Kimkim Trip Reviews

Wow, wow, wow!! Sonia planned an incredible 17 day trip for me and my family. We wanted a mix of athletic adventures, cultural highlights, and exploring off the beaten path - and boy did she deliver. We started at a spa in Lake Garda, hiked in the Dolomites, biked through Tuscany, had amazing local guides in Verona, Venice and Rome, and the hotels we stayed in were superb. The vineyards and small towns in Chianti we visited were spectacular, our drivers were informative and the food everywhere was divine.
I would absolutely recommend Sonia and kimkimtravel.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Carnival Palace

Venice

This hotel was very nice and all the restaurants nearby were great. It is off the beaten path a bit, so you get to mingle more with the locals, which I prefer.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Caesius Thermae & Spa Resort

Bardolino

This was the best hotel of the trip. The location was fantastic because it is relatively quiet but an easy walk or bike ride to several nearby towns. The food at the hotel’s restaurant was superb. The spa had a variety of pools, saunas and steam rooms to choose from, all included in with your stay. I would love to visit again.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Everyone was genuinely friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private guided boat tour on Lake Garda

Italy

Our guide, Sara, had an extensive understanding of history and did such a fantastic job explaining the local stories.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Orienteering tour in Venice (for families and teenagers)

Italy

Silvia was a gem. She took us through the winding streets of Venice and offered the best bits of information to our teenagers about the dark and mysterious sides to Venice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private excursion to the Dolomites (Madonna di Campiglio) from Lake Garda

Italy

Our local guide, Giorgio, was fantastic. He took us on an8 mile hike with several gorgeous waterfalls along the way. Our lunch at the mountain top hut was very tasty and impressive. We definitely left this hike wanting to return and doing a several day backpacking adventure in the Dolomites.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our guide's name is Hakim. I wasn’t sure at first if I wanted to book with a travel agency but after I saw the initial plan that Hakim sent over I knew that he was a professional and he was dedicated to helping us. He was able to tailor our vacation and allow it to still be within our budget. And believe me, I made so many changes and had so many requests. He set up a great trip planned and handled all of the hotels, transfers, tour guides, and gave us a list of activities to do on our free days which was a big help because if I would've tried to do it on my own I would've likely spent more money and struggled to find interesting things. One particular time that I remember that Hakim really helped me was when I wanted to have a birthday party in Rabat. I was so excited and thought that I had planned everything perfectly, but when I got there the owner of the restaurant gave me a very difficult time. I contacted Hakim and everything was immediately solved and I was able to really enjoy my day because of that. I am truly grateful for this moment because I really wanted the day to be special and at the beginning, it seemed that everything was going wrong but Hakim made sure everything was perfect! After my trip to Morocco, I planned a short trip to Spain but ended up canceling my plans and Hakim was there to assist me even though my time with kimkim was technically over. The communication was quick and I could tell that Hakim really cared about giving us a successful trip. Literally, in every message that he sent me, he reminded me that he would be happy to help me with anything and to not hesitate to contact him. I felt really valued as a customer with Hakim and he was so knowledgeable and quick to respond to anything I needed. I genuinely enjoyed my trip and I feel that Hakim helped me to have an amazing, well-needed vacation. THANK YOU HAKIM! Highly recommend!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Chellah

Tangier

The pool and outside area was amazing! It was truly beautiful. The location was great. It was near restaurants, nightlife, dessert places, and even a movie theater. The staff was really kind to us and helped us with anything we needed. The breakfast was good as well! I especially liked the fresh handmade bread every morning.

Authenticity & Character

The interior was beautiful , especially the common areas

Location

Central location, but just far away to not be in the center of the city. Loved the quiet nights.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

They didn't change our sheets during our week-long stay. They barely cleaned the bathrooms.

Malak Hotel

Rabat

The staff were soooo sweet! The hotel was in a good location. We were able to walk to a pretty garden and the market easily. There were also many restaurants close by. Nice hotel. No complaints.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The restaurant staff were awesome! They greeted us everyday with a smile.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Al Walid

Casablanca

Nice spacious bathroom. Decent breakfast. Helpful staff. Central location. Clean rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Morning Guided Tour in Rabat

Morocco

The tour was great. We had a hard time understanding the guide but he took us to some unique places and gave us time to explore. We didn't feel rushed and we felt that we got a lot of information and saw a lot of places in the 3 hours. The tour guide was nice and respectful in a way that we felt safe and comfortable on the tour. He even had answers to any additional questions we asked him about. We made plans after the tour and our guide even waited for us after the tour was over until our friend came to get us. He also helped me to translate some stuff that I needed! I really appreciate him going out of his way to ensure that we had an amazing experience.

Quality of Experience

very unique places.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We had some trouble understanding

Transport

amazing, air-conditioned, clean, and always waiting for us when we were ready to go.

Morning Guided Tour in Tangier

Morocco

It was a looong walk and it was very hot, but the tour guide was amazing and he split up the walk so that we didn't get too tired. It was particularly interesting because he lived in the US and was giving a tour on his vacation. He also knew a lot of people in the city and showed us some great places. He was very patient with us and explained everything clearly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

There was no transport

Transport

The itinerary and accommodations perfectly matched our requests.

Activity Reviews

Skaftafell Ice Climbing & Glacier Hike

Iceland

We and another family of four ended up on a tour with 16 others from a single group. We were split into two groups of 12 with 8 members from the large group paired with each of the separate families of 4. Together or apart, the large group commandeered the tempo of the tour being allowed to move slowly, secure gear improperly, over/under dress and stop to change, ask the guide to carry one of their water bottles, talk when they should have been listening, and take pictures when instructed not to (not just a group picture but each person individually). The trip could have gone twice as fast or twice as far without them. Patience was tested.

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Katla Ice Cave

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ribsafari Boat Tour

Westman Islands

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Silfra Snorkeling

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Iceland Thermal Bath Experience

Iceland

Quality of Experience

We had been looking for some time to do a family trip to Norway in the summer but didn't have the time to do all the detailed planning that we would historically have done. We are a family of four with children ages 11 and 9.

We had a rough idea as to the places we wanted to visit (Bergen, Lofoten Islands, Tromso, and Oslo).

After a few, but not too many, iterations Meree was able to construct an itinerary that worked. She sorted out a reasonable sequence of destinations, hotels that met our requirements, activities we wanted to do, and a logistics plan to get to/from each place. She booked activities that required advance reservation but otherwise left our days open to spending how we wanted while giving well-curated short lists of ideas for each day. After completing the visit and seeing the alternatives, we were comfortable that she had done a good job optimizing our experience while giving us the freedom to do some unexpected things. While it rained (as explained in advance to be likely), we dressed for it and the weather was pleasant for us. The scenery was spectacular - almost better than we thought we would experience.

The fish was fresh and excellent everywhere we went. However one of our group was a child and a vegetarian. While we were never in want of food, this limited our restaurant choices to a narrower subset of what was available as restaurants are considerably less flexible than in other countries on these dimensions. Also, it was generally easy to get same-day restaurant reservations in each location except Svolvaer (including the hotel where we were staying which was 'sold out' for dinner). If we had known that, we would have reserved there the day before, but we didn't know. In retrospect, a short list of restaurants in each city and a heads up that day before reservations are needed in Svolvar would have been appreciated.

Our highlights included the ferry to rosendal castle/fjord, sea eagle rib boat trip, the whale watching boat trip, driving and hiking in the Lofoten Islands, live glass blowing in the Lofoten Islands, hiking at the top of the cable car in Tromso including summer snowfight, and numerous well-designed kid-friendly educational museums in every city we visited.

Logistically we had one issue relating to confusion around a pre-payment for a hotel which was resolved shortly after being flagged. Otherwise, we really didn't need to avail of any live support from the team during the trip.

Hotel Reviews

Thon Hotel Svolvær

Svolvær

Bang in the center of the port and center of town. Great location. Helpful staff. We had a corner room with a truly amazing view of the harbor - it was the highlight of the hotel experience. During our stay, it was intermittently frequented by large tour groups so the restaurant can oscillate between a ghost town and being jam-packed without any availability - best to reserve the day before. The hotel does have a limited number of parking spots in an indoor garage, bet to arrange in advance if you need it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bergen Børs Hotel

Bergen

The hotel was well situated in a nice part of town. Much of what you would want to do is very nearby in walking distance. The rooms are nicely designed, well maintained but cozy. It is best to plan your day outside of the room as opposed to in the room. The lobby was tight with limited seating, normally occupied by guests. The restaurants are excellent and the ground floor restaurant has a very special high ceiling and uniquely designed layout which is really special. We did have one observation around the front desk staff.: some were familiar with the town and had helpful suggestions, whereas others were not and relied on google.

Authenticity & Character

Ground floor restaurant

Location

Central location

Staff

Friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Radisson Blu Hotel

Tromsø

Great location. Nice rooms. Friendly staff. Good breakfast. Could benefit from a bit more TLC on room maintenance.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Thon hotel Andrikken

Andenes

Reasonable location. Reasonable rooms. Reasonable option. Modest walk to the ferry and/or the whale watching experiences. Ample parking. Nothing fancy. Helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Blackout shades were somewhat limited in comparison to other hotels on our trip (i.e., gaps)

Activity Reviews

Whale Watching Safari

Andenes

We are glad we did it. It was sunny. The waves were reportedly modest. The museum tour was a helpful build-up. The boat was well organized. They give each speech in three languages which is helpful if you speak one of those languages,. They tried for more, but in the end, we saw killer whales and none of the rarer finds. We made the most of it and enjoyed it nevertheless.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fjord Cruise to Rosendal

Bergen

The ferry ride had nice views and was pleasant and smooth. The walk around town was interesting. We went to the old castle and enjoyed the house tour. The lunch starts about 30 min later than ideal if you want to take the later ferry back and have time for a bit more in town. The rock garden was worth a visit due to its novelty value.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Limited interactions, more transactional. House tour was good.

Transport

Trollfjord and The White-Tailed Sea Eagles

Svolvær

One of the top 3 experiences for our kids on this trip. It did rain during the experience. We all managed through it and the gear was set up for it, but not for those who don't want that. The boat driver was excellent in engaging with the kids through use of often personal stories at various stopping points. The views were spectacular. While the sea eagles were nice, the rest of the nature was interesting.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Truth be told, we took a leap of faith when we engaged KimKim.com for our honeymoon in Southern France, because no one around us had heard of KimKim.com before. It turned out to be one of the best decisions for our honeymoon trip, especially since we could not speak French.

Pre-trip wise, it was lovely to work with Joel, and the detailed itinerary he prepared as well as the prompt responses he gave to all our countless enquiries made the preparation so much easier. He gave priority to what we wanted, and was very open to discussing options on how we could fit this trip into our budget, even going the extra mile at times which we appreciated very much.

During the trip, we felt very assured and relaxed since all our accommodation/transport/activities were booked. This helped us to "live in the moment" and experience our trip fully.

What we really liked about the trip:
- We appreciated the pace of the trip, where we had a good balance of sports activities (i.e. hiking, water rafting) and cultural /leisure activities (i.e. food tours, lavender field tours) throughout our 10-day trip.
- The accommodation options that Joel picked for us were really awesome. Each had their own unique charm. I personally loved the College 4 Hotel in Lyon the best while my husband loved the Rivera Hotel in Annecy the most.
- We loved the activities that were planned for us, especially the water rafting experience in Chamonix and the private hiking tour in Annecy by our guide Olivier, and full day trip to Cassi and villages of Luberon by our guide, Ady. It was a good mix of small group and private activities and very apt too, fitting with the nature of the activity.
- Our drivers for the private transfers were really friendly and welcoming too. Special mention to our driver who waited for us at Aix en Provence for a few hours till midnight due to our train delay,. During the trip, we realized how much we would have struggled if we had done this trip on our own as navigating around with language barriers was challenging, especially for transport.

One point that we must highlight would be the responsiveness of Joel and his team. Not only was Joel prompt in responding to our enquiries and couple of changes that needed to be made during the trip itself, we also experienced first-hand the "crisis support" that was provided. We had a security scare at Lyon train station where our train was delayed for slightly more than two hours, and the process was quite anxiety-provoking and nerve-wrecking given that it was already nighttime when this happened and our inability to understand what was going on due to the language barrier. However, thankfully Valentine (Joel's colleague) reached back to us promptly after we tried calling the after-office-hours hotline for support. Her assurance and liaison with the driver who was supposed to pick us up at our destination (Aix en Provence) was immensely helpful and she ensured that she remained contactable to us till we reached our hotel safely in Aix en Provence. We were extremely thankful that we had Kimkim's service to back us up if anything happened in France. :)

There was one aspect which we felt could be improved though. For our train ride from Geneva to Lyon, even though we had First Class tickets, we were unable to get any seats in the First Class cabin likely because it was free seating, and it was full by the time we reached the cabin. It was also quite chaotic and confusing as we did not know where the First Class cabin was in the train and everyone was rushing up the train so it was difficult for us to ask people as well (we almost got onto the wrong end of the train). In the end, we ended up sitting at whatever available seats we could find, which was in the Second Class cabin. We noted that perhaps this was a common occurrence as there were others who were like us, had First Class tickets but there were no more seats in the First Class cabin for them. Additionally, there was also no train conductor to verify if our seats match our tickets. As we were unfamiliar with taking trains in Europe and this was not what we were expecting, it might have been helpful to let us know such situations could occur and tips for us to manage this (E.g. which end of the train that the First Class cabin belonged to). Nevertheless, for the other trains where there were fixed seats and cabins designated for us, it was much easier.

Apart from this however, everything else was perfect. :) We are grateful to have engaged Joel via KimKim and would highly recommend for others to do the same, especially if you are taking tours in a foreign country where you do not speak their native language.

- Lyon and Shan (from Singapore)

Hotel Reviews

Grand Hôtel Roi René Aix-en-Provence Centre – MGallery

Aix-en-Provence

We loved our stay at this hotel. The location was great and the room was very well-designed, especially the toilet. The breakfast spread was one of the best as well. The room could have been slightly more spacious, if not all would be perfect. :)

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hôtel Le Refuge des Aiglons

Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

We felt that this hotel would be perfect for winter but not so much for summer. For example, there was no aircon and we had to borrow a fan from the reception. The hotel also seemed understaffed as there were a few times where we could not find a staff to talk to and needed to wait for awhile. They also had no dental kits to provide us. Nevertheless, the design of the room and the balcony that overlooked the snowy mountains made up for it, on top of the lovely design of the hotel ground floor. :)

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rivage Hôtel & Spa Annecy

Annecy

This was the most luxurious hotel that we stayed at for our trip. We loved the spaciousness and the balcony which overlooked beautiful views of the sky. Though it is located slightly further away from the city centre, it was nevertheless a good location for those who wanted to enjoy the lake.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Collège Hotel

Lyon

We had a pleasant experience at this hotel. It is cozy and quaint. The staff at the reception are friendly and willing to help. What impressed us most was the dedication of the hotel to being environmentally-friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cassis & Villages of the Luberon

Aix-en-Provence

Though the full day tour can be tiring, it was fulfilling. We loved Cassis with the cruise and the amazing views, and the different villages of the Luberon were really charming and beautiful. :) We really appreciated the guide who always offered us tidbits of knowledge about Provence and also spoke in French and English to cater to the whole group.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lavender morning tour

France

It was a pity that due to the drought, much of the lavender fields had been harvested already. However, thanks to our guide, we were still able to find some lavender fields, together with sunflower fields to take beautiful pictures. We also enjoyed the tasting session at the lavender shop.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Rafting Chamonix

France

It was unexpectedly awesome, one of the most memorable experiences this trip! :) Definitely worth a try. Rafting down the river of Chamonix was an amazing experience , with the backdrop of the snowy mountains and beautiful scenery. It helped that the guide was witty and humorous, and made it very fun for us. Kudos to him for also speaking in both French and English to cater to us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cruise and Walk : Plus +Formula

Annecy

As first-time hikers, we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to achieve our hiking goals for the day. It was a good experience, though quite challenging at certain parts and the hot weather certainly didn't make it easier. However, we had a charming and wonderful guide who really helped and cheered us on.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lyon Old Town Food Tour (Small Group)

Lyon

We loved that the guide not only brought us on a food tour, but also gave us a history tour of Lyon. :) However, this tour might not be the best for vegetarians, because there will be some dishes where vegetarians are unable to enjoy.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

This family trip to Costa Rica had it all: adventure, learning, views, nature, rainforest, beach, ocean, river, hot springs, volcano, hikes, hanging bridges, zip lines, animals, waterfalls and FUN!!
We loved it!!
The program of activities each day was well balanced so we always had time to also explore a little more by ourselves and enjoy meeting locals and tasting delicious food. The weather was amazing in the sense that even though it was the rainy season we only had one rainy day and a couple of nights when it rained some, but this never held us back.

It was a great trip. Effortless on our part with planning. The b and b’s were great, the app was fantastic and the recommendations were wonderful.

Great adventures from the Amazon to the mountains. We visited the Tambopata for the first 4 days of our trip. There is something magical about macaws flying over head while you fish for piranha as a family of river otters play in the water a short distance away. Once we left the Amazon, we met up with our guide, Orlando and driver, Paul. We especially enjoyed our time with Orlando and Paul. They were always looking out for our family to have an amazing time. We can't believe everything we experienced in the two weeks in Peru. The food was amazing, Orlando knows all the good places! One of the highlights of the trip was our home stay in Raqch'i. The family was welcoming and happy for us to experience their community. We were so honored to be a part of their family for the night. We all had a great time dancing by the fire. Our hike on Rainbow mountain was the most challenging part of our trip. Orlando had us take it slow, with lots of breaks.

Marina was absolutely fantastic to work with. The planning before the trip was great; she was very attentive of what we were looking for and the changes we made to the itinerary and hotel accommodations. She was very helpful and even during our trip when we had questions or needed something she was available and willing to assist. I cannot recommend Marina enough.

Hotel Reviews

Porto A.S. 1829

Porto

Really nice hotel in the perfect location. Only downside was the shower in the room (not in the bathroom), but that was fine and we were aware of this before we booked.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

CoolRooms Palacio de Villapanés

Seville

Best hotel of the trip. Staff was amazing, room was amazing, and location was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dear Hotel Madrid

Madrid

The hotel was fine - nothing special but in a good location and the room was clean. For a hotel in the center of Madrid, it was good. I would’ve given it 5 stars if the room had a balcony or a sitting area in the room - we were forced to sit on the bed. But other than that it was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Front desk staff was nice but not overly helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Hiking & Cultural Excursion in Peneda-Gerês National Park

Porto

Fun day but our guide wasn’t the best. He was fairly lackadaisical and because the vehicle had issues we arrived back to Porto an hour late. It was a fun day, but could’ve been better. Also, the weather was extremely hot on this day so we think that may be why we didn’t do any real hiking, which is what we were expecting, and instead spent the day in the river. (Which was fun, we were just hoping for more hiking)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Guided Visit of Porto

Porto

Sara was a great guide and we loved Porto.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Train Seville to Córdoba, Guided Visit of Córdoba, Train Córdoba to Seville

Seville

Best tour guides and city of the trip. We loved Cordoba and everything about our guises.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Guided Visit of Seville

Seville

Our guide, Raul, was good but not great. Spent too much time in museum’s/palaces that we weren’t interested in. Also he talked nonstop the entire time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit of Toledo

Portugal

Carlos was fantastic as a guide. And Toledo was an incredible city - highly recommend as a day trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking Madrid’s Old Town

Madrid

Linda was great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I chose to go with Kim Kim even though I was unfamiliar with it because of its custom tour feature. I did not want to go with other existing tours as they involved hiking or the duration of the trip was too long. At same time I did not want to plan the trip myself and go to an unfamiliar country with an unfamiliar language by myself. With Kim Kim's custom feature you have the freedom to change your trip however you please.
In my case my local expert was Johanna from Miski Travel and it was a pleasure to work with this agency. I started my trip plan very last minute about 3 weeks prior to our departure. Johanna and her team were very patient with me and we made changes until few days before our trip. We even missed our flight from Lima to Cusco and had to change our Airport pick up just 1 hour before and they were helpful in rearranging our ride. We also had a very nice tour guide Edwin who even travelled with us from Cusco all the way to Agua Calientes where Machu Picchu is which was very reassuring and made us very comfortable travelling to another city.
Overall, I had a very good trip and it was a good idea to work with Kim Kim and Miski travel. If I had to mention an improvement I would have liked to see the breakdown on pricing. We were only given a total price per person, but I wanted to see what I was paying for. Other than that I had an awesome time!

Hotel Reviews

Inti Punku MachuPicchu Hotel & Suites

Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes

I had a very bad time in this hotel. The hotel had no running water and our card key would not work. Overall I felt uncomfortable during my stay here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Could be a little mor clean and have running water

Abittare Hotels

Cusco

This hotel was absolutely beautiful. Their staff was very friendly and helpful. Although, it was very cold there they gladly fulfilled our request of wanting another heater and set of blankets without charge. Had a great stay here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean and great interior

Activity Review

Sacred Valley Tour w/ lunch in Ollantaytambo + train to Aguascalientes

Peru

It was a good selection of places to go.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Let me start by saying that I can not say enough great things about our recent trip to Greece!!
The whole country is AMAZING! The people are so welcoming and friendly, the food and wine are to die for, and the sights and history are unbelievable.
Our KimKim advisor Rebecca could have not planned our trip better! She spent several weeks before the trip creating a great intenary and made the trip flawless.
We were traveling as a group of 5 adults and 2 children (ages 10 & 7) and Rebecca had all of our transfers scheduled which made it so easy with a group that large. She also picked tours that all of us would enjoy with a great mixture of history and fun in the sun on boats.
Even when my husband's & I's flight got canceled and were a day late meeting our group Rebecca was able to resechdule a full day tour & rebook a flight we missed in Athens to Kefellonia.
Thank you so much for such a wonderful vacation!! We will be using KimKIm again in the future.

Hotel Reviews

V1935 Luxurious Apartments

Athina

The roof top bar was beautiful the rooms had so much character! It was in a great central location and close to everything! The staff was super friendly and helped us find everything we were looking for.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

18 Grapes Hotel Naxos

Naxos

Absolutely beautiful!! The staff was so nice and friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

A little off the main road but I wouldn't say that needs to be improved.

Staff

They knew we were haeded out to a tour in the morning before breakfast was scheduled to be serviced so they made us breakfast baskets to take with us!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Santorini Mansion at Imerovigli

Santorini

The was our favorite place to stay in Greece! It was a perfect location and so beautiful. The staff would bring us breakfast in the mornings and the patios were great with the hot tubs.

Authenticity & Character

The indoor soaking tub and all the unique character inside was great!

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Divani Hotel Meteora

Kalampaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fedriades Hotel

Delphi

Great views! The breakfast was amazing!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The receptionist was so friendly and welcoming

Cleanliness & Comfort

Aenos Hotel

Kefalonia

Authenticity & Character

Location

It was right on the main square... walking distance to the water

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Naxos Island Catamaran Cruise-Small group cruise

Naxos

The crew of this boat were amazing! The weather was not allowing for us to go the the cave like planned but were very awesome about asking what else we would like to see or do in order to make up that. They also found out that one of the kids traveling with us was having a birthday that day & went and bought a cake to have after they served us lunch. It was a beautiful surprise & well above and beyond!!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kefalonia - Full Day Private Tour Kefalonia Panorama

Kefalonia

This tour was great! We were able to see most parts of the island that we would have never been able to get to on our own. Our tour got rescheduled because of an airline issue... so we had a guide named Judy & she was a perfect fit for our group. She knew what would interest the kids in our trip & included a wine tasting for the adults.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Andrés is amazing at his job! His knowledge and relationships with local businesses and people allowed us to have a unique experiences tailored to our group! He was able to plan for a large, varied group of 18 people (9 adults and 9 children) ranging in age from 3 to 74 years old.
We had the best tour guide ever for our group, as well, who was able to teach us about the country and help us navigate travel in Iceland. Our tour guide, Atli, was helpful, kind and accommodating to our needs.
I would highly recommend him and his company!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hotel Reviews

Reykjavík Marina - Berjaya Iceland Hotels

Reykjavík

Wonderful staff and excellent accommodations with a delicious breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Professional and comfortable with sincerity.

Location

Near the water and within walking distance of many great things in the city of Reykjavík.

Staff

Helpful and polite

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very pleased. Facilities were great.

Kvosin Downtown Hotel

Reykjavik

Excellent hotel in Reykjavík. The staff was kind and helpful in finding things in the city that we needed. The rooms were beautiful and the beds were comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hótel Lækur

Hella

This is a cute Hotel in a beautiful location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Quiet, authentic and beautiful

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

ICELANDIC HORSE WORLD

Iceland

This was a favorite among the travelers on our trip! The staff was wonderful and kind. The horses are amazing! We would recommend this to anyone and everyone. Among our nine grandchildren, ages 3 to 12 this was their favorite.

Quality of Experience

Every one would like to go back. One of our six year olds said we should go back every 6 years.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Alti, Andres, Eva, and Anthon- we could not have asked for better friends and helpers.

Transport

Comfortable , professional, willing to go above and beyond

Into the Valley of Thor- Thorsmork

Iceland

This is a wonderful trip with exciting and beautiful things to see. I think all of us could’ve spent the whole trip here.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was so fun to cross all the rivers

Overall the trip was amazing!!! It was very well planned. Fran did an extraordinary job!

Three recommendations:

Put the options places to visit at the beginning of the detailed daily itinerary. Sometimes we would finish a little early with the planned places and realize the optional places were back at our starting point.

We were very unprepared for the mountain hike. Due to weather it is absolutely a must for the right gear. We were not clear on that. We also didn’t get to the meeting point on time as we weren’t sure when to start each day.

Room With A View hotel in Reykjavik was good but their breakfast was horrible. Consider changing venues.

Overall everything was fantastic and very well planned. We enjoyed this trip very much and would recommend KimKim and Fran again.

Matthias was our travel specialist for our 2-week trip to mainland Ecuador and Galapagos Islands. He planned an itinerary including the capital Quito, the Amazon jungle at the Cuyabeno Reserve, the highlands with the city of Banos and Cotopaxi and Quilotoa volcanoes and finally Galapagos Islands. It was a fantastic trip and everything worked out very smoothly. As the time of our trip approached, Matthias provided us with plenty of exciting alternatives as it looked liked the protests by the indigenous communities will severely affect our initial plan (we were very lucky and it did not affect us in the end) but it was very reassuring to have him backing us up. He also showed up on the night of our bus to Cuyabeno to make sure there were no issues and was always available and making sure everything was right for us.
The guides provided for the activities also made sure we were having the best of the experiences. We'd like to give an special mention to Jimmy in Cuyabeno and Ulf Torsten in Sta Cruz (Galapagos). Overall it's been a great experience and we're happily recommending it!

Hotel Reviews

Lava House Galapagos

Puerto Ayora

Great place in Sta Cruz. It's a 10-15 minutes walk from the pier so it's quiet and the atmosphere is very nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Isla de Baños Hosteria y Spa

Baños

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Jamu Lodge

Quito

Great place in the middle of the Amazon jungle. Staff made sure we had all the commodities. Shower water pressure and temperature had some problems but it was fixed considering the circumstances of the location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vieja Cuba

Quito

Good overall hotel, good location, good breakfast, staff was attentive. As to improve, rooms felt slightly cold sometimes.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Jungle Hike, Dolphin & Caiman Spotting

Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve

The pink dolphins were probably our favourite experience of the whole trip, a truly magic moment. Our guide was really good at looking for the animals (big and small) and tried restlessly for us to have the best spotting experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Ecuador

Unbelievable experience. We went to North Seymour and spotted lots of animals both in land and sea (turtles, rays, sea lions, iguanas, countless bird species...) The boat was very comfortable, food was good and all the staff were very helpful and kind. Our guide was very informative too.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip overall was great. The hotels and itinerary were very good. The plan was well thought out, allowing me to really see many of the highlights of Norway The value was good, but not great. I could have saved money booking it myself. However, there were many glitches. Two of the hotels had the wrong information about my stays, and the email trail showed that KimKim made the mistake, not the hotel. In some cases I was forced to pay after already paying for the entire trip up front. I had to consistently inquire about tickets and how to get from point to point. In some cases I was not given any information on how I was getting to the next point until the day of departure. This is what I thought I was paying for! In addition, I had to lay out bus fare which I still haven't been reimbursed for. So, although the trip was very good, KimKim made errors that should have been avoided. I was willing to forgive the first large mistake, as mistakes happen. But, as nearly each day arrived with a new problem I must conclude this was the result of incompetence.

We just came back from our 12-day trip to Greece. It was our first time trying out Kimkim as I had limited time to plan it and wanted to see so many things during the trip. Angela, our local specialist was amazing to work with. She created an initial trip plan and made multiple changes to it based on my feedback to make it a truly custom fit for us. We were able to book some parts of the trip ourselves whenever it made more sense (e.g using my own hotel points for a few days of accomodation). I really like this flexibility. Plus it was really easy to do the back and forth through Kimkim platform. During the trip, Angela kept in touch with us through Kimkim and provided reminders of upcoming tours, took care of rebookings when there was a museum that was closed on the day, etc. She provided peace of mind during our trip and she was very prompt in responding to any inquiries I had. Overall very happy with the service Angela provided. Thank you!

Firstly, I have to give a huge thank you to Andrijana. She not only helped me put this absolutely amazing journey to Venice, Florence, Pisa, Sorrento and Rome with my grandchildren possible but she was able to secure me the best of rooms in all the hotels I had requested. Our tour guides were amazing and I got compliments from them on my grandchildren re how they listened, responded to questions and never once used their cell phones for texting only for taking pictures. Our drivers were polite and always there on time to take us to our destination. Venice and Sorrento were are absolute favourite places to visit. Our hotel in Rome was absolutely exquisite and relaxing after a full day at the Vatican and St. Peters Basilica Tour. This holiday was absolutely perfect, all to the thanks of Kim Kim and their wonderful Traveller Support Team at Travel 12. I want to thank Elena and Marianna for picking up the pieces of my trip when Andrijana left - you did a superb job making this trip so easy for me with literally no stress. My grandchildren and I had a trip of a life time. Thank you and I most definitely will be using Kim Kim again for my next adventure.
Best Regards to all of you - Judy, Olivia, Hillary, Dylan and Emerson❤️

Our trip to Iceland in July 2022 was absolutely amazing. Terry did a spectacular job putting the trip together. Each day had plenty to do and we never felt that we had to rush to accomplish what she had planned for the day. The daily driving plans worked great with the GPS unit provided by the rental car company. All of the hotels were nice with friendly staff. We saw so many amazing things but the Puffins on the Westman Islands were my favorite! Truly an amazing trip. Highly recommend

We loved Hotel Costa Verde in Manual Antonio. The guided tour in the park was top notch! We saw bats, sloths, hummingbirds, monkeys and different types of birds. Having a telescope to see the animals up close was the best! Our driver Kendall was very friendly and accommodating. We had him for 2 legs of the trip-San Jose to Manual Antonio and Manual Antonio to Arenal. Canyoning and whitewater rafting in La Fortuna was so much fun! We also enjoyed the zip lining in Monteverde.

Hotel Reviews

Tamarindo Vista Villas (Best Western)

Tamarindo

There’s no reception/lobby area. You check in at a tiny stand alone that looks like it was a security guard office at one time. After check-in, no one helped us with our luggage, which required us to go up an unpaved driveway. Upon entering our room we were hit with an extremely strong chemical odor. We went back down to the office, they told us they just finished working on the bathroom tile and paint, which explained the strong smell. They immediately switched our room to another which didn’t have an odor. We had a nice view of Tamarindo beach. The ac in our kids’ room never worked properly. It never cut the humidity or cooled the room down. We asked maintenance to fix it but it was never fixed properly. It was slightly cooler but still sticky and humid in the room. Breakfast orders need to be placed the day before and indicate when you want to eat. We never had the free breakfast because we didn’t want to plan what and when we wanted to eat the day before! The pool is very large and nice to swim in. There’s a hot tub, but the water isn’t warm at all! There’s also a pool bar. Fair warning: there’s a party every Friday night in which there’s an open bar for 2 hrs. It’s open to guests and they charge for the public to enter. The hotel provides earplugs to guests knowing that the loud music from the band and DJ go on until 2-3 am!!! It’s a great party if you plan to dance until the early morning. Not so great if you have an early flight out the next day.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Within walking distance to the center of town

Staff

Stop requiring guests to submit breakfast order the day before. We don’t know what we want or when we want to eat. We’re on vacation!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Monteverde Country Lodge

Monteverde

This lodge is charming. It isn’t close to town so it’s a hilly walk into the downtown area. Rooms lack air conditioning and it was quite stuffy and warm at night. We left the windows open but there wasn’t a cross breeze. I think ceiling fans would be a great addition. There’s no pool onsite, but we got to use the pool a Poco a Poco, which is very nice! I highly recommend going there to use their facilities. The room we were in was very small, but our kids were in a larger room. We were supposed to have a room with 3 beds for our 3 kids, but they gave us a room with only 2 beds. When we asked about correcting it, we were told our kids had to be in another building. We decided to keep them closer to us and the girls shared a bed. The food at their restaurant was the best we had on our trip. The breakfast buffet was ok but the food on their menu was delicious! The only other things was the water pressure in our shower was low. The water came out in a single steam and alternated between hot and cold temps. I would start the shower hot and while I was washing my hair, it would turn cold. Also you can’t flush toilet paper here. It’s a custom in many parts of the country, but I prefer to flush my toilet paper.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Costa Verde

Manuel Antonio

Gorgeous views of the coast! The staff is friendly and the property is beautiful. The walk to the beach was easy and we loved hanging out at the adults only pool with bar service. The free breakfast was very good! You ordered from a menu instead of eating off the buffet. Every morning we heard the howler monkeys and we saw a sloth and capuchin monkeys hanging out by the pool.

Authenticity & Character

The grounds were beautiful and well maintained. The lighting is unique! It was nice having a full size refrigerator, microwave and sink in the room.

Location

Staff

The restaurant staff and bartender at the adults only pool.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Volcano Inn

La Fortuna

The WiFi is terrible here. We couldn’t get a signal most of the time we were here. The pool and hot tub is nice. You have to make reservations to use the hot tub. The rooms are small and dated, but comfortable. The breakfast is a buffet and was the same each day. They would change out the protein, but everything else was the same. We loved the staff here! The restaurant serves delicious entrees for dinner. We didn’t have lunch there.

Authenticity & Character

Updating the rooms and restaurant.

Location

Closer to town. We had to take a taxi into the downtown area.

Staff

The young man working the buffet gave great customer service. He greeted everyone with a huge smile.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Monteverde - Hanging Bridges Guided Hike & Zip-lining tour

Monteverde

We enjoyed the zip lining, but would skip the guided hike on the hanging bridges.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal - Whitewater Rafting on the Sarapiquí River

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was a thrilling experience! We loved it!! Not for those who aren’t physically fit. Requires strong paddling and the ability to keep your body inside the raft. The rapids are rough and we saw other rafts turn over and people fell out of the rafts. Not recommended for young children under 13 yo.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano Hiking Tour & EcoTermales Hot Springs & Meal

Arenal/La Fortuna

We didn’t care for the hike. It was boring and it rained on us.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Canyoning Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Manuel Antonio

Saw lots of wildlife through a telescope.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was fantastic! Super knowledgeable and enthusiastic!

Transport

Excellent advice!

Austin helped us find very good hotels for our group of seven. Excellent advice on touring and distance between locations.