Kimkim Trip Reviews

I cannot rate KimKim’s involvement highly enough. First of all Cami who helped develop an itinerary for a group of people of varying ages and abilities, with the added complication of internal flights being cancelled late on in the preparations. The hotel selections, transportation and local drivers and guides were all fabulous and knowledgable people. We felt safe and looked after throughout and couldn’t have covered so much ground so quickly, in a such a stress-free way without all the steps being put in place for us. Out thanks go out to Ana and Jhon especially, and also to Jody. I would certainly recommend to friends.

Hotel Reviews

Banaue Hotel and Youth Hostel

Banaue

Huge, state owned hotel . We were only there for a night so didn’t get to explore the pool area etc. great evening buffet, welcome drink of warm ginger tea (delicious), comfortable rooms although trying to find a socket to charge phones that wasn’t falling out the wall was tricky. The most amazing views from the balcony and perfectly situated. There was a conference of actuaries on whilst we were there (who were having tremendous fun) so a local dance and costume exhibition was put on. There are shops in the hotel which have a great range of gifts - best we saw in the Philippines - but be prepared for the unwanted badgering you get if you step within 20m of the shop entrance. They would get more sales if they let you browse in peace!

Authenticity & Character

It was one of the weirdest hotels I’ve stayed in . Hard to explain why . It felt like it had been designed in Russia and lifted up and put in the Philippine mountains!

Location

Amazing views

Staff

Desk staff were very helpful . Our packed was half an hour late and you needed a magnifying glass to find the chicken in the chicken salad sandwich.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms has seen better days but we’re clean and adequate including tea and coffee making facilities.

Misty Lodge and Cafe

Sagada

Basic but friendly place .

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Luna

Vigan

Beautiful hotel. It was very quiet when we were there so we had the pool to ourselves. Local food. Clean , comfortable rooms and very smiley staff.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful old building that was wonderfully restored.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Belmont Hotel Manila

Pasay City

Great recommendation if travelling from T2 Manilla airport . Very busy hotel with lots of security but clean, well appointed rooms and comfy beds, great breakfasts and lovely roof top pool.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Batad Rice Terraces

Banaue

We chose not to walk down to the terraces beyond and on to the waterfall but the younger members of our party did and loved it - although a hard, hot walk. Views from the cafe were amazing . Guides were helpful and considerate - always safety first and patient.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Banaue, Hapao and Bangaan Rice Terraces

Banaue

Fabulous to see the different rice terraces, here about the history and farming practices.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Unbelievable driving by Jhon on wet, dark and rock strewn roads. Views were amazing in daylight and he took less used routes so we would get the full experience.

Sagada's Echo Valley

Sagada

I was really keen to see this and understand more about it . Involved a short hike to get there . I found this interesting but was a little underwhelmed in that there is no more to see than this.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Knowledgeable and friendly - and concerned for well-being and safety

Transport

Sagada caving

Sagada

I didn’t go on this trip but the younger members of my party did and had a great time . The guides were excellent.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great fun to be with

Transport

Wow, what a great trip. Very well organized. Gave us exactly what we were looking for... observatories, archaeoastronomy sites, food tours, etc. Thanks so much to Liz and Lisbeth. Our tour guide, Wayra Eloy, was totally amazing for the Temple of the Moon, Inca trail, Llama farm and Pisaq/Sacred Valley tour. He covered all the sites in depth, gave us the astronomical significance, shared cultural and spiritual stories, sooooo wonderful.

We had a great time on our trip. The guides and drivers are vey courteous, punctual, and helpful. All hotels are nice and located centrally so very convenient for us to explore the town. They all include breakfast except the Metal in El Chalten. However, they have a kitchenette which worked out great. The tours were nice. We enjoyed the Torres del Paine tour, the Nativo tour El Chalten, the trek to Esmeralda Lake in Ushuaia the best as we like outdoor activities. The highlights of our trip were the hike to Laguna Torres and Laguna de Los tres. Over all we glad we booked the tour

Hotel Reviews

Meraki Lofts

El Chalten

Nice hotel near center of town. Helpful staff Kitchenette is great

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Quijote Hotel

Argentina

Nice hotel near center of town. Helpful staff Elegant decor

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Lady Florence Dixie

Puerto Natales

Nice hotel near center of town. Helpful staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Two Hotel Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Nice hotel near center of town. Helpful staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mil 810 Ushuaia Hotel

Ushuaia

Nice hotel near center of town. Helpful staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Diego de Almagro Providencia Hotel

Santiago de Chile

Comfy room. Nearby center

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Trekking to Emerald Lagoon 🚶‍♀️🏕️

Ushuaia

Guide was very knowledgeable and gave us lots of details about the area. Lake view at end was beautiful. Very enjoyable

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Perito Moreno Glacier Excursion 🗻

El Calafate

Great view from below. When we hike on top, we thought the views on top as just as impressive, so doing both give you a better perspective, if you are short on time, just do the hike

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Neighborhoods Tour

Buenos Aires

Guide was funny and gave us lots of details about the locals. Very enjoyable

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

🔎 General Information about Ushuaia 🔎

Ushuaia

Interesting info on Ushauia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tango Show and Dinner at Café De Los Angelitos

Buenos Aires

Show was great and food/wine made even better. The dancers were great

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tierra del Fuego National Park (Half day visit) 🌲🌿

Ushuaia

Beautiful views and great guide. Train ride was fun. Wished had more time to explore the park via hiking if had more time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Navigation to Balmaceda & Serrano Glaciers

Puerto Natales

Fantastic views and also grilled lamb was great

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic excursion to the Torres del Paine National Park (with Box Lunch)

Puerto Natales

Great view, very knowledgeable guide. Had a blast with the different views

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic City Tour

Santiago

Very nice tour. Only thing that was not so good was the guided jewelry store.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Nativo Experience

El Calafate

Lake view was superb. Did not expect lunch in a fancy cave and loved the bread soup inside a cave with a beautiful view.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Paul was amazing!

This trip was more than I ever dreamed it would be. Top notch tour guides that truly loved their jobs. They brought to life the history and culture of Cambodia … In Phnom Penh we saw the Royal Palace, the Killing Field, Russian Market. On our trip north we spent several hours at the Pre-Angkorian temple ruins Sambor Prei Kul. Our guide Sreylen was so knowledgeable. Then onto Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. Amazing place. Evening hike to a hilltop ruin to watch the sunset. Sunrise over Anghor Wat. Great interpretation by our guide Sokin. You could tell that she really loves being a tour guide…Awesome guide. We loved every minute if this trip!! Thanks Steve for putting it together:)

We recently spent 15 days in Ecuador, our son's country of birth. Tamar went to great lengths to insure that this was an extraordinary experience for our family. We met with Tamar on numerous occasions. He approached each call with enthusiasm and many helpful and informed ideas. Our trip began with 5 magnificent days in the Galapagos, followed by a number of exciting adventures on the mainland. Tamar's attention to detail and love of Ecuador made this a trip we'll always remember. We highly recommend Tamar as a tour consultant and look forward to working with him again.

I only have wonderful things to say about Lareine - I have extensive travel experience having been in more than 60 countries, I am not exaggerating when I say that working with Lareine was my best experience so far.
She is extremely efficient, she gets everything done in a little time, she immediately understands your needs and customizes an incredible journey for you. Not only the planning was impeccable, but she also followed up with me throughout our trip in Egypt to ensure everything was going as planned and taking care of additional activities that were not originally planned. She is a smart, hard working and caring travel specialist, I strongly recommend working with her.
Egypt is a truly wonderful countries, it is breathless to stand in front of temples and pyramids that are more than 4000 years old - this is a must go destination at least once in your lifetime! So much to learn and enjoy.

We spent 11 memorable days in Morocco and gladly recommend Kimkim to anyone thinking about traveling to there.

Megan, our travel advisor, was easy to work with. Our original 5 day trip was postponed during the Covid pandemic. When we decided to travel again, we had more time and she worked with us to design a perfect itinerary.

While the Riads were beautiful, and the local guides knowlegeable, it was our driver, Yassine, that made our trip so memorable. He was warm, attentive, knowledgeable, fun and worked to make sure we were satisfied with every aspect of our trip.

I highly recommend using Kimkim to plan your Moroccan adventure.

The trip to Norway was an amazing success. Having a personal contact from the country to help discuss options, plan and book the trip, as well as answer any questions that we had during our trip helped us have the best time with minimal stress.

All of our guides, hotels, and transit bookings were exactly what we were looking for and all of the information/tickets were easily available within the KimKim itenerary page.

Thank you Mathia, Stig, Ute and everyone else who helped us see the beautiful country of Norway.

Activity Reviews

Bergen Walking Tour With a Local Guide

Bergen

Great way to see and learn about Bergen. There is a lot of preserved history within the cityscape and the cobblestone streets are incredible places to walk.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fjordcruise on UNESCO Nærøyfjord

Norway

Extremely serene and cozy way to see the Næroyfjords, a must do if you are in this part of the country.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Stegastein Viewpoint

Norway

By far the best viewpoint of an incredible fjord.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Oslo's Hidden Gems with a Local Expert

Oslo

Stig was an awesome tour guide with so much knowledge of Oslo and Norway as a whole. He has been around the world and you can easily see his passion for history, art, and people.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was an amazing trip from start to finish! Very well thought out and showed us such an interstellar cross section of the country, both the “must see” sights as well as the small out of the way places that many travelers don’t get to see.

Can’t say enough about our guides who were so knowledgeable, friendly and eager to share their country with us. Each deserves a shout out, Dongho, Sơn & Hiếu were each so helpful, fun and took great care of us.

Would be remiss if I didn’t mention the architect of it all, Dat who put this incredible adventure together for us and was with us each step of the way, even from afar. Thank you, thank you, Thank you.!

We will definitely use Kimkim again and in fact they have already put a ski trip together for us in the Dolomites.

Activity Review

Ha Long Bay - Lan Ha Bay (La Pandora)

Vietnam

The cruise in this other worldly place was one of the highlights of the trip. From the amenities of the boat, friendly crew and excursions, it was fantastic!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ana was amazing helping us create a personalized trip! She gave us many wonderful, local ideas and listened to us and what we were looking for. We felt so secure with settled plans and reservations and knowing that Ana was recommending things from personal experience.
She met us at our hotel to go over our itinerary one more time and assure us we could message her any time during our stay.
Our driver Rusna was delightful. He is an excellent driver and gave us so much fascinating information that we couldn't have gotten solo. He is hilarious and very kind. I felt safe having a local who could translate and knew what was going on. I also loved hearing stories about his kids.
Our whole trip was so smooth and worry-free. Thank you Kimkim for connecting us with Shanti Travel!

We will never go back to planning a trip without Kim Kim. Kim Kim exceeded our expectations and got us connected with a local travel agent to help us plan our dream vacation. Trang (the local travel agent) listened to our asks and made recommendations based on what we were looking to experience. No matter how many questions or changes we requested Trang provided answers and was never bother by our request. Trang went out of her way numerous times to provide us with multiple options based on what we wanted to experience, see, or eat. She explained pros and cons of each excursion and location we wanted to visit, and even made recommendations based on the weather during that time of the year. We did not have to worry about transportation, food, or safety as it was all planned by Trang. She was very quick at responding and there was no question off limits. She made this trip run smoothly and so memorable, from day 1 to the last day we left Vietnam.

I also planned a surprise engagement and worked with Trang directly to make sure my partner did not find out. She made sure that our hotel knew it was our birthday during the trip even though we never mentioned it. Again, she did all the little things, went above and beyond our asks, and was so knowledgeable! 1000% recommended working with Trang and Kim Kim. Thank you Trang!

Emi was a wonderful specialist - guiding us from the very beginning and through our trip. I cannot praise him enough

Hotel Reviews

Xelena Hotel & Suites

El Calafate, Santa Cruz

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Loi Suites Recoleta

Buenos Aires

Room and location was great. Breakfast was not very good

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cristina Estancia Classic

El Calafate

Full day tour to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and Minitrekking

El Calafate

Best part of the trip. The experience was truly unique and the guide was outsranding

Nativo Experience

El Calafate

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tango Show and Dinner at Gala Tango

Buenos Aires

Great setting, staff was efficient and courteous. Very fun show and the food was surprisingly good

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day City Tour - Private service with English speaking guide

Buenos Aires

Lionel , our tour guide seemed very bored and rushed. We were hoping to see the cemetery but he told us there was no time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver Fabio was great

Transport

What an easy/breezy way to set up a new trip to literally anywhere. We spent 12 days exploring Iceland and I cannot imagine how difficult it would have been to set this trip up on my own. Our specialist, Duncan, helped us with every step of the way from hotels to vehicles to fun activities. I will be using KimKim again for sure for other countries and cannot recommend working with Duncan enough!

Mother/ Daughter Visit to Vietnam was a success thanks to KimKim and Trang.

Trang was extremely helpful from start to finish. Her prompt responses to questions and planning of our itinerary made the entire experience so seamless and easy. Trang made a few recommendations regarding our itinerary that really made our trip more enjoyable. Along our Journey, Trang checked in on us to see how things were going. We greatly appreciated her just reaching out. It was reassuring to know we had a resource for help if we needed it. We ended up getting a food illness during the very end of our trip. Trang and the Guide were very helpful in rearranging our plans and checking in on us to make sure we were okay,

We visited 3 areas in Vietnam and were greeted by 3 separate Guides in each location. All 3 Guides were professional, knowledgeable and flexible to our needs.

Highlights of our trip were the walking tour of Hanoi Old Quarter, Hoi A Visit to the Carpentry Village and the Ancient Town along with the Motorbike Tour in Ho Chi Minh with XO Tours.

Johanna and Kristy were both incredibly helpful and supportive through the entire planning process and the trip itself! We never felt alone, and had 24/7 support throughout the entire trip. We had an amazing trip filled with numerous activities in Patagonia. Thank you for creating the most special honeymoon for us!!

Hotel Reviews

Auberge du Vin, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel, Tupungato

Tupungato

Authenticity & Character

Location

way too far away! we felt stranded and had to take long rides to get anywhere

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Xelena Hotel & Suites

El Calafate, Santa Cruz

Authenticity & Character

Location

a bit far away from downtown, but they had a shuttle

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

CasaSur Recoleta

Buenos Aires

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

one of our towels was dirty and they shut the water off for 5+ hours at one point

Activity Reviews

Guided “W” Trek 1/4 (camping)

Argentina

W Trek itself was amazing, but they had us doing not the entire W trek which was very frustrating! Therefore, we had to hike 17 miles on day 3 (rather than take the catamaran to the bus to the shuttle) to get to the last refugio! Overall, the trek was amazing though and we had a great time, just not great planning and we met several other people who were staying at different refugios so they hikes were better spaced out.

Quality of Experience

Food

Horseback riding

Puerto Natales

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Minitrekking Ice Hike on Perito Moreno Glacier

El Calafate

Quality of Experience

Food

no food included! make sure to tell folks to pack a lunch

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rafting the Mendoza River

Mendoza

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A Wine tour of Valle de Uco

Mendoza

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mieke was fantastic in organising our trip. She was always punctual in her replies, kind and very helpful.
Our guide, although novice, was very friendly and willing.
The thing that left us most speechless was the Taktshang Goemba. Absolutely fantastic.

Thank you for a fantastic holiday!

Hotel Reviews

Tashi Namgay Resort

Paro

Very nice room, but the food was always cold and the quality of the food was low.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Zhingkham Resort

Punakha

Very good hotel but the food was always cold.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bhutan Suites

Thimphu

Very friendly staff, very spacious room and excellent food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Paro - Rinpung Dzong & Ta Dzong

Paro

Punakha - Chimi Lhakhang

Bhutan

Paro - Kyichu Lhakhang

Paro

Dochu La Pass - Lungchutse Lhakhang hike

Bhutan

Punakha - Prayer ceremony at local nunnery

Bhutan

Punakha - Punakha Dzong

Bhutan

Simthoka Dzong (Thimphu)

Thimphu

Thimphu - Memorial Chorten

Thimphu

Thimphu City Walk

Thimphu

Thimphu - Buddha Dordenma

Thimphu

Paro - Hike to Tigernest Monastery aka Taktshang Goemba

Paro

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We initiated and finalized our travel planning with a woman who left KimKim before our travels began. Phil took over and was very responsive and helpful during our trip. One day we had to cancel our tour due to rain and he made all the calls immediately to obtain a reimbursement for us. We learned when we got to Costa Rica that mornings are best for tours but our original planner scheduled many tours in the afternoon - when you see less animals and are more likely to get rained on. That was the type of insider travel coaching we were hoping to receive from KimKim when we decided to coordinate our travel plans - but apparently didn't get it. Had we worked with Phil from the get-go, it might have been a different story. Also - we traveled between several locations which on map don't seem that far away from one another and googlemaps indicated, for example, 100 miles. We assumed that it would be a 90-120 minute drive but it turned out to be nearly 300 because roads travel slow in Costa Rica. One day we were in a van traveling between locations for over six hours. This was unexpected and ate into vacation time for exploring, relaxing, and doing tours. Overall - we had a great trip, our accommodations were wonderful (and all had breakfast included which was great), and it was nice that everything was reserved and transportation was ready for us throughout our stay. Because we traveled to Costa Rica just before the busy season - almost all our tours were exclusive where we had the entire bus, boat, guide, or place to ourselves. We never felt rushed and really enjoyed the varied excursions that were arranged for us.

Jean Carlo was so helpful throughout the process of planning our trip to Costa Rica. We were able to customize almost every part of our trip to be just as we wanted, and he was there to guide us every step of the way. As a result, our trip ended up being fantastic as all the activities were fun and the transportation was timely / comfortable. The trip went exactly according to plan, allowing us to be as stress-free as possible. I honestly don't have any complaints about either the planning process or the trip itself and will certainly recommend this service to anyone else planning to visit Costa Rica.

I just wanted to say thank you to Angela for making indeed my birthday a memorable one for sure. Since the beginning looking up to see what to do in Greece and letting Angela know what I would like and to finally being there to experienced it. It definitely exceeded my expectations. Angela made sure and checked up on us the whole time we’re there making sure everything was okay; for that I really appreciate her for checking up on us. I was hesitant at 1st to book it to kimkim since I’ve never heard of it and now all my travel booking will be with Kimkim and I highly recommend Angela💙
Thank you again Angela😀