Kimkim Trip Reviews

Had an amazing time in Ecuador and visiting the Galapagos. Alvaro planned an amazing itinerary for us, and we had a great balance of activities and rest.

Overall we had a wonderful experience planning and experiencing Rome. Our local specialist, Vincenzo was extremely responsive and patient. We made many adjustments throughout the planning process and he took it all in stride and adjusted as necessary. He was extremely responsive while we were in Italy and was truly on call throughout to handle any things that came up.

Specifically, a highlight was an Italian cooking class in Rome that he recommended. Also, a lovely wine-tasting dinner where we met several other travelers from the U.S. Our group tour of the Colosseum and Forum was terrific as was our private tour of Naples and Pompeii. The hotels that were recommended were very high quality (particularly in Amalfi) with good service and we also very much enjoyed the restaurants that were suggested. All of our transfers were on time and enjoyable.

We did unfortunately have one private tour guide on two days that we did not care for much and there was a little bit of confusion regarding our time in the Jewish district and at the Vatican. Overall, however, we enjoyed working with Vincenzo and his company.

Really, everything was amazing! The various pickups, our tour guides, hotels and tours were simply great. The tour of the Douro Valley was especially memorable. We are now thinking about a month in Greece and will, without a doubt, be using KimMim’s services.

Hotel Reviews

Zenit Lisboa Hotel

Lisbon

Very nice accommodation Modern, clean and with all the amenities one would expect.

Authenticity & Character

Modern

Location

Fine, could be a bit closer to old Lisbon.

Staff

At best, efficient. Dining room staff was the only slight blemish on our whole trip.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Spotless

Porto Charming Hotel

Porto

So quaint, clean and super friendly. Food was terrific.

Authenticity & Character

Our first evening the manager showed up with a carafe of port and two glasses!

Location

A bit of a hike but still great.

Staff

Very efficient and friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

A1

Activity Reviews

Exploring Sintra & Cascais: Palaces, Cliffs & Coastline

Lisbon

Very educational but a long day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Very comfortable and clean.

Hands-On Portuguese Cook Class with a Local Chef

Lisbon

Such a pleasant evening with a wonderfully pleasant chef.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Our guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Douro Valley Highlights: Wine, Olive Oil & River Cruise

Porto

Totally incredible. The highlight of our stay in Porugal!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Craft Beer Side of Porto: Tastes & Surprises

Porto

Our guide, Marion, was super. She was pleasant and quite knowledgable of the area. Some businesses were more outgoing and welcomingly.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Working with kimkim helped take away the 'too many options' freeze that can happen when planning a trip. Adam was very communicative and helped with suggestions for the Spain trip that met my wishes and wants for it.

Activity Reviews

Evening Tapas, Taverns & History Walk

Madrid

Arantxa was a wonderful guide, full of anecdotes, life advice and historical stories!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Begur Self-Guided Walk

Spain

Staying in Begur and enjoying the scenery was a highlight of our trip; we travelled in November during off-season and it was very peaceful and quiet.

Moonika was the best! We have only been on cruises, never flown out of the country, so we did not know where to begin, when planning our Northern European Honeymoon!!
We chose Finland, as we LOVE Christmas, and wanted to experience the sight of the Northern Lights. We told Moonika our preferences and what we were looking for on our trip. She gave us everything we could've asked for and more!!
She gave us an unforgettable experience, with a SPOT ON itinerary! She went as far as telling our tour guides my nut allergy! Not only did she assist us in planning our trip, she was a phone call away the entire trip! Unfortunately, we caught a cold on night 3 and decided to miss out on an excursion. She and the tour guides were all in contact and knew that we did not go and she reached out to make sure we were okay. She was really on top of things! The overnight train was a couple hours late, and she reached out to assist us in getting us a partial refund. All we had to do was show up-she had literally everything else covered! Thank you Moonika for making our first European trip one we will never forget!

-The Newlyweds: Steph and Casey :)

We had a grest time on the trip to Costa Rica planned by Serendipity. Many thanks to Bryan and his team for making the trip smooth and enjoyable. Lodgings were very nice, especially the Lagarta Lodge in Nosara. The Hotel Arenal Paraiso rooms were dated but comfortable. They could update and improve the interiors considerably. Their breakfasts were excellent. All the tours went smoothly. Guides and transportation were on time, courteous and knowledgeable. We had to change the transportation schedule a couple of times but the team handled the changes perfectly. Overall, using Kim Kim and Serendipity was a great way for us to make our first tour of Costa Rica. Thank you!

I had a great experience using kimkim for a trip to Croatia in early 2023. So when it was time to plan a family adventure to Costa Rica, kimkim was at the top of my list for assistance in selecting locations and planning activities and hotels. Our travel company, Serendipity Adventures, gave us a fabulous itinerary specific to our family's needs and desires, giving us a good mix of different activities and plenty of downtime. Our local specialist, Bryan, and his team immediately responded to the Kimkim message board and WhatsApp. They kept us up to date on any changes or itinerary issues. It was helpful to have a local contact when there were language barriers (such as returning our rental car), and just knowing somebody would help communicate if needed provided a lot of peace of mind.

The best part of our trip was the guided tours. We were matched with expert guides in every town, and through this experience, we could see so much more wildlife than we would have seen on our own. Additionally, the guides gave us a comprehensive overview of the country, the region, and the culture. Every guide we had was excellent, but the ones who stood out were Mariano in La Fortuna (he took us on the waterfall and volcano hike), Andres in Monteverde, and Andres "Socio" in Manuel Antonio, who guided us through the Manuel Antonio park.

Costa Rica was an easy place to travel and an enjoyable experience. We would definitely use kimkim and Serendipity Adventures if we go again!

We had a great time with no issues at any event! The only hiccup was when we first arrived and the driver was a couple of minutes late and not behind pole three. The Concept hotel had a lovely woman who checked us in and another lovely woman who made breakfast. It was an easy walk to the Spanish steps from there and when we returned for the last night felt like returning home! There was only one outlet in the room which made charging our devices challenging.
Our walking tour of Roma was great as it was just us so we could see what we wanted, linger for photos, and got into the collesium.
The hotel in Venice was also in a great location! The breakfast there was typical best western, meh. I am not in Italy to drink lousy coffee! We enjoyed the boat tour- the second island had little to offer on a cold cloudy day, but Murano and Burano were awesome.
The gondola ride was as expected- on a quiet night actually felt kind of creepy…
The Joy Hotel in Florence was close to the train station, and easy walk to everything, although the neighborhood itself felt sketchy. Joy hotel hands down had the best breakfast!! We truly enjoyed the street food tour. Would do that again !
To top off a wonderful trip, we were able to see the Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican our last night.

We just came back from a 5-day/4-night adventure trip to Guatemala (Flores, Tikal, Yaxha) and Belize (activities in and around San Ignacio) organized by Catherina. We traveled as a family of 5 (including 3 kids with ages 7 to 14). The whole process of planning and then the trip itself went very smoothly . Our driver/guide in Belize was Rene and in Guatemala - our guide was Henry. Everyone was truly professional, very knowledgable and friendly the entire time - clearly professionals who know and love what they are doing. That allowed us (especially the parents) to just relax and enjoy the adventure trip and not worry about anything. A pleasant surprise was how easy it was to find food for our two kids with food allergies (egg, dairy, nuts), even in really rural places. It helped that we lucked out with the weather - a (really) rainy season was coming to the end - most days were overcast/cooler (70s) but no rain, which allowed us to cover a lot of ground on foot. Highly recommend this travel service, trip and time of the year for visit.

Dear Michael!
I returned overflowed with impression from my trip in Colombia. Organization was perfect, my guide Lorenzo was very professional and tried to do everything for my sucсessfull shots of birds. All drivers were very polite, nice and helpful. I dream about new trip in Colombia next year. The Mountain House hotel was truly a paradise and heavenly place for observing beautiful birds
One suggestion for driving to El Dorado Reserve: it very cold in mountain and travelers should have warm clothes.

Our personally curated trip to Morocco was nothing short of perfect. Our guide/driver Tarik was knowledgeable, charismatic and fun. We really felt taken care of from the beginning of our trip until the end. Tarik made sure we had the best possible experience and ensured we saw the most of Morocco in the short time we were there. We felt like we were with family. We enjoyed exploring and traveling through the beautiful country of Morocco and hope to come back someday. Everything was perfect from accommodations to transportation and everything in between. The team really went above and beyond and changed our views on traveling going forward. We will be definitely looking to KimKim for our next trip! Thank you so much! We are so appreciative of the experience we had and everything you do!

Mar finished all the bookings for us and then Fenne took care of all our bookings and was in touch with us throughout the trip. The bookings / planning everything was perfect for us on this trip.. we hit a big bump on our first day when our flight was cancelled and the whole plan looked falling apart, but Fenne and team helped us a lot in making sure to liaise with the vendors and moving our bookings without any hassle. It just took off all our stress. And while we were in Tromso they will in touch with us all the time.

Highly recommend booking through KimKim team. Their itinerary’s are just perfect to see any place u plan to visit.

My recent trip to Nepal was everything I could have asked for. My friend and I were in Nepal to see wildlife and Sangita knew exactly what to plan for us to see what we wanted. We ended up visiting two national parks and seeing TWO tigers. The transportation was also super easy and well planned and Sangita was even able to rearrange last minute when my friend missed his flight so he didn't miss anything. Overall it was a fantastic experience using kimkim and I will be using it to plan most of if not all my future trips.

Hotel Review

Rhino Lodge Bardia

Bardia

Rhino lodge has friendly staff, excellent service, and amazing guides that helped make our time in Bardia unforgettable!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Super friendly and flexible based on our needs and desires.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Jungle Activities in Chitwan

Chitwan National Park

We did boat, walking, and jeep safaris all in one day since we only had a single day in Chitwan. Needless to say it was packed and we really had a great experience. We saw rhino, deer, peacock, two species of crocodile and ANOTHER tiger!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Nepal. Evening Welcome Dinner

Kathmandu

While we didn't get to do this as a welcome dinner and more of a goodbye dinner it was still awesome nonetheless. It was really fun to meet Sangita who we couldn't have done this trip without and she was delightful. The food was also delicious as well.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

One hour Everest Mountain Flight

Kathmandu

This flight is spectacular. While it doesn't get as close to the mountains as we thought it would, it still delivers views of mount everest and other Himalayas that you can't get anywhere else. Definitely recommend.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Jungle Activities

Bardia National Park

We spent all day in the park from early morning to late evening in search of tigers. We found tracks and other signs they were in the area and out guide knew exactly what area to search. Eventually we came across a huge tiger in the middle of the road in a thrilling encounter!

Quality of Experience

Our guide was excellent and tailored our safaris to our desires and ultimately delivered. The jeep was awesome and comfortable as well!

Food

The lodge food was delicious and we were asked when we wanted to be served to it was convenient too!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

After being married during the pandemic, I was not eager to plan a honeymoon trip after re-planning our wedding 3 times. This led to us procrastinating this trip until I worked with Fabio. From beginning to end, Fabio was incredible and I say this as a very Type A planner who would typically take on all the research and planning on my own. He was in tune to our requests, budget, and feedback and promptly put together itineraries that checked every box. This led to a trip that was perfectly curated to us and beyond my expectations. Thank you Fabio!

In Venice, I loved the Ca'Nigra Lagoon Resort. It was quaint and perfectly located for our excursions. We were fond of Venice but Florence quickly stole the show. I highly recommend the day trip to Sienna that Fabio booked for us. Our private driver, Michele, was so knowledgeable and made conversation easy. He was also the best photographer for all the scenic stops along our drive. The Florence Cooking Class and Lunch at a farmhouse with the local market tour was a blast! If you're thinking a taking any cooking class while in Italy, this is the one. We probably laughed more than we cooked.

As history nerds, the tours in Rome were some of our favorites but surprisingly second to the Rome Food Tour. Our stay at Hotel Centrale was fantastic. The concierge gave us recommendations for restaurants and hidden gems in the city, which was greatly appreciated. Our last leg of the trip in Naples included a private tour of Pompeii and our guide was yet again a perfect fit for us and catered the tour to our interests.

Overall, there was not a single part of our itinerary that we would have changed. The experience was everything we dreamed about and I would trust my trip planning to kimkim again in a heartbeat.

Hotel Reviews

Hart Boutique Hotel

Naples

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Centrale

Rome

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Firenze Capitale

Florence

Cute place that was away from the noise of the touristy center, but still walkable to everything you could want to see.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ca' Nigra Lagoon Resort

Venice

The rooms are stunning, the terrace was the perfect place to relax in the evening, and the location was perfect for all our excursions. We appreciated being able to quickly catch a water taxi while also feeling like we had a quiet corner of Venice to ourselves.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full-Day Private Tour of Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius, with Lunch at a Winery at the Foot of the Volcano

Naples

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Flavors of Rome | Food Tour with a Local Foodie

Rome

This tour was foodie heaven! Make sure you show up hungry and ready to eat a variety of dishes.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The walk from place to place was nice as our guide made sure to point out other hidden gems and we walked through backstreets like a true local.

Florence Cooking Class and Lunch at a Farmhouse in Tuscany with Local Market Tour

Florence

This class is all fun with a bonus of great food!

Quality of Experience

Food

Everything made was incredible!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Bruno should have a comedy show! We laughed more than we cooked.

Transport

Tuscany Day Trip to Siena & San Gimignano | Lunch & Wine Tasting Included

Florence

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Michele was an incredible driver! We loved getting to spend our day with him. He took time to stop for my scenic photo request and also made a great photographer. Furthermore, he made suggestions at each stop, easy conversation for the longer portions of the driver, and overall was knowledgeable about each location.

Transport

Fantastic trip arranged by kimkim and Ibrahim and through them the Egyptian promotion company.
Good hotel choices in Cairo and Aswan and a pretty good cruise liner from Aswan to Luxor. Every day we had knowledgeable guides, private AC vans with a driver at our disposal. Hisham at Cairo and Zakariah at Aswan/Luxor were knowledgeable enthusiastic guides. Mahmoud (Cairo) & Zin (Aswan) met us at the airport at arrival and departure and made it a smooth experience . The optional trips to visit a Nubian village and the hot air balloon was unforgettable . Mohammed our driver in Cairo was super helpful and kind.
Ibrahim’s itinerary and hotel/ flight bookings were 5 star.
2 small points, which I hope will be taken as constructive feedback
1. Communication from Ibrahim could have been a bit more prompt and saved us some worry
2. On the return to Cairo from Luxor we only had 12 hours to spend in Cairo. Perhaps a hotel closer to the airport could have been chosen saving us a 1.5 hr trip each way from airport to hotel and back.

My husband and I started planning our honeymoon with very little time and we had a lot of expectations for this trip. Luckily we found Michael, the perfect person to help us meet all of those expectations. The itinerary was throughly thought of, with a lot of activities and perfect accommodations. Exactly what we wanted.
We traveled for 13 days, from the Amazon, to Tayrona and then Cartagena. Every place was special but we have to highlight the Amazon, where we had the best experience of our life’s. Our local guide, Gary Botero, had a lot of knowledge about both the fauna and flora. Was always available to answer our questions and to make sure we were having a good experience everywhere we visited. All thanks to him, we got to see a lot of animals and understand a lot more about the indigenous culture. I would recommend Gary to everyone who wants to have an authentic experience in the jungle and among the indigenous communities. I can not stress enough how his professionalism, good vibes and love for the Amazon had a positive impact on the way our trip went.
We also loved our experience in Cartagena, especially the market visit and the Islas Rosario. Our local guide, Rafael Maldonado, gave us great recommendations, was very fun and available. Here we stayed at Bantu hotel, our favourite accommodation of the all trip. This hotel was strongly recommended by Michael and with reason.
It is also important to mentioned that Michael and his team checked on us, on time to time, reminding us of all the little procedures we had to do, giving us recommendations and even giving us some treats.
Overall our honeymoon was a experience we will never forget, all thanks to the great work of Michael and his team. Our trip was stress free and incredibly fun. We get to be adventurous, to relax and to experience Colombia rich culture, not worrying with a thing.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Bantu By Faranda Boutique

Cartagena de Indias

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Senda Koguiwa

Santa Marta

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Reserva Natural Marasha

Puerto Alegría

Loved our stay in Marasha. The night safari is on my top experiences of all time. Here we got to see a lot of animals and flora, to relax and to eat great Peruvian food. The staff was outstandingly nice, they even fried the fish I fished in the river so I could taste it. The day we spent here was our favourite experience on the all trip.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The place were I found the nicest people all over our trip.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Maloka Napü

Puerto Narino

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

I am giving five stars only because of Francisca, the lady responsible for the kitchen. She was really nice and available, answered our questions and made an effort to get to know us, which I found really sweet of her. She alone made the place feel welcoming. The other members of the staff were not exactly nice, but were professional.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The bed was comfortable but the bathroom didn’t really work well. The room needs some maintenance.

Reserva Natural Tanimboca

Leticia - Amazonas

We stayed at a tree house surrounded by the jungle, with no electricity and hot water. This was an amazing experience. We get the chance to do a night walk and see tarantulas, frogs and other insects. The sound of animals during this walk was itself an amazing experience. The room was clean, the food was good and the staff were nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was very clean and the bed was comfortable. We didn’t get a lot of mosquitoes inside the house, which was a nice surprise. I only think a lantern could have been given to us.

HAB Hotel

Bogotá

A hotel with a very cool vibe in Bogotá. The food was delicious and the staff was very nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Salsa Experience

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boquilla Mangrove Tour

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Market Visit & Cooking Class

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazonas Expedition - Day 4

Colombia

This was the top day of our trip.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazonas Expedtion - Day 3

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The boat to go swimming in the Amazon river should have stairs, to help one get out of the water.

Amazonas Expedition - Day 5

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rosario Islands Day Trip

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

San Alberto Coffee Tasting

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tayronaka Natural Reserve

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hike Tayrona National Park

Colombia

Overall we liked very much this day. However, this is becoming a touristic place and, perhaps because of that, the restaurants are quite extensive for the quality they offer. Our guide strongly recommended a place that turn out to be quite disappointing. We had to pay hours in advance, the staff was not nice, and the quality of the food was not that high (the ceviche was a salad, not a ceviche). The price clearly didn’t match the quality. A service including a picnic lunch would be a great alternative.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazonas Expedition - Day 2

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Amazonas Expedition - Day 1

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bogotá Walking Tour

Bogotá

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I had an exceptional experience with Columbus Guatemala Travel. Prior to this journey, my knowledge of Guatemala was quite limited, and Belize was completely off my radar. This is precisely why I love to travel: to explore new destinations, immerse myself in diverse cultures, and embrace novel experiences. The itinerary crafted by Columbus Guatemala Travel perfectly encapsulated the spirit of both Belize and Guatemala, offering me fresh insights into these fascinating countries. Their responsiveness impressed me, especially their use of a WhatsApp group to keep my travel information up-to-date and adapt to any changes swiftly. Meeting the team in Antigua was a delight; they were warm and welcoming. I wholeheartedly recommend embarking on a new adventure with Columbus Guatemala Travel.

My husband and I had a wonderful diverse trip planned out by the team. Highly recommend guides for the nature walks since they are trained to see what we would have missed. The four different areas and stays were all well selected. We enjoyed the crazy river tubing and ziplines in Monteverde especially. Thanks for all the instant replies to my questions.
Andrea

Silvia was incredible. She pulled together a fantastic itinerary for us to see Sweden (Stockholm and north of the Artic Circle to Kiruna and Abisko) then to Iceland. The tours and accommodations were spot on. We had a number of quick questions on the trip and she always responded quickly, often real time. It was just nice knowing someone with detailed knowledge of the areas we travelled was available throughout the trip.

Because Silvia was amazing, I think I would use KimKim again but they are not transparent with fees, don’t have a platform where a detailed day-by-day itinerary can be created without a workaround, and it took the behind the scenes team weeks to book tickets once we had a plan and booked airline tickets which made us nervous some things would no longer be available that had other dependencies. We had to get more into the details and needed to follow-up on some things than expected.

I explained that I was most interested in nature and cuisine. Tina came back with amazing suggestions which evolved only slightly before finalizing the itinerary. The hotels were outstanding, and most important the activities were amazing. Absolutely beyond my expectations.
Excursion 1: John Gray's Sea Canoe - Hong by Starlight. There were 20 tourists, and 10 staff to help us kayak in these amazing islands with internal lagoons. There are only a few hours per day when you can kayak through caves into the lagoons. The boating around the islands was amazing. Also, I had my best meals of the entire trip. The boat has a full kitchen and great chefs.
Excursion 2: Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Phuket. We spent 1/2 day taking care of these beautiful rescue elephants. We fed them, and bathed with them, and scrubbed them -- anyone who wanted to (including me) was covered with mud in union with the elephants. I made a new best friend through sharing this experience. We met there, and then again during my last day in Phuket.
Excursion 3: Pileh Lagoon & Bamboo Island. While the elephant experience was my favorite excursion, this was the most dramatically beautiful. A small selection of photos can be found on instagram,
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1G6YKbuX3U/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D

The views of the islands was amazing. But most incredible was the snorkeling. I followed a massive purple moray eel for 30 minutes in amazement.

Excursion 4: Muay Thai in Phuket (Thai boxing). When this was proposed, I responded "why??" My guide Tina as well as a friend from Thailand told me I should check it out. It was amazing! Like everything on the trip, it was VIP all the way. Special box seats with the best views. There were five matches: including a pair of teenagers, a pair of woman to start. They blew our minds, and the best was at the end with two Thai masters. Yes, some parts were a bit uncomfortable when someone got hurt, but the artistry was fantastic.

99% of the trip was flawless. When I needed a ride, a driver was there! The two times when there were minor issues I contacted Tina and all was resolved.

Hotel Reviews

Patong Paragon Resort & Spa

I stayed here at the start of the trip, and at the end. The rooms are spacious and luxurious -- I was so happy to see that bathtub after a long trip! Location can't be beat in this area: by the beach, but far enough away from the big crowds. Breakfasts are great, except I suggest you avoid the coffee. I was unlucky with this hotel. The A/C wasn't working, and they didn't respond to my request for a repair until Tina (my kimkim contact) called them. It turned out to be a simple reboot. On my return to the hotel they acknowledged their failure, and gave me an upgrade -- a massive suite! I preferred my previous room that overlooked the pool. To all: do not accept a room overlooking the busy road! It gets noisy!!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Phi Phi CoCo Beach Resort

Krabi

I love this hotel. You stay in elegant elevated huts. The breakfasts are outstanding, with the best fresh fruit. Parts of Phi Phi can be a bit congested. Here you are completely sheltered from any noise. I have the feeling that every hotel has outstanding personal service. This was the best.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sunrise Glory visit to Maya Bay, Pileh Lagoon & Bamboo Island

Ko Phi Phi

While the elephant experience was my favorite excursion, this was the most dramatically beautiful. A small selection of photos can be found on instagram, https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1G6YKbuX3U/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D The views of the islands was amazing. But most incredible was the snorkeling. I followed a massive purple moray eel for 30 minutes in amazement. The staff were incredible! Helpful, and *fun*!! They playfulness was fantastic along with being awestruck with the natural beauty.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A visit to Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Phuket

Phuket

We spent 1/2 day taking care of these beautiful rescue elephants. We fed them, and bathed with them, and scrubbed them -- anyone who wanted to (including me) was covered with mud in union with the elephants. I made a new best friend through sharing this experience. We met there, and then again during my last day in Phuket. The staff seem so committed to the elephants. And each elephant has their special Thai human to take care of them throughout the year. Just amazing.

Quality of Experience

Food

We had a pad thai cooking class at the end! They asked for four volunteers, and I jumped in. My best pad thai of the trip (not the dish I prepared, of course)

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

John Gray's Sea Canoe - Hong by Starlight

Phuket

There were 20 tourists, and 10 staff to help us kayak in these amazing islands with internal lagoons. There are only a few hours per day when you can kayak through caves into the lagoons. The boating around the islands was amazing. Also, I had my best meals of the entire trip. The boat has a full kitchen and great chefs.

Quality of Experience

Food

So many delicious Thai dishes!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport