a dream trip for our family. This company put all my anxieties at ease with their attention to detail, communication, and thoughtfulness. Our drivers were amazing! They came in air conditioned vehicles, had our picture and got us to all our locations safely! The hotels were exactly what I asked for which was kid friendly in safe/tourist neighborhoods. We tailored the trip to our needs and the specialist had no problem providing options for us. Specifically we only wanted 1 day of temples and the specialist suggested a cooking class for the next which was one of the highlights for our family! Deedee in Phuket was amazing! Entertaining, kind, and helped me when I was in a jam with the locals. I thought visiting Asia had too many hurdles for me to do with kids but the Kimkim specialists were the best! I would travel with them again in a heartbeat!

Hotel Review

Cassia Phuket

Phuket

Our favorite hotel by far! The family pool party was the best! My kids had a blast! We also enjoyed the room service! Food was delivered quickly and there were plenty of options for all! My kids loved having their own room and the kitchen was perfectly stocked with dishes and pans if you needed. Overall we loved this hotel!

Authenticity & Character

Lots of games available for the kids and people were very nice!

Location

Felt safe with lots of tourists and restaurants.

Staff

Very kind!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Northern Thai Dining & Cultural Show at Khum Khantoke

Chiang Mai

This was unlike anything we have ever seen before! We had a great time!

Quality of Experience

Food

We loved the all you can eat chicken wings!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver was a great driver but more friendly than I was used to. Helping herself to some of our dinner, asking me to buy drinks, following us into our hotel room- it was a level of friendly I’m not accustomed to and found a bit intrusive. I did ask her to leave us to give us some space to which she complied.

Explore the Koh Phi Phi By Speedboat

Phuket

Gorgeous beaches!! Green water! Was better than we expected!

Quality of Experience

We loved the soft beaches and the greenery of the islands! I wish we’d had more time but we saw a lot! Even snorkeled!

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Deedee was amazing on boat 222. Entertaining, thoughtful! Made the experience so much fun!

Transport

Living Green Elephant Sanctuary Experience - Full Day

Chiang Mai

This experience was a dream come true! We couldn’t stop smiling! My kids will always remember how they wrestled an elephant for food!

Quality of Experience

Spending the whole day at the sanctuary gave us the time/space to enjoy all the things! We never felt rushed or pressured to move onto another task. We spent as much time doing the activities with the elephants as we wanted. The only activity we lasted longer then the elephants was the river- we stayed in much longer enjoying the cooler waters while they retreated to the forest to forage!

Food

We liked cooking lunch!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Traditional Thai Cooking Class with Market or Herb Garden Tour!

Bangkok

This was a highlight for us! We enjoyed learning h pu w to cook the Thai dishes!

Quality of Experience

Our chef was amazing! She was funny, entertaining, and patient!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The AC vans!

Bangkok Spiritual Encounter

Bangkok

We enjoyed seeing the monks and talking with them!

Quality of Experience

Was a very calming experience.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We booked our honeymoon through KimKim to Thailand and had an amazing experience every step of the way. First we went to Chiang Mai and met our tour guide Bam. Our hotel Bella Nara was a fantastic stay with an absolutely delicious breakfast (Our favorite of the entire trip). We had a fantastic time going to the Araksa Tea Garden and getting a tour of the Silver Temple. She also brought us to the silver smith and we got to learn to engrave some aluminum keychains. We also went to the Elephant Jungle sanctuary and got to work with the elephants there.

Next we went to Bangkok and met our tour guide Mr. Tawee. Our favorite part was the Hidden Local Beliefs tour led by Scotty. He taught us all about Buddhism from a very personal level and took us to some amazing temples both on and off the beaten path. TIngly cooking school and the night street food tour were both amazing adventures as well.

After that we flew to Cambodia, specifically to Siem Reap. Seeing the beautiful countryside as well as the ancient temples was breathtaking. The floating village and sunset boat tour on Tonle Sap lake was a fantastic end to our day. Sorphorn was extremely knowledgeable and helpful with recommending places to eat.

Finally our travels brought us to Phuket. We went on the John Gray's sea canoe trip and got to see some amazing islands and lagoons, as well as going into the caves and seeing bio-luminescent plankton. The crew on the Phi Phi Sunrise and Maya Bay by Simba tour were fantastic as well. It was a little hard for a first time snorkeler, but someone more experienced would have a great time.

Overall our planning with KimKim made the entire trip a breeze, and their execution was nearly flawless. Kien was with us every step of the way, and listened to all of our wants and needs. We highly recommend the service, and will be planning with them again.

Activity Reviews

Hidden Local Beliefs

Bangkok

Scotty was an incredible guide. Highly recommend him! We loved getting to learn about the practice of Buddhism and local beliefs.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Finding The Lost Angkor Temples - Lunch at Srah Srang Village House

Siem Reap

Absolutely stunning experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

We loved the place they took us for lunch. Getting to eat a traditional Cambodian meal in the home restaurant was amazing.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Countryside Adventure by Quad Biking

Siem Reap

We were able to see the beautiful landscape and countryside of Siem Reap. Our guide was personable and informative.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Street Food Tour After Dark by Tuk Tuk

Bangkok

Tried lots of delicious foods, including soy sauce ice cream!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chiang Mai Culture & Arts

Chiang Mai

Bam gave us a personal experience of the city and we had a great time on this tour. We loved making the aluminum engravings and learning about the traditions and history of Chiang Mai.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary (Morning session)

Chiang Mai

Possibly the favorite part of the trip. Kind of wish we could've spent the whole day with the elephants.

Araksa Tea Experience & Adventure at Sri Lanna National Park

Chiang Mai

We had an incredible time picking and learning about tea. Tasting the teas was delicious and the guides were very informative. The national park was gorgeous and we had an amazing time at the waterfall.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were very well supported by Luz on What’s App. She even went ahead and got us boarding passes for our internal flights when o expressed some anxiety.
We found the guide Anna excellent and our guide for the larger public tour was excellent, too, with a great sense of humor.
Overall, we were really happy and wouldn’t hesitate to use KimKim again. We would have liked a wider range of hotels as they’re were only two from which to choose in Oaxaca. The hotel that you arranged for us in Puerto Escondido, Hotel Santa Fe was perfect. I had to find my own hotel in San Miguel de Allende, since KimKim’s suggestions were not to my liking.
It was an ambitious trip for us, going to three different locations over 12 days and the transfers and travel were excellent. All the drivers showed up on time and were courteous with safe driving skills.

Hotel Review

Hotel Santa Fe

Puerto Escondido

We loved the architecture, location and restaurant. When and if we return to Puerto Escondido, we will definitely stay at Hotel Santa Fe.

Authenticity & Character

Colonial charm!

Location

Across from the water which at the time of year in December was a place to swim , unlike other times of year when I’m told the water is too rough.

Staff

Wonderful. Please delete the poor star. I seem to have made a Mistake.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Free morning in Puerto Escondido

Puerto Escondido

Loved being on our own in this sunny, warm environment. We went for a long walk along the water ending with a market visit.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Lovely scenery and good toll roads from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido

Oaxaca's Hidden Gems: Discover Mitla, Hierve el Agua, Teotitlán & Mezcal!

Oaxaca

Mitla was amazing and an excellent complement to Monte Alban. It was fun to taste and see the mezcal production place and the weaving demo and the proprietor was a delight. The guide well informed and a good driver, but his very slow walking was about frustrating when we Toured the ruins.

Quality of Experience

Variety of stops

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Slightly faster pace

Transport

Comfortable

Explore the history and crafts of Oaxaca through Monte Alban, Arrazola, Cuilapam and Coyotepec.

Oaxaca

Dry interesting assortment of activities. Guide was bilingual and informative as well as entertaining. Like most tours, when the participants buy something from a place that we were escorted, the guide probably gets a cut. We didn’t Like the second stop which had thousands of painted animals, a well know. Craft in Oaxaca. The place seemed a little too touristy and over priced. Loved the outdoor, buffet lunch. I didn’t need to see the church ruins after seeing mont -Alban. That second archeological site could have been skipped and substituted with something a bit different.

Quality of Experience

Monte Alban was a well preserved site and lunch was authentic food with wide variety

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Comfort

Rural cooking workshop in Oaxaca

Oaxaca

Lovely family with open fire cooking. Cleanly and delicious and it was fun to stop in the market ahead of time to pick up a needed ingredient. We also got to see a more rural location outside of Oaxaca. Not sure I picked up Any Cooking tips or things I learned to make, bit it was fun and stimulating.

Quality of Experience

Unique flavors and cooking techniques

Food

The soup was a bit bland, but I loved all the super fresh, healthy ingredients

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Comfortable van and not too long a ride, but long enough to get a feel for another area.

Oaxacan Markets: A Culinary Journey through Colors and Flavors

Oaxaca

Great fun going to all the Markets. We had a huge variety and generous amount of foods to eat

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver and guide worked well together

Transport

For three of us with the guide and driver, Making five, we were more comfortable in a van, which we had from the second day onward

Kayaking in the Manialtepec Lagoon

Puerto Escondido

We’ve done lots of kayaking and this was the best kayak we’ve ever done. This was an outstanding tour. The scenery was incredible, the dinner on the beach was excellent with whole fish freshly caught and the ride back by motorboat under the full moon was fantastic.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I loved everything in my trip. I had a wonderful hotels, tours. Even when things did not go right ( because of the flight) everything was rearranged and I did not loose any experiences. I am definitely coming back with my family to explore Patagonia. Thank you

Eduardo and his company should never have been our travel specialist. We booked a trip to Belize and he is based in Guatemala. We had so many issues on this trip and I fault Eduardo and his lack of visibility and boots on the ground. It was our fifth trip we’ve booked using KimKim and it was by far the absolute worst. The others have been incredible. While Belize was incredible and we had a fabulous time, it was super stressful basically every day because something was messed up with our hotel reservation or the timing is outings or being double booked, etc.

Hotel Reviews

Ramon's Village Resort

San Pedro

Loved this hotel!!! The only complaint would be that they don’t serve hard liquor so no fun frosty cocktails while on the beach or at the pool. Otherwise - it’s perfect!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Falling Leaves Lodge

San Ignacio

The staff at Falling Leaves were incredible! And the restaurant was really great. The lodging varies and due to our travel agent screwing up our stay, we went from a pretty basic room to the honeymoon suite on our last night there. So I think it’s important to understand the different options when staying there. And it’s not true that it’s a 10 min walk to the city center. It’s a 30 min walk and all uphill on the way back.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Not close enough to city center

Staff

Staff was amazing!’

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Xunantunich Horse Backriding Maya Ruins Tour

Belize

It is a must do if you like horseback riding. Our guide were absolutely incredible - Jose and Hank. They were so attentive and always looking out for our safety. And the ruins were amazing! Loved everything about this excursion!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) caves day tour

Belize

By far the most dangerous but coolest thing I’ve done in my life!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Should’ve been more attentive given I fell and he had no clue.

Transport

Hol Chan/Shark Ray Alley - from Victoria House Resort

Belize

First of all - we stayed at Ramon’s where the excursion departed from. Again - complete sloppiness on the part of our Guatemalan travel specialist. And after I notified him of the issue he never clarified with Ramon’s so good thing I went early to check us in because they would’ve seen a transport to Victoria house to pick us up. Again, I’m sure we paid for that transportation that never happened. But the actually snorkeling was the best we’ve ever done. Or was incredible and the crew was awesome! Safest snorkeling I’ve ever done also! We saw sea turtles, nurse sharks, eels, stingrays, an octopus and sooo many more fish. It is a MUST!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cacao Farm & Chocolate Making Tour

San Ignacio

I would’ve given this a 5 had we actually gotten what we paid for. We showed up at the cooking demonstration and were told they don’t do cacao farm tours and we would only get a 45 min cacao making demonstration. After I lost my mind with both our local travel guy and our one in Gautama la, after the demonstration we got taken to a random guys cacao farm. He couldn’t sprang English and we got eaten alive by mosquitos etc. it was not what we were expecting or what we paid for. Complete and utter disappointment. We totally got hoodwinked

Quality of Experience

Learned a lot during the cacao demonstration!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guy doing the demonstration was great!

Transport

Cooking Class at San Ignacio

Belize

It was absolutely fantastic! Cannot recommend enough!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer from San Ignacio to Belize City with Cave Tubing Tour en Route

Belize

While we LOVED the tubing experience, our driver and “guide” was a man of few words and didn’t speak English well. So it was not as great as it could’ve been. He didn’t tell us what we were doing to do and then after the experience, let us linger at lunch and we missed the 1:30 boat to Ambergris Caye and had to wait until the 3 pm - missing 1.5 hours on the island when the weather was awesome. He also didn’t tell us what we needed to do to check our bags for the ferry or get our tickets. It was an absolute disaster.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Janine was an excellent guide. We wanted to do a lot of Bike Riding within the coat epoxy national Park and she coordinated that extremely well. At a certain point we needed a pick up truck and she was able to arrange that on a moments notice. The places we visited were unique and individual and we were very satisfied with the help provided by Kimkim. Having a driver was especially important and we felt very safe and comfortable as we travel throughout the country.

We felt like we were able to see many of the Gems Iceland had to offer. We acknowledge we had a bit of luck when it came to the weather, it was an incredible experience. New Year's Eve was amazing, we could not get enough of the fireworks and the energy in the city.

Activity Reviews

Hvammsvik Hot Springs (& Nature Reserve)

Iceland

a little crowded but gorgeous!

Solheimajokull Glacier Hike

Iceland

Beautiful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wonderful family trip to France!

We loved the trip! The pacing was excellent, and Liz did a great job understanding our travel preferences and building an itinerary that was full, engaging, and exciting while still leaving good time for us to relax.

In terms of guides, we especially loved the tour of the Louvre with Ed from Paris and Beyond Tours and tours in Nice with Harmonie. The pastry class was a dud even though we'd been super excited about it: it was rushed and neither hands-on nor learning oriented. The perfume workshop was a big hit though!

Hotels were good, and Liz did a good job finding both hotels and events that matched our family preferences. There was a great mix of active and relaxed, more and less fancy events.

There were two areas that I thought were rocky:

1. The handoff between the local specialist (Liz) and the booking team. It seemed to me that the communication wasn't as clear as I'd like and I don't know that we would repeat with Kimkim, favoring instead a company that provides a single point of contact throughout the planning and booking process.

2. More transparency around price. There was about a 20% price jump from the initial proposal to what we booked which was attributed to fluctuation in hotel pricing during the week or so we were discussing options.

On the other hand, the bigger portfolio of kimkim allowed them to produce an app for viewing the itinerary that proved surprisingly useful: it was great to have a quick reference at the start/end of each day for keeping in touch with planning.

Hotel Reviews

Palais Saleya Boutique Hôtel

Nice

Authenticity & Character

Proximity to center.

Location

Proximity to everything for the city.

Staff

Friendly, multi-lingual.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kitchenette was nice!

Le 9Hotel Opera

Paris

Solid hotel.

Authenticity & Character

It was great, but a very standard European hotel, and part of a broader chain.

Location

Good walkability, and cheap cab to anywhere farther.

Staff

Night staff and day staff were radically different; day staff was friendly and we loved it. Night staff was actively rude to our teenage daughters, perhaps because of their age, but I was very frustrated.

Cleanliness & Comfort

On several occasions the small lobby seemed to be used by patrons for loud, long conference calls.

Hotel Arok

Strasbourg

Loved the breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Good proximity to the train station; easy walk to downtown.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Seine River Gourmet Dinner Cruise with Live Music

Paris

Only negative -- there were *lots* of boats departing from the same place and we got in the wrong line. Needed some more clarity on how to actually identify the boat we were going to be on. Dinner was a blast, and we loved the entertainment. Great views. Strongly recommended.

Elevate & Explore: Montparnasse Views + VR Time Travel

Paris

Going at night was a minus -- views were way limited. VR was gimmicky (but okay). Overall, fun, but one of the weakest events.

Private French Pastry Class

Paris

A dud: the chef was knowledgeable, but clearly moving through a script she'd done many times and just didn't seem interested in. We came eager to learn but instead were passive participants in a fairly routine pastry activity.

Private Full-Day Ski & Sun Day

Nice

Beautiful, guide had everything super well prepared. Two downsides: 1. the day was a bit short. Maybe would want to expand it a bit more with a later departure. 2. not enough opportunity to eat before departure. :)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Create Your Own Perfume in Nice

Nice

Great staff, fun experience, everyone got something really different even though we were all together, which made it truly feel personal.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Kim Kim did an awesome job planning my trip to The Netherlands! The drivers are all polite and are always on time to pick us up. The hotels recommended by Mieke were all beautiful and unique, even though small since thay are usually boutique hotels. The only glitch in the trip was that the canal cruise in Amsterdam almost didn’t happen as the company claimed they did not get the date change from Mieke and we were told we weren’t able to take it since the time slot was full. I was unable to contact Mieke at all too, and it was highly frustrating. Luckily someone didn’t turn up and hence they allow us to get on to the cruise. In the trip plan, it was stated that there would be Christmas markets in Belgium and Netherlands during my trip but there weren’t any. Other than that, everything went smoothly as planned.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Estheréa

Amsterdam

Absolutely charming and beautiful, although it was perpectually crawling with tourists and the lifts and hallways are too cramped and small for ita own good. The staff may be overwhelmed and don’t appear very warm or friendly at all, much like the weather in Amsterdam right now. Breakfast is great although you have to book in advance and you are only given a 45mins time frame to finish.

Authenticity & Character

The charm of the hotel is through the roof with no two rooms the same deco, although they are really tiny.

Location

Right on the nine streets; the historic city center

Staff

Coldly professional, much like the january weather in Amsterdam and unfortunately marred the charm of the hotel

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms and hallways are cramped and tiny

Hotel Indigo The Hague

The Hague

A small boutique hotel with good breakfast and limited service

Authenticity & Character

Its beautiful and small but the staff are coldly professional and didn’t make you feel warm.

Location

Amazing location right on the Royal shopping street

Staff

It feels like the staff is there to check you in and out, but don’t expect much else. The room does not have amenities so you have to ask them for them which is quite inconvenient.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room is clean but you have to ask for the basic amenities from the front desk

Pillows Grand Boutique Hotel Reylof

Ghent

The breakfast was phenomenal and hotel was a modern mox of modernity and old school charm. No view in the room but it was spacious and beautiful. It is located very close to the main tourist stretch without it being too intrusive.

Authenticity & Character

A very beautiful hotel with unique sitting area on the 2nd floor

Location

Near but not right smack in city center so you don’t feel too overwhelmed by the noise and crowd

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Suitehotel Pincoffs

Rotterdam

Fantastic family run hotel that is almost like staying in an intimate B&B or welcomed into someone’s home. Although no gym and the breakfast is pretty limited, the warm service and deco more than make up for it.

Authenticity & Character

The is an authentic fireplace in the hotel and its rooms are unique with super cool layouts.

Location

Staff

They will go the extra mile for you and always with a genuine smile.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Book the loft junior suite. You will not regret it

The Dominican

Bruxelles

The hotel is small and charming but unfortunately the staff are not so. They don’t greet or even acknowledge you when you come into the hotel and housekeeping is practically useless since after tipping them, they don’t even replace the ameities that you used (not like they provide much to begin with). The gym is practically useless with no weights. The only saving grace is its location and the only nice and friendly gentlemen uncle serving in breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very central and accessible

Staff

All look miserable and border on rude. Cannot be bothered to help at all

Cleanliness & Comfort

Housekeeping is bare minimal and don’t even replace amenities

Activity Review

Amsterdam - Canal cruise (join in)

The Netherlands

They claimed they did not get our reservation at all and did not seem to care otherwise. Only because others did not turn up did they give us the slot. The boat was small and it was freezing, hece there was limited view. Not very comfortable although the boat guy was funny and nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The whole trip was great! Hoa did a FANTASTIC job putting together great activities and lodgings!
We especially loved the local feel on our tour to Koh Klang.
Will definitley use & recommend Kimkim in the future!

Kathrin was excellent!

Kathrin was very professional, efficient, and prompt throughout our trip planning and execution. The most notable aspect however is how patient and skillful she was dealing with my indecisiveness. I much appreciated her great listening skills and how she was able to intuitively pick up details I hadn't consciously mentioned allowing her to develop a well thought itinerary that matched our travel style and desires very well.

Her skills and service went beyond just the planning stage at the beginning of our trip when she quickly and expertly rearranged some of our first events as a result from a multi day airline delay. And she was very prompy in answering questions throughout the trip. This confidence knowing we were in good hands added allowed us to relax and enjoy the trip much more than otherwise.

The completeness of the trip book made the traveling easy and stress free, knowing everything was taken care of.

I will use Kimkim again and Kathrin the next time we go to New Zealand.

Great trip! Everything was planned perfectly, every tour guide was exceptional, and every transfer arrived on time. We were traveling during the holidays and I expected to have at least one glitch, but all went smoothly. I would highly recommend this service, and we will use them again to travel. Our local specialist was Beatriz- there was never a time I texted on the trip, with questions, that she or one of the travel agency staff did not answer immediately. They actually have people on call during the holidays and on the weekends in case we had questions or any problems. Exceptional service!
One of the best family trips we have had in years!

Monika was incredible! She helped curate the perfect 3 week honeymoon in New Zealand that was the right balance of romantic, fun, spontaneous, leisure, and adventure.

We funyaked and hiked and glamped and saw the glow worms.

I would recommend KimKim and Monika specifically to anyone looking for an epic and unforgettable New Zealand adventure!

Hotel Reviews

Rendezvous Heritage Hotel Auckland

Auckland

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Raglan Sunset Motel

Raglan

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tongariro Suites

Horopito

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Hermitage Hotel

Mount Cook Village

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Valley Views Glamping

Kurow

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Dairy Private Hotel by Naumi Hotels

Queenstown

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Waitomo Glowworm Caves + Ruakuri cave combo

New Zealand

Honestly, we could have skipped the Waitomo Cave tour and just did the Ramiro Cave tour. We saw glow worms up close and personal on the second tour!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Weta Workshop Wellington

Wellington

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Christchurch - Arthur's Pass return (by TranzAlpine train )

Christchurch

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Big Sky Stargazing -outdoor stargazing tour

Aoraki / Mount Cook Village

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dart River Funyak Safari

New Zealand

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Onsen Hot Pools

Queenstown (NZ)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It's been two years since I travelled to Norway with my family and I still remember how great it was. Kristiina put together a wonderful trip. I had wanted to pack it in so it was definitely a busy trip but the time in Oslo and Bergen were both great. I would highly recommend a museum day wandering around Oslo. The zipline in Bergen on Mt. Ulriken should not be missed either. There were some crossed wires on a day in Vik, but it ended up being a really happy accident. While we had a lot of downtime in a small town, we were able to explore and created one of the best times we had during the entire trip. The travel day from Oslo to Bergen was fantastic. Really there was nothing to be missed. Thank you, Kristiina.

Activity Reviews

Zipline at Mount Ulriken

Bergen

My kids still talk about this experience - really great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Norway in a Nutshell Tour

Norway

So much fun! It is a busy day, but completely wonderful and beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I reached out to kimkim because this was a big trip for us, and they delivered. We worked with both Amandine and Emilie, who were fantastic. They really understood what we were looking for and provided ideas and locations that we never would have known about without their help. Because of them, I was relaxed on our trip, and so was able to enjoy myself, and focus on experiencing the sights and food and amazingness of France. I am telling everyone I know about kimkim because I can't see myself traveling overseas without their knowledge and assistance. So happy to have found this company.

Activity Review

Passport to Versailles - Entrance tickets with audioguide

France

Emilie arranged for a car to take us to Versailles and I would do that again as it made the experience that much more special. AND we were even able to change our pick up location because we found ourselves at the other end of the gardens and wanted to spend more time there. LOVED the gardens and the Trianon. Don't miss the other buildings on the grounds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our driver (and car) was icing on the cake. Door to door and at our leisure. I couldn't ask for more.

Our Paris trip was the trip of a lifetime! We couldn’t have managed without your planning, careful attentiveness, and fast communication. Our Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle guide, Manny, was uniquely able to engage with my 8 year old grandson. He was extraordinary.
Our photographer, Kouss, was the sweetest guy, and gave us “forever images” of our time at the Tour Eiffel.
Lourdes, our guide for the Louvre is a true scholar. Our treasure hunt felt way too complicated for us so she graciously agreed to slow the pace. We still managed to see all three wings and the highlights we asked for.
We got lost and missed our bus to Mont Saint-Michel. We rescheduled the trip for the penultimate day, but we were exhausted, so we cancelled again. We’ll catch it in the future.
Versailles was a mob scene. We hadn’t realized that the “self-guided tour” was simply an app. Even if we had known to bring earbuds, the deafening din and the press of the crowd, many of whom were loudly making their own videos and podcasts, would have made it a useless endeavor. The app itself was way too mysterious to manœuvre at my age.
There was a misalignment of dates on day 1 and 2 that kept us from our first tour. I also wanted to check in about our last night at Chantilly. I don’t remember if we had paid in advance, but I was charged for the night.
Great castles tours, too.
Thank you all, and Liz and Diliana, for making these memories possible. We’ll never really be the same!
Lucia May and family

Hotel Reviews

InterContinental Chantilly Chateau Mont Royal, an IHG Hotel

La Chapelle-en-Serval

Pure luxury!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Citadines Bastille Marais Paris

Paris

Very attentive and pleasant staff. Fantastic breakfasts. The hotel itself is a bit dated, but very clean. You use an app to do your laundry(!).

Authenticity & Character

Not important

Location

Short walk to Metro

Staff

Always helpful and pleasant staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed linens very comfortable. Kitchenette was modern and clean.

Activity Reviews

Louvre Museum Treasure Hunt

Paris

The Louvre Museum Treasure Hunt was a bit sophisticated for our family, especially with an eight-year-old in tow. The guide, Lourdes, was fantastic and flexible, allowing us to go at our own pace despite the content being above our level.

Versailles Half-Day Essentials by Bus

Paris

The Versailles Half-Day Essentials by Bus was underwhelming. I expected guidance and commentary during the bus ride, but it was merely transportation. Once there, the self-guided tour was challenging to follow amidst the crowds, and the app provided was inaudible. Overall, it lacked the historical context I was hoping for.

My family of six had an amazing trip to Egypt and Jordan. It was two nights in Cairo, 4 cruising up the Nile, 2 back in Cairo and the last 3 nights in Jordan to visit Petra and the Dead Sea. We are repeat customers of Kimkim, and on the last 15 months have spent almost $60,000 with them.

Overall we were very pleased with the trip. To improve our experience the communication during the planning process could have been better. I was surprised by the difficulty on this trip because the year before we used Kimkim for a family trip to Spain and we didn’t have the same problems.

For the Spain trip our specialist was in Colorado at the Kimkim headquarters and communication was excellent. For the Egypt and Jordan trip our specialist, Aya was in Egypt. Aya, was very good, but communication was difficult due to four factors: 1) the time difference, 2) some language barriers, 3) some technical glitches which resulted in scheduled calls not going through, and 4) Kimkim subcontracted all of its Egypt work to Sun Pyramids, who subcontracted the Jordan portion to a third company. As a result, the Jordan information was slow in coming, and the Egypt information seemed forced into the Kimkim framework.

A few times there were gaps/delays in communication and I reached out to Kimkim corporate twice. The first time they were helpful (your advisor has been sick and will be in touch shortly), the second time they were not helpful at all (please write all your comments in the trip chat and you will get a response - I did and but they didn't). Overall, I expected more from Kimkim, and I felt they were not actively supervising the people with whom they contracted/ delegated.

Guides and Drivers:
The guide in Cairo (Mahmoud Imam), was very good. The Jordan guide (Mohammad Al Najjar) and Jordan driver (Mohammad Masoud) in Jordan were excellent. We had one bad experience with a vehicle in Luxor that was substandard. We complained to Aya and Sun Pyramids was very responsive and positively resolved the issue very quickly, compensating us with upgraded tickets in the Valley of the Kings.

Hotels / Cruise:
The MS Nile Premium Cruise was rated 5 Star, but was on the very low end of that The personnel and service were excellent, the cabins were tired, and the food was mediocre. The Sofitel in Cairo was excellent. The Petra Canyon Hotel in Wadi Musa was very good, although the dinner fare was so-so. The Holiday Inn Dead Sea was excellent (rooms, food, service).

Tips for working with Kimkim:

Responsiveness - Be aware that you have their full attention and they are very eager to work with you before the deposit is placed. Once the deposit is placed, responsiveness drops off noticeably. (This was true of our Spain trip and the Egypt/Jordan trip). I was happy to give a deposit to secure hotels during a busy season, but their assumption was that the trip had been finalized, and we were still working on it. To Aya's credit, she worked with us on changes throughout the planning for the trip.
Trip Details - Kimkim is a little slow on some information. For example, we repeatedly asked how much driving was planned for each day. We we wanted to minimize our time in the vehicle. The information was not readily available. I had to plot the stops myself, to figure out which days were too long and request adjustments accordingly. After the first one or two adjustments, it would have been great if a thorough analysis had been undertaken to help us.
Confirmations - in Spain, confirmations and contacts for all hotels, transfers and guides were sent one week in advance. In Egypt this was not the case. Sun Pyramids did not provide confirmation numbers and telephone numbers in advance for transfers and guides, and no confirmations for hotels in Jordan.
Service - We were always picked-up on-time, and never left hanging, but it was more comforting in Spain to have all the telephone numbers and names in advance. It was disconcerting to have no contact information when landing at an airport, or when expecting to be picked up at the hotel at 2 am for a 6 am flight. Again, everything went well, but not having a telephone number or contact beforehand was not comfortable. This appears to be a Sun Pyramids policy.
Laundry - A very small thing, but important. Our trips tend to be long and midway, we usually need laundry. Hotel laundry for a family is usually ridiculously expensive. I asked for some recommendations/suggestions for local laundry, and help here would have been amazing.
Tipping - When I requested information about tipping I received general information that was not always useful. Since Kimkim (Sun Pyramids) paid the guides and the drivers, I didn't have a reference (for example, an extra 10% or 15% of what?). We resorted to AI several times. More direct guidance from Kimkim would have been valuable.

Overall, I highly recommend this trip with Kimkim with the above caveats.