Kimkim Trip Reviews for England

Eleanor did a fantastic job developing the perfect trip for us Using her and Routescape i
Are a real asset to KimKim.
Our trip was to take my grandson to a football academy in Milton Keynes where he will be for at least 4 months. After our goodbyes Kim and I started our tour in London, Broadway (Cotswolds), Bath and Windsor. All of our hotels were excellent and easy walk to many sights and restaurants. Of course the Lydon Arms was a treasure but Hotel DeTour,Georgian House, the Bird and Hilton were very interesting and very nice. We were treated very well by exceptional staff at each of them.
Our arranged tours and cabs were friendly and knowledgeable—great people to spend time with. Debbie and Richard of Ace Taxi were a great welcome and goodbye to the Cotswolds. Robin from Cotswolds Tours and travel made it a very special day for us as he brought history to life. We felt like we were traveling with a very knowledgeable friend. Spending time with
Laurence Davies of Avebury Landscapes and Monuments tours was great He was so willing to share with us it is obvious that he loves this area. Also fun to be with
Yogi of Davids of London Chauffeurs was not an official tour guide but was great to be with and very willing to share his knowledge of the area with us. He was very accommodating on a very hot day
My review is rather long but you can see what a great time we had and especially appreciated not being part of a “herd”. Having local travel agents makes a real difference. Thank you KimKim

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Tour

Milton Keynes

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very modern with great gym

Georgian House Hotel

Pimlico

Perfect place to start London adventure Room was like stepping back in time

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Atmosphere

Lygon Arms

Broadway

You know you are in a place a great history. Everything is done with such care and yet very much friendliness

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Bird, Bath

Bath

Beautiful place with great mix of old and new Very helpful staff especially helping with luggage to third floor

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hilton London Heathrow Airport

Hounslow

Extremely helpful staff especially Alicia when we checked in. Nice to be close to airport for morning flight

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Exploring London on a Hop On Hop Off Bus

London

Great way for quick overview of London. Boat trip was outstanding

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Helpful and friendly

Transport

Day Tour of Stratford-upon-Avon & The Cotswolds

Broadway

Fantastic experience. Robin made sure we saw the best of Stratford-upon-Avon and made the history of the Cotswolds and beautiful country side an unforgettable day

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide

Transport

The Roman Baths

Bath

Audio tour was very well done

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Discover Avebury

Bath

Our guide Laurence was amazing. His knowledge and love of the area made it special

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Windsor Castle & Windsor

England

Seeing history and current events in the history of monarchy was very interesting Buildings were amazing Audio program at times confusing. Headphone became uncomfortable

Quality of Experience

To William , Stephen and all the KimKim team. Ron and I want to thank you for all the work you put into planning our trip. We enjoyed out tip through England to Scotland and back to England. All of the choices for our accommodations were wonderful. One of our favorite places to stay was The Upper Largo Hotel. The pub and restaurant there was so nice. The food was wonderful. Also, our accommodations in Port Isaac , The Slipway was so ver nice. All the Bed And Breakfast and Hotels were extremely nice. We would stay at all of them again.
The excursions, punting , Tea at Blenheim palace, The tour of Manchester stadium and one of our favorites was the walking eating tour. The guide was fun and so nice and very informative and all the places we stopped to taste food were awesome. Definitely anyone who wants to visit in Manchester I recommend that eating tour with our guide. From there we go to bath . Accommodations at the Abbey hotel were wonderful. Circus Restaurant was beautiful inside and the food was so delicious. We also toured the Roman Bath. We would recommend everything to anyone asking about our trip. Port Isaac was a wonderful way to end our vacation. Very beautiful village . Restaurants were all delicious. We never had a bad meal the whole trip. We are big fans of the British TV show Doc Martin and the setting for the show is filmed in Port Isaac. How fortunate were we to actually be there when they were filming the last episode of the series. From our balcony at the bed-and-breakfast we were staying in we could literally watch the actors and the filming happening.
Thank you so much for everything. Thank you for dealing with my phone calls I made through out the trip. There is not one bad thing to say about our trip. It was wonderful.

Ron and Gloria Beavers

Hotel Reviews

The Head of the River

Oxford, Oxfordshire

Beautiful setting. Food is delicious.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Setting, location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean

Dakota Manchester

Manchester

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lionsgate Guest House

Bicester

Absolutely wonderful place to stay. Very very clean. Great location to walking. Staff was wonderful. Will definitely stay here again

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Upper Largo Hotel

4 Main St

Absolutely awesome. Love this hotel the staff was so friendly and helpful. The restaurant was so clean and the food was out of this world delicious.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Love the charm. The setting and all the stuff

The Slipway

Port Isaac

Couldn’t ask for a better place to stay. Great view from our balcony. Such a charming village. Food was awesome at all the restaurants we try. All around definitely want to go back

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Eton Mess Boutique Hotel

Eton, Berkshire

Very nice place to stay. The staff were very accommodating and helpful. Set an a perfect location for touring.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hard Days Night Hotel

Liverpool

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Punting in Oxford

Oxford

Great experience very relaxing. The picnic lunch was out of this world. Way more than we expected. Loved it

Quality of Experience

Everything

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We were so lucky to have a seasoned guide. He made it a great experience and he was very knowledgeable

Transport

We were so lucky to have a seasoned guide. He made it a great experience and he was very knowledgeable

Liverpool by The Beatles - Classical tour

Liverpool

Old Trafford Stadium Tour

Manchester

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Eat the City Tour

Manchester

This was very enjoyable. Our guide was awesome and made the experience even more fun with his knowledge of the city. Everywhere he took us to eat was absolutely delicious. Just a lot of fun and would definitely recommend this to anyone wanted to do something in Manchester.

Quality of Experience

Everything

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Awesome. really friendly guide.

Transport

Everything

Cornwall Private Horse and Carriage Tour

Padstow

So fun and relaxing. Great getting to see the countryside from the horse and carriage

Quality of Experience

So fun and relaxing. Great getting to see the countryside from the horse and carriage

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Or guys were so friendly and very informative. Had a lot of fun with these guys

Transport

Or guys were so friendly and very informative. Had a lot of fun with these guys

Port Isaac Walking Tour

Padstow

Very very informative. Our guy was so knowledgeable and the village is absolutely adorable and had just so much fun on the tour

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to England was absolutely phenomenal. From the beginning of planning the trip to the moment we got home everything was fun & easy. Stephen was fully accessible at all times when it came to planning the perfect trip. He went back & forth with me several times planning & making changes to make sure we were able to have the exact kind of trip we were wanting. All of our tour guides were very informative and interactive! While we were in England anytime we needed to contact one of the KimKim members we received feedback from them instantly. Any issues we had were quickly corrected and fixed. I only have the best things to report on Stephen, William and the entire KimKim team who helped plan this once in a lifetime trip to England for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee! Thanks again for everything guys! Will definitely be using KimKim again in my future travels.

Hotel Reviews

Graduate Cambridge

Cambridge

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hampton by Hilton Bath City

Bath

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Trebovir Hotel

Kensington, London

Rooms extremelyyyy small. At least one tube stop away from any sight seeing for tourists. And they lock the outside doors at a certain time, which is great for safety, but when you’re out enjoying the night life in London it makes it difficult to get back to your room. The breakfast was included & very filling, and the staff was always nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tower of London Early Access Tour with Beefeater

London

We went on this tour after the black cab tour so we weren’t able to really get to have the time in the tower that we would have liked. We were somewhat rushed but we did get in to see the Crown Jewels. I’m not sure what the “early access” means for this tour because our entrance time for the tour was 4pm and the tower closed at 5pm. We were unable to do the true beefeater tour. I’d recommend to other travelers if you want to visit the Tower of London and truly get the full experience go at the beginning of the day so you have all the time you want in the Tower to see everything. There’s so much history & interesting facts to learn about while there!

Quality of Experience

A better entrance time to get to have the full experience

Transport

Simply Windsor Castle - Afternoon Tour with transport

London

Loved loved LOVEDDDD this trip!!! Anyone who goes make sure you get a map and the audio recording guide. Make SURE to go inside the chapel in the Windsor grounds too. One of my favorite parts of the entire tour, so many historically famous Kings & Queens burial sites are in the cathedral.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Black Cab Tour of London

London

One of our favorite tours of the entire trip. Our tour guide was phenomenal and very informative! It was so fun to zip around London in the black cab and see the main hotspot sites as well as other ones we wouldn’t have otherwise known about. Such fun & definitely recommend!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

High tea at the Savoy Hotel

London

We went to the Savoy for high tea after the Trooping of the Colours celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It was the perfect place for tea after such a fun & celebratory day! Beautiful setting & lovely live music. The food was delicious & the staff was very welcoming and friendly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hampton Court Palace - private tour.

London

Tour guide was very informative & interactive. The tour actually turned out to be more of an architectural tour which we weren’t aware of ahead of time. We were expecting more of a historical tour specifically about the Tudors (Henry VIII). I told our tour guide this and she was very well informed on this part of history about Hampton Court Palace as well so it wasn’t really an issue, we were still able to get the experience we were wanting. I’d be specific and clear about what your tour guide will be including in the tour before booking.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Literary tour of Bath

Bath

This was a wonderful way to walk around & see all of Bath! The most BEAUTIFUL town, probably my favorite one of the entire trip. This tour gives you all the Jane Austen deets, as well as lots of sights for Bridgerton fans (which I am!). However, it doesn’t give as much background on the Roman Baths and Romans in general if that is something you’re looking for. Our tour guide Dianne was SO informative on all of the Jane Austen time period information. She was a lovely guide and we had a wonderful time with her.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cambridge by the flow of the Cam river

Cambridge

This was without a doubt in our top two favorite things we did on this trip (The first being seeing the Queen & Royal Family during the Trooping of the Colour celebrating the Jubilee!) Punting down the canals of Cambridge was so peaceful & relaxing. Beautiful scenery & lovely punting guide who made for great conversation! Take a bottle of champagne or two & some plastic cups with you ahead of time to enjoy during the tour!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our family had an amazing time both in London and Paris. It was all very well arranged and communication was on point. Thank you for assisting us and making sure we had wonderful memories. :)

Overall, we had a wonderful time in London and Paris. While Kimkim got a lot right, such as hooking us up with great tour guides and finding good accomodations in nice locations, there were some glitches which would prevent me from using them again. The main issue was with timing; there were many instances where there simply wasn't enough time to get from one place to another, resulting in us missing some of our paid activities. For example, we had premium Big Bus tickets and a boat tour on the Thames as part of the package, but were unable to use them but for a brief 30 minute bus ride on day 2 (it was at the end of the bus route). Once we arrived in London, the Big Bus tour had shut down, so it wasn't an option on that day. The next day we had plans to go to the Warner Brothers Studio (Harry Potter) early in the morning, despite my request for no early morning activities. We then had to rush (literally had to run) to catch a bus to take us to the Tower of London; we arrived late and missed many of the attractions there, since it was near closing time.
Since the Big Bus tours closed at 6:30 we were only able to ride for about 30 minutes on day 2.
We never were able to use our boat tickets (which I presume we paid for) or take full advantage of the Big Bus tour, which would have been a nice introduction to London.

On the plus side, we thoroughly enjoyed our private Jane Austen walking tour in Bath and the Stonehenge tour. Our final day in London we were scheduled to visit Westminster Abbey after a Changing of the Guard tour. We did not have sufficient time scheduled to see the Abbey; however, since we needed to catch the Eurorail to go to Paris the same day. We ended up rushing our visit to the Abbey and were unable to see much of it.

There were several discrepancies and inconsistencies in the printed information we received from Kimkim. For example, on day 2 in Paris, our itinerary noted that we were to go to the Louvre for a tour. We showed up to the tour only to realize that the tickets themselves were for a later date. That discrepancy in printed information caused us to miss out on other plans. It should be noted however, that when we went back to the Louve two days later, the tour was wonderful. The worst issue came the last day - our itinerary stated that our driver would be at our hotel to take us to the airport 3-3.5 hours before our flight. Unfortunately, our driver had received different information and left us at the hotel 3.5 hours before our flight. There was a taxi strike happening that day so we had to scramble to figure out how to get to the airport and make our flight. I called Stephan (William was not the contact during the trip - my rating above is for Stephan) from High Point Holidays who said he found another driver but it would cost me over $300. I was shocked that he took no responsibility for this mix-up and expected me to pay to make it right. He later called saying he found another driver for less money, but again made no offer to compensate me. We ended up taking the bus to the airport. It was very stressful, and we would have missed our flight, but luckily, it had been delayed. Finally, in both London and Bath, we arrived at our hotels to find that our rooms had not been paid for. This was awkward and time-consuming to remedy (I had to call Stephen both times). Also, at the Black Fox hotel in Bath, we had a room with one double bed, although I had requested separate (twin) beds for the entire trip. The hotel told me they weren't informed of my request and had no other rooms available. I had to share a bed with my teenage daughter which was something I had hoped to avoid (she kicks!). I brought this to Stephen's attention at the time, but he said nothing about it.

I love Kimkim's concept but the poor timing issues took their toll on us. I brought all these issues to Stephen's attention during the trip and asked for a partial refund to offset our costs for the Big Bus tours we couldn't take, but I never got any response.

We had the pleasure of booking our trip with KimKim/Alex for our recent 10 day trip to England. She was very helpful and patient with all my questions and helped organize our trip in such a short notice. Everything was so easy, from pickups to tours to last day drop off at the airport.

Hotel Reviews

Georgian House Hotel

Pimlico

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Plaza London Riverbank

London

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Airport Transfer

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Broadway to Bath, via Cotswold Villages

England

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to Bath and Stonehenge

England

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Warner Bros Studio Tour with Coach Transfer

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring London on a Hop On Hop Off Bus

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Westminster Abbey

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

St Paul's Cathedral

London

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kudos and more to William and Stephen! What a fabulous 2 week trip they put together for us in April. We started in London, travelled to Swanage and Lyme Regis, experienced Bath and the Cotswalds before returning to London. Our accomodations were charming and all prearranged tours were the best. It was so nice to have all of this plus transportation arranged in advance, as it allowed us to focus on the incredible sights and scenes and not stress about the details. All of the guides we met with were so informative and passionate about their specialties. These included a tour guide for the Albert and Victoria museum; a fossil expert at the Jurassic Coast; a Jane Austin devotee and Daniel, a local guide from Bath, who took us to probably my favorite spot, Castle Combe.
A final note: I don't know how they did it, but somehow William and Stephen arranged for 2 weeks of incredible weather, with not a drop of rain!!

Hotel Review

Eight

Bath

The staff here was so accomodating and pleasant. The breakfasts were 5 star and the rooms clean and updated. While there wasn't a lift, help with getting luggage in and out was provided. The little square our rooms looked out on had activity until @ 10pm, but earplugs were provided just in case.

Tips for future travelers

My only thought would be that guests be able to navigate the stairs without access to a lift. This wasn't a problem for us, and we're all in our late 60's.

Authenticity & Character

Location

So centrally located. The train station was within walking distance, and cabs were available at the top of the street

Staff

The best and so helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Private transfer to your accommodation. Then check-in or bag-drop

London

The drivers were on time and the vehicles spotless.

Quality of Experience

Transport

We booked a trip to England thru KimKim and it was absolutely fantastic. William and Stephen put together an amazing trip and there was no one thing that was not perfect. Hotels were awesome, the tours they picked for us were fantastic and all transfers showed up on time as arranged. They did everything and all we did was show up. I would highly recommend this group and we will most definitely use them again.

Without a doubt, the best trip planning experience I’ve ever had. I will never try to plan another overseas trip without kimkim! Louise was absolutely amazing in her creative itineraries, quick responses and knowledge of the area.

Super fun trip, had a great time! Daniel was always very prompt to answer any questions I may have.