Kimkim Trip Reviews

I stayed at the Aira Hotel Bangkok, which was nice, but a more conventional hotel than the other places we stayed.

The full day Khao Yai National Park tour was a pleasant experience. We did a nice hike through the jungle but did not have the luck to see elephants, which was a bit disappointing. However, I understand that these are wild animals and sightings aren't guaranteed. In retrospect, it might have been nice to have the option to visit another park with possibly better opportunities to see elephants, but the one we visited was still enjoyable.

Kasbah Tiziri was my favorite place that we stayed. It was beautifully restored by its owners and has a lovely garden with resident tortoises. The food served was delicious.

The hotel staff were so kind and friendly.

The last hotel in Osaka was our favorite because it was bigger and comfortable, but it was a bit far from our destinations. It would have been nice if it were closer to the train station so we ended up taking a cab a few times due to the distance. The food was great though!

The Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya exceeded our expectations and was our favorite part of the trip. It was really enjoyable and efficiently organized. Everything worked smoothly, and it felt like a well-oiled machine that allowed us to enjoy the experience fully. We loved it!

The Ramen cooking class was a delightful experience once we found the location. It was in a residential area, which was unexpected, and we got a bit lost. Clearer directions would have been helpful, but thankfully, customer support was responsive and helped us. Once we were there, the class was great, and we enjoyed meeting fellow tourists.

Very comfortable rooms, great breakfast, perfect location.

Great room for 3 ppl because the cot had its own room. No views. Breakfast not included. I would have prefered to be closer to old town, though this is close to the Guggenheim.

Comfortable room, great breakfast

Very nice rooms in modern hotel with great breakfast. It was a hike to old town, where we spent most of our time. Our room was large and comfortable for 3 but we did not have a great view. I think if you stay over on top of this hill it's worth it if you view the bay.

Our guide was great. We enjoyed his company for the day and he was really knowledgeable about the Camino and the Basque Country. The beer and snack at the end was a nice reward, too.

Our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. The stops were interesting. It was ok for our 14yr old son, but better for guests who can enjoy the drinks. I liked the private room for one stop. The group was nice and friendly.

Great way to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time.

Very average accommodations. The location was noisy. The room had no character. The bed was VERY uncomfortable.

The hotel had lots of character. The views were amazing and location was perfect. But the photos didn't accurately portray the room we were in and the plumbing was about to rip from the wall. The staff was fabulous.

Wonderful facility. The staff was accommodating, the hotel was super cute, the location was close to everything. My favorite of the trip.

Very cool experience. The dancers were very talented and the environment was super unique.

Just an average food tour. The guide was lovely but I didn't like that we had to cram into most of the places. We only had a separate area for our group in one place. Everywhere else we went the guide had to compete with the crowd to talk to us.

My rating is only based on our guide. He was lovely and very knowledgeable. He was so great even someone who was nearby asked how to book him :).

Again I'm only rating our guide. Rocio was fabulous. I was EXTREMELY disappointed to learn however this was a free tour considering how much I paid KimKim/Espiritu to put together this trip.

The market was really cool. The experience was a nice mix of education about the market, the ingredients we were going to use and the actual cooking. The hosts were very cool. But I didn't like the way we were set up in our groups. We ended up paired up with a family that monopolized the process.

Small rooms. Lamp was broken. Needs a little work but it was fine for one night. We hardly stayed in the hotel much anyways. It served its purpose. The location is awesome though! Close to the train and buses.

They didn’t warn us ahead that they charge for coffee in the room. However, their breakfast was awesome! The location was also great!

Favorite hotel of the trip! Grab some emolliente from the cart in the courtyard! Highly recommend this hotel, it’s gorgeous! Loved how comfortable and luxurious it was here!

We love Tino! Had the best experience here! The food and bar were awesome! Thank you for such an amazing time! Glad we got to see so many exotic birds and animals!

The restaurant downstairs was delicious! The hotel is simple. It wasn’t close to town but we were too tired to explore anyways. This hotel also served its purpose. Rest and food were our main needs especially at that elevation! Overall it was a good time.

The first night we did a night walk with Tino and it was awesome! Loved our rooms! An absolutely gorgeous place! Dinner was delicious!

This made our time in Lima special! 100 percent would do again!

Last day was great. Had lots of time to pack up and head out. Overall a smooth travel day to Cusco.

The full day here was awesome! We started our day with bird watching! Then, we got to do the canopy walk. Later we went canoeing around a lake and saw so much wildlife. On the way back to the lodge we even saw wild capybaras! All the food was delicious that day too! Truly an amazing experience!

This day felt very rushed, unfortunately. We did not get to spend enough time in the Sacred Valley and had to rush to make it to the Panchamanca on time. Other than that we had an awesome time. Our guide and driver were so awesome that day making sure we still made it to everything! I recommend spending a full day in the Sacred Valley.

I slept through most of this! Overall, it was great. We made some great stops and even saw some monolithic structures! We tried Coati coffee which was tasty. We got some good souvenirs during this journey! We also visited the Church of San Pedro. It was a fun time and got us to Lake Titicaca!

This was so cool! It felt other-worldly going here and seeing how the people live! Awesome day on the beautiful Lake Titicaca! It’s a journey but definitely worth it! We really were able to immerse ourselves in the culture!

Obviously our favorite part of the trip! Cusco is one of the most beautiful cities my husband and I have ever been to! Machu Picchu was picturesque and I got emotional seeing it! Definitely, the highlight of the whole trip!

Nice location. Nice restaurant and personnel.

Hotel did not do my laundry even though I asked them several times to make sure that it was ready for check out on the following day

Loved this hotel due to it's remoteness and the ambiance in the surrounding grounds. Many places to sit and read/visit, etc.

Restaurant was exceptional. Had GF food that I could eat and actually enjoyed. View was good. the flooring could have been better marked because there were drop offs that were unexpected if you weren't paying attention. In other words, the floors were uneven and mostly ramps from section to section

Hotel was on a street where many locals hung out. Getting our luggage ourselves was an issue since the bell hops insisted that they get them. Accessing the street was difficult because there always seemed to be a car in front of the hotel.

Staff could not understand my English when I told them I had COVID and needed to cancel my massage appointment. Darian was rude upon arrival because he was working on his computer. He did not say please nor thank you. The woman and Karla were fine.

Driver was on time and very patient while all of us arrived at different times from the United States

Flight delays - poor communication with our travel associate. Poor hotel accommodations at the Hilton due to the distance back to the airport, when the holiday inn express was at the airport.

Guide was unable to answer most of our questions at the church and along the way. She seemed to have a script of what she wanted to tell us. We asked a lot of questions in the church and she said that she did not know. Like the stations of the cross (since it was lent), the nun giving counseling (maybe), etc.

We were scheduled to have 2 shuttles holding 12 of us. Only one shuttle arrived so we were delayed in our departure to the airport while the transport company discussed the terms of settlement of the drivers. We did make it to the airport on time but by passing vehicles on solid yellow lines going speeds above normal based upon the sway of the vehicle.

A tour that was scheduled to last for 6 hours took well over 10 hours. Lunch was good; by the end of the day all were exhausted.

Both the El Principal vineyard and the Santiago vineyard tours were very nice for our last day of the journey.

We stayed at this hotel because it was the site of a destination wedding to which we were invited. This hotel is situated on a hill and extends pretty much from top to bottom, counting the restaurants. There are numerous room areas (designated A through E) that are scattered from reception (near the top) to the bottom of the hill. A is at the top and E, where we stayed, was at the bottom. Some units are part of a larger building, bungalows (which we had) look more like singles. The hotel has an aeronautic theme, so some rooms include the nose of a plane. Staying at area E meant that we were close to the lovely beach, but a bit of a distance from other areas, including reception. The hotel readily provides transport from area to area on demand, but my husband and I walked most of the time. That meant a fairly steep walk up to pool areas or to reception or to the restaurants. Despite our ages (70s) we were able to do it successfully. This hotel is not meant for those with mobility issues. Our unit had a balcony overlooking the beach. It would have been idyllic, but the noise from the main road below was very intrusive. We were able to tune out regular car noise, but there were many busses, trucks, motorcycles and vehicles with no mufflers. That was highly annoying. Each room has a kitchen. Although they claim the kitchen is fully stocked, we did not consider ours 'fully stocked'. Minimally is how I would describe it, though there was a cook top and refrigerator and microwave, some silverware and dishes. The biggest problem was the very weak light in the kitchen. We like to cook our own breakfasts and one could barely see in that kitchen even when the other lights in the unit were on. However, the rooms were large and comfortable and very clean. Maids come daily. Despite our hanging up our towels, the towels were changed every day. I found that surprising considering the ecological bent of Costa Rica. The only restaurant we used was Anaconda for lunch. We found it a very pleasant restaurant with good food. We especially enjoyed the lox sandwich. We only used the adults only pool which was half way between our room and reception. It was a very nice pool with a bar attached. It had great views all around it. There is a path for a short hike shown on the map but don't try to take it. It's largely impassable and not worth the trouble. One gets enough exercise hiking the regular hills in this hotel just to get to reception, restaurants, etc. All that said, the views from anywhere on the hotel property are exceptional. The foliage is lovely. We saw many birds, especially macaws and kiskadees and green parakeets. There were also white-faced monkeys and, somewhere off the premises, a howler monkey. It was only a short walk from our unit to the beach, which is a very beautiful beach. We can recommend this hotel, but with the stated reservations.

Hotel Lomas del Volcan was an excellent hotel. The rooms were spacious and clean. The bathroom was large and luxurious. There was no refrigerator in the room but there was really no need for one. The breakfast buffet was included and provided a wide choice of food. Service was excellent. For dinner, one could eat at the bar, the pool, or the restaurant if one wanted more formal, bigger dinners. The food was good. My husband and I especially appreciated the fabulous landscaping at the property. It was obvious a great deal of care went into it. There were beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs everywhere. There were a fair amount of birds and many people joined birdwatching groups to admire the birds. We also enjoyed the monkeys. Mostly there were spider monkeys which one could see best in the early morning or evening. We never saw the howler monkey but its howls reverberated early in the morning and in the evening. I was fascinated by it so it never bothered me. The service at the hotel was excellent in general and they were highly responsive if we needed something. The hotel is situated a bit far from the town. You would have to get a taxi if you wanted to go into town for anything, but we didn't really need to. We had a local tour every day and were occupied when we returned to the hotel. There is a walking trail that one can take, but we didn't see anything special on it. It's best to walk the main grounds of the hotel and admire the foliage and the bird population. All in all, we recommend the hotel.

My husband and I enjoyed this experience. Los Pinos is not a 'traditional' hotel. Guests have their own cabin; our cabin was clean and comfortable and had a rustic-look. We had a 'junior' cabin, which meant that we had one queen-sized bed. Some cabins were a bit smaller but most were larger and could accommodate families. Each cabin has a fully-stocked kitchen. Ours was stocked with vinegar and oil for salads, salt and pepper, coffee and tea. There was a toaster oven, a cook top, refrigerator and plenty of dishes and pots and pans. We looked upon this hotel as 'glamping'. Los Pinos was situated on its own preserve on a hill. Monteverde is, of course, very hilly. Having no car, we had a short uphill walk to our cabin from the registration area. Our suitcases were transported to our cabin. The site was private and wooded, just as we like. There was a picnic table and chair outside the cabin on the porch but it was generally too chilly for us to make good use of them. We were there in late March. The cabin was very spacious and warm indoors. Some might be put off by the fact that one could not put toilet paper down the toilet, but it didn't bother us terribly. It was, however, very difficult to remember to do so as habit is so strong. The bathroom was well ventilated and there was no bad smell. Maid service came every day and removed the trash. We very much enjoyed the ecological point of view espoused in Costa Rica. The person working in reception was always most helpful even though we required little. There is a private reserve with a trail that one can hike but we found nothing of note on the hike . We do not really recommend this activity. It was fine for the exercise. There is a nice lookout at the top, but the day we were there it was quite cloudy. Best to walk to Curi Cancha and walk around that lovely park. Be sure to eat at Stella's on the way.

It was a beautiful hot springs. We had the dinner and it was very good. We aren't ones for sitting in water for long periods of time nor for drinking extensively in the pool, so it was not a long experience for us. It was, however, very relaxing.

The guide was friendly and knowledgeable. The hike was excellent. The guide told us a lot about the area and pointed out interesting animals and birds, particularly the birds. It was a group hike and it was interesting meeting the various travelers. The waterfall experience was a bit less so for us. We were the only ones on this part of the trip and had no idea what to expect. It turns out that the waterfall is 500 steps down and 500 back up. You can swim in the pool but one has to clamber over huge rocks to get there. After we got back to the top we were taken to a private farm to table lunch at a restaurant owned by the tour company. It was a lovely secluded site, but the food was so-so. We enjoyed the day, however.

My husband and I enjoyed this activity start to finish. It gave one a perspective on the life of the indigenous peoples back in time which gave way to present days issues. The demonstrations were fascinating. They demonstrated a wedding ceremony, how they made their clothes and how they made bows and arrows. I actually shot an arrow and hit the target. Big win for me. The lunch was delicious. We highly recommend.

It was an interesting excursion. The bridges were sturdy and easy to walk. The views were excellent. It was worthwhile. We took the ride to the top, but it was so very cloudy and rainy that we couldn't see too much. We were grateful that we did not do the zip lining in the cold rain. Our guide was very good, though and enjoyable.

This is a great activity. We had a private tour. The guide was friendly and fun. We saw at least 20 birds, including the elusive quetzal. It was a great activity, probably the best of our trip.

We very much enjoyed this tour. It took about 45 minutes to get there from our hotel, but the surroundings were interesting to watch during the ride. The guide at the farm was excellent. We learned a lot about vanilla and saw examples of the plants and orchids. The guide showed us many spice trees and plants on the farm and described in good detail how each was harvested. We learned a lot. Best yet, we got to sample some of the vanilla and chocolate in drinks, cake and ice cream. It was a lovely tour.

This tour focused heavily on the plants and the cloud forest itself, rather than the birds and all of the animals. The guide was excellent and his passion for the environment was evident. We really enjoyed our time with him. Although he focused on plants, he identified a few birds for us and teased a tarantula out of its hole so that we could get a good look. We gained a lot from this tour and highly recommend it to others.

My husband I like to kayak but this trip fell a bit short. We took the trip in the late morning and that may have made a difference. It was very hot and anything interesting was probably hidden away. There ended up being two guides for us two people. One, the secondary guide, was quite interesting and talked a lot to us. The main guide was informative during the ride, but got quieter during the trip. Basically, we paddled through mangrove trees for an hour or so. It gets very repetitive. The best part was the last 10 minutes when we actually saw two interesting birds. It wasn't our best trip. The kayaks are not propelled by paddles as we are used to. They are propelled by pedaling, as in a reclining bicycle. Steering them is also very different from our norm, and it took a few minutes to get used to. I would not really recommend this tour, but it could be better at a different time of day.

Our tour guide was one of the nicest people we've ever met. We ate the best food I've had in my life and had the most wonderful conversations. We learned about the history of Portugal and the food associated with its people. And we just had fun eating and drinking!

We loved our driver! So nice, knowledgeable about helpful.

Our driver and new friend, Paulo was the best tour guide in all of Portugal, I'm convinced! He gave us history lesson, life lessons and we talked about everything in between. Such a great and fun person who took great care of my family. I can't thank him enough for making our trip amazing.

Once in a lifetime experience!! So fun! My teenage daughter, older mother and everyone in between loved this!

We had a lovely time in this beautiful Chateau. The staff were helpful and kind. Room was clean, had a great bathroom and had a lovely sitting area by the dormer window. The only drawback was that we needed a taxi to take us into town. It wasn't very expensive (about 7-9 euros) and the service responded quickly. The only thing was that we wished the small restaurant would have changed their menu from night to night. Food and breakfast were very good. We would stay here again.

This little hotel was so quaint and charming with a real old time French feel. The room was small but arranged nicely with a nice bathroom with tub and shower. It was nice to get a couple of US TV channels to watch when winding down after a long day sight-seeing. Beds were soft with great bedding. The staff were very nice as well. We would stay again without hesitation.

I wouldn't recommend this tour from Paris. We enjoyed seeing the castles but were rushed through each one and given too much information. We always book private tours so we can take our time. We didn't have time to linger and take in the sites, explore different areas of the sites, or have lunch in a nice small cafe. The ride would have been much more comfortable in a car but instead we were picked up in a van. It was uncomfortable ride for a long day of driving.

Our tour guide Rose was truly awesome. She was very knowledgable and didn't rush us through the day. We learned so many things we never learned in school. It was great having lunch with her and learning more about life in the Normandy area of France. She timed our day so we arrived at Omaha Beach in time to watch the flags taken down and taps played. It was very moving.

We had a lovely experience from top to bottom. The view from our table was so amazing. The food and wine were wonderfully paired. A night we will remember always.

Rose was a wonderful guide. She was very knowledgable and patient as I was on crutches but determined to make it to the top. Mont Saint Michel is a true treasure of France. I had wanted to see it for years and was so happy I finally made it. We had a great time, even with all the walking and step climbing. Again, we enjoyed a nice lunch and conversation with Rose after our adventure.

This was such a fun dinner and show! We didn't make it here the first time we visited Paris. I'm so glad we made it this year. Really, a fun and enjoyable evening.

Incredible!!! Worth every penny and the highlight of our trip.

Were given a room with no air con. Had to ask four times for help and were eventually reassigned to another room.

Character galore. Old and in some cases very old! Our bathroom had been renovated nicely.

The wineries were great but could have been a better tour if the guide was a wine rather then a beer drinker. One stop was all about chi chi shimmery alcohol; it had no place on a wine tour. BTW, Sandlers Wines was the best of the day! Pucs includud.

I’m not one for big group activities like this, and well the boat, the lunch, on the activities themselves were fine. It was the dive staff that made this truly memorable. One of the female staff helped fit my equipment properly, and then helped my husband as well And accompanied him as first time snorkler to help him get an appreciation of what the reef offered. I couldn’t have been more pleased.

Too touristy for me. Food okay The astronomer who spoke was the best part of the evening. The field of light is too contrived.

It was fun if you like being bumped, jostled and bounced to the point of disbelief.

Fundamentally important to trip Would reccommend to be part of anyones tour and think timing as part of first day of trip was good way to start trip Sidney rock as iconic part of Sydney harbor and simultaneously “holy” Aboriginal ground was particularly important! Speaker was good but not inspired Meeting spot waspoorly indicated, hard to find and should be less ambiguous

Scenery in Mossman Gorge phenomena Gondola over rainforest excellent But Train ride thru Barron falls even better Not to be missed!

Guide excellent! The start at the library to give us some cultural background, the places chosen, the order in which we experienced them and the information we received exceeded our expectations. The food choices were all excellent.

Most beautiful drive ever. Terrific guide who knew the route and shared so much interesting information about the areas we were seeing.

The driver was knowledgeable and friendly, knew the industry and vineyards very well and was a huge asset to the tour.

Comfortable. Professional, clean, quiet, nice dining area, concierge was helpful-

Lee Emmerson was a terrific guide- excellent tour…grandson really enjoyed being with him/

This hotel felt like a treehouse. It was amazing. Needs a little updating (bathroom) but the bed was so comfortable! The views were ridiculous!! Everyone working there was so kind and super friendly.

Rooms definitely need updating but the location and views were off the charts. Everyone was very friendly.

It was right in the middle of La Fortuna. A little loud and run down but easy to get to all activities.

Great family friendly hotel with beautiful hot springs and pools, friendly staff and very good food. Though it was cloudy during our stay, it has a terrific view of the volcano.

Very cool design and nice touches. Very clean and comfortable. Wonderful location. The family pool is a bit small and the beach is a bit far from the main part of the hotel, but the staff was so helpful providing rides back and forth to the beach.

Convenient location, friendly staff, comfortable rooms

Don't think desert tent, think hotel. Comfortable, good food.

Fun to experience n amazing renovated kasbah! Delightful hosts! Great food!

Great location, comfortable, quiet and peaceful, great food, friendly staff

Convenient location, very friendly staff, good food

Convenient location, comfortable room, good food, friendly staff

Convenient location, comfortable room, friendly staff, good food

Hicham was very informative and I learned a lot. Also, in each space he gave us time to look around before we moved on.

It was raining during this day trip, which affected what we could see and do. The waterfall area was more touristy than I would have liked. Our local guide Hassan was very solicitous about my balance and footing on the slippery stones.

Interesting drive with a number of stops to stretch and look around. Ait Ben Haddout was definitely worth seeing. Our flexible tour guide Omar helped us find a museum I'd read about, which turned out to be the Musee de Oasis in the ksar El Khorbat. This was definitely worth visiting while our guide patiently waited. It was fun soaking in Omar's love for his home area,the Dades Valley.

Our Monkey Fingers hike was fantastic, with the help of our local guide Ahmed, who helped me over the rough spots. It was great to hike in nature.

We could have skipped Todgha Gorge. We expected something like Monkey Fingers, but there was no hiking and it was way too touristy. Tinghir was disapppointing, since our local guide Abdul recited his script while looking down, did not engage with us and often walked ahead of us. I did like walking back through the village, though.

The drive with Omar was pleasant despite the rainy weather and we got to see some sights by car. It was raining more at Volubilis - ground was very muddy. Our guide Moustafa delivered his message in a monotone while looking down; he did not engage with us and walked on ahead of us. This was disappointing. I was glad to see the site, though.

Driving into a desert area with our free-spirit guide Atti to look for fossils was fun. It was interesting to see where fossils are quarried. Touring the fossil museum was a very informative, interesting experience. Hamid was a great tour guide to the larger desert region, so that we got a larger picture of this area that is not yet sand dunes. Walking through the market in Rissani was also fun. Riding a camel was a unique experience. I wouldn't want to have to do it daily! The camel driver was helpful and friendly. At the end, just before leaving us at the desert luxury camp, he told us that he wasn't paid to take people by camel to the desert camp, so he encouraged us to buy polished fossil artifacts that he'd brought with him.

Rachid, who was friendly and polite, provided a thorough to the medina of Fes , guiding us well and sharing information. He talked a lot, so that after awhile we stopped asking questions because we didn't want a 10 minute or longer speech.

A good day, though a long drive, because our tour guide Omar was attentive to our needs and we stopped several times, and also walked in the forest for a brief time in the area where the monkeys wait for tourists to feed them.

Our tour guide gave us a good brief orientation. It was good to have time to explore the medina, then. We went to the kasbah museum in the medina; this was disappointing as there was not a lot to see for the price, poor lighting inside made it difficult to read information, which was not in English, and 3 employees stood in the garden the whole time when they could have been helping visitors learn about the site.

Rained out! We drive to the entry to the waterfall area for a brief look but then returned to Chefchaouen to walk the medina further.

It was interesting to see some of the older, and modern, sights of Casablanca by car. Entering the Hassan IImosque was very worthwhile; I hold mental images of the beautiful artistry of the mosque.