Kimkim Trip Reviews for Colombia

Fabulous! Food, service and knowledge about the country.

Wonderful!

Carlos make the best of the weather. He brought us to Commune 13 which I had wanted to see.

Loved it! Guide was very entertaining and informative

Few city hotels can blend relaxation, luxury, location, service, and beauty as well as this hotel. The history permeates throughout the hotel, and everywhere you turn, there is no doubt that you are in Cartagena. This is not a "copy-and-paste" Caribbean resort....if you're looking for a beach vacation in a forgettable place, go somewhere else. Our children felt very welcome from the moment we entered the property, and we were quite surprised to see so many families visiting Hotel Santa Clara, spending time swimming in their gorgeous pool. The buffet breakfast was spectacular and I got to try fruits I had never seen....I'm looking at you, guama! I would absolutely love to return to Hotel Santa Clara.

Super fun hotel for families with young children. The food was ok but nothing special. The rides at the hotel are fun for very young children, and a similar to rides you may see at your local county fair. The pool is huge with waterslides but the weather was not ideal for swimming when we visited.

The location is perfect with a jaw-dropping rooftop pool and bar. The breakfast was lovely and overall, I would recommend this hotel, but only after they fix one MAJOR problem (and it's not the fault of Margoth or KimKim). My biggest problem with the hotel, which really was unfortunate, was the customer service. The front desk was super kind, but in the end, when I needed help, they were powerless. We had two rooms, and in the my kids room, the smoke alarm would beep off and on. I didn't hear it at first, and then like clockwork, would beep, beep, beep for 5-10 minutes, and then take a break, only restart beeping 30 minutes later. I called the front desk to see if this problem could be addressed. No luck. I called back again, and they asked if it was still beeping (as if Tinkerbell flew over to fix it). For the second time, they said someone would come and fix it. By this time it was 10 pm and my kids were asleep. By 10:40pm my wife and I were asleep. No one came. My 8 year-old daughter woke every up at 6 am complaining that the alarm kept beeping off and on throughout the night. I told the front desk at 6:30 am and they had no answers. We checked out of the hotel that morning as scheduled.

Fantastic and beautiful hotel. Beautiful room and a nice restaurant.

I just loved our walking tour of Cartagena. Our guide Ana, who is also a schoolteacher, was focused on making it fun for my kids. Boy did she succeed with a scavenger hunt through the old city and Getsemani. Ana was able to navigate the tourist traps while still being able to allow my family with some of the colorfully dressed ladies with fruit on their heads. Too often, my vacation photos are of my wife with the three kids. One of the biggest bonuses of having a guide, is that I no longer have to worry about that job!

This one was for the kids, and they loved it. Many of my Colombian friends love this restaurant, and they have locations throughout the country. The place was packed and I would go back with my family or for dessert if I were just with my wife.

This was a really fun experience for the entire family. I really tried to do things on this vacation that was different from our usual routine. The drum and music workshop really hit the mark! Though a bit tired, the kids really enjoyed it and our personalized instruction was quite fun! Kelele!!!

The desk receptionists were all so very kind and gracious. We were treated like celebrities! Beautiful surroundings and great coffee!

Beautiful place

Hotel itself is beautiful - the animals, grounds, and pools are gorgeous. The service was a little slow - took long to get food/drinks at restaurants but room service was great. The shower in the room was not amazing for the kids (only a rainfall head). It was easy to walk to several markets and restaurants. Overall, it was great experience.

Nice hotel very clean and great location.

Very nice hotel located at a coffee farm.

Nice spacious hotel located in a nice and safe neighborhood. Convenience store across the street. Two restaurants in the hotel and others very close.

Good trip but long. The traffic going back and forth was frustrating.

It was a very nice stay and a very nice coffee tour. Learned a lot about the coffee process and types.

It was an amazing tour. Seeing the area was a highlight of the trip.

A really pretty area and a fun place to relax. There is a cold waterfall and hot Springs. The combination is unique and beautiful. It was a fun stop.

Very nice tour. Guide with exceptional.

What a place! Divided between two houses, one has in essence a private residence. Everything was first class. It was convenient to a number of nice restaurants, breakfasts were exceptional and the staff most helpful and friendly.

Hotel Bantu By Faranda Boutique was a very nice hotel with lots of character, seemingly an old house. However, the door to my room had a large crack which allowed noise from the patio to be a bit disturbing at night. Despite this, it was a charming place to stay.

We were able to sample eight different rums with very nice side dishes over about an hour a half. The presenter was very knowledgeable about all of the rums. Just a great experience.

If you are in the area this is a must visit.Carved from a salt mine six hundred feet below the surface, it is something to behold.

Spent several hours in the area. Having an interest in wall art, I found the quantity and quality to both be well above average. It is an easy walk through an industrial area with blocks of art.

An extensive area in Medellin, Commune 13 is a cornucopia of everything from graffiti to exceptional wall art. the area is now safe to walk and admire the art.

If you have any interest in wall art, plan on spending some time here. It is a very interesting neighborhood of Cartagena, well worth the effort to experience it. There is some scrawled graffiti, but most is exceptional wall art.

Perfect high quality hotel as a base for a Bogata visit located in a nice area - great buffet breakfast but slow service

Beautiful and unique property more like a private home than a hotel

Top boutique hotel in best district of Medellin . Hotel is lovely and well designed but rooms are a bit soulless and corporate

Beautiful villa style property in an amazing location overlooking river and sea with a pool in front . We would have preferred a room with a view which was not available.

Amazing architecture beautiful boutique hotel in heart of old town.

Excellent- Oscar our guide was very knowledgeable and a really nice guy and we really enjoyed visiting the highlights of Bogata

We did this immediately on arrival and it was a super way to unwind from air travel and an unpleasant journey to the property on v bad roads . This hotel no longer sits in the middle of a Cacao farm - it’s now industrial level citrus planting so this walk takes you to the neighbouring farm to see Cacao farming on a charming local level.

Maria arranged for a wonderful dinner in her home. The chef and her team allowed us to try our first Colombian food and we loved it. We also had a great educational discussion with Maria about sustainability and her company's mission to educate travelers about it.

This is a must do when in Bogota. We tasted so many amazing fruits and learned so much from our guide. There are 433 types of fruit in Colombia and even through we only tried 20 or so, we learned how important diversity is to the overall health and sustainability of our food. After this tour, my travel companion and I said that we would have been completely satisfied with the trip if it had to end right then. It would have been worth the time and effort to get there to experience just this.

My travel companion and I are not great at just sitting on a beach and relaxing. We did kayak for a while, but it just was not to our taste. We were ready to leave about two hours before the boat was ready to take us back. If you can relax, this would be a great experience.

This was a full day of hiking with a wonderful beach and dip in the sea in the middle. We saw sloths and howler monkeys and capuchin monkeys and snakes (non poisonous) and birds of all sorts. Our guide was very knowledgeable and fun. Eating at the beachside restaurant was lovely and the food was delicious!

It was just us on the evening we attended so we had a private experience at the beach. The beautiful young people taught us how to use three different drums and to dance. They were fabulous. A great experience for sure.

The market was a bit rough (took off one star for that-but my travel companion LOVED the market part) but Gloria (our chef) was no nonsense and knew exactly what she wanted and helped us to select wonderful ingredients with which she helped us make a feast. The food she taught us to prepare was one of the best meals of the trip.

Great tour of the city with a fun and knowledgeable guide. Eddie brought the walled city to life for us and tried to educate us about the wonderful street food. Unfortunately, both of us were off of food at the moment so could not partake in too much of it.

Top notch.

Rustic, situated in aforested and hilly area.

Great hotel and menu, on-the-ball staff.

Once upon a time this would have been quite the spot; but it's worn and not kept well.

Quite the experience and more so by meeting with the family and learning about their small business

The hotel looks beautiful and has lovely food...unfortunately we did not have a nice room...at the end of a long corridor on main level , dark and musty.

Enjoyed the cable car ride up the hill and learning about how it was developed. The site at the top was beautiful and we carefully maneuvered the slippery paths...rainy day ..

Felt our guide was inexperienced, not well organized and didn't seem to know how to relate to the client. As senior clients walking about in 41 degree weather for 5 hours is not OK....we ended our walking tour before seeing the market or taste testing. Our introduction to Cartagena was not a positive lasting impression. Our hotel room was not up to the standard of the other places we had enjoyed. The overall impression of the hotel is most positive, beautiful grounds, pool dining areas but our room was at the end of a long corridor on the main floor and it was dark, dingy and needed refurbishing...the picture over the bed was a frame only. Our dining experiences were all positive.

Many fruits are new to the tourists and it is nice to be able to try them. The arepas made by a special lady were the best I ate compared to the many I tasted through out Colombia. The flower market was colourful and nice to see .... wasn't too sure the vendors were too happy with us walking through as they were getting ready to close....might we worth considering talking with a vendor to learn more about the business and even receive one flower as token....

The museum was delightful...our guide told us about a few key issues and then we took whatever time we wanted to look at the various exhibits.

Colourful, insightful and fun...enjoyed the street art. Most fun for us was playing tejo accompanied by a mulatto local beer...chocolate pairing made us feel like we were in a lab doing a very detailed taste tasting...far too much technical stuff for regular tourist...this program needs to be delivered in a more relaxed fun manner.

Very generous manager and chef introduced us to your national drink. We had lots of laughs and can see why this is such a social beverage.

Many kind wishes were sent my way for my BD celebration....even the hotel dining staff had a lovely dessert for me and sang happy birthday. The meal was delicious, beautiful presented and we enjoyed. There seems to be the thought that if you remove a plate as soon as finished it is efficient...not so when you are eating with another person ... my question which never has been answered is why does Colombia mark up their price of wine so significantly? If tourism is the goal, expect wine drinking goes with that....we were able to find delicious wines in the local grocery for a reasonable amount.

Enjoyed my time with the chef learning about the different corns and how they are treated. With the help of his kitchen staff, the final presentation was delightful.

Amazing valley and seeing these magnificent palms was awesome....our guide was very knowledgeable about the area and shared this with us in an easy to understand discussion. He was happy to accommodate a request to show me an avocado tree and took the time to explain the growth etc. Both Salento and Filandia were colourful and easily walkable locations.

A very well spoken knowledgeable chef taught us lots about the cuisine and how to actual tackle some items that were new for us. We enjoyed all of the dishes that we made and have a much better understanding of the work and effort that goes into some of the Caribbean dishes. Loved the aprons that were easy for me to get home...great memory jogger of a fun time.

Well organized with an interpreter and set up efficient for us to easily manage the steps. Enjoyed the class, the chef, the gift of columbian pots and the experience.

Relaxed, fun and playful experience.

Enjoyed the exhibition of sculptures by Botero. Our guide shared comical information which kept the history fun and memorable.. the wonderful metro cable up to Santo Domingo was enjoyable and knowledgeable and an amazing method to move people through this massive city in a cost efficient manner.

One of the best activities and learning experiences in Colombia. From costume setting, to picking the beans and walking through the fields and learning about the many steps that are taken to produce this bean was amazing. The lady of the manor prepared drinks and snacks and then a sizeable lunch for all of us to enjoy. Language wasn't difficult with a fluent guide and gestures and smiles all added to the enjoy,ent.

We enjoyed taking the path with our guide at a leisurely pace to see the thermal waters. Quite a stunning area of natural beauty.

Other than the rain, we enjoyed getting to the area as well as learning about La Piedra rock. No pressure to climb and didn't.

Essential to experience this neighborhood in order to better understand the massive changes that have taken place by those living in very poor dangerous conditions.

A tour guide arrived at our VBRO, same young chap we had met before......he waited with us until the driver arrived...we were not aware a guide was to accompany us...and off we went to the airport where we were dropped off outside....every other guide that we had accompanied us inside the terminal to ensure a smooth transition, and that's when we tipped....without meaningful service, no tipping. The driver was new to us and the seat belts were non workable in the rear and when we pointed this out we were advised that the car had been cleaned and they hadn't pulled the clips back through....whatever the reason, the client should not be put in that position.

Cartagena takes a little time to get oriented ... our guide walked us to this event which was essential for us as it was an evening event. The owner and presenter of the event was friendly and fun and enjoyed his job. We enjoyed learning about the different flavour profiles and how they were created and the little tapas to aid with the palette were delicious. On our walk back to the hotel we were able to see the party buses and how night life lives in this city.

This hotel is a jungle paradise and it really looks like the pictures. The main pool is beautiful and very warm. The food in the restaurant is surprisingly great and I love that there are carafes of hot coffee available all day. The receptionist didn't speak English but was friendly and we managed using a translation app. The location a few minutes drive from Tyrona National Park can't be beat.