Kimkim Trip Reviews for India

Spent a great week on a whirlwind tour of the Golden Triangle organise via KimKim & Active India. The team (special thanks to Ravi and Aditya) worked very hard to make sure our trip was welcoming and memorable. From the first moment we contacted KimKim to the final itinerary, Ravi and his team answered all of our questions and helped make all of our arrangements. We were greeted at the airport and escorted to every site, event, hotel, etc. in very capable hands. The selection of sights and activities was well planned, flexible and included a good variety. We had 1 or 2 minor hiccups while there but the team, having set up a What's App group for us when we arrived, made it very easy to contact them. They were incredibly responsive and quick to resolve our issues. The guides were professional, knowledgeable and each brought their own expertise to our visits. Our driver was courteous, careful and extremely adept at navigating the roads/routes of our journey. Overall, KimKim made planning and experiencing our trip so very easy.

Kimkim made organizing such a trip easy. Active India was indispensable in helping me customize my trip and the flexibility provided by Active India.

The itinerary laid out met my expectations. I was able to see everything I wanted. Varanasi is incredible. An amazing place!

I was well looked after by Ravi and his team. The drivers and guides were courteous, helpful and always on time.

Unfortunately I caught the flu early in the trip, and not feeling my best contemplated ending the trip early. Fortunately Ravi and his team were there for me. I will alway be grateful for his encouragement to rest and persevere. I got better and I got to see Varanasi at the end of my month in South Asia.

Ravi and Active India Holidays provided exactly what I had asked for. There was never any issues or problems once my trip began. Ravi and staff were always in constant communication with me. Responses to any questions immediate in India, within 12 hours because of time difference US/ India. All hotels, guides and especially my driver were top quality. Highly recommend.

Jay interacted well with Erika to plan an itinerary that suited our requests. He also offered his advice with regard to what we should include. He was quick to respond to our msgs and emails and acted efficiently. On a separate note, Jay arranged and booked a separate trip for Wayne and I to visit Varanasi - an essential must do for any travelers who are considering visiting India.

The staff from Bestoke Travels who coordinated our visits to each city were outstanding. They assisted with local knowledge and provided personal interpretations when asked. They were punctual, friendly and knowledgable.

Most local guides were knowledgeable and provided an abundance of information. We were lucky to secure two "freelance" guides who I am guessing would be more expensive however they were great. In particular, our guide in Varansi and in Jaipur.

We were booked on two safari tours in Rathambore. The guide on the first tour (a.m.) appeared to be unfamiliar with the environment and lacked a basic understanding of English and appeared to lack experience. This feedback was given to our hotel concierge (as the local guide did not respond to our calls) and the afternoon safari was more "user-friendly". Both the driver and guide were exceptional.

Our driver (for the most part), Moni was amazing. We think he is the safest driver in India. In particular, driving us from Delhi to Agra to Ranthambore to Jaipur to Mumbai. Moni is an asset to your company. Highly recommend.

We chose to end our trip in Goa for some relaxation before returning home. The location of our hotel was south Goa at Candolim Beach. We stumbled across where the action was slightly north at Calangute and Baga Beaches two days after arriving. Sadly, our local guide did not advise us of this (nor the hotel staff).
Whilst the accommodation at Seashells was clean, and provided for our needs, perhaps for future guests you could consider accommodation at Calangute or Baga areas.

Hotel Reviews

The Suryaa

Delhi

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

ITC Mughal

Agra

We chose to eat at the hotel one night and the restaurant was ordinary. The service was lovely but it appeared the restaurant may have been lease out as the staff were not in align with hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Mixed, a facade of the hotel impressed us but the rooms are dated.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Ranthambore Regency

Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan

This hotel is a great location if guests are visiting the national park to view wildlife and tiger.

Authenticity & Character

Great open space and pool however the midgies and mosquitos were next level.

Location

It is the furthest away hotel from the national park but may be the most luxurious - not sure.

Staff

The restaurant staff were so attentive and helpful. In fact, at sometimes we thought the staff were too close as they were hovering around our table.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Alsisar Haveli

Jaipur

This hotel is lovely. Very unique. Initially we were given a twin room even though the booking was for a couple. Luckily, we were able to be moved to a queen bedroom prior to a bus group arriving. Our room was on the 3rd floor which can only be accessed by stairs - no elevators in this hotel so for any guests with mobility issues, you will need to make sure you are accommodated accordingly. Wifi on the third floor is not available. The pool was being refilled as we arrived. The massage therapist provided a lovely relaxing massage.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The reception staff were complacent - we asked for information re laundry services and restaurant recommendation and they were non committal. Furthermore, we tried to change larger notes to small notes (to support tipping) and smaller notes were not available. You would expect there should be smaller notes available given the tourists using the hotel.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Trident Nariman Point

Mumbai

This was the pick of the venues for the holiday. Given it was 5 star, they derserve the rating.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Seashell Villas and Luxury Suites Candolim Beach Goa

Goa

The mosquitoes/midgies at this hotel were terrible. Maybe because they have an abundance of greenery around the pool spaces but perhaps, they could consider some pest control as it was difficult for any guests to enjoy the surroundings. Each morning, the owner, owner's son and owner's stepson would visit the restaurant and introduce themselves to the guests at breakfast. They were over the top and appeared to big note themselves. This was confronting. Its OK for "them" to introduce themselves but then not reappear the next day and then reappear on the same day adding more information which did not add to our experience. In fact, in some interactions, it could be categorised as inappropriate. In our case, given we had breakfast included for 4 mornings, we all kept our heads down when "they" hovered and in one case one of our parties moved away prior to "him" approaching.

Authenticity & Character

Location

We stumbled across a more active are just north so for future visits you should consider Cangulute.

Staff

Mixed views. The day to day staff were amazing and so attentive but the owner and co were inappropriate.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Sightseeing of New and Old Delhi

New Delhi

Too much in one day. It is difficult to take in and absorb the information given.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Early Morning Taj Mahal Visit

Agra

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Agra Fort and Mughal Heritage walk

Agra

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Yoga session facing Taj Mahal

Agra

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Agra - Ranthambore via Fatehpur Sikri (296 km- 5 to 6 hours by car)

India

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Morning Safari in Ranthambore National Park

Ranthambore

The guide appeared apprehensive and unsure. This impacted the driver.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Afternoon Safari at Ranthambore National park

Ranthambore

It makes such a difference when you have an experienced guide who can work as a team with the driver. Our guide used previous experience to guide his direction with us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ranthambore village tour

Ranthambore

The guide has an unwell child at home so seemed aloof.

Quality of Experience

The guide to be more organised of what his intent is for the day.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver was great but guide needs assistance.

Transport

From the moment we contacted Jay and discussed what we wanted from the trip we felt comfortable. Would the weather be favourable and what would the cost for different levels of accommodation be? His responses were quick and detailed with the pros and cons.
All of our guides throughout the trip were local to the cities/areas we were visiting, therefore their knowledge was passionate and very informative. Assisting us with ATM's, best angles for photos, correct etiquette in temples and purchasing entry tickets on our behalf.
Choice of accommodation was amazing! We were blown away with the level of service from the moment we arrived, front desk, restaurant and cleaning staff.
Our driver for the majority of our trip was Mr Powan Dixit. He took great care of us. Ensuring we were informed of pickup times, checking we had all our belongings at all times, plenty of water each day and taking us to the local supermarket and laundry pickup on our way home. We had lots of laughs and good fun with Mr Powan Dixit.
Our driver in Varanasi, Mr Nedridge (spelling probably not right), went out of his way to help us with laundry and posting our postcards while we were sight seeing. Again we were taken good care of.
The company representatives in each city/area met us on arrival at the airports and accommodation ensuring a seamless check in and that we were happy with our room. They traveled with us airport departures, guiding us to the correct entrance and helping with entry tickets where necessary at the outside security area.
We would highly recommend KimKim and Bespoke India Holidays.

The most memorable place was Veranasi and Udaipur. We were really happy with our driver Mr. Puran. He was really reliable and quite knowledgeable of all the places we went to with him.

Activity Review

Bathe, Paint and Feed - (Un-forgettable - experience with elephants!)

Jaipur

It was really special to connect with this amazing creatures. They seems to be treating the animal with dignity and respect.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jay has been fantastic booking our Infia trip . We are a group of 4 and he managed to satisfy all of our differing requests

Overall, our first trip to India was a memorable one! We love to experience new cultures on our trips and India has a unique one! Because my daughter and I are on a two-month, 12-country trip, we were only able to spend five nights in India. However, we experienced some of the best places India has to offer by visiting Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

Our local guides in each city were professional and knowledgeable. We learned quite a bit from them! Our driver the entire time, Mr. Puran, was awesome! He took care of us traveling from city to city and on all of our tours. Kudos to him for be able to navigate what we would consider ‘crazy’ traffic!

The hotels hand-picked for us in Agra and Jaipur (The Grand Imperial and the Dera Rawatsar respectively) were excellent! Highly recommend! Alternatively, in Delhi, I would likely want to stay somewhere else on a return visit. While it was clean and the staff was accommodating, the rooms were a bit tired, and some common things not provided in the rooms such as tissues and bath mats. And while the breakfast each morning was good, it was a little ‘unorganized’ if you needed/ordered something. Again, not a show-stopper, just providing some additional feedback that might be considered for clients coming from the US.

If I had to book the trip over again, I would likely not be so aggressive in trying to visit three cities that are each about 5-6 hours driving distance apart in 5 days. It was a lot of driving in such a short amount of time. It would have been helpful to know in planning the trip if this were called out so I could make a more informed decision. I may or may not have opted for something different, or even extended our stay, but at least I would have a little better idea about drive times.

Thanks to Active India for taking such good care of us while in the country and for selecting tours and sites that interested us. I would certainly recommend them to anyone traveling there!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Udman Ferns N Petals

New Delhi, Delhi

Clean rooms, accommodating staff. Rooms were not tired looking. Common hotel room items like tissue and bath mats were not provided. A little unorganized for breakfast in ordering or asking for items. But nice selection of breakfast items.

Authenticity & Character

Location

In a location were you really couldn’t walk out anywhere.

Staff

Professional and accommodating

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Grand Imperial

Agra

Embodies Indian culture, very nice open spaces and very roomy accommodations. Staff professional and accommodating!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dera Rawatsar

Beautiful rooms reflective of Indian culture! Very spacious and clean! All amenities needed! Very accommodating staff!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Taj Mahal Sunrise Visit

Agra

A MUST SEE!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bathe, Paint and Feed - (Un-forgettable - experience with elephants!)

Jaipur

Once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with these gentle giants!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We planned a 6 day trip covering some of the coastal and temple towns in South India.
Right from planning, answering questions and arranging for logistics- hotels, guides, car etc, Ravi and team were on top of everything.
We had a wonderful experience with our 2 guides, Sam Benjamin and Marimuthu who were extremely knowledgeable about the area and provided us a lot of insights and also recommendations on places to eat, shop etc.
Ajith, our driver for the trip was always on time and kept us on schedule
Overall, a memorable experience!! Looking forward to planning our next India trip with this team!!

Resort at Kanyakumari was not up to the mark.Food quality was poor .

We really enjoyed our trip to North India (Golden Triangle). Booking/Planning was good and the team responded well to our change requests. There was a mix-up with the booking name, which was not fully resolved at the end, but did not cause any troubles. The local guides and our driver for the 10 days have been excellent and we had a superb experience. There could have been a few more activities, but this way it was a very relaxed trip.

The tour was ok, 2 out of the 4 hotels were excellent , the other 2 below average.
The driver was fantastic but the tours all felt a bit bland - like the guides had delivered the same tour for 20 years - nothing spectacular.
Kimkim removed all the hassle and risk of making any decisions ,was good to know we had support if anything in India went paired shaped.

Hotel Reviews

Haveli Dharampura

Delhi

Hotel was excellent- beautifully renovated and authentic to historic past, excellent rooftop bar. The hotel has an excellent restaurant but had functions both nights that dominated the restaurant space. Staff were excellent and attentive

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Grand Imperial

Agra

Hotel is tired, was a challenge to get drinking water, room not serviced - there is construction going on around it. It appears that there was no one managing the hotel or a change in management at the time we were there .

Authenticity & Character

Hotel is tired

Location

Staff

A few staff were working hard the rest sitting around

Cleanliness & Comfort

Service the rooms

Royal Heritage Haveli

Khatipura, Jaipur, Rajasthan

Oasis ! Excellent rooms, gardens, food and staff. Very enjoyable stay here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Location was not a major issue as we had a driver

Staff

It was obvious the staff enjoyed their jobs - could not fault anyone from porters to the chef😀

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Taj Mahal Sunrise Visit

Agra

Didn’t happen as closed on Fridays for cleaning

Quality of Experience

Transport

Heritage walk in Neemrana

Neemrana

Didn’t happen - I think the hotel has a free walk for all guests

The trip was very well planned out. We appreciate all the effort provided by the driver, the guides, Ravi and Aditya. Thank you!!!

I had an amazing time in India! I appreciated everything about our trip!
I learned about India’s rich history, religions and culture. Love, love the food and guides. I especially want to mention our driver Ram. He was always punctual, attentive and courteous. I always felt safe with him. Thank you Ram. 🙂🙏🏽

We are so happy with our experience with Kimkim/Active India. Everything was well organized, which made our trip hassle-free. In particular, our two drivers (Mr. Puran and Mr. Sherin) were excellent. They made sure we were safe and comfortable the entire time we were with them, which was nice since they were the "constants" on our trip. While all our guides were good, Mr. Devinder in New Dehli and Mr. Virendra in Jaipur were superb. Devinder did a great job of being flexible with our schedule to make sure all of our time with him was used to its full potential. Virendra's historical and current knowledge of Jaipur made our tours with him very interesting and informative.

One thing to note: the guides will take you to vendors where they will receive a commission on sales. In general, the vendors offer quality items, but you have to be firm and comfortable putting your foot down to say 'no thank you' to your guide and vendor if you aren't interested in purchasing anything.

I already filled this out elsewhere and think it was a wonderful trip and am still high from it. Thank you. I did want to say a few things that I would keep in mind for future trips. The schedule was great, but it would have been good to have a planned down day in the middle of the trip. I realize this was hard with the Jennifers coming and going. The husband of the woman that did the cooking class was also wonderful. He does food tours and other kinds of tours. It would be great to have include his work as an option to split up the visits to temples and historic sites. Thanks for all. Best, Dorothy

We had a seamless trip put together in a short timeframe. Besides the amazing sites and people in India, we especially were grateful for transfer agents, guides, and drivers. They were all well versed in what we were doing, easy to commicate with, and made our trip to India very enjoyable.

Three of us were traveling to India with little time to plan, so we have a few parameters to Kim Kim who connected us with Active India Holidays and our travel planner, Ravi and his team put together an excellent itinerary for a 3-week trip with 3 different people coming and going at various dates and times. The platform is easy to use, we had smooth communication throughout the planning and travel. We were warmly welcomed and cared for the entire trip from Day 1 all the way through departure, with guides meeting us at airports for transfers, safe drivers (with clean AC cars) for every destination, and knowledgeable local guides who showed us the local sites and were able to provide top notch information, history and local insight everywhere we went. Our hotels were lovely and exactly as we asked for (mid-range, clean and locally owned). Our favorite places were Amritsar and the Golden Temple, the border ceremony, hiking to local villages in Dharmashala, and the boat ride on the Ganges with the Aarti Ceremony in the evening with excellent viewing seats. Our guides were flexible, patient with all our endless questions and coconut water diversions, and we had an amazing time. I would highly recommend working with Kim Kim and their local in-country companies - you won’t be disappointed! We will definitely use their services again!

Our trip to India went very smoothly from the time of inquiry through our return home. Ravi was very responsive to questions and feedback as we finalized the itinerary, and the Active India team was responsive while we were traveling as well.

Our drivers were fabulous - kind, considerate, extremely safe. They went above and beyond to make sure our family was comfortable.

The guides in each city were knowledgeable and flexible to the interests and needs of my family.

Hotel Reviews

Houseboat

The houseboat facilities were not great - no hot water, wet bathroom, a/c only in bedrooms. When the boat wasn't moving, the heat was uncomfortable. Staff was very kind and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Better facilities - bathroom in particular

The Lalit Hotel, New Delhi

Delhi

Our family was amazed by this hotel - the buffet was extensive, the staff was helpful, and the rooms were wonderful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Not much in the vicinity to walk to

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The House of MG

Authenticity & Character

Location

Not a great neighborhood to be able to walk and explore

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cockroaches in our room.

Francis Residence

Location

Difficult to find, driver could not drop us at the door.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

A/C was only in bedrooms so the common space was not comfortable.

Fragrant Nature Munnar

Authenticity & Character

Location

Beautiful location but not near anything else.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Greenwoods Resort Thekkady

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walkable to some stores in our downtime.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Mercure Agra

Agra

Authenticity & Character

Location

Centrally located - we were able to walk to a store for some shopping.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Taj Mahal at Sunset

Agra

Perfect timing for our visit - wasn't too crowded and the weather was perfect!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat cruise in the lake and experience the wilderness.

Periyar

Participate in Cooking demonstration activity at a Local Family House

Cochin

Great experience to cook with Rosy, but it was very hot!

Quality of Experience

Explore the marvelous and historic monument : Agra Fort

Agra

Half-Day Ahmedabad Tour 

Ahmedabad

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was so flexible to meet the needs and interests of our family.

Transport

Cruise through the backwaters of Alleppey

Alappuzha

Cochin sightseeing

India

Full Day Delhi Sightseeing

Delhi

Chandni Chowk - spice market was a bit overwhelming for our first morning. Restaurant for lunch was just ok.

Spice Plantation Walk in Periyar

India

Early morning Jungle Walk in Periyar National Park

Periyar

Experience a different world at Elephant Junction in Thekkady

India

India is a very interesting country, with lots of history and cultural traditions and also with extreme difference in social and economic classes.
The local representative from Active India Tour met us at our hotel in Delhi to greet us and provide us with paperworks for our tour. We visited Delhi for the day and the next morning we took a flight to Jaiselmar to start our tour through several cities including Jodhpur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Jaipur, Agra and return to Delhi. Rahul was our driver for the remaining of the trip. Rahul was an amazing driver, very kind, patient and punctual. In every city we had a different tour guides. All were very competent, knowledgeable and very friendly. would recommend all of them. All the places we visited were very interesting, stunning and with history that exceeded our expectations.

According to the pictures of the Hotels sent at the time we booked our tour, they all looked clean, beautiful and we agreed on all of them. To our surprise, the hotels were not what they looked like in the pictures. The room we were assigned at the Udman hotel in Delhi, was on a floor where there were several room assigned to a wedding party so the noise was annoying. After we complained they switched our room to the suite in the hotel. I guess that room had not been used in a while, I found a spider under the sheets and the sheets were not clean. (they changed them after I called to complain again. The bathtub was stained and everything was in disrepair. The Gulaal Hotel in Jaiselmar was a total disaster, we even found a bed bug, so we run out of that hotel as soon as we could. We were surprised, disgusted and appalled that, Active India who arranged our trip in India, would book these rooms in these hotels without checking and ensuring that the facilities were clean and up to standard to any passenger.
At that point, we decided to upgrade the rest of the hotels in our booking so we would not have any more surprises. We were charged extra for the upgrades and a card payment fee, again, for having to make another payment for the upgrades.

Apparently we visited India during "wedding season", which we had no idea, so please make sure that the travel agent books hotels that are not fully occupied by a wedding party. The Radisson Blu Resort, which was one of the hotels we were upgraded to, was almost totally booked by the wedding party, 210 of the 245 room in the hotels. We had to bear with loud music during the day and at night till 3am. At the Marriot Hotel in Jaipur, we could not use the pool area due to a wedding party.

Even though we had issues with our hotels, we tried to make the best out of our trip. Rahul, our driver, and all our tour guides made our trip to India great.