Kimkim Trip Reviews

"Thank you, Tina." These are the words my daughter and I said throughout our amazing Croatia Trip. Tina was our KimKim agent.
From the beginning, Tina asked questions and made suggestions that were clearly in line with our interests, schedule, and budget. From lodgings, to excursions, to recommended wanderings, it was all perfect.
While on the trip, Tina responded immediately to last minute questions (how much to tip??) with clear and encouraging advice.
We loved every bit of the trip but our favorite experiences were the Truffle Hunting in Istria and the sailboat adventure in the Zadar Archipelago. We finished the trip with a couple of lazy days in Split and Zagreb where we were able to wander and learn about the local community.
To quote my daughter (26 years old), "trip of a lifetime!"

10 Days, Casablanca - Rabat - Fes - Merzouga - Ait Benhaddou - Imlil - Essaouira - Marrekech. Single traveler.

Booking through Kimkim was probably the best thing I did for this trip. While going at it alone is quite the adventure, Kimkim can give you the tailored itinerary that you're looking for. They pair you up with local guides who are there to please. What you gain through this is a wealth of experience the guides have, that you more than likely don't enabling you to see more, feel fulfilled in your adventure, and make your trip easy and enjoyable. It's you and the guide cruising around Morocco stopping where you want and making on-the-fly adjustments to the itinerary as you see fit. Even better is if you came up with a suggestion, they would give their recommendation on it based on what your overall goal was for the trip. So not only are you tailoring the trip to what you want in real-time, but you're also getting expert suggestions, maximizing the experience. The coolest feeling was skipping the massive amount of tour groups and getting into other places they could not get to or being on your own timeline instead of being in a rush or being delayed.

Next is the guide. When you book through Kimkim they connect you with a local guide agency which will then pair you with a guide that will take you everywhere on your itinerary. From start to finish, that guide is with you. My guide for this trip was Mouad; this dude was awesome. He is definitely a people person and can read someone well which is important in understanding what exactly you want from the trip. I'm normally an introverted person so connecting with people can sometimes be difficult, but not with Mouad. I cannot count how many enjoyable experiences we had exchanging stories on cultural similarities and differences, joking around while getting a private tour of a casbah, or just sharing a good meal with one another. Another important detail is he was able to read when my social battery was running on empty and was able to take a step back to let me recharge and be in solitude without me saying anything. He is an exceptional guide that is a true professional in his craft. I cannot recommend him enough. Another piece to this is the network of people and resources he has. Any town you go to, if you needed something, needed to go somewhere specific, or wanted to do something different Mouad was able to make it happen. This is something you absolutely will not get going alone, or with a large tour company. Lastly, as a testament to the true professional Mouad is, he invited me into his home with his family to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack and be in the company his family. While leaving the Sahara I mentioned I wanted to get a haircut. At that time we were getting into the town where him and his family were living. So he arranged for his barber to meet us at his shop at the last minute. Because of this, there was going to be a wait, so he took me into his home where his delightful mother brewed some delicious tea and attempted to feed me until I couldn't eat and I exchanged a few short stories with his parents. They were extremely welcoming and really sealed in that unique experience I was looking for. Because I did not want to delay the timeline too long with an impromptu haircut, I decided to forego the Saharan haircut, but the memories I made with Mouad and his family will be one for the books. I could go on about how awesome Mouad is but the bare minimum you need to know is if you're going to Morocco, you need to use this guy. You will not regret it.

Once again KimKim has come through with an amazing trip! Our local specialist in Vietnam, Doris, designed a perfect 15 day family adventure in Vietnam and Cambodia. Doris filled our journey with excursions and experiences that perfectly balanced nature, culture, history and local life. We were able to enjoy both the bustling cities and the remote countryside villages of this beautiful country and meet artisans and locals along the way. We always felt warmly welcomed by our various local guides, and we also had plenty of time to explore on our own, with Doris on call with we had any questions or needed advice. We loved every place and every experience on land and water from riding on the back of motorbikes through the truly local areas of Ho Chi Minh City to wandering the winding alleys of old Hanoi, to riding in army jeeps past water buffalo and water lotus in the countryside of Hoi An, to exploring the jaw dropping ancient temples of Siem Reap. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.

Very happy with Kimkim service. Our trip to the Philippines was made special. Leo planned everything according to our budget . Allowing time for us to chill and rest when needed so Everything was planned perfectly well. All our guides were very nice and friendly. The drivers tours and guides were always on time. Also our guide kept in touch to make sure all was going well. The hotels chosen all had good standard. All our day tours for the island hopping were amazing. I highly recommend kimkim for their professional services! Definitely five stars ⭐️

Marisa was incredible to work with! We really appreciated how thoughtfully and intentionally she planned our stays at three different hotels across the island. She recommended delicious restaurants and beautiful hotels. Also, she quickly rescheduled one of our excursions at the last minute due to my screw-up. Marisa and her team sent a bottle of champagne and dessert to our hotel room after dinner on our anniversary! I couldn't recommend her more. Thank you so much, Marisa!

Hotel Reviews

Caloura Hotel Resort

The front desk staff was not friendly or welcoming, and the hotel was very hot, humid, and outdated. However, the views were beautiful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Octant Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada

I LOVED this hotel! Beautiful modern interiors, Class A amenities, friendly staff, gorgeous views, large and comfortable rooms, delicious food and wine, etc. We enjoyed getting drinks at the rooftop bar by the pool and had a great experience at the luxury spa. 12/10 would recommend.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Terra Nostra Garden Hotel

Furnas

Authenticity & Character

Location

The hotel backs up to the Parque Terra Nostra and all hotel guests have free access to visit the park and hot springs. It was beautiful!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

To Eat Suggestion: Santa Barbara Eco Resort

Portugal

The food was phenomenal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

To Eat Suggestion: Tã Gente

Portugal

Good food and fun drinks with outdoor seating downtown.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Exploring the Majesty of the Seas on a Group Whale Watching Experience

São Miguel Island

So glad we booked a whale watching trip! We saw dolphins, orcas, and 3 giant Sei whales. So cool!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

This was a most pleasing, entertaining and and well organized trip. The Tour operator KimKim did a fabulous job for us. The driver and both the guides had exceptional knowledge and insight about the Sites they were showing. Abu Jalil our driver was very accommodating and helped us complete the tour very comfortably.

KimKim has done an exception job in executing this tour for us. we would recommend them to all our friends in the US.

Thank you KImkim

A big shout out to Marianna! She was amazing specialist and worked hard to make this Trip my family. I went back-and-forth with her on the phone and email so many times and she was patient and kind with all my revisions when we got the final draft she made sure we understood everything sending us a video on how to use the itinerary truly amazing!
Each person in our family had a special moment that could’ve been done without her! My 16-year-old daughter’s highlight was going to vintage Bentley. She was able to be a passenger in a 1929 Bentley and race around the track in it!!! We had a great private Tour of the Garage with a restore Bentleys! This was a dream come true for her!
My husband had the time of his life driven around Paris in an antique car! Their driver was the owner of the company and took us to so many interesting out-of-the-way stops ! His knowledge was impeccable. I don’t know his name, but he was the owner of the company. I would use him again. If I went back to Paris he was just amazing with his knowledge wonderful sense of humor and skill of driving ! Four stars for this activity !
My 17-year-old son highlight was going to the Black Country Museum in Birmingham. It It is worth a day trip out of London! Is ranked one of the best living museums in the world and my family agrees! The people on character are spot on and share sooo much history ! This place Kept two teenagers, engaged all day while learning!!! The coal mine tower is a definite must do! My daughter loved that she got to see the set for Peaky Blinders!
Amsterdam is a city we plan on going back to as we all loved it! The tour of the windmills cheese factory , wooden shoes ( Yes, my son brought home a pair of wooden shoes and wore to school when we got home) and walking tours of cute towns was a good overview of Holland! We just wish it was a longer tour as at times we were rushed! But the camel tour at the end was a perfect ending! Great captain with a wonderful sense of humor! The only glitch was the tickets had one meeting place on them and the itinerary had another! But we did catch up with the tour!
One last shout out to Oscar our guide on the London donut tour! He was wonderful! Heated the tour to our needs and interests! We felt like we had a new friend when we left him! He told us to call him anytime we were in London, and he would help us with anything even after the tour! I really fun tour that is relaxing and you’ll be stuffed afterwards. Well worth it for its quirkiness.
Our Doctor Who tour was a little bit of a disappointment! The guide, giving it was a movie director and gave more information about directing movies than Doctor Who trivia, which is what we really wanted! Nice and knowledgeable, but not what we were looking for. I would recommend another tour company for this.!
Can’t wait to use your company again as this is the second time I have used them and everything is always spot on! Thank you again for making my daughter sweet 16 trip so memorable!

Hotel Reviews

Trebovir Hotel

Kensington, London

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Grand Hotel Birgmingham

Birmingham

Great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private transfer in Paris

Paris

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hop-on, Hop-off Bus

London

Great way to see the city wish you had live guide

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Live guide

Transport

Doctor Who Tour London

London

Not the type of tour we wanted! Would of enjoyed more trivia not cinematography knowledge

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tickets to British Museum

London

Must do in London

Quality of Experience

Private transfer to your accommodation. Then check-in or bag-drop

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

London Borough Market Doughnut Tour

London

Fun and yummy tour! Learned a lot of London history as well tour totally catered to our likes and dislikes and interests

Quality of Experience

Oscar the guide was fantastic

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Knowledgeable, helpful, friendly funny, just perfect and every way

Discover Paris in a vintage car

Paris

Best guide ever! The owner of the company is an Amazing guide! He takes you to so many out of the way places that are priceless!! Best guide ever

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dutch countryside tour - windmills and more!

Amsterdam

Wish tour was longer and could have more times at stops

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private transfer to your destination

England

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit of Cadbury world

Birmingham

Fun family activity!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private driver transfer

Amsterdam

Quality of Experience

lol

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tickets to Anne Franck's House

Amsterdam

Must do!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My husband and brother in law teamed up on planning this trip with KimKim support and their close coordination with Clothilde was essential. The hotels were well located and for the most part the service staff were charming and kind. Our guides and drivers: Fernando in Zurich, Mateo in InterLaken, and the 2 gentlemen from Zermatt to Geneva (from Alps transfer) were prompt, knowledgeable, and engaging, as was Aude who was beyond kind. The concierges at Lucerne- Patrick, Isabelle and their colleagues gave us excellent recommendations to spend our time in the lovely city and where to dine for an authentic experience.
Some suggestions on improved communication:
1. emails - when informing customers of changes, it would help to specify what items have been changed in the body of the email itself, rather than have the customer check the 11 page itinerary against the last version, for what could possibly have changed. for example, "Dear Customer, we are enclosing an updated itinerary with the following changes:
page 1 paragraph 2 line 4, Please note that pick up time has changed as the local tour company does not have availability at 10:00 am. Instead, your local city tour will start at 2:00 PM pm on the same day."
2. for airport pickups it might help to instruct travelers about specific locations to meet drivers - our pickup was on the lookout at one end of the airport and we were at another. It could help to be specific - "upon exit from the double doors take the exit to the left where your pick up will meet you next to the cafe illy sign (example)". It would save time and the cost of calls.
3. Inconsistencies between itinerary and vouchers based on last minute changes between the company, its distributors or local contacts need to be coordinated by you and not your customer as that is an expected part of service.
4. The hotel Bristol was wonderfully located and was clean and offered excellent value. The lady in registration expected us to have signed in online but that expectation was not communicated to us ahead of time. The pad offered to accomplish the online check in was nonfunctional and the staff's frustration with the technology reflected in their treatment of the guests. Our pick up was scheduled for 9 am, but we were told we were late at 8:30 - it turns out our driver had also just called them to inform them they would be at the pick up at exactly 9 am. We objected to a drop off at the train station as we needed to meet our driver at the pick up for private vehicles. This showed a clear lack of coordination unexpected of a professionally run travel outfit.
These minor irritations are all fixable with personal attention, interest and care. We are hopeful KimKim can address these issues .

The trip was very well planned out. We appreciate all the effort provided by the driver, the guides, Ravi and Aditya. Thank you!!!

Our tour guide of Marrakesh was excellent. She was very knowledgeable and interesting.

Our driver Ayoub was outstanding. He was friendly and professional, always on time and very pleasant. He shared his love of Morocco with us.

Our guide Reda was the best, very knowledgeable about local culture as well as being extremely fluent in English. He’s an excellent driver. I highly recommend Original Travels for anyone who wants to see the best of Morocco. We’ve even met Saïd and his family in the desert campsite. He was extremely friendly. My wife and I will be back to Morocco again, and for sure will use Original Travels.

Mariliza our tour curator was amazing. She was in contact with us the entire time with reminders, checking on weather in advance ro ensure transport schedule continues.

Our trip was amazing . Our guide in Marrakech took excellent care of us in our tour and during our short visit to the clinic.

A few suggestions:
1. Find a better hotel in Casablanca. There was black mold in the shower, light bulbs out in the room, a broken lamp , no towels , drinking glasses or Kleenex tissue. We asked twice for these items . We got towels and 2 glasses the first night; nothing the 2nd night.
2. Our route should have been planned better and I should have caught this error. We should have gone to Madrid LAST and then flew direct to Marrakech instead of being in Granada and then having to take 2 flights to get to Marrakech.
Avoid Iberia Airlines and go with Air Arabia. They are friendly, accommodating and have much better service and planes. The Iberia jets don't have seats that move. They are in a permanent position. They never offered us anything after a 2 hr delay, gate and plane change. Upon asking them what they were going to do to compensate the passengers for this delay they stated , "this is Iberia airlines ". My response was : "and your point is? They are an international airline." We got nothing !!

The guide in Madrid for the walking tour was so so. When he finished with us he didn't return us to our starting point. We had to figure out where we were and how to get back to the hotel.

We highly recommend the Barcelona Hotel Catedral for Barcelona. Excellent breakfast , room, location and a free happy hour daily.

The other hotels, guides, transfers were excellent.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Odyssee Center

Casablanca

Black mold in the shower ; light bulbs burned out ; a broken lamp; no towels or water glasses. Nice location but the room wasn't good

Authenticity & Character

Location

Read what I wrote

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Attention to details

Petit Palace Posada del Peine

Madrid

Great location. Small but pretty room

Authenticity & Character

Location , breakfast

Location

Not far from the main square and shop

Staff

Friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean!!

Petit Palace Puerta de Triana

Seville

Great location Great breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Boutique hotel

Location

Close to the sights. Easy walking distance to most of the sights

Staff

Friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Palais Sebban

Marrakech

Beautiful venue Older but authentic feeling It is down a few alleys and without a guide we couldn't find our way out

Authenticity & Character

Authentic. It felt Moroccan

Location

Street signs !!!

Staff

Friendly and accommodating. Extremely helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean!

Hotel NH Collection Granada Victoria

Granada

Clean and good breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Pretty

Location

Far from the sights. We walked a lot of miles. Street signs. It well marked

Staff

Very friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean!

Hotel Barcelona Catedral

Barcelona

Excellent location and breakfast. Room was very clean and comfortable. Love the free happy hour

Authenticity & Character

Comfortable

Location

Easy access

Staff

Friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Excellent room

Hotel Regina

Barcelona

Very expensive for a bare bones "superior" room Breakfast was very good

Authenticity & Character

Hang a picture; Make the room feel warm with some color

Location

Staff

Friwndly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Activity Reviews

Explore Casablanca

Casablanca

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Highlights of Old Madrid Walk

Madrid

Only 1 hour. Saw the cathedral and palace from a distance. should have walked to it

Quality of Experience

A different guide

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Flamenco Experience

Portugal

1 hour show. No explanation as to how, why they did what they did.

Quality of Experience

Tapas Walk in Barcelona

Barcelona

Excellent tour!!

Quality of Experience

Specific for the area

Food

A large variety

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit of Barcelona & Sagrada Familia

Barcelona

Guide was very knowledgeable and thorough

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Hassan II Mosque

Casablanca

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Privately Guided Visit of Marrakech & Bahia Palace

Marrakesh

We walked through the market after the palace. The market repeated itself over and over again. We didn't need to see every corner of the market. Lots and lots of walking

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit: Alhambra & Generalife Gardens

Granada

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Full Day Excursion to Ronda & White Villages

Seville

Good your company

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Excursion to Cádiz - Europe's Oldest City

Seville

Lovely tour and stop at. Local winery. Lots of knowledge and information.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I had heard good reviews about kimkim but our Philippines experience was not very great. The lack of professionalism was reflected in the communication and our itinerary. Time frames and location details were not clearly mentioned before. A lot of room for improvement at Philippines kimkim team..

This trip was seamless and remarkable. Phil was a great communicator and the guides were really good- our guide on the volcano hike was great as well as in the guide on this silence hike and Santa Elena hike.

Our entire trip was very well planned and executed. We enjoyed every minute of it.
Riads (hotel) that were booked were of high quality and breakfast was amazing.
Ali was professional, efficient, collaborative, responsive and available to answer questions or take care of new requests even at odd hours of the day and night.
I would highly recommend KimKim and especially the local team of Ali and Said.

I am reviewing my notes to identify where the disconnect occurred between Stephen and I. From the beginning, I was very specific that my wife and I wanted small group or private tours. The fact that the tours to Stonehenge / Windsor, Cliffs of Mohr were large groups were a disappointment. The tour guides were very good in both instances, it was the environment of traveling with 40-70 ppl was not discussed beforehand if that was the only option.

The arrival experience was a disappointment. First, Stephen never mentioned that communication to the KimKim team, tour operators, or taxi service would be through WhatsApp. It was only by chance that I downloaded the app to keep in contact with my family back in the states. The service that provided pickup at Heathrow, Pink Berry Card, went to the wrong terminal (this was disclosed by the driver) and same driver went to the wrong pickup site after your tour to Stonehenge. The rest of the transportation went well.

The welcome baskets at both hotels was a nice touch although considering I am a lifetime Diamond and regularly receive room upgrades, this did not occur in spite of Stephen knowing my Hilton status.

Overall, Stephen was responsive although not transparent in disclosing that my requests were not going to be met.

Put Albania on your travel bucket list and use Drive Albania to make it happen before more people discover this spot. Albania has warm, welcoming and kind citizens, eye-popping scenery, beautiful and interesting ancient sites and natural, fresh and mouth-watering food and of course homemade wine and raki at every stop.

We worked with Ed from Drive Albania to create the tour that worked for us – 4 young middle-aged females. He worked with our itinerary sketch to create a trip that delivered the sites and experiences we wanted while minimizing the amount of hotel hopping we did.

Our guide/drive Margil made this a once-in-a-lifetime experience with his passion for delivering high customer service, his knowledge of Albanian history, his safe driving and his pure joy and zest for life. After consultation with us, on our off days, Margil arranged our activities and made reservations at the best, out-of-the-way eating spots. From the moment he met us at the airport with his wide grin to our final send off, he was professional and attentive, adjusting to our needs, all while sharing his love

Our driver/guide (Tarik) was outstanding. He was informative, punctual, pleasant , helpful and willing to do everything/anything we needed. His assistance made our trip successful, stress free and enjoyable. Tarik was a pleasure to work with. He was our guide for 8 days. We traveled throughout the entire country. Thanks Tarik!

"Exemplary service! From start to finish, our experience with Cathy was nothing short of exceptional. Our tour guide Juan and Estevan were not only knowledgeable but also personable, making our journey unforgettable. Five stars all around!"