Kimkim Trip Reviews

Brittany helped us to plan a great trip to Costa Rica! My friend lives there, but we wanted to make the trip extra special by going on some tours together. We were particularly impressed with our green turtle nesting tour and riverboat and rum experience. The guide (I didn't catch his name) for our turtle nesting tour was very knowledgeable and helped us to spot over 10 turtles! He also helped us to arrange a taxi after the tour.

Our Riverboat and Rum Experience at Hacienda Viejo was extraordinary. Brittany was able to get us last-minute transportation to the hacienda when something came up which was very helpful! Our guide, Minor picked us up and drove us to the Hacienda. Along the way, he pointed out various flora and fauna, and talked about the pura vida way of life. He was not only very knowledgeable but personable as well. It ended up being a private tour and we got to know Minor very well. The grounds of the Hacienda were well kept and all the staff were friendly. After a quick stop for fresh juice and fruit, we made our way to the river. This again was private and there was only one other boat on the river at the same time. We saw various types of birds, monkeys, bats, and crocodiles with the help of Minor.

We then went back to the Hacienda for a delicious and traditional Costa Rican lunch. After it was time for our Rum experience with Roberto, the Rummelier. He was very knowledgeable about the distillery process, and we got to sample sugar cane juice as well as rum. At the end, you can infuse your own rum with a variety of spices or fruits. If you like your infusion, you can infuse a bottle and buy it to bring home. They even create a special label for your bottle to include a name and the date, a nice personal touch.

Overall we were very impressed by our trip and Brittany's responsiveness. We definitely would recommend Minor as your guide for the river cruise. Can't wait to go back!

Activity Reviews

Nighttime Pacific Green Turtle Nesting Experience (Seasonal)

Costa Rica

Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. He helped us to find a taxi for the way back which was really great. We saw lots of turtles!

Quality of Experience

Seeing the turtles!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was knowledgeable!

Transport

Air Conditioned

Wetlands Boat Ride and Rum Tasting at Hacienda El Viejo

Costa Rica

This was our favorite experience of our trip. Our guide Minor was amazing, very knowledgeable as well as personable. He was able to point out all the wildlife and give us information about the ecosystem and interactions of the flora and fauna. The food at Hacienda was fresh and delicious. Before going to the river you can stop for fruit, coffee or juice. The lunch was great as well. All the staff was friendly. The rum experience was also great with Roberto. He was very knowledgeable and friendly. You get to see the process from the sugarcane, to the barrel. You can then infuse your own rum with a variety of spices and fruits. If you like your infusion you can even buy a small bottle to bring home with a personalized label. The Hacienda grounds were clean and beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Beautiful grounds, great guides, and staff, able to see wildlife, private, luxurious

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Minor was the best! So knowledgeable, kind, and funny. He went out of his way to make our time great!

Transport

Air-conditioned, comfortable van, No issues with picking us up.

Overall this was a very good trip. Two of the three hotels were extraordinary with excellent meals and service. Costa Rican people are very friendly and helpful. Our only disappointment was that wildlife viewing was very difficult to get good photos. We took several nature tours and all offered much of the same with little chance of capturing good photographs. Tour guides were very knowledgeable and group size was small. There were many good restaurants in every place we visited. We had no interaction with our local specialist Olman during the week. The schedule he planned for us went very smoothly and almost all the local contacts and transportation services were punctual.

Hotel Review

Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa

Fortuna

Location

Too far from La Fortuna

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Guided Hike in Arenal Volcano Park 1968

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great views of volcano and interesting geology. Slightly difficult hike but very enjoyable. Guide was very knowledgeable and attentive.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Anne was absolutely wonderful to work with throughout the entire process. She was very quick to answer our questions during the planning process, and provided us with numerous options that fit within our budget. Most importantly, we really valued the type of activities she planned for us. We got to interact with the communities and experience the culture firsthand. I feel sometimes that travel agencies will only focus on “Instagram moments” and that is not what we experienced at all. Our tour guides were wonderful, and we learned SO much (and still got great pictures as memories!).

For upcoming travelers, here are some places we really enjoyed: Machu Picchu, private lunch at the plantation outside of Lima on our way back from sandboarding, the rainforest (we only stayed two nights and wish we would’ve stayed 3), the local market in Cusco, and our extended stay in sacred valley.

Additionally, even with traveling during covid Anne made us feel comfortable and prepared throughout the trip. We loved that she met us in Lima on our first day! It helped us feel more prepared and comfortable walking into our 12 day trip.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience and we could not have asked for a better honeymoon. In 12 days, we went from the coast line, to the desert, to the rainforest, and ended our trip in the mountains. If you are looking for a great adventure - Peru is it!!

Hotel Review

Refugio Amazonas Lodge

Puerto Maldonado

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Ollantaytambo Village and Inca Site Exploration

Peru

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazing Costa Rican Trip!

Adriana helps us setup a perfect trip for us! Adventure/Travel/Relaxation

Thank you!!

Our family of 5 adults had a terrific trip to Italy with the help of Kimkim and our travel planners Sonia and Barbara. Our trip was very customized to fit everyone's interests. The first part of our trip was hut-to-hut hiking in the Dolomites. We had assistance planning our hiking route, and Sonia arranged for all the lodging and transfer details. After the 4 days of hiking, we spend 4 days in Lake Garda area for wine tasting, cooking class, city tours, and relaxation. It was a perfect trip for our family - a mix of adventure and culture. We had a couple of small glitches and Sonia/Barbara were a phone call away with quick fixes. We are so impressed with Kimkim and plan to use their travel services again.

Valentine was amazing!
She solved every detail of our trip including Covid issues!
Great trip, great experience!

I don’t even know where to begin with this review, because our trip to Spain was perfect…and I mean PERFECT-from start to finish.

Patricia was incredibly patient and kind during the planning stages. She quickly and seamlessly accommodated the many changes we had to make because of flight changes , Covid, etc Due to storms back home, we has to stay in Spain extra days. Patricia set up a new and wonderful hotel and our new Covid test appointments.

We spent 3 days in Barcelona, took the high speed train to Madrid, and took a day trip to Toledo from Madrid. In Barcelona, we had a bike tour in the Gothic Quarter with Clara who provided an fun and enlightening information as well as tips on where to go for tapas! We also has an intellectually stimulating tour of the Gaudi Masterpieces and Güell Park with Elena, whose historical knowledge was stunning. For us, the icing on the cake was the guided tour of La Boqueria Market and subsequent cooking class with Carlos. We learned to make paella, crema catalana, Spanish omelette, pan tomate, and flat bread with spinach, pignoli, and raisins. We highly recommend all of these activities

After arriving in Madrid, we were greeted by the most gracious driver, Ricardo. He ended up driving us three times while we were in Madrid, and by the end we felt like he was family. Our day trip to Toledo was life-changing. Toledo was one of the most physically beautiful places I had ever seen! We were so fortunate to have Inma as our guide. We took a cab tour to see the bigger picture, and then we saw the Cathedral and the Jewish Quarter. She left us at a wonderful place for lunch.

I can’t think Patricia enough for this trip. It was truly magical, and she was the one who made it happen. I would recommend her 1000 times over. Thank you! You made me and my husband fall in love with Spain. We will be back!

I planned my Jordan and Egypt itinerary with Dunes and Beyond. I worked with Mr. Sherif Khalil who not only planned my trip but was very vigilant with all flight and rules changes that were going on given the Pandemic situation. Everything arranged and managed by him and his company was absolutely fantastic. I highly recommend this company for your egypt (and if going to Jordan) travel!

All the guides provided by the company were fantastic, very accommodating and knowledgeable! Especially my guide for Cairo, Lina was simply magnificent in terms of knowledge and time management. Their company is also very flexible and can change your plans as needed. As an example: there was heavy fog when we had planned to see the pyramids but they changed the sequence of itinerary that day and even paid out of their own pocket for me to go to giza that evening when fog had settled.

when I go back to egypt, i am definitely going to use this company again for planning my itinerary! Thank you for everything

Deborah could not have been more perfect from start to finish.

The start: we were taking a last minute vacation to South Africa as part of our honeymoon (I worked for an airline so that was feasible). When I say last minute, we were coming in a week!!! That was absolutely no problem for Deborah, who took it in stride, perfectly planning every detail from our time in Cape Town to our safari in Krueger. If you are considering working with Deborah, do it! Thanks again for making our trip one we’ll never forget.

We really enjoyed the pickup at the airport and delivery to our hotel in Venice at the start of our custom journey to Italy and the pickup and delivery from the hotel to the airport at the end in Rome. Kimkim even had drivers delivered us from hotel to the train station with tickets on time in the morning between all the cities we visited. The hotels were all first rate and either 4-5 star with exceptional free breakfast included. The first hotel Bauer II Palazzo in Venice the was perfectly located and only a few blocks from Saint Marks Square and made it easy to walk everywhere and for us to pick up the water bus system to visit different islands like Murano for glass blowing and Burano for lace making items. Alessia our Concierge in Venice was amazing. She made sure we saw the sites and had a great experience in Venice and made sure of all our other visits to Bologna, Florence and Rome all went with out any problems. Our tour guide Dennis for the Colosseum and Roman Forum in Rome was amazing. His fold out pictures of the Colosseum and Roman Forum before and after and clear explanations made it very interesting. When it is time for us to return to visit Italy with the rest of the family we will be sure to use Kimkim again.

Karin was very patient in putting together our trip. We booked two weeks in advanced which is too short and Karin was able to make an excellent trip for us. Thank you Karin, we always remember you and Kimkim.
Once Beatriz de Pablo took over in Spain and Portugal it was an awesome trip. We told her our flight and she was able to adjust in short notice our accommodation. Beatriz make our trip so it won't be tiring for us. We have enough rest and go sight seeing, shopping, walking downtown and having tapas. Beatriz also made sure we are doing fine by texting via WhatsApp everyday, if our pickup was there. She also got all the professional guides for us. It turns our almost all out tours were private. Hotels she choose with our budget were excellent. They were very clean and comfortable and made us feel welcome. Staff at the hotel were accommodating as well, they guided us where to eat, shop, what to see on our free time.
Hello Bea, Hats off to you, you did awesome. It's a trip we can't forget. Please also thank our professional guides Cristina, Enrique, Sergio in Barcelona. Jorge in Madrid. Train ride to Toledo was excellent and the place great. It was sooo cold. But anyway we were able to change our return trip to Madrid earlier. Oh gosh, we were having a good time and I forgot the names of our guide in Granada Please so sorry. Our guide in Seville Andres who waited for us to get our antigen test and was very patient. Our driver Juan Pedro going to the Andalusian Olive Estate thank you for being an excellent guide. Now in Lisboa, our last destination this trip was suer great. Miguel our food tour guide was so professional, friendly with a god sense of humor. Maria our guide to our Lady of Fatima was to drive and guide us was very good. It was an hour and a half drive from Lisboa. Tireless woman.
Overall, five stars to all who made our trip worth remembering. Hats off to all!!!

Hotel Review

Ciutat de Barcelona

Barcelona

Easy access to shops, restaurants, points of interests. Hotel can call a taxi for you. Excellent location. Very clean rooms and we had free buffet breakfast. Breakfast selection was very good.

Tips for future travelers

No parking nearby.

Authenticity & Character

Ambiance

Location

within City Center

Staff

Friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

very clean, good wifi connection

Activity Review

Tapas Culinary Experience

Barcelona

Excellent tapas. Wine or any drink you like to have. Cava was our favorite.. We went to three bars and tapa place and they were all very good. Tasted parmesan cheese cake!! Cristina was a professional guide.

Quality of Experience

we had the best tapas

Food

Awesome!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very Professional

Transport

we walked

Originally we booked a trip to Peru to visit Machu Picchu and do some other excursions while there that he would enjoy. Joanna put together an amazing trip plan for us! Unfortunately about 5 days prior to departure Johanna notified us that the town below Machu Picchu suffered a horrible mud slide which closed it down. We shopped other travel coordinators and no one could beat the prices. Johanna was great but unfortunately we had to pivot quickly. Costa Rica here we come...got in contact with Charlotte who helped us outline an amazing trip to Costa Rica. Charlotte was so attentive to our needs and timing. She put together a great trip and found a fabulous local private driver. La Fortuna is such an beautiful place to visit and Charlotte booked some great adventures for us including Private ATV trip, Zip Line, Spa visit with a hot spring right off of the active volcano Arenal and a hike along the base of Arenal with a very knowledgeable guide. Great service and follow up. We will use them again and again especially when visiting new destinations! Costa Rica is now one of our new favorite places to visit.

Our city guide Philllippe was knowlegable, informative and was always there to help with any local questions we had. Fernando, our Andes mountain guide, was very knowledgeable about the mountain however the tour we received (5k trek and hot springs) was not the tour written in the itinerary. Leo, our Santiago driver, was great in understanding all of our city activities. The meal at his home with his wife Gloria was a wonderful experience. Jose provided a well guided tour through Maipo vineyards. Valparaiso was very nice but were hoping for more of a beach experience. Our vineyard stays were a special treat. Matetic had exceptional food/wine pairing and we especially enjoyed the bio dynamic tour of the vineyards given by JP. Casa Silva had a very nice restaurant but was only open for lunch. No other restaurants open for dinner in the area. Thus, one night at Casa Silva would have been enough. Remaining time was on our own and Lorena was very helpful setting up wine tours for us. Overall, we loved our trip and the complete experience.

Emilce and the entire team of guides in Argentina, provided me with a wonderful experience.
I will return soon and plan on utilizing their services again....

We have never been to Ecuador before but after this trip I will strongly recommend to everyone to go to Ecuador and with KimKim :) Daniel was absolutely essential help by preparing my itinerary. I had already some idea but he helped me to make it to the perfection. Let's imagine: we saw in 18 days Galapagos, Guayaquil, Cajas, Cuenca, Gualaceo and Chordeleg, Ingapirca, famous market in Guamote, Chimborazo - 5 000 meters, Baños, Cotopaxi - 4 800 meters, Laguna Quilotoa, Otavalo and of course Quito.
All the time the itinerary work perfectly. All the transportations in Galapagos were just accurate. But the best person was our Guide and driver Christian. He was our guide from Guayaquil till Quito. Every day in the good mood even he must work hard, every day precise picking up us from each hotel, giving a perfect explanation and explaining all my questions. Thanks to him we understand mot just history, architecture and culture but also the people of Ecuador. I have to mention he was driving very safe.
If you ask me what was the best in our trip I couldn't tell you. Everything was just perfect. Galapagos? Cuenca? Ingapirca? Quito? Or Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Baños? Each of this locations were different and wonderful in its way. In addition the hotels we have used were so nice and unique!
Thank you everybody in KimKim who was involved and a special thanks to Daniel and Christian.

Pamela and Lubomir Repka.

Hotel Reviews

Ikala Quito Hotel

Quito

Casa Pimampiro

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Mainao

Puerto Ayora

Exe Galería Man-Ging

Guayaquil

Hotel Boutique Carvallo

Cuenca

Posada Ingapirca

Ingapirca

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Floresta

Baños

Hacienda La Cienega

Cotopaxi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Patio Andaluz

Quito

Activity Reviews

Welcome to San Cristóbal Island! Visit the Interpretation Center, Tijeretas Hill, or La Lobería

Galapagos Islands

Kicker Rock: A Snorkeling Adventure

Isla San Cristóbal

Visit Highlands Tortoise Reserve & Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

Experience the Pristine Beauty of Galápagos Islands: Discovering an Uninhabited Island

Puerto Ayora

Welcome to Ecuador The Pearl of the Pacific: Arrival in Guayaquil

Guayaquil

Full Day to Salinas!

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guayaquil City Tour - Free afternoon

Guayaquil

Guayaquil - Cuenca - City Tour

Guayaquil

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cajas National Park - Cuenca - City Tour

Cuenca

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gualaceo - Chordeleg - Cañar Province

Cuenca

Gualaceo - Chordeleg - Cañar Province

Cuenca

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ingapirca Ruins - Guamote

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guamote - Chimborazo - Baños

Guamote

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Baños - Pailón del Diablo- Cotopaxi Hacienda

Cotopaxi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cotopaxi National Park - Quilotoa Lagoon

Cotopaxi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Local Culture at Otavalo Market & Hike at Cuicocha Lake

Quito

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colonial City Tour, Cooking Class & the Middle of the World Monument

Quito

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

COVID Test at your Hotel

Ecuador

Amazing service. Would definitely use again for future travel plans. From the first time I connected with Adriana, she was very helpful and answered all my questions. After making a truly memorable trip plan, she was available for any further questions. Highly recommend!

Hotel Review

Nayara Hotel Spa and Gardens

Fortuna

Unique experience with unparalleled service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Monteverde Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Awesome views and experience. Get to really experience Costa Rica with this excursion

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Everything was truly great. Only issue we had was the reservation for the ride back to the airport. Our car came at 8AM when it probably should have come at 10. We were sitting at the airport for 5 hours.

Normally I book trips myself, but this was our first time using a travel agent, and we had a fun week in Costa Rica. It is a beautiful country with lots to do and see. If anything, I wish that we had more time there. Brittany, our agent, was always friendly and reasonably responsible. She listened to our needs throughout the process. Most of the trip reservations ran smoothly. The only hiccup we had was on the first night. We arrived at 2 am from our flight, super tired. When we came to the hotel, they could not find the reservation that KimKim booked through Expedia. They even tried calling Expedia and trying to find it but couldn't find anything. KimKim didn't give me any relevant info to find the reservation besides the unsuccessful confirmation number, and we couldn't get in touch with them since it was the night. Eventually, we had to end up paying for a night directly with the hotel at the counter (which was at a cheaper price than the KimKim booking). KimKim refunded their booking fee. In general, the agents were available to respond within 15-30 minutes of when we had a question or situation.

Besides this booking hiccup, all the other bookings ran smoothly. Everyone that KimKim booked us with were great companies and excellent service. We especially enjoyed Sky Adventures ziplining at Monteverde and the Catamaran Adventure with Tuscanes Tours in Manuel Antonio. Also, the shuttles that they booked us with RideCR between the different locations were always on time and very professional, which I very much appreciated. One note about the transfers, I feel that there could have been more attention to detail by Brittany for when the shuttle times were and when the hotel check-in/check-out were. There were multiple times when the two did not align and so we found ourselves having to figure out what to do in the interim time. Another way to work with this issue would have been to call the hotels for us in advance and let them know of these transportation timings.

One thing that I would have wished for is a breakdown of the costs for lodging and activities. As college students, we were hoping to keep the budget as low as possible. As such, Brittany kept some large blocks of time in the day free to do self-exploration so we didn't have to pay additional upfront costs. On the itinerary, she provided suggestions of what to do, but the transport and entrance fee to those activities were not included. If I had a cost breakdown, I could better understand where to spend and where to splurge. It is also possible that I could have found cheaper rates than the agent if I looked myself. It seems like most of the bookings were done through Expedia, at least for the hotels, which may or may not have been the cheapest rates.

Overall, we had a good experience, but not necessarily a great or excellent one based on the above factors. I appreciated that Brittany was able to connect us with the local companies, but now that we know the good companies to book with, I would book a trip by myself in the future.

Hotel Review

La Fortuna Downtown Boutique Hotel

La Fortuna San Carlos

Good, no-frills hotel. Good front desk service. I like that all the rooms face the pool. Breakfast in the morning was tasty. The location was great to be able to walk around town or get to La Arenal and the Hot Springs.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Catamaran Adventure with Meal

Manuel Antonio

Staff was very attentive. We love boats so this was a really fun ride. It was great to interact with the other people on the boat as well. Had great food and drinks.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were supposed to go on an Antarctic but our cruise was canceled on the day of departure. KimKim helped us build a replacement trip on very short notice to salvage our vacation. Thank you.

Activity Review

El Chalten Full Day, Free time

El Calafate

It took a couple of years to organize this trip because of the pandemic. Serena and Lorena put together an excellent ten day itinerary that introduced us to Argentina Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia.
We spent three night in Ushuaia. This was sufficient time to tour the town and vicinity, visit the prison museum, tour the National Park, cruise the channel and experience the penquins on Martillo Island, and tour the Haberton Ranch.
We spent four nights in El Calafate which was plenty of time to tour the town, visit Perito Moreno glacier (boardwalk and boat tour), boat tour of the other glaciers, and Nibepo Aike ranch, including 3 hour horse back ride.
The next stop was three nights in El Chalten. I was able to trek to the lagoon of Fitz Roy, tour the small town, trek to the lagoon at the base glaciar Huemul and take the boat tour of the nearby lake.
We stayed in the Fuegueno hotel in Ushuaia. It was a nice hotel but noisy at night. Our room was facing the mountains; we had to endure a lot of noise from the street below.
In El Calafate, we stayed at the Kosten Aike. This is a nice hotel but it is noisy at night. After the first night we switched rooms from the street side to the court yard side of the hotel - which was very quiet. The staff is excellent!
In El Chalten, we stayed at the Destino Sur. This was a very pleasant hotel and a grade above the others.
There were a couple of glitches. My transit never showed up at the bus stop in El Chalten. I had a ten minute walk to the hotel. On the transit from El Chalten to El Calafate, the driver stopped for about an hour at the airport outside of town to pick up another passenger, but the passenger was a no show.
Ryan's Travel itinerary was vague. They should provide more detail of the daily activities.

Lorena is excellent. Down the road I am sure that I will use her travel agency again.