Kimkim Trip Reviews for Argentina

Overall it was a very good trip. Sabrina and Tatiana were helpful in answering most of my questions. The pickups and transfers were punctual and most tour companies were communicative and notified us in advance of any changes.

In terms of the services booked, most were great. Carlos, who did the walking tour in Buenos Aires was really good and we learned a lot. We had great guides in Ushuaia. Gabriel and Juan from Antartur who did the Laguna Esmeralda hike were fantastic. So was Andres with Latitud (Tierra del Fuego National Park tour). The Perito Moreno Glacier hike was also a major highlight of the trip.

The only difficulty was in El Chalten, where we did not have a guide. Our drivers were from Las Lengas tour company and they did not speak English so we had trouble finding out when we were getting picked up and this was a little stressful as I had to call the hotel to help coordinate for us. We also did not like 2 out of 3 of the hotels. Mirador del Lago was great. Las Hayas in Ushuaia was a pretty hotel on the outside and in the lobby and common areas, but the room was very basic. We had a ground floor room and the lights from the outside of the hotel shined directly into our room, making it hard to sleep. After requesting that they move the light, they did not follow up. Amerian Buenos Aires Park Hotel also felt a little old, had slow wi-fi, and wasn't very comfortable. We also didn't know that we were supposed to pay for national park admission fees, so it would have been nice to know this in advance.

I would recommend using Kimkim again if someone was booking a long trip like ours. Even after the small problems mentioned above, it was nice that everything was more or less taken care of.

Our trip was amazing! Lucas did a great job tailoring the itinerary to our family's desire to be active on vacation with our 10 & 12 year olds. Maxi and Hernan took us around Buenos Aires in style, and gave us the local's view of lots of places. Dario and Geronimo in Bariloche did a great job of customizing our kayaking adventure for the windy weather and made it memorable. Zoe and Nicholas in El Chalten we're stars, giving great information and chatting with the kids all the way up and down the trails. Overall, an amazing experience.

Our specialist Lucas was fantastic. We have been planning this trip for over 8 months and he was able to help us narrow in on activities we wanted to do, and places we wanted to stay. We even threw in a date change. He was also available throughout our trip for updates and questions. Loved having the support.
Our local guides were also fantastic, Maxi in Buenos Aires and Carolina in Bariloche were very helpful, friendly and went above in beyond.
We had quite a few interactions with local tour companies as well and each one of them acted professionally and were very friendly and helpful.
Knowing what we know now about Argentina, we might have made a few itinerary changes, such as more time in Buenos Aires, less time in Ushuaia, and putting boating, or vehicle based outings before our hiking/trekking outings. We really enjoyed each place. If we return to Argentina we will certainly contact Lucas.

I can't express enough what a great job that Lucas did for us on our amazing trip to Argentina. He planned a great trip for us, specifically tailored for our interests. That was not so easy because my interests and my wife's are not always the same, yet he developed a plan we both loved. Then, when my wife got covid 2 days into a 2 week trip, Lucas was extraordinary. He helped us deal with some of the complicated issues that brought on. Then he managed to help us replan the second week of the trip so (post-quarantine) we were still able to enjoy this beautiful country. And he even managed to get us refunds for last minute cancellations. Just an overall amazing job by him.

Our guides Annahi, Vanessa, Carolina, Julia, and Tatiana were all excellent. The guide at Perito Moreno was OK (this was the day the driver & guide were late). The drivers were all excellent, except the driver from Newberry to Alvear palace (he just kept talking about musicians and bands). Our favorite activities were Victoria Island with the private boat and picnic, just perfect for us, the trek to Laguna Capri, and Estancia Cristina. Overall, the agents were very professional and responsive, and extremely thorough in preparation. In retrospect, we should have chosen later departures for some activities, since the kids liked to sleep late. The hotels were all excellent, with Loi Suites and Alvear Palace standing out. Of course, we loved Patagonia, the glaciers, and Iguazu!

Hotel Review

Alvear Palace Hotel

Buenos Aires

Very luxurious hotel in Recoleta

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Victoria Island Navigation & Trek

Bariloche

lovely island, quite empty the day we visited, with bbq on a deserted each

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My husband Peter and I made a first time visit to South America for our honeymoon. Not knowing where to go and what to make a must see part of the trip we decided to book our trip through a Travel Agency. We found Kimkim and after reviewing other reviews we decided to go with them. I am so pleased that we did!! Our Travel Agent was Emilce who I believe is from Argentina. She did an amazing job putting together our itinerary with domestic flights, accommodations, and tours/activities. We had a 11day/10night vacation that involved 3 destinations. Emilce was very patient and in consistent communication with us as we made adjustments to our itinerary that better suited the experience that we were wanting during our special celebration trip. She really made the planning experience pleasant by always being quick to answer our questions and make the requested adjustments.
Regarding the travel experience itself: We felt well taken care of: We traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina; Iguazú Falls, Argentina; and Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Each local point of contact was present and in consistent contact prior, during, and at the end of the local destination visit. We felt taken care of specifically by Andrea Z. & Fabio in BA; Lorienna, Junior, and Ernesto in Iguazú Falls and by Oscelea & Marsha in Rio. Our overall trip concierge was Clementina and she made sure that we had all of our trip update information for our domestic flights, Covid requirements and some suggestions for extra thing that we could do in each city. She even helped me to arrange a surprise birthday dinner for my husband. We truly enjoyed our stay in Buenos Aires, Iguazú Falls and Rio de Janiero and believe that this was made possible by the diligent, detail focused and professional skills of all staff of Kimkim and their relationship with the local tourism companies that they work with.
Peter and I have memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives and only have great things to say about our experience on our honeymoon.
Gracias KimKim Staff (Emilce and Clementina)
Gracias Buenos Aires Staff (Andrea Zunino & Fabio, and our tour guide for the City tour, sorry I can't remember your name but you were wonderful!)
Gracias Iguazú guides and driver (Lorienna, Junior, and Ernesto).
Obrigada Rio staff (Oscelea and Marsha)
5stars all around for the entire trip!!!

Hotel Reviews

Recoleta Grand Hotel

Buenos Aires

with We visited Buenos Aires for the first part of the honeymoon and stayed at the Recoleta Grand Hotel. The staff were very helpful from check in, through meals services, through check out. As non-fluent Spanish speakers the staff were very helpful to us (speaking English). Staff helped up with necessary travel needs (getting Covid tests and getting documents printed to be able to travel). The suite that we stayed in was very clean and well decorated. We were comfortable and relaxed the entire stay. The location of the hotel is very convenient to be able to walk to many wonderful sites. (Recoletta Park, Museums, and restaurants. It is in a great location to be able to walk around and enjoy what Buenos Aires has to offer. Short taxi or public transportation ride away to get to the La Boca and a great city market that has wonderful empanadas and other treats. We definitely look forward to visiting again and will stay at the Recoleta Grand Hotel.

Tips for future travelers

Definitely suggest bringing walking shoes so that you can visit a lot of attractions that are in walking distance with out any discomfort to your feet. I also suggest getting a street facing room as where is more building development so you may not want to have to view that in the rear facing rooms at this time (March 2022).

Authenticity & Character

The place has a European feel and is bright and airy.

Location

You are close to a lot of museums, famous parks: Recoleta park, Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. Great small cafes and restaurants, Fashion stores and a Mall.

Staff

Front desk and restaurant staff are very friendly and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

The rooms were tidy and clean. The beds are so soft and feel like sleeping on a cloud pillow.

Loi Suites Iguazú Hotel

Puerto Iguazú

We visited Iguazu Falls for the second part of the honeymoon and stayed at the Loi Suites Hotel. The staff were very helpful from check in, through meals services, through check out. As non-fluent Spanish speakers the staff were very helpful to us (speaking English). Staff helped up with necessary travel needs (getting Covid tests and getting documents printed to be able to travel). The suite that we stayed in was very clean and well decorated. We were comfortable and relaxed the entire stay. The hotel is located more in the National Park itself so all of our meals were at the hotel if we weren't out doing a tour for the day. The hotel is surrounded by jungle and is secluded but you still have all the amenities of a 5star hotel. the rooms are very clean and the beds are comfortable. Our bed was two beds put together. Only suggestion i would make is if it had a pillow top so that you won't feel the crease between the two beds. Our accommodations included a buffet breakfast and it was really delicious with a variety of selections to choose from. The other meals were either at the Formal restaurant or the pool tiki restaurant. We enjoyed our stay and lounged by the pool most afternoons after each day of touring the Waterfalls: both Argentina and Brazil sides of the falls.

Tips for future travelers

Book a room that may be over looking the river a little more so that you have a better view from your room or one that actually has a veranda that you can sit out on. We had a room that has a tub and shower that are separate. It was nice to soak in a nice bath!

Authenticity & Character

Authenticity & Character

Location

Offer some activities for guests to do at the hotel that can be little more interactive.

Location

Offer some activities for guests to do at the hotel that can be little more interactive.

Staff

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana

Rio de Janeiro

We visited Rio de Janeiro for the final part of the honeymoon and stayed at the Fairmont Rio de Janiero Copacabana Hotel. The staff were very helpful from check in, through meals services, through check out. As non-Portuguese speakers the staff were very helpful to us (speaking English). Staff helped up with necessary travel needs (getting Covid tests and getting documents printed to be able to travel). The suite that we stayed in was very clean and well decorated. We were comfortable and relaxed the entire stay. The hotel is located at on end o Copacabana Beach and overlooks the water! The hotel is in prime location for restaurants and beach fun. It's location also allows for a short walk to be able to access Ipanema Beach, The hotel has 5star accommodations. We originally booked a city view room, but once we saw what ocean view was we requested to see if we were able to get a ocean view suite. We were able to make an upgrade payment to allow for the ocean view and were so glad we did. The sunrise over the water is spectacular and the view for our balcony allow for that. The staff at the hotel are pleasant, professional and very helpful. The check in process was wonderful, the breakfast buffet was included with our accommodations and was plentiful! We are from the United States (Midwest to be specific) and don't always have the opportunity to try tropical fruits. I had tropical fruits a plenty on this trip! The Fairmont hotel also has some space reserved at the beach that allows for easy access to lounge chairs and beach umbrellas! I can't wait to come back to stay at the Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana!

Tips for future travelers

Definitely experience a spa treatment view of a sunrise from an ocean view room with your own private balcony

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

🔎 Buenos Aires: Main Information 🔎

Buenos Aires

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rio By Night: Rio Scenarium + Barbecue Dinner (5h)

Rio de Janeiro

Rio Scenarium is a fun place to visit and dance. You don't have to be the greatest dancer or even know how to do Samba to have a great time. The barbecue dinner was delicious. I really enjoyed the different cuts of meat!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

KimKim created a once in a lifetime vacation for my family. We had three generations of my family travel to South America for the first time, exploring Buenos Aires and Patagonia, creating memories that I could have never imagined.

No one had been to South America before, and this was one of our first trips since COVID so we were all a bit anxious, but KimKim made the experience unforgettable.

Highlights of trip:
- The Argentina Experience cooking class- competing in the an empanada contest, learning how to make mate and tasting regional dishes
- Watching a beautiful tango show in an architectural gem
- Eating delicious steak and drinking excellent Malbec for nearly every meal
- Riding horses in a traditional estancia (ranch)
- Getting up close to hundreds of penguins in the wild and seeing a rare emperor penguin
- Trekking to the end of the Pan-American highway
- Sending a postcard from the southern most post office in the world
- Sailing on a catamaran though the Beagle Channel between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and watching sealions hunt for fish

Key benefits of using this service:
- Limited planning of the day-to-day activities on my part. As before, no one in my family had been to Argentina so we did not know necessarily what to plan. We just knew that we wanted to see the highlights of Buenos Aires and go hiking in Patagonia. KimKim planned the rest. They gave us a few options for our itinerary and we went ahead with it.
- Transportation. We had scheduled transportation everywhere. Our guide was there to pick us up at the airport and we had a car take us from our hotel to all of the activities. This was critical for our large group, as otherwise we were have had to organize multiple taxis to get anywhere.
- Communication. Our Kimkim agent Emi was wonderful and quickly answered all of our questions. We organized this trip relatively late (about two months prior to departure) and she worked very quickly for us. All of guides specifically Fernando (Buenos Aires) and Ilya (Ushuaia) were a joy and expressed to us how much they love their county through more than words. I also felt like they care about my family and made small adjustments throughout the trip as needed.

Things to know about using the service:
- The money was more than I had previously paid for a trip, but it was completely worth it. Everyone in my family is already planning to go back to Argentina. All of my friends already want to know how to go on this amazing trip.

Why you go definitely go to Argentina
- All of the food we had was excellent: the lamb in Patagonia, the fish in Ushuaia and the steak in Buenos Aires- all top notch
- The country has nearly ever type of terrain. You can going tango dancing in Buenos Aires, horseback riding in the county, hiking or ski. Everything available.
- The exchange rate is very favorable for tourists. The most I paid for a bottle of wine in a restaurant was USD $5. All of wine was delicious and better than the best I’ve had in France.

Overall, I have absolutely no regrets about using this service and would happily do it all over again. Already trying to figure out my next adventure!

Hotel Review

Huinid Obelisco Hotel

Buenos Aires

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Walking with Penguins 🐧

Ushuaia

Exceeded my expectations. This was an island of hundreds of penguins and we could get up close to them in the wild. We saw three different species including a rare emperor penguin!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My triplet sisters and I had a wonderful 40th birthday trip to Argentina. We wanted to prioritize Patagonia, so Emilce arranged for us to visit Buenos Aires, El Calafate, and Ushuaia. Some highlights included the stunning Perito Merino Glacier, El Chalten hiking, and sailing the Beagle Channel. We had one mishap where a driver didn't show up to take us to the BA airport and one of us almost got bumped from the flight, but Emilce, Clementina, and Fernando were all very apologetic and refunded the difference for the transportation. After that incident, Clementina sent us our boarding passes ahead of time so that we wouldn't get bumped again - a thoughtful gesture! All of our guides were great and the team was very responsive. Even though food poisoning took us out for one day, we were overwhelmed and amazed by the beauty, food, culture, animals, and people. I hope to be back one day!

Hotel Review

Huinid Obelisco Hotel

Buenos Aires

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Minitrekking in "Los Glaciares National Park"

El Calafate

Absolutely once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I had a great experience with Kimkim thanks to Leandro. I had to book all the details of a trip to El Chalten and El Calafate within 24 hours of take-off during high season. There was very little hotel and tour availability, and the these destinations and tours also can require a significant amount of complicated ground transportation, with required tour guide coordination to allow entry into Glacier National Park. Leandro was able to get me a private room in each location, and book me with an amazing all-day mini trekking tour of Perito Moreno Glacier, complete with crampons and mandatory tour guide for glacier trekking, along with all necessary bus transportation to the destinations. I tried booking hotels last minute from the US while at the airport but many El Chalten hotels don’t have self-booking enabled on their websites. I first left a message for Kimkim Sunday night as I was about to board my flight to Buenos Aires from JFK. By the time I landed in EZE Buenos Aires, Kimkim had connected me to Leandro and he had already worked out 90% of the details of my trip. Working with Leandro was such a relief and allowed me to enjoy my very short last minute trip stress-free and to the fullest.
Highly recommend.

Hotel Review

Hotel Lunajuim

El Chalten

Great place to stay. Kind of rustic rooms as are most places in Chalten. They offer great support services for hiking (helpful trail reviews and guidance/suggestions of best trails for the day given erratic weather conditions) and they offer a packed lunch service which is great if you’re on the go and don’t have time to grocery shop. Wifi is insufficient during wind storms (super frequent) and also when the hotel is full (afternoons and evenings after hiking). Wifi is ok early AM and late night when people are offline and on nights when it is not extremely windy. Very nice lobby with bar.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Minitrekking in "Los Glaciares National Park"

El Calafate

Great tour! Fun on the ice with great guides.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Emilce and the entire team of guides in Argentina, provided me with a wonderful experience.
I will return soon and plan on utilizing their services again....

We were supposed to go on an Antarctic but our cruise was canceled on the day of departure. KimKim helped us build a replacement trip on very short notice to salvage our vacation. Thank you.

Activity Review

El Chalten Full Day, Free time

El Calafate

Everything was very smooth and went perfectly. No issues throughout the entire trip due to the great planning from the travel team. Fernando and Mathias were particularly helpful, knowledgeable, and very friendly. Would highly recommend.

Emi is nothing short of a ROCKSTAR! Even with the time zone difference (prior to booking), she considered every detail when crafting this special trip, despite limitations of COVID. All the hotels I stayed in were super clean and literally in the center of town, so venturing out on my own for dinner or to explore neighborhoods was super easy.

By far, Salta and Mendoza will forever be stained in my happiest memories. From the seemingly endless Salt Flats, hiking in San Lorenzo, lively squares of downtown Mendoza, beautiful mountain views in Cafayate and Purmamarca to the delicious empanadas and peaceful horseback ride at the ranch, this trip was everything I hoped for and more. Thanks so much Emi and KimKim for ending my 2021 adventures with a bang!

Hotel Review

Hotel Raices Aconcagua

Mendoza

The hotel was located mere steps from one of the larger squares and walking distance to shopping and very good restaurants. At night, I felt very safe walking about and the hotel is just outside a bus stop, with buses running very frequently. Despite COVID, there was a decent selection of pastries and juices for breakfast, but no eggs or anything like other hotels I had stayed in. My room on the 8th floor was very clean and offered an AMAZING view, plus the floor was very quiet at night. The elevators are a little slow at times. The front desk was very attentive upon check-in and even went as far to help me make an appointment with a nearby business for a service. If in Mendoza again, I would absolutely consider them for another stay!

Tips for future travelers

No.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The staff was very helpful and spoke very good English if your Spanish is not so fluent.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fresh towels were provided daily. The safe was functional and locked/unlocked very easily by setting a code. Also the windows open with a latch to enjoy some fresh air if you want.

Activity Review

Full day to Salinas Grandes (Purmamarca)

Salta

The mountain views were breathtaking! The time spent at the Salt Flats was truly a highlight of the excursion.

Quality of Experience

The people of Purmamarca were so kind and very gracious and getting to taste llama was surely a surprise!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was full of knowledge about the history Jujuy, Salinas Grandes and the Salta area that I definitely learned more than I would have just trying to visit the area on my own. Great driving through the winding roads in the mountains and was happy to help us take photos.

Transport

Driver picked me up about 10 minutes past my initial pickup time but it seems that no one in Argentina is ever really on time.

We had the PERFECT honeymoon trip. It was a long one- 16 days/15 nights- so Emilce was absolutely instrumental in helping us craft the trip and making sure everything was organized and stress free for us. She was patient and responsive, and all of her suggestions for excursions were spot on for what we wanted to do- from a tango show, to hikes in Patagonia and Iguazu, to wine tours in Mendoza. It was amazing how hassle-free it all was- people were there to pick us up and drop us off at each airport and take us to all of our activities- we didn’t even really have to think! Plus, every guide we had was so knowledgeable and friendly- and so excited to use their English as we were the first Americans they’d had since the pandemic restrictions lifted. I absolutely recommend working with Emi- and visiting Argentina!!

My husband I are traveled to Argentina for our honeymoon and Emi helped us plan the perfect itinerary. Emi had great suggestions for our getaway, and accommodated all of our requests. Unfortunately the end of your trip was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we had to return home sooner than anticipated, but we were able to enjoy the time that we had. We thoroughly enjoyed our private tour of Buenos Aires with Federico, our private tour of the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. Mendoza was the highlight of our trip. We loved all of the hotels that Emi booked/suggested for us. We were only able to spend one night in El Calafate, and unable to do any of our planned excursions in Calafate/Chalten, but we will be back! Emi stayed in constant contact with us after COVID-19 travel restrictions started being implemented, and even gave us her personal phone number. We highly recommend Emi if you are planning a trip to Argentina!

Erin was wonderful to work with for this trip! She was extremely helpful with planning everything and making a trip that included what I was looking for and in the budget I was working with. She was very patient with me and answered all questions that I had along the way.
The times in Torres de Paine was amazing, with great weather and beautiful views. Perito Moreno glacier was also amazing!
I was thrilled with my trip. Thank you again to Erin for all your work in helping to make it happen!!

Macarena was professional, flexible and responsive. Quick follow up is very important to me when planning a trip.
Her suggestions made my trip special: cooking class, wine tour and Termed hot springs I would not have found.

We had an enjoyable time in Buenos Aires and the Iquazu Falls. Emilce had done a wonderful job for all the transfers between places and the pick ups were on time. Also thank Federico who was so wonderful in guiding us thru the city of Buenos Aires. We learnt a lot about the political background, history and cultures of Argentina. We really appreciate his service. The hotel which Emilce arranged in BA was really good. However we were not very happy about EcoIguazu's tour on the Argintina side. I was not sure about it was the S American Trip's role or the EcoIguazu's role. The guide for the Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side was not good. His didn't understand our questions very well and was not organized at all. Wasting time in making decision what we should do next. I felt so sorry for the tour members who had paid for the boat ride but no seats for them after all. I still wonder how it can happen if they have arranged the boat ride few months ago and still no room for them on the day. Other than that, I enjoyed my trip in Argentina very much. Oh, I forgot to mention about the tango show and the Argentine Experience. Both events were excellent. We enjoyed them very much. Thank you Emilce again for the arrangement. Will recomment KimKim to my friends.

Overall we had a really positive experience using KimKim. As two people who don't speak much Spanish, we found their services to arrange tours and transportation to be a huge benefit in making our travel throughout Argentina easier. We were thankful for Virginia's responsiveness and recommendations.
We especially loved El Chalten and Los Glaciares National Park. We only had one small tour/transportation hiccup but Virginia responded right away and came up with a solution quickly.

This is my first time using the services. I had Virginia as my agent and I was very happy with her. Things were planned last minute and somehow everything worked out. My highlight was the stay at the Mercure Hotel in Iguazu. I did not do any research at all and I was blown away. Thanks Virginia and KimKim for making dreams come true!!!