Kimkim Trip Reviews

We the family from the USA were invited to Greece to spend time with our Greek family in 2022.

I found KimKim online, which came with high recommendation, to arrange a trip to visit our family in Greece. We wanted to take full advantage of this once in a lifetime overseas experience to see as much of Greece as possible. So we as a group decided to see Athens, Mykonos, Santorini and lastly Crete where our family resides and gave ourselves 15 days to do it.

I was asked by KimKim as to what was the budget for the trip; low, mid or high. For all participants involved a mid level budget trip was best.

Our group consisted of 5 members, 2 of which were seniors with limited mobility and use walking canes to get around.

Our 2023 trip provided 3 nights in Athens, 3 nights in Mykonos, 3 nights in Santorini and 6 nights Crete.

The highlights of our trip were the following…

Greece is beautiful and the food is great.

Athens has all the sensibility on a modern day city in the USA. You can easily walk around to shop, eat or find any available entertainment.

On our last night in Athens we went to a rooftop bar and restaurant with a view of the Acropolis. The night was full of fun, trade winds and eating and drinking.

Our second stop Mykonos was was beautiful with it’s mountainous terrain beautiful beaches. Our accommodations were right by the beach. Plenty of restaurants to walk to on the boardwalk and access to Uber to get around. Once again you are greeted with morning and night time trade winds while sitting outside enjoying a beverage of choice.

Our most enjoyable activity in Mykonos was the morning cruise in the Aegean Sea. The Captain and his first mate were warm and friendly and safety was paramount in our experience. We were able to anchor and enjoy some swimming time in the ocean. All of which made for memorable moments.

Our third stop was Santorini. Santorini is beautiful with its mountainous terrain, red, white and black beaches and narrow roads. There is no Uber to get around, so our movements were limited. If you are familiar enough with the terrain and are relatively young there are ATVs to rent. Our concierge did arrange a driving tour of the island with an opportunity to tour the Monastery of Thira.

In addition to our pre planned sunset cruise on a catamaran. Once again there was opportunity to swim in the ocean and the staff was warm and friendly.

Our final destination was Crete. Crete is where our family lives and thus the reason for our trip. The island is Beautiful, rich in history and culture. We rented a car to get around and GPS on our phones made it easy to navigate.

Our accommodations were a stone’s throw away from the beach. Plenty of restaurants to walk to and a grocery store up and down the street to pickup any incidentals. A pre planned walking tour in downtown Chania harbor was attended by 3 of our party who enjoyed food, wine tasting, and traditional Greek coffee. We also toured Agia Triada Monastery or the Monastery of Agia. Our time spent together as a family was memorable and irreplaceable.

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Here is review of the more challenging parts of our trip…

Our arrangements included lodging, travel inside the country and breakfast at all hotels except for the apartments in Crete.

Our lodging was essentially basic (very rustic) in all places where we stayed including in Crete.

In Crete one of our members had to sleep on a sofa for 6 days during our stay. Our accommodations cited 3 king size beds and a sofa bed, to which there was no sofa bed.
In Crete the house keeping was limited, with only 2 days of service and no bed sheets and fresh linen for the apartment. Also there was no sheets or linen for supposed sofa bed, which we did not have.

Our travel consisted of tickets for 2 ferry rides and plane tickets to and from Crete. The ferry ride was a unique experience for us all, but proved to be very challenging for the senior members of our group, when it came to boarding the ferry …walking up the ramps, climbing the stairs to get to your seat and disembarking down the ramps to get off the ferry. Not ideal for someone with mobility issues.

In Mykonos for one senior member of our party, the room was quite a distance from main building and included dips and rises. Also we had to climb two steps to access the toilet area. The showers in all the accommodations were very modern in taste but lacked any handicap accessory for fall prevention.

Of all the places Santorini was the most challenging in terms of transportation such as Uber and also a bit of a challenge in language barrier. We were unable to walk to local restaurants and we were forced to order food to be delivered to our hotel room with the help of our concierge.

Flights in Greece were met without incident.

My daughter discovered KimKim. Initially I was very nervous and skeptical using KimKim an unfamiliar online service. I wanted to stick with the big box travel service that I always used in the past. However, my daughter convinced me to use KimKim. I did have several discussions to convey what I wanted out of this vacation and I can unequivocally say this was the best vacation I have ever had! All seven of my family members said the same thing, BEST VACATION EVER! The authentic experiences we enjoyed would not have happened with a big box travel company. The entire experience was unforgettable and amazing. Olman our KimKim travel agent found great local vendors, hotels and private drivers for every city that we visited. I requested luxurious accommodations after our hiking, horseback riding, zip lining and white water rafting and we stayed in absolutely breathtaking accommodations in Monte Verde, La Fortuna and Tamarindo! Cala Luna Boutique Hotel was the perfect place to end a glorious vacation, relaxing doing morning yoga, swimming in our private pool and having complimentary cocktails served at sunset on the private beach. Fantastic job Olman —listening and deliver on all our must haves for a vacation of a lifetime!

Hotel Reviews

Cala Luna Boutique Hotel & Villas

Guanacaste

This hotel is spectacular! The setting is beautiful and amazing. The aroma therapy, the sound therapy the staff, the classes, the food — are all absolutely amazing! I look forward to returning.

Authenticity & Character

Everything about this hotel is special and spectacular! Upon arriving on a very hot day we were greeted by staff with cold hand towels with refreshing lemon grass aromas coming from the towels. The calm, beautiful sounds playing in the exquisite open air lobby made us feel like we had been transported to some magical carefree world! Everyone instantly, instinctively relaxed. Our family stay was exquisite in a 3 bedroom Villa that was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. It was appointed with everything we needed to relax and enjoy the most amazing family time. We got to see lots and lots of monkeys in the trees including baby monkeys being carried by their mothers. We got to hear alpha male monkeys loudly roaring claiming their territory from an opposing alpha male. This was sooooo cool and interesting for our 10 year old as well as for the rest of the family. We enjoyed a family game night in the beautiful family room. The entire villa had high vaulted wood beamed ceilings that added to the beauty and charm of our Villa. We did not want to leave at the end of our stay. Everyone was so relaxed and renewed by the ambiance of the Cala Luna Hotel. The bedroom rooms had superior quality bedding and you felt like you were sleeping on a rainforest cloud! I’m not easily impressed and I love and appreciate excellence. The Cala Luna did not disappoint or fall short in any area.

Location

This hotel’s location was perfect for us. It has a beautiful private beach away from the crowds where you get to enjoy delicious nightly complimentary cocktails at sunset. Cala Luna is a short walk from the beautiful public beach if you want to catch bigger waves or get surf lessons. You can walk to an amazing family owned restaurant 4 minutes away, Fish and Cheeses! Yummmmm!!! or enjoy a 15 minute walk and you’ll find lots of shops and tons of restaurants. I loved the quiet location of the Cala Luna away from the crowded strip yet easy access to the popular tourist areas.

Staff

Everyone on the staff, from the front desk to the yoga and fitness instructors to the room cleaners to the restaurant staff were gracious and wonderful! They all displayed such lovely kindness and a desire to make our stay extraordinary. I have not experienced this level of customer service in years. Kudos to the owner of this amazing hotel for assembling such an amazing team of employees.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything detail about this hotel exceeded my expectations! It was indeed amazing, no exaggeration.

Parque del Lago Boutique Hotel

San José

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs

Fortuna

We loved this hotel, it was beautiful. We had great nights sleep on comfortable beds and a delicious breakfast every morning. The staff was friendly, kind and helpful. I would definitely stay here again.

Authenticity & Character

The view of the volcano, mountains and landscape made the character of this hotel very special.

Location

The view of the volcano was breathtaking!

Staff

All our staff interactions were wonderful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The cleanliness was excellent but our mattress was not that comfortable, it sank in the center. We wanted to remain next to our family members rooms so we didn’t ask to change rooms. The cleanliness gets an excellent rating though.

Activity Reviews

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

San José - Arenal - Visit to La Paz Waterfall & Gardens

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

We worked closely with Fabio who over-delivered. He was prompt and clear in his responses and he curated an incredible itinerary for us in Venice and the Dolomites. Moreover, when we hit a foreseeable snag — a guide running delayed or a country-wide airport strike — Fabio provided exceptional service and insights by cell phone, seemingly 24/7.

Both local guides in Florence were very knowledgeable. Had to adjust some due to the heat and crowds at museum. But all in all great service provided.

Aryiana was our trip specialist, and she did a perfect job. Each of the 3 boutique hotels were super clean and comfortable and very well located with helpful, friendly staff. And the included breakfasts were delicious.
Every driver and tour guide appeared exactly on time.
But Ariyana’s assistance to us when the train and air traffic controllers went on strike was the most amazing! We still can’t believe how fast she was able to make alternative transportation plans.
We will recommend kimkim to all of our friends and definitely use their services again!

We had an amazing time in Bolivia. Thanks to Camila for planning this trip. Camila was constantly checking on us while we are on the trip and ensured everything was going as planned.
All of our guides were very knowledgeable, experienced and pleasant to spend time with, they made the trip worthwhile.
We spend 3 days with Alvaro and Johnny at Uyuni and the lagoons, we greatly enjoyed our time there, Alvaro went above and beyond to ensure all we checked all of our boxes. He is an expert in the area and showed us a great time. We had an "unboliviable" time as Alvaro would say!
The hotel accommodations were excellent.
The entire trip was very well planned and we had an amazing time in Bolivia. We highly recommended Camila for all of our friends who are now interested in visiting Bolivia.

Activity Reviews

Santa Cruz de la Sierra half day city tour

Santa Cruz

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Williams was great, answered all of our questions. Showed us a great time Santa Cruz, and the tour was memorable.

Transport

Explore the amazing Uyuni Salt Flats

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Alvaro made this journey memorable.

Transport

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve full-day Adventure

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From Uyuni to the south Lipez gateway

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Alvaro and Johnny were incredible. Alvaro is an extremely knowledgeable guide and very pleasant to spend time with. We spend 3 days with him, he went above and beyond to ensure everything is as expected and showed us the best of the area.

Transport

Potosi the "Imperial Villa"

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Williams was extremely nice and knowledgeable. We enjoyed our time in Potosi and Cayara and the time Williams took to explain everything and show us a great time.

Transport

Cal Orcko Dinosaur Tracks and Cayara Hotel Museum

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

City tour in Sucre

Sucre

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Martha was very knowledgeable and pleasant to hang out with. We had a great time with her at Sucre,

Transport

This is my first time experience with KimKim and my 8-day trip with Randall was incredible. From start to finish, everything ran smoothly thanks to his exceptional organization and expertise. The hotels were good, with the one in La Fortuna exceeding my expectations. Randall struck the perfect balance between travel, activities, and relaxation, allowing me to fully experience Costa Rica's stunning destinations like La Fortuna and Volcán Arenal, Manuel Antonio, and San José. His prompt responses to my questions were invaluable and demonstrated his commitment to ensuring a seamless and enjoyable trip. I wholeheartedly recommend Randall for an unforgettable Costa Rican adventure. Thank you, Randall!

Hotel Reviews

Crowne Plaza San Jose La Sabana by IHG

San José

Clean and exceptionally comfortable rooms. The staff was friendly and attentive, ensuring a pleasant experience. I

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Karahé Beach Hotel

Manuel Antonio

Great location and a comfortable room! However, I experienced some issues with the wifi, which was a bit slow and problematic. The staff was okay. In any case, I had an enjoyable stay due to the hotel's prime beachfront setting and location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lomas del Volcán

Fortuna

Hotel Lomas del Volcán exceeded my expectations in every way. The bungalow was cozy and comfortable, the location was perfect, and the staff was incredibly attentive and friendly. A truly remarkable experience!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arenal Volcano - Mistico Hanging Bridges and La Fortuna Waterfall with lunch

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano Hike & Baldi Hot Springs & Dinner

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee & Chocolate Experience

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All the guides were great, so glad had private tours and transfers, learned so much more and experienced local places.
Loved the mombo combo in la fortuna.
The Springs is the most amazing resort I have ever been too!
The cave exploring was nothing like i have dine before.
All the guides were so nice, friendly and sensitive to the needs of my children.

I went into this without any knowledge of KimKim or using a service to plan our trip to Costa Rica. I'm more excited to use it again now that I understand the process and what to expect. We were routed to Serendipity Adventures to plan our trip and Bryan Leon was the organizer for the trip. He was very patient with me as I wasn't sure what our family wanted to do. He offered many suggestions, even events I hadn't considered that ended up being some of our favorite parts of the trip. First of all, all of our transportation was either on time or early. They were all very knowledgeable and friendly. There was not one hiccup in our itinerary. It all went smoothly and if anything needed to be amended, they made sure it was taken care of.

The Guided hikes, zip line adventure, waterfall and cultural experiences were fantastic. We visited a farm owned by the granddaughter of the original owner. Her and her husband were so gracious. They showed us around their farm, our teenage kids participated by pulling Yuka to make chips, mango for our salad, they milled sugar cane for juice and we picked a pineapple that we took back to our hotel. We ate a wonderfully home cooked meal, listened to Eli play and sing, we sang and danced with them and it felt like we were spending time with family. Our kids spoke Spanish and that was very helpful and made the experience that much better.

Our surfing lessons by Glen were fantastic. We felt very well taken care of by him and his staff. We even went back later in the week and really enjoyed our time on the beach. I highly recommend working with Bryan and the others from Serendipity to plan an educational, adventurous and well organized trip in Costa Rica. We felt safe and the locals really love and care about their beautiful country.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Mariposa

Manuel Antonio

It was at the top of a hill and we needed to walk up many steps and hills. Not an issue for us, we liked it, but for others that have an issue ask for a room in the main hotel area. The view from the hotel was spectacular. The breakfast wasn't our favorite, but it was fine as they provided a number of options. The staff was very accommodating and friendly. We loved that the hotel itself had a lot of wildlife. We saw a sloth, two macaws, toucans, spider monkeys and a white-faced monkey right there at the hotel. That was exciting.

Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs

Fortuna

The staff was so friendly and so helpful. The room was clean and very comfortable. The best part was the breakfast. It was THE best included breakfast I've ever had at a hotel or resort before. It had everything you could think of and it was fresh and they took a lot of pride in the presentation and service. It was impressive. We also loved the spa services. We had a perfect view of the volcano.

Authenticity & Character

Location

It's a little further from LaFortuna, but never a problem.

Staff

The staff was so helpful and friendly. I would talk with the staff about some of the adventures we went on and if they weren't aware of it, they wanted to know how it went later. They were polite and kind.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Our guide Mariano was a pro from start to finish. He was our personal guide for many hours that day and ended with a nice lunch at a really great restaurant in La Fortuna. He was very knowledgeable and taught us about the fauna and flora in the park. We walked about 2 1/2 miles while he explained all that we were seeing and hearing. After a very hot and humid hike, we went to the waterfall. It was so beautiful and so refreshing. We LOVED it. Mariano was patient, he helped connect us with others to book additional adventures, he was a terrific guide.

Cultural Experience

Arenal/La Fortuna

We cannot say enough about our time at the Farm. Eli and Esteban were so wonderful. They both, along with their friend who helped cook the meal and the dancers that performed, made the experience unforgettable. It really helped that our two teenage kids could speak Spanish. It allowed them to practice and to communicate with Esteban in a way that my husband and I could not. It's always fun to see wildlife, zipline, hike, and be adventurous, yet, taking the time to learn and experience the culture of Costa Rica from the food, the land, the music, the dancing, the singing to just being with a Costa Rican family and connecting was so magical. We loved every minute of it.

Quality of Experience

Food

The food was cooked by Eli and her friend and it was made on an outdoor grill box. The food came from their farm and it was all so delicious. We loved that my son pulled a Yuka plant from the ground and she used it to make chips for the homemade guacamole. They accommodated for the two vegetarians in our family and everything was so yummy. Best meal of our trip.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Esteban picked us up from our hotel and took us home. He stopped to buy fruit along the road that we had never seen before, he even cleaned a bathroom before we used it. He went above and beyond to make us comfortable.

Transport

Lookout Tram, Ziplines, & Hanging Bridges Combination Adventure

Arenal/La Fortuna

The guide for our hike was so knowledgeable and really eager to point out and tell us about the jungle and the animals. You could tell he loved what he was doing. The zip line was so much fun. Well worth it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Chris and the entire KimKim team were amazing from start to finish. No question I asked was too small or too silly. They kept our family updated before and during our trip. Any questions or issues that came up they were quick to respond and resolve. I would not hesitate to use KimKim again.

Hotel Reviews

Alta Vista Suites

Santorini

A great location with a great view.

Authenticity & Character

High quality room and very comfortable to enjoy our time away from the heat.

Location

Incredible view with a pool overlooking the veranda.

Staff

Very friendly and provided us with authentic local recommendations. Always engaged with us when they saw us. Great people through and through.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Liana Beach Hotel & Spa

Naxos

Everything about the hotel was amazing. The food, the location, the staff and the amenities. Would not hesitate to recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy Naxos.

Authenticity & Character

High quality room and amenities.

Location

At the end of the beach so not as noisy or crowded

Staff

Super responsive and incredibly friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean room and towels every day.

Kyria Boutique House

Plaka, Athens

The pictures and descriptions of the hotel were 100% accurate. The service and amenities were amazing. Great location close to the Parthenon and all of the shops.

Authenticity & Character

Very quaint

Location

close to the shops and the parthenon

Staff

Very responsive and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sunset Catamaran Caldera Cruise

Santorini

The trip overall was an incredible final activity for our vacation. The only downside was that our van took a long time to get to the location and had very poor A/C.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Catamaran staff was incredible.

Transport

A/C was horrible on the way there. Was late to pick us up too.

Santorini Farm Tour: Food & Wine

Santorini

This was one of our trip highlights. The wine tasting was tasty and informative. That alone would have been incredible, but that was followed by the waterless farming tour and cooking exercise which was even better. A must do tour for any visitors to Naxos.

Quality of Experience

So informative and fun

Food

The wines were so good, but the food we cooked at the farm was AMAZING.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very friendly and informative

Transport

Private Delphi Day Trip with Swimming & Lunch in Galaxidi

Athens

Great experience other than the transport car breaking down. Even with that they pivoted and got us there safe and sound. The swimming and lunch in Galaxidi was not as great as described. It was not so much of a swimming hole.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Acropolis Hill & Museum Tour

Athens

Our guide was friendly and patient and full of incredible historic information. She created a fun game for our family to play as we discovered the Acropolis. She was incredible.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The guide had gotten a place for us in line when we found her.

The excursions were good and fun. The sunset cruise was not good. We were back at port before the sun even set! And we had to go out and get dinner afterwards because definitely not enough food was served on the boat.

Activity Reviews

Wine Tasting & Tapas Trike Tour

Tenerife

It was a fun experience. You only visit one winery though. The food served there was pretty good though.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Teide National Park by Sunset & Starlight

Tenerife

Ben was a great story teller. He kept you captivated with all the history of the Guanche! The food and wine was good as well.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset Sailing Experience with Dolphin Watching

Lanzarote

We were back at port before the sun even set! The food was terrible and there definitely was not enough of it. The crew was very nice though and we had no issues with them. Folks should know that maybe you will see some dolphins but not the sun set.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lanzarote Volcanic Wine Experience:: Tastings & Tapas

Lanzarote

Cheryl was awesome! The wineries she took us to see were great and she was knowledgeable on most everything.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a pretty extensive 10-day itinerary in Chile, with myself, my teenage daughter and my 8 year old son. We had a great time visiting Santiago, Patagonia, and Atacama, all thanks to Lorena. She put together the itinerary and it was perfect for us. We had many transfers--cars, planes, buses, boats, as Chile is quite stretched out. Every step of the way was smooth and all the guides we had on the trip were professional, knowledgeable, and interesting. It was truly unforgettable and we saw different ways to eat, different ways to think, and different ways to live. Lorena also paced us appropriately, especially considering our young boy. Some activities would definitely have been too hard for him (trekking in Torres del Paine, some of the activities in Atacama), and best saved for when he's much older, but we might not have known if we didn't have an expert planning our trip. We were very happy--Lorena was always responsive, helpful and attentive. I would recommend her highly to anyone. Thanks so much!

My husband, daughter and I spent 9 days in Italy in early July 2023 and had an amazing experience. During this time we were in Florence, Amalfi and Rome. We also stopped at Pompeii, Vesuvius national park and did a quick city tour of Naples on the way to Amalfi. Andrea was phenomenal and worked with me to plan out a detailed itinerary. I am used to planning my own trips in the past and have very specific expectations. Andrea was able to meet and exceed all of those, including specific requests such as stopping by at a good pizzeria in Naples for lunch. He also had wonderful suggestions to make our overall experience better. We had a good balance of private guided tours and small group tours. All of our guides were excellent in terms of the information they provided and how they interacted with us. Special mentions to Guiseppe, our guide in Pompeii and Naples and MariaPaola, our guide in Rome. We had a pretty packed itinerary and everything was very seamless with no delays or misses, despite this being peak season in Italy. I would highly recommend using Kimkim/ Andrea to plan your vacation!

Activity Reviews

Colosseum & Roman Forum skip the line ticket

Rome

Rome Private Guided Walk

Rome

Quality of Experience

Colosseum and Roman Forum - Private guide

Rome

Quality of Experience

Naples guided walk

Italy

Guiseppe was great - learned a lot about the culture and history of Naples. And enjoyed good Napoli pizza for lunch

Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - private guide

Rome

Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel skip the line ticket

Rome

Quality of Experience

Vesuvius entrance ticket

Naples

Day trip to Capri Island from The Amalfi Coast - small group

Italy

Pompeii ruin visit with a private guide

Italy

Guide was excellent!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tuscany Day Trip from Florence with Chianti, Siena & San Gimignano

Florence

Excellent trip - lunch at the vineyard was so good, some of the best food we had in Italy.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Florence private guided walk including Accademia Gallery

Italy

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

This was the most organized trip I've ever taken. The team was very communicative and responsive. They were also able to modify changes we requested for different with times. All the drivers were professional and on time at each point. The hotels were all great and waiting for us, no issues with check in. The activities are all great top notch tour guides. If anything we had a lot of similar activities, but that was more our doing than theirs. Safari Float(Diego & Mariano) and Volcano Hike(Mariano) were amazing. It's impressive to have a 10 day trip without a single hiccup. Great job by Bryan, Charlotte and the whole team. I would gladly recommend this team for a Costa Rica Tour.

Hotel Reviews

Studio Hotel

San José

Very clean and good location 20 minutes from airport. Only issue is hotel restaurant was blah and very pricey, outside of that it was great.

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel San Bada Resort & Spa

Manuel Antonio

Great location for park and beach. Rooms are a bit worn, but functional. Pool Bar was great, the whole staff was amazing at both bars had great bartenders, I believe Estrella was one gal and Josue upstairs.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco

Monteverde

Clean, nice pool area covered. Rooms worked, nothing amazing. Friends enjoyed spa. Great location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Royal Corin Thermal Water Spa & Resort - Adults Only

Fortuna

Amazing. Everything was great from check in to check out. Jose at the pool bar, everyone at the restaurant. Everyone at reception. Rooms were comfortably with amazing shower. I would be happy stay here again. Pools are fed by hot springs so they are warm. We were a group of adults. Not really a kid property more relaxing adult. You can not really walk to town or restaurants but taxi's are always readily available and its a short drive. Views from room are great, not one complaint.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Costa Rica

Great experience saw lots of animals but far away. Tour guide was a little snotty and rude to other people.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Canopy Zip Lining Tour, bridges, and Fauna Exihibitions at Selvatura

Monteverde

Amazing, would do it again, best zip line activity, give yourself time to do the bridges and sloth exhibit. Best place to get close to sloths.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Eternal Rainforest Night Walk

Monteverde

Guide was very knowledge able and although we saw about 15 animals its hit or miss and most need to be seen through a telescope.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sloth Discovery Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

We saw about 12 sloths, but far away. If you want to be close look for conservatory. Also seeing sloths could be a miss. But the end of trip coffee and snack was nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Volcano Hike and Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

Mariano was amazing, slow paced walked but did have some tough parts. Great guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Río Peñas Blancas Safari Float Experience

Arenal/La Fortuna

Very relaxing, saw lots of wild life. Mariano and Diego were great. A surprise snack was lovely. Would recommend especially if you don't want to do rapids but want to be on the water.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This trip was excellent and eric made sure that we were well taken care of - with accommodations and reservations to attractions waiting for us in advance of our trip and suggestions for some off-beat places to see. We had a few hiccups with accommodations, but they were dealt with quickly by the staff and every effort was made to solve the problem. Once you leave the main tourist trail, it is hard to know where to sleep, eat and tour. KimKim's suggestions were much appreciated.

Catarina did a phenomenal job from start to finish. She recommended 6 local guides at various cities in our trip and all were extremely knowledgeable, friendly and fluent in English.

In addition, all of the restaurant recommendations she made were fantastic and all of the booking was seamless.

We will highly recommend her for anyone visiting Portugal and will use KimKim again for our future trips.

Mathia was the best. He was always available and kept up up to date on any changes we needed to be aware of! He listened to what was important to us and gave a great Scandinavian experience! I highly recommend Mathia and KimKim and we plan on using them on our next trip!

Rebecca was incredibly helpful throughout the whole process. She was available any time we needed and always answered our questions.

We loved our trip to Portugal! Booking through KimKim made everything so easy, and Bea was incredibly responsive both during the planning phase and for questions that came up when we were traveling. Would 100% recommend the trip and Bea!!!

Hotel Reviews

Be Poet Baixa Hotel

Lisbon

This place is right in the heart of a million restaurants, shops, street performers, etc. This was perfect for us, but also meant the rooms were a bit smaller, and there was sometimes a bit of noise outside. It didn't keep us up, but others may be bothered by it. Front desk was very helpful, and they greeted us with wine and pastries! Breakfast was only okay. Totally fine for a quick bite before tours, but we sometimes opted to venture off for a coffee at a cafe somewhere else.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Do Colégio

Ponta Delgada

Location was perfect - we could walk to lots of great restaurants and the marina. Hotel even decorated our bed with rose petals for our honeymoon. The front desk was very helpful - they called taxis for us, made recommendations, and lent us towels for all of our day trips. We also had the best meal of our lives at Otaka, not to be missed!!! The pizza place right next door was also great. The hotel breakfast here was only okay, but it was nice to have somewhere to grab a quick bite before leaving for the day.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

PortoBay Teatro

Porto

Location was perfect and breakfast was great!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Day Excursion: Sintra, Cascais & Estoril

Portugal

We had lots of fun, and this was our last day of vacation! Be warned that the guide will not come into Pena Palace with you, so if you want to learn more about the rooms while you're walking through, you need to make sure you either have a guide inside or download an audio app for a self-guided tour. This didn't end up taking away from our experience, but we didn't realize that other groups would have tour guides leading them, so we were a little taken aback at first. As we kept walking though, we didn't feel like we really needed it. The town of Sintra was also very cute. We wish we had just been able to get lunch there rather than the designated spot which was tasty, but was essentially a food truck in a parking lot. Cascais was also gorgeous, and we probably could have spent a full day there lounging at the beach instead of just a few hours!

Lisbon Home-Style Cooking Class with Market Visit

Lisbon

We had lots of fun making the delicious food, but be warned that this was supposed to take 3 hours and ended up being a 6 hour activity instead! That being said, the market visit was great and was basically a tasting before the whole thing started. We just wish we had known how long everything was going to take!

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Volcanic Experience in Furnas Full Day

São Miguel Island

We really liked this day - we requested that we start with a hike so we did a ~2 hour walk around the whole body of water which meant we could take in the beautiful scenery!

Sete Cidades Full Day Experience: Ferraria Springs & Volcano Rims

São Miguel Island

Really beautiful, just wished we had gotten to do more hiking rather than jumping in and out of the car at the lookout points!

Private Guided Visit of Porto

Porto

We loved walking the city with a private guide. Meant we got to break for a while and sit at a cafe while hearing about life in Porto. He also adapted the tour so we could end at the book shop we wanted to see! Walking tour was especially great in Porto because we really felt like we saw all of the city highlights. We ended up taking the guide's recommendation and taking an uber/spending the rest of the day along the beach starting at Praia da Luz and walking toward Matosinhos. So many fun beachfront restaurants for drinks and food!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Foodie Experience in Porto

Porto

We had a lot of fun doing this on our first night! Only thing that could have been better is if we had known what all of the tastings were going to be in advance. We started out finishing the wine they provided at the first stop only to find out there were ~4 more glasses of wine coming!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a most amazing trip for approximately 30 days in France. We started our trip in Marseilles and ended in Fontainebleau just south of Paris. We travelled via train so we could watch the beautiful, changing countryside out the train windows.

We worked with Amandine and she organized an amazing itinerary for us. At the start, I had an idea of what cities / villages we wanted to visit but I needed assistance on where to stay and more importantly, how to get from Point A to Point B. Amandine made additional city / village suggestions and helped improve the routing. But more importantly, she helped to find and suggest things to do, places to see, day trips to take, and ensured we knew what was not to miss.

Amandine set us up with private walking tours to introduce us to new cities. Specifically, Valarie in Marseilles, Lucy in Arles, Marine in Toulouse, Agathe in Lyon and another woman in Angers. She also set us up on a small group tour from Marseille with a company A La Francaise where 5 of us plus our guide Nicholas went to several small villages in Provence and experienced lavender fields, ochre buildings, a large natural spring and a Sunday market. Not to mention our private tours to multiple villages from multiple other cities we visited - thank you Thomas, Rachel, Sebastian, Alex, Demitri, and Raphael.

On our own, there is no way we'd have found such small group tours with such knowledgeable guides full of history and fun facts. Nor would we have had such centrally located hotels, museum tickets, train tickets, etc. We were clearly well taken care of and in good hands with Amandine.