Kimkim Trip Reviews

We had a wonderful trip and experience in Peru. Our guides were everything we expected and more. Nestor, and Alex the chef, in the Amazon, safely and comfortably guided us through the splendour of Manu National Park. Luis in the Sacred Valley educated us regarding the Inca wonders of Pisac, Ollantaytambo, Cusco and the spectacular Machu Picchu. They were very knowledgeable, attentive, helpful and welcoming. They made the trip extra special. Kim Kim took care of all the details that made our vacation worry free. All we had to do was show up on time each day, usually very early, and enjoy each new adventure that had been arranged for us. I think it fair to say for our group that we all came away from the trip with pleasant memories of Peru and the Peruvian people. You couldn’t ask for more.
Katy and Kim Kim have developed a great business model that allowed our group of family members to suggest our interests and Kim Kim delivered a tour tailored to those interests. There is nothing about the experience that I would change.

Dear KimKim,

Please update the rating scale. Only having five stars from poor to great does not allow me to rate how I genuinely want to. And my words do not provide justice to my overall experience in planning and booking my trip with the services I received from my local specialist.

In the past few years, I faced many tragedies. The first one was dealing with my oldest brother's suicide. Then I encountered looking after my grandfather for six years and witnessing him die with his battle with cancer. After that, I lost the relationship with my mother and two youngest brothers. And finally, I endured a breakup with my ex-partner.

Traveling has become therapy for me. Each time that I have gone outside of the United States, I flew with others who knew how to communicate fluently in Spanish. And going to Columbia by myself and barely knowing and able to speak Spanish, I knew was going to be a challenge.

On May 11, 2018, I contacted KimKim to plan a trip to Medellín, Columbia. My travel dates were May 17, 2018, to May 24, 2018. No one responded to me, and I urgently reached out to KimKim again, on May 14, 2018. Finally, later on, that same day, Juan Ortiz, my local specialist responded.

Juan organized this last minute trip and assisted me 24/7. He was honest, polite, and upfront with me. ATTENTION KimKim, Juan deserves a trip on the house for going over and beyond serving and making me a fulfilled and happy customer.

My four-day adventure started on Friday when I went on the Pablo Escobar tour. I was mind blown by Carlos, who is one of the two remaining officers that served during the years that Pablo was alive. Saturday, I met my main and magnificent tour guide, Marcelo. That day I went on an Innovation tour of Medellín. Medellín has so many environmental and collected community organizing that I want to create in my hometown, Bethlehem, also known as the Lehigh Valley, in Pennsylvania. Sunday, I went to the Rio Claro Reserve. The Rio Claro Reserve brought me up and also down. It brought me up because it is an environment where I can see myself losing myself and escape from the madness of the world. Rio Claro brought me down because there is a need for new zoning laws to be reinforced. It will be devasting for Rio Claro to be taken over by the industrial invasion. I did not finish my tour small. I completed my journey with a big bang, on Monday and going to Guatapé. Guatapé was breathtaking, and no one has lived until they visit this beautiful "peace on earth." The last two days I was left to explore and have some me time.

KimKim, if there is a way to update your rating scale with all of the stars in the universe it will be a tremendous help. Then the range would be more accurate. Visiting Medellín, Columbia, alone was nerve wrecking. Notably, having uninformed people plant negative seeds into my head about going alone and the dangers that I might encounter. Everyone that I met including the Conquest 33 Hotel representatives treated me like family. Thus far, this has been the most memorable trip I have experienced. On June 1, 2020, please be my travel agency to plan my trip to South Africa.

Greatly appreciative and humbled,

Dèjour

We loved our trip...great planning so much accomplished!!! Thanks Christina

We loved our trip to the Arctic Circle. Enjoyed the Nature Baths. Our trip was well planned and we even had time to change a few things along the way. Great job Christina.

While we really enjoyed our trip overall, I would not book with Kimkim again without there being more transparency on the costs. We spent nearly $6800 with Kimkim for only about 9 days of services including one internal flight for 2 people.

Jules did a pretty good job communicating with us but he did say the following about providing us with some tips on packing but he did not provide this detail, even after we followed up with him inquiring about this. He later apologized saying he was on a trek in the Amazon but if he's unable to properly respond to people he should make sure someone else is monitoring his emails to do so. From Jules: "I will get in touch with you 15 days prior to the trip with the last details and a checklist for the things we recomend you bring on the trip (nothing too special, but like this you have a good idea on how to pack ! )."

Our Guides:
Nicholas was fantastic. We really loved him. 5 stars
Diana was also very good. We enjoyed the time we spent with her. 4 stars.
Qapac was okay. He spent too much time talking about politics and religion. He made assumptions about food that we would like. For example we went to a restaurant after a hike and he ordered us plates of spaghetti without consulting with us. I don't want spaghetti when I'm in South America. 3 stars.

The whole trip- all the connections the tour guides, the hotels- awesome!
Thanks!

The ryokans hotels were cheap 2-3 stars rating the most. Should not cost more than USD $200 for 2 for one night. Kim Kim charged us over USD$ 600 for 2 for one night. It was a rip off. We feel this is a lesson we learned and it will be our last dealing with your group, in the meantime we will warn other about your deceptive practice.
I you have any decency you should refund us for over charging us.
Ken and Katherine Wong

We had a fantastic time exploring Iceland and are very happy with our decision to book a trip through kimkim. We were able to see many extraordinary features of Iceland without being too busy or 'overbooked' feeling. The hotels and rental car accommodations were also fantastic.

Amazing trip ! Everything was perfect!
Good hotels selection .
Thanks a lot

Gaelle

I had very limited time in Albania and I felt that I got a true exposure to genuine Albanian life and the Albanian people. Henri was great. Nothing but amazing kudos for the experience. I definitely would use them again if I choose to go back to Albania, which I hope to do in the future. Thank you.

Jeremy

This was my second visit to Nepal and my second time using this company. Amanda and Tendu provided excellent service once again!!

I contacted Amanda to have her set up a tour for us on short notice. She was always quick to respond, friendly, accommodating and answered all of our questions. We did a three day trip through Pokhara, Dhampus and Bandipur, which would have been hard to do on our own. We stayed at fantastic guest houses and had some great views. Our guide Tendu was very knowledgeable and friendly. I will be coming back to Nepal and I will be using this company again!!

Our trip to Norway was all that we had hoped it would be and more! Thank you Linda for doing such a great job of making all our dreams into reality! We travelled to many places that are not necessarily on most tourist’s destination lists because we were searching for ancestral roots. This meant that the modes of travel and accommodations changed nearly daily requiring careful planning on Linda’s part to make sure we were able to get where we wanted to go in as economical a manner as possible! We found her very easy to work with and very responsive to any communications by email. We had a detailed itinerary and every ticket and/or voucher in hand before we ever left home and all the information was correct and current. I’ve already recommended KimKim and Linda to several friends.

Everything made by Sylvia was perfect there is nothing to say, perfect Is the word
I strongly recommend Sylvia for anything you want to plan in Costa Rica
thank you
Bernard

My husband and I had a wonderful trip planned to Norway. Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to my husband's health. Despite this, I would highly recommend Ingrid and kimkim. The messaging platform with Ingrid and with the central office worked seamlessly. Ingrid responded so quickly to our questions. She went out of her way to find out about luggage storage, unrelated to this trip and was flexible with changes. I think the trip she planned would have been fantastic. Hopefully we can go to Norway in the near future.

Ngima's company, Nepal Myths and Mountain Trails, was amazing! From the first steps of communication to our arrival to our trek and to an additional day trip after that, we were responded to promptly, effectively, and with the utmost of care. We did the three passes trek with Ang gelu Sherpa as our guide. He was an exceptional guide and an awesome person. He made sure that our experience was perfect at all times. While our experience leads us to believe that Ngima's company would be an amazing choice no matter what, we recommend that you request Ang gelu as your guide. Our porters Kima and Pemba were also incredible. Ngima also provided a great representative, Tashi, who met us at our hotel, briefed us before the trip, arranged transportation to and from the airport, and even helped to coordinate an additional trip to Bhaktapur after we finished trekking . Throughout the entire trip we felt like we were in knowledgeable and capable hands. If you are looking to trek in Nepal, we highly recommend using Nepal Myths and Mountain Trails.

We had a wonderful time. The logistics were superb including the fantastic hotels, the very convenient car pick up and drop off, and the activity suggestions.

For me the most memorable places were the castle near Postojna and the beauty of the Alps. But a close second to these include our row boat ride to the island on Lake Bled, the castle at Lake Bled, the beauty of Lake Bohinj, the food at your recommended restaurants was superb, the caves (we saw both), the market square and view of the Adriatic at Piran, the Russian monument, and the friendliness of the people. Everywhere we went the people were extremely friendly and helpful. Thank you for helping us set this up.
Greg Thompson

I had a wonderful experience working with kimkim to arrange for private vans and guides to villages in Provence for a group of university students. When we were in Barcelona we were affected by the train strike in France, and our train was cancelled...which left us (a group of 16) stranded and unable to get to our hotel in Avignon. Out of desperation, I contacted Simon, who was my kimkim contact based in Marseille and he took time on a Saturday (holiday weekend) to make calls for me and arrange for a private coach transfer for our group. He saved us!!! He even followed up afterwards to see if we made it to our destination. I can’t say enough great things about the service and extent Simon went to, on his own personal time, to help us out when we were in a bind. Thank you, Simon!!!

I cannot say enough about the awesome Nepal trek we recently competed that was booked through KimKim with Responsible Treks. From our first interactions, KimKim identified the type of trip we were interested in, the specific dates we were available and matched us with a trekking company and a trek that fit our skill level and expectations.

The trip itself exceeded our expectations on all fronts. The communications we received via KimKim's platform helped us plan our trip, get a great sense of what to expect each day, and to pack accordingly. The information and communications we received on the front end alleviated any trip anxiety we may have had. Chhewang, our trip organizer with Responsible Treks, met us at the airport in Kathmandu and rode with us to our hotel where we met with our trek guide, Sonam. We discussed the trek and generally what to expect. Our trek started the next morning where we met our porter, Chhiring T. Over the course of our trek, whether in airports, check points, tea houses or lodges Sonam and Chhiring T took care of us and ensured we had the best trek possible. Upon our return to Kathmandu we met for dinner with our trip organizer Chhewang from Responsible Treks and our trekking crew for a traditional Nepalese dinner - an awesome ending to our trip. We were picked up the next day and escorted to the airport for our flights home.

Again, we had a great trip and trek and no detail was left to chance - the KimKim platform and team matched us up with exactly what we were looking for in a trip and Responsible Treks and their team took care of us and ensured our trip was a success.

We give KimKim and Responsible Treks 5 stars - and two thumbs up!!

Tamara provided great service for the booking of our last minute trip.
Khalid was an amazing guide and took great care of us over the course of three days.

Sudarshan is an amazing host, pre-trip and during the trip! He gave very speedy replies and was very efficient even though I made multiple changes throughout the planning of the trip.
He also constantly stayed in contact with me throughout the trip via whatsapp to make sure that everything was going fine and gave us up to date information on what was going to happen next.
He even invited our group out for dinner on our final day! (Although we had to decline as we weren't feeling very well).
The long bus rides between cities however is something I would probably never do again (Sudarshan did warn me on this before the trip).
Sudarshan's hospitality and reliability is something that will make me return again.
Everything went very smoothly and pleasantly!