Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our family had an amazing trip to Sorrento and Rome, Italy. Everyone we met was kind and helpful. I want to thank all the people who helped us get to all our stops on our itinerary. The drivers, Luigi, Vincenzo, Carmine, & Tony were on time and always ready to give us help on navigating our trip.
Our guides, Emma & Carlo (Mt Vesuvius), Giovanni (Pompeii), Lucca (Path of Gods), Vincenzo (Vatican) were all extremely knowledgable and friendly. Our boat trip to Capri with Antonino was amazing. Lunch and wine tasting at Tenuta San Francesco winery in Tramonte, the wine and food prepared by the family was a once in a lifetime experience. Lunch and wine tasting in Pompeii with Salvatore was wonderful. The pizza making class at Al Grottino in Rome with Tony and Julia was fun and delicious. The staff at our hotels, Hotel Capodimonte Sorrento and 47 Boutique Hotel Rome were so helpful with directions and dinner reservations. A final thanks to our trip planners Fabio, Lisa and Daniella, you thought of everything and we enjoyed all of it!
Grazie mille! The Pinsonault Family

Hotel Reviews

Grand Hotel Capodimonte

Sorrento

Beautiful hotel overlooking the bay of Sorrento.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

47 Boutique Hotel

Rome

Trendy hotel in the heart of the Circus Maximus in Rome. Beautiful balconies on the 5th floor rooms and restaurant that overlooks the city.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Path of Gods hiking

Italy

Beautiful views on an amazing trail our guide Lucca was amazing.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private excursion to Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius (8 hours)

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Pizza-making class

Rome

Tony and Julia were amazing and so welcoming. We learned a lot and the pizza was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sorrento Coast & Capri Boat Tour

Italy

Antonino was an excellent boat captain and packed a delicious lunch. He took us all around the island of Capri.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit of the Amalfi Coast villages with wine tasting and lunch at Tenuta di San Francesco

Italy

The views were amazing on the drive. Lunch and wine tasting at Tenuta di San Francesco was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine chapel and Saint Peter's Basilica

Rome

Our trip to the Vatican was top notch our guide Vincenzo was friendly and knowledgable, he showed us many things that we would have missed if we went on our own.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My daughter and I typically do a "girls trip" to a different country every year. This year, we decided to visit a Morroco. I travel quite a bit - both professionally and personally. Typically, I research and book all of our travel arrangements - from booking flights, researching cities to visit, things to do, hotels to stay and local transportation options. (I actually enjoy doing it! Seriously.)

However, with this trip, I felt a little out of my "comfort zone" in planning it by myself, so I decided to try out KimKim. Without a doubt, working through KimKim and getting connected with local travel specialist, Sharon, from Morocco Immersion Tours & Adventures, was one of the best travel decisions I've made over the years. Here's why:

From the first "virtual" introductions to the final days before our trip, Sharon was always accessible, professional and knowledgeable. In this particular case, it also helped that she was an American living in Morocco so there was no language barrier. When we arrived, our tour manager, Hicham, was there waiting for us, and the adventure began! I’m so glad we had Hicham throughout out entire trip to drive us place to place, connect us with other tour guides for specific tours, help check us in to our Riads (hotels), and tell us more about the country during our longer drives from the perspective of someone who was born and raised there. (BTW, his English was great!) He went above and beyond any expectations I had – to include stopping by a pharmacy and speaking with the pharmacist to help me get some medicine for an allergic reaction I was having to poison ivy that I contracted BEFORE the trip in my backyard and didn’t know it!

I cannot say enough about Hicham’s the level of professionalism throughout the entire trip and genuine desire for us to have the best vacation possible in his country. Same is true for the other tour guides they connected us with for specific tours. The attention to detail in everything – from our accommodations to our restaurants to the third-party partnerships they have acquired is unequaled! I am so glad we were connected with Morocco Immersion Tours & Adventures. I wish they were in more countries! I will definitely use them again when we come back to visit!

Linda did an absolutely wonderful job planning and organizing our Norway trip. She always promptly and pleasantly responded to the logistical questions we had prior to the trip. Our Bergen city tour guide did a wonderful job giving us a great overview of the city. Our water taxi captain Tor gave us a fun s as fun informative ride to our hotel. Our Fjaerland hiking guide took us on a beautiful hike to a secluded overlook over the fjord. Elin on Vaerlandet was so kind and a wonderful host for our island adventure. We loved being able to be so active with this itinerary. Our kids loved the diversity of activity this itinerary provided as well.

Hotel Reviews

Bergen Børs Hotel

Bergen

Very quiet rooms and the family room provided ample room for a family of 4 with 3 beds. The buffet breakfast was the largest spread we had in Norway!

Authenticity & Character

Such a cool old but beautifully updated building

Location

So close to Bryggen, the ferry, and the fish market.

Staff

Always professional, pleasant, and kind

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Fjærland Fjordstove Hotell & Restaurant

Fjærland

Sitting right in the fjord, this hotel is a true Norwegian experience. The food is locally sourced and amazing! Breakfast buffet was delicious and the evening dinners were mouth watering. Our son called dessert the best dessert he has ever had… we would agree!

Authenticity & Character

Takes you back in time… in an amazing way. Old world charm.

Location

Right on the fjord—-amazing beautiful!

Staff

All staff were so friendly and accommodating doing their best to ensure we had a good stay.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and beds were very comfortable.

Quality Hotel Florø

Florø

Very clean, very quiet modern hotel. Breakfast buffet had many offerings. Loved that it was so close to the ferry terminal.

Authenticity & Character

Right on the harbor

Location

Close to the ferry made it very convenient

Staff

Very pleasant and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean, very quiet

Værlandet Havhotell

Hamna

Absolutely amazing and stunning hotel. Loved having a kitchenette. Views were spectacular! Having bike rentals the whole stay made it so easy to get around the islands. Elin was the most kind and gracious host ever! Highly recommend staying here!

Authenticity & Character

Loved the fact that this was so near the boat harbor but felt like you were in a very quiet and secluded location!

Location

The view was so amazingly spectacular

Staff

From pick up off the ferry from the time we left, Elin took such wonderful care of us!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Extremely clean, comfortable beds, and a nice complete kitchenette

Activity Reviews

Bergen - Fjordcruise to Fjærland

Norway

Captain Tor has such a deep understanding of the Balestrand area that it made for a wonderful experience.

Quality of Experience

Loved having the boat all to ourselves and the ability to ask questions

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Friendly and pleasant— he has great stories and a firm understanding of the history and area of Balestrand

Transport

Loved the boat ride

Explore Bergen with a Local

Bergen

Fartein was a wonderful and fun tour guide. He did a good job answering questions and our kids enjoyed his perspective!

Quality of Experience

Great city overview… fun tour guide

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Friendly and knowledgeable

Transport

We are so lucky we found Kimkim!
We had booked our flight and airfare already and were looking at pre-booking excursions for our Galapagos trip on our own, piecemeal trying to choose companies based on websites and pricing. Then Kimkim came to the rescue! Our specialist from Ecuador responded right away and asked what our trip goals were. She fashioned an individual itinerary that was perfect with local guides - Julio and David - that were terrific. The packaged price was very reasonable and we just got back from our trip of a lifetime very satisfied! Only reason I didn't give 5 stars was there was a gap of a day to two hearing back from Erika when I was trying to firm up some details, but it was quickly rectified with a call to Kimkim customer service.

Activity Reviews

Breeding Center & Wetlands of Isabela Island

Galapagos Islands

A nice walk through the Wetlands and informative Breeding Center tour - lots of marine iguanas and tortoises.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Tintoreras Islet (Private)

Puerto Villamil

Saw penguins, blue-footed boobies, sharks, sea lions - combo land walking and snorkeling tour

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking Adventure in Isabela Island

Galapagos Islands

Similar sights you see as the TIntoreras tour but you stay on the kayak - no walking - so good exercise and can get a bit closer to some of the wildlife - sea turtles, penguins. At the end we walked to Playa Concha to snorkel and that was great

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to Los Tuneles (Private)

Galapagos Islands

About a 45 min bumpy boat ride that was a little bit freaky in rough waters, but the end result was worth it - walking and pictures with the Blue Footed boobies and then to a 2nd site where w snorkeled with sea turtles!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Both the historic tour and the foodie tours were fun and meeting people from all over the country (USA) made it enjoyable. I don’t remember our guide’s names. But the daily interactions with the people of the city, the Uber drivers, people we met on the tours was probably the most fascinating.

Hotel Review

Hôtel Alt Montréal

Montreal

Hotel Alt provided everything we needed while we stayed in Montréal. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful. Fresh croissants every morning spoiled us!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything - the room and the entire hotel was spotless.

Activity Review

Old Montreal VIP

Montréal

Our guide was very knowledgeable and we learned so much about Montréal!

Quality of Experience

Our guide - he was very kind and very Canadian French. His family roots were established there so the tour went deeper…

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It’s a walking tour so you’re constantly moving except to stop to talk about specific points and spots.

The whole team was very cooperative and great Always got back to me in time to renegotiate certain things I wanted to adjust in the trip (not that there were many) the whole plans were done beautifully. I would definitely work with them again because there’s more to see!!

Thanks again for a lovely time Joel and Isabelle

Tiago was absolutely perfect. He built us a journey that will last a lifetime. Portugal is beautiful all over, the destinations, food, shopping, people especially… with his road book and suggestions we saw some amazing spots we would have never seen if planning ourselves so it was all that much better. The hotels he set us up with too were so stylish and fun as well, and were carefully positioned to take advantage of our surroundings on any given day…he really does have such a wealth of knowledge…and for that we are so grateful for him sharing it and pointing us in the right direction, that and picking us up at the airport! Can’t recommend him enough!

It is hard to put into words how wonderful our trip was. We really feel a special connection to Morocco after this trip and cannot wait to return. We felt very safe and well cared for during the entire trip - even when an incident outside of anyone's control happened, so many people sprang into action to ensure that we were cared for - we truly could not have asked for more. If you are considering visiting Morocco, you should. You will not regret it!!

Hotel Reviews

Riad Madu Luxury Camp

Merzouga

Truly a refuge in the dessert. Lovely, dreamy layout, yummy food, beautiful views of the dessert. Wish we had a bit more time here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Maison Bleue And Spa

Fes

Stunning hotel. Loved exploring all the gorgeous nooks and crannies. Its like a fun maze. Great breakfast and staff. Cannot recommend enough.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Maison Arabe Hotel

Marrakech

Beautiful, fine hotel, The art in this place is amazing! Perfectly located. Great pool for when Marrakech gets too hot.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Desert Luxury Camp Erg Chebbi

Merzouga

Very cool experience. We visited in the dead of summer so it was really hot. But the staff is wonderful, and took incredible care of us, especially while we posted up in the pool. If you can, stay in the domes! AC only goes on at night, so time your arrival accordingly!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Tour of Fez Medina

Fes

Our tour knew everyone and everything. Fes is such a cool place to explore, and a tour guide is absolutely necessary with these winding streets and alleys.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Cooking Class in Fes

Fes

Our guides were just wonderful. The cooking was really fun, and the results delicious. But the star was the location. Truly the most beautiful Riad we visited on our stay in Morocco.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Desert Adventures around Merzouga

Merzouga

Do the ATV tour - it will be hot but you will not regret it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transfer to Marrakech via Roses Valley, Ouarzazate & Aït Benhaddou

Morocco

Do the horseback riding through the streets of town. One of the coolest experiences of our trip - it felt like we were back in the 11th century. This was the best place we ate Cous Cous as well.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tour of Majorelle Garden

Marrakesh

Very beautiful, peaceful, and cool (temp) when visiting in the morning.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Guided Tour of Marrakech

Marrakesh

Hanan was very sweet and knowledgeable. Took us to some very beautiful sights, including an incredible palace within the city.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marrakesh Evening Food Tour

Marrakesh

Do this. The food here was better than the fancy restaurants we visited separately. Hanan, again, was very sweet and knowledgeable about where to eat.

Quality of Experience

Food

Tangina!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We have always wanted to visit Costa Rica to see the amazing animals in their natural habitate. However, we just didn't have the time and energy to plan a big two-week trip. Reading endless reviews for many tours and deciding on which region/city to visit. So, we decided to use a travel agency for the trip planning. I found Kimkim from online searches and liked the fact that until the trip is finalized to my liking, we don't need to pay for anything. Brittany was amazing in getting exactly what we were looking for. We only had to book our own flights, and the rest was handled by her. We were a little worried if a driver or tour guide wouldn't show up as we had scheduled before we went on the trip. As Brittany had told us that hasn't happened yet, they were all on time and even arrived earlier than us. We had 0 incidents of any issue with the drivers and tours. They were all very professional and knowledgable! We had a problem with one of the hotels mistakenly charged us at the checkout. I contacted Brittany and Kimkim's emergency phone number and got a response in 10 minutes! They even handled sorting out everything with the hotel after we left Costa Rica. I am really happy that we chose to work with Kimkim for this trip. Otherwise, we would have to spend so much time on our own to plan for the trip and still not know if things would work out. We would have definitely had a lot of hassle to have to deal with correcting the mistake of the hotel charges on our own. I would highly recommend Kimkim to anyone who is planning on a bigger trip to a country that they are not familiar with, or just don't have the time to plan the trip themselves, or don't want to risk having things go wrong on your trip.

Hotel Reviews

W Costa Rica - Reserva Conchal

Guanacaste

High-end hotel. The food is pretty good, but pricey. We had all inclusive packages, so we didn’t have to worry about the price. Their sushi is not that great though. Best of this hotel is that you get to see the howler monkeys and coatis and other creatures close up. We took several tours to see wildlife and actually saw the howler monkeys most close up right on the trails of this hotel. It also has a nice beach. You can check out kayaks, body boards. There are also local tour vendors on the beach by the hotel, so you could do horseback riding, ATV type of things on your own. I would recommend this hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

We didn't like the person at the checkout. Other people were great.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Baldi Hot Springs Resort, Hotel & Spa

Fortuna

I like the hot spring pools and the location of the hotel. The staff is great here too. The rooms are very nice as well. The thing we don't like about this hotel is the food is not great. Breakfast was included and it was pretty good. Lunch and dinner here in their restaurants are not great. We especially didn't like their Italian restaurant food. The dinner buffet was ok ($20/person, kids has a discount) for up to two times there. Then it gets pretty boring.

Authenticity & Character

pools are pretty nice

Location

close to hotsprings

Staff

very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

very clean

Activity Reviews

Sloth Observation - Day or Night Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great fun doing the night tour. Got to see creatures that are active at night. If you haven't done a night tour before, I would highly recommend it. Our tour guide was super knowledgeable and fun too.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Venado Cave Spelunking & Exploring

Arenal/La Fortuna

Love this one! How often do you get to explore 15-million year old caves! I wrote a google review for this too. Highly recommend doing it at least once in your life.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tamarindo Mangrove & Estuary Boat Tour

Gulf of Papagayo

The guide was nice, but there were hardly any animals we saw. I know there is a lot of luck envolved in these nature tours. It was fun seeing mangroves and monkeys though. We were able to see monkeys close up on our hotel's campus later. So if you want to see monkeys, I would still recommend this tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Proyecto Asis Wildlife Rehabilitation Center - Volunteer Experience

Arenal/La Fortuna

Got to see animals close up and learned a lot. The guide was fun and had a lot of stories to tell. We also did hands-on food preparation (cutting veges) and making fun fodd containers, and then saw them enjoy our prepared food. Kids loved it especially.

Quality of Experience

Food

There was water, coffee and cookies served.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Sailing Adventure

Costa Rica

The water wasn't clear so we couldn't see any fish. It was fun being on the catamaran, but we've done it a number of times before. We saw one sea turtle on this tour. If you have done catamaran at other places, I would just skip this one.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Hanging Bridges Guided Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

A very easy walk in a well maintained park. Saw a lot of monkeys there. The guides were very knowledgeable. I would recommend this one!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chocolate Farm Visit & Workshop

Arenal/La Fortuna

I personally liked this low key tour. My kids also liked it. There is no factory here, just some trees. I think we just liked watching them making chocolate and us tasting chocolate. If you just want to do something less physically demanding, and your hotel is close to this farm, I would recommend it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Iceland was beautiful. Duncan put together an amazing trip for us on very short notice. Our itinerary included everything we had on our list and we had a very long list. We went to several lagoons and baths (the Blue Lagoon, the Forest Lagoon, the Sky Lagoon, the Bjorbodin Beer Baths and the Myvatn Nature Baths). All of them were special in their own way and very welcome after full days of hiking, seeing Iceland’s amazing waterfalls, rafting, touring the Vidgelmir lava cave and whale and puffin watching. We had one issue with our lodging that turned out to be the fault of the hotel. We called the Kimkim emergency number and Preeti and the hotel host had a new place worked out for us in about a half hour. I should also mention that Duncan answered all of our pre-trip questions and he checked in with me several times during the trip to see how things were going. Great job Kimkim. I would definitely book another trip with them.

Activity Review

Iceland Thermal Bath Experience

Iceland

The Sky Lagoon was one of the most relaxing places I have ever been. The scenery was beautiful - you looked over the edge of the infinity pool into the bay beyond and the sky beyond that. The facilities were very calming and relaxing. We purchased the Pure pass which included a seven step ritual meant to relax and rejuvenate. It worked.

Quality of Experience

I honestly liked everything we did. Driving gave us a lot of flexibility. Visiting Iceland in the summer gave us 22 hours of daylight to do it. We never felt like we were rushed.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

I liked the individualize itinerary.

Transport

I liked that we had a hybrid car that was great on gas mileage.

Our family trip was awesome we loved our planner and our guide Christian. They made our trip full of life time memories. Thank you kimkim

Hotel Reviews

Casa de Piedra

Mindo

The hotel was beaten had a great time there

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very helpful and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Termas de Papallacta

Papallacta

The food and service the is wonderful had such a great time

Authenticity & Character

It was a awesome

Location

The views are beautiful

Staff

The helpful and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

La Floresta

Baños

They were very friendly and helpful to my family the kitchen staff were awesome they worked with my son and his culinary school assignment

Authenticity & Character

Location

The views

Staff

So helpful and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean the hot water did last long enough to fill our massive bathtub but the showers was hot enough

Ikala Quito Hotel

Quito

Wonderful hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hacienda Pinsaqui

Otavalo

We had a great time there wonderful food and our room was beautiful

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chilcabamba Lodge

Machachi

Wonderful and beautiful place

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Spa Casa Real

Riobamba

Very beautiful place

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Wyndham Guayaquil, Puerto Santa Ana

Guayaquil

Love this place the beds are so comfortable the staff is awesome and food is great

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Boutique Carvallo

Cuenca

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Colón Salinas

Salinas

Very private the town was like a ghost town so it was different but love our room and food was good there

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Very friendly not many spoke my language there though

Cleanliness & Comfort

Selina Montañita

Manglaralto

This is a nice hotel but not really for family's it is the middle of a party town and it is loud a night

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

We didn't know to put sigh on door for cleaning so they didn't clean our room during stay

Wyndham Quito Airport

Quito

Beautiful hotel with great views most comfortable beds and awesome food

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Colonial Quito City Tour & Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) Monument

Quito

There were having a dancers there that day was awesome

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We love our drivers and guide so much

Transport

The Woodcarves of Ecuador - Visiting San Antonio de Ibarra

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Otavalo Market – Cuicocha Lagoon – Mindo

Otavalo

Wonderful shopping

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cloudforest of Mindo & Return to Quito

Mindo

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Quito - Cotopaxi National Park - Quilotoa Lagoon

Cotopaxi

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cotopaxi National Park - Quilotoa Lagoon - Baños

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Journey through Nature's Grandeur: Exploring the Avenue of Waterfalls

Baños

I love this town and the surroundings

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Riobamba - Palmira - Cuenca

Riobamba

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cuenca City Tour - Free afternoon

Cuenca

Awesome time in this town loved it all

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ingapirca Ruins-Cuenca City

Ecuador

Very cool to experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Cajas National Park & Do a Cacao Tour on the Way to Guayaquil

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guayaquil City Tour - Free afternoon

Guayaquil

Had great time here

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Montañita - Guayaquil - Flight to Quito

Montañita

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Antisana National Park - Hot springs of Papallacta

Papallacta

Great way to end a trip for sure

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Termas de Papallacta

Papallacta

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Papallacta hot springs

Papallacta

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Papallacta - Quito

Ecuador

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We are a busy family, and did not have much time to do our own research on what to do in Iceland. Rinolda was just what we needed for a travel specialist! She took our requests and built a great itinerary for us. The program included not only the must sees, but also a number of suggestions in case we have extra time. She went over the itinerary with us before the trip in great detail and made any necessary changes based on our requests. She also booked all the hotels and hard to get tickets in advance, so all we had to do was to show up. Rinolda also checked in with us throughout the trip to make sure that we were having a good time. She was quick to respond whenever we had a question. I couldn't have asked for a better agent!

We visited 4 different areas (islands) in Greece - Athens, Santorini, Naxos and Mykonos.
The trip was so memorable and a special vacation for myself and my 3 grown children.

Our travel Agent, Antonis Alexandrou was wonderful! He greeted us at our hotel in Athens which was such a wonderful personal touch! He was also available via Whats App with any questions we had during our stay in Greece.

Our favorite island was truly Santorini but all the islands had their own special flare! The sunset cruise in Santorini was one of our favorite days - we spend one afternoon and evening on the catamaran with a fun group of "new friends" as we saw the beautiful Santorini island from the sea! During several spots we were able to jump off the boat, swim and enjoy the water!

We enjoyed learning about the history of Greece and Athens from our guide (Zakia) as we toured the Acropolis.

Our guide (George) in Naxos was wonderful - very knowledgeable and fun which made for a very relaxing day seeing the smaller towns and countryside in Naxos. The pottery shop in Damalas was one of our favorite stops in Naxos as well as the very authentic lunch with our guide at the Tavern Platsa in the small town of Koronos.

During our free day in Mykonos, we loved spending time on the beaches - we bought a day long beach hopping pass and were able to see all the beaches and we spent time on one of the beaches for most of the afternoon ( Super Paradise Beach) which had lots of people, beach activities and a great place for lunch!

Each of our hotels that we stayed in were unique and special in their own way. Antonis did a great job of booking different type of hotels. ( a quaint place in Naxos, a downtown hotel in Athens, a larger hotel in Santorini with several swimming pools to enjoy and our hotel in Mykonos had a wonderful view of the sunset off our balcony!)

I would highly recommend using Kim Kim for my next travel excursion!!

Hotel Reviews

Argo Boutique Hotel

Naxos

Authenticity & Character

Authenticity & Character

Location

Location

Staff

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cleanliness & Comfort

Poseidon Hotel Suites Mykonos

Mikonos

The hotel was absolutely beautiful!! Spectacular views of the sunsets from our balcony and very specious rooms! The hotel staff went above and beyond with being available for transportation ( taxi rides) to the various places we wanted to see on the island!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The front desk manager, Andreas was extremely helpful and attentive!!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Traditional Dinner at the Mykonian Spiti

Mykonos

I would not recommend this experience! As it turned out, the other guests that were suppose to be with us never showed up so it was just my daughter and I. The owner of the company who cooked the meal was somewhat offended that we did not eat all the food she had made. There was so much food and she made us feel bad ( she actually thought we didn’t like it since we didn’t eat everything!!) We would have preferred eating at a local restaurant in town instead!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Island of Naxos

Naxos

Our guide, George was wonderful!! Very knowledgeable and fun to be with! Our favorite stop during the day tour was at the pottery shop in Damalas and the very authentic lunch in Koronos.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Sunset Cruise

Santorini

One of our favorite days while in Greece! We love spending the afternoon and evening on the catamaran - meeting new friends and seeing the beautiful island of Santorini from the water!!

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transport

We worked with Martin to book our July 2022 trip for 7 persons (5 adults and 2 teenagers) to Thailand. We were able to see 4 cities in ~10 days so it was a fast paced trip but we enjoyed all of the different experiences and new places. The highlights of the trip included visiting Happy Elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, staying in a tree house and on the lake in Khao Sak national park, and enjoying a day at the beach in Koh Samui. When we arrived in Bangkok we were grateful to check into our hotel right away so we could recharge after the long journey and really enjoyed the Tuk Tuk tour to see Bangkok by night and enjoy some local cuisine. We also really enjoyed our night time hike and river cruises in the Khao Sak national park. Martin was our local expert and helped plan our trip and answer all of our questions. All of our transfers and travel went flawlessly and we were very happy with the trip overall.

Hotel Reviews

Bodhi Serene Chiang Mai Hotel (SHA Extra Plus)

Chiang Mai

This hotel is located within walking distance to several temples and the Sunday night market in Chiang Mai. It has a very boutique feel with friendly staff, a wonderful pool, and a great breakfast buffet. Our room was upgraded to include a balcony and was very nicely furnished. Would definitely recommend this hotel and stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very central location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chatrium Hotel Riverside Bangkok

Bangkok

This hotel is exactly what you would expect from a big city 5 star hotel with an exceptional breakfast buffet. The location is good (keeping in mind Bangkok is a very big city) and the hotel is within walking distance to a 7/11 store. The pool was very large and well kept. The rooms are very spacious with every amenity you could need and are well cleaned and updated. I would definitely stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cheow Lan Lake Explorer

Khao Sok

Our guide for Cheow Lan Lake was Liam and we loved the two days we spent with him. He was very knowledgeable about the plants and animals of the jungle and helped reassure us when we were nervous on our expeditions and answered all of our questions. We really enjoyed the lake cruises and walking trek we did with him to the Pakarang Cave. Would highly recommend him to other travelers.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Spend a Day with Elephants in Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai

We enjoyed our day playing with the elephants at Happy Elephant and learning about them from our friendly and knowledgeable guides. The best part of the day was playing with the elephants in the river and watching them give themselves a mud bath. The lunch provided was Pad Thai and it was very delicious however the down time afterward felt too long, we would have preferred to skip it entirely or just have 30 minutes for resting. The only part we did not enjoy was cutting down the grasses for the elephants, we understood it is a necessary part of the upkeep for elephants however we did not have proper attire (long pants/long sleeves) and those that did participate got many scratches and cuts from the sharp grasses.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to Costa Rica was absolutely inspiring and every destination was as breathtaking as the one before! Having Brittany to guide our planning through every step of the way eliminated so much of the stress and confusion of traveling to a place that I had only dreamt of visiting but in reality, didn't know much about and honestly, didn't even know where to begin. Her suggestions were right on point, almost as if she knew us personally. Every single booking from lodging to transportation was flawless. Even during an emergency evacuation, she took time to make rearrangements for us and communicated with me during the times of uncertainty and after the fact to ensure that our trip continued smoothly and safely. Having that peace of mind is simply priceless. Aside from that, we are blessed with added experiences and memories that my family will treasure for the rest of our lives. With all the different destination offerings and my family's love for travel, there is no doubt in my mind that we will book through kimkim.com again soon!

Our family had an amazing time both in London and Paris. It was all very well arranged and communication was on point. Thank you for assisting us and making sure we had wonderful memories. :)

We visited 4 different areas (islands) in Greece - Athens, Santorini, Naxos and Mykonos.
The trip was so memorable and a special vacation for myself and my 3 grown children.

Our travel Agent, Antonis Alexandrou was wonderful! He greeted us at our hotel in Athens which was such a wonderful personal touch! He was also available via Whats App with any questions we had during our stay in Greece.

Our favorite island was truly Santorini but all the islands had their own special flare! The sunset cruise in Santorini was one of our favorite days - we spend one afternoon and evening on the catamaran with a fun group of "new friends" as we saw the beautiful Santorini island from the sea! During several spots we were able to jump off the boat, swim and enjoy the water!

We enjoyed learning about the history of Greece and Athens from our guide (Zakia) as we toured the Acropolis.

Our guide (George) in Naxos was wonderful - very knowledgeable and fun which made for a very relaxing day seeing the smaller towns and countryside in Naxos. The pottery shop in Damalas was one of our favorite stops in Naxos as well as the very authentic lunch with our guide at the Tavern Platsa in the small town of Koronos.

During our free day in Mykonos, we loved spending time on the beaches - we bought a day long beach hopping pass and were able to see all the beaches and we spent time on one of the beaches for most of the afternoon (Super Paradise Beach) which had lots of people, beach activities and a great place for lunch!

Each of our hotels that we stayed in were unique and special in their own way. Antonis did a great job of booking different type of hotels. ( a quaint place in Naxos, a downtown hotel in Athens with a beautiful view of the acropolis from the rooftop bar, a larger hotel in Santorini with several swimming pools to enjoy and our hotel in Mykonos had a wonderful view of the sunset off our balcony!)

I would highly recommend using Kim Kim for my next travel excursion!!

Hotel Reviews

Elia Ermou Athens Hotel

Athens

The rooftop bar and restaurant was amazing - we enjoyed an evening cocktail with the beautiful view of the acropolis! Since the Elia Ermou Hotel was downtown, it made it convenient for shopping and walking.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great for walking downtown for shopping. Great views from the rooftop bar and restaurant!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Greco Resort Hotel Santorini

Santorini

We enjoyed the several swimming pools - great place to relax. Our rooms were in great locations to the pools, pool restaurant and breakfast location. We only had a 10 minute walk to the town of Fira.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Magnificent Athens

Athens

Our guide, Zakia was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed learning about the history of Athens as well as the history of the Acropolis. I would definately recommend this experience - it is such a big part of Athens that you truly have to "check the Box" and see the acropolis and learn about the history.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon

Athens

I would not recommend this experience. After the 5 hour tour of the Acropolis, it was too long of a drive to see the Temple of Poseidon. We were never able to see the Cape Sounion due to the fact that the road was closed off to see the view. My kids were exhausted and we had to spend over 2 hours in the car driving to see the Temple which was not very exciting. The views were pretty but looking back on it, we would have enjoyed a more relaxing afternoon with lunch and swimming or snorkeling in one of the seaside towns that we drove through.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Sunset Cruise

Santorini

This truly was one of our favorite days in Greece!! We met some wonderful people on the cruise - the barbecue dinner was delicious and the views of beautiful Santorini from the boat were spectacular! Fun to jump off the boat and go swimming!! I would highly recommend this experience!!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We LOVED our time in Cartagena and really appreciated the care Michael took to make sure each detail was thought out. The Armeria Real hotel suited our family well and the sleeping loft gave our daughter somewhere to hide away when she wanted a moment alone.

We particularly enjoyed the chocolate workshop at ChocoMuseo with Cindy. Our active 9-year-old was involved in every step. The owner, Abe, stopped by and gave us a bit of a taste of the rum experience from his other property Rumbox across the street. We went there later for dinner. That was a highlight but the workshop with Cindy was a wonderful, intimate, personalized way to kick off our adventure in Cartagena. She was knowledgeable and patient. We bought rum and chocolate to bring home to share with others.

We also loved the bike tour with Oscar. What a GREAT tour guide! So warm and a great story teller. We were not the steadiest on our bikes but he matched our pace and was reassuring. He sought out a great little coffee shop, which was a highlight for my husband. He helped our daughter make connections between Colombian history and what she'd already learned of US history. And he knew everyone all over town. I felt like we were rolling along with a local celebrity.

The dance lesson was a bit less successful - we learned how to dance but using the dining room at our hotel wasn't really the ambiance we were looking for. The instructor was great but it would have been nice to go out somewhere more lively. I suppose that's too much to ask at that time of day. Dance culture doesn't likely pick up until later at night. I did see Oscar took a video of us dancing - perhaps you could ask him for a copy and send it on to us?

The trip to the islands was lovely and I really liked IslaBela. It was not overrun like many of the reviews I'd read of other Rosario Island destinations.

Overall, a wonderful trip and using KimKim and Chaska helped us find the right balance between independent travel and expert on-the-ground guidance and support. Very satisfied!

Hotel Review

GHL Hotel Armería Real

Cartagena

The location in Getsemani was perfect and the rooftop pool is a great place to relax after a day of sightseeing. Take in the view of the city walls and the skyscrapers on the peninsula beyond as you lounge with a mojito from the bar. The room smelled a bit musty but the air conditioning was effective and the sheets were clean. They really need to boost the lighting in the interiors. The decor is charming and authentic to the neighborhood. For our family it was really perfect to have the two beds split into separate spaces, with a living room bedroom, and bathroom on the first floor, and another bedroom and bathroom in a sleeping loft above. This provided a little getaway for our daughter to decompress within shouting distance.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in the heart of Getsemani. Walkable to so many destinations.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Chocolate Workshop

Cartagena

This was amazing. Cindy was a wonderful tour guide through the process of making chocolate. She let us be hands-on for several steps of the process, handling the cocoa beans, shelling them, mashing them and finally pouring them into molds. She even customized our mixture so that it would not contain milk since I had an allergy. We learned so much and were inspired to eat dinner that night at their restaurant across the street - Rumbox - where they have a lovely rum-tasting experience that is also infused with chocoloate. This experience was everything we could hope for - personalized, sensory, informative and fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We walked - so not much to say about that.

Rosario Islands Day Trip

Cartagena

Lovely trip to the islands. It's so nice you get your own little cabana/bed upon arrival. The food was tasty. The vibe was relaxed. The snorkeling was a little bit of a disappointment in that the water was a bit rough. Not much they can do about that as tour operators, though. And there were lots of pretty fish.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cartagena City-Tour by Bike

Cartagena

Oscar was a wonderful guide. Knowledgeable and friendly. He was greeting folks all over the city. He customized the tour to our interests. He worked with the bike rental place to make sure we got a tandem bike that suited our family. He scouted out a great coffee shop where my husband got to sample tasty coffee.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cartagena Dance Class

Cartagena

The instructor was great. We learned how to dance. I somehow thought we'd do so at a more lively venue where we'd then be able to continue dancing. Doing the dancing in the empty dining room of our hotel was not an ideal location - especially since we were such a small group.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our local specialist was amazing and accommodated all our requests. He was very helpful and made sure that we felt safe and comfortable throughout our trip
Our local guides Joao in Lisbon and Fernanda in Porto were very knowledgeable and made our tours thoroughly enjoyable. The attention to our personal preferences were self evident.
The cooking classes in Lisbon and Porto were absolutely great and we enjoyed them very much-one featuring a typical Portuguese dinner and the other learning to make Portuguese tarts.
I would highly recommend this trip and Tiago and the local guides

My partner, D'Wayne and I agree this was the most memorable trip we have experienced!
Sarah was phenomenal throughout the entire process, from planning, pre-trip details, all along the trip and send off to home! We created a WhatsApp group text and it was so easy to exchange details as the trip progressed! While it wasn't required to stay in contact, she was always a text message away if anything came up!
It became very obvious that all of the vendors/guides/drivers selected were well vetted and high quality! We felt very cared for - all the little details were covered.
We visited 4 cities and 1 national park along the way over the course of 11 days - we loved the walking historical and food tours! We learned a ton! We have a private boat excursion from Split to Hvar that was amazing! We chose to stay in AirBnBs and they were all 5 star locations - well appointed and conveniently located! One evening in Dubrovnik, we traveled outside the city to a family farm and enjoyed an intimate meal prepared with food they grew onsite. There were so many highlights on this trip and this was arguably the best!
We are so thankful for the support and care we received! We are looking forward to a return trip to Croatia and we will certainly leverage Kimkim.com again for our future trips! I have already recommended it to all of our friends and family!

Activity Review

Zagreb Private Guided Walking Tour

Zagreb

Our guide was a lifelong resident of Zagreb with a true love of his city and the rich history! He asked us questions to gauge our interests and was considerate of the heat - positioning us in the shade to share info, acknowledged where we were walking etc. He provided food recommendations that were well received. He felt like a friend by the end of the two hours!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff