Kimkim Trip Reviews for Italy

Several accommodations were outstanding - Palazzo Failla Hotel in Monica and Hotel Olympia in Venice were great and exceeded out expectations. However, the hotel in Catania, Hotel Alla Giudecca was in a good location but was pretty "spartan" and dark; the kitchenette for our purposes was unnecessary. The hotel in Catania, Hotel Etna 316, was also only marginally acceptable. Again it was in a good, central location. Problems include: it had poor air conditioning; our room was literally connected to the breakfast dining area and was noisy; the host who greeted us, Marco, was rude and obnoxious, and instead of answering our basic questions about the neighborhood, safety, etc, he felt compelled to brag about himself and avoid answering our questions. Also, somewhat curiously, they demanded to hold our room key at the front desk when we went out.
The tour guide in Siracusa, Eva Greco, was outstanding and should always be recommended for her knowledge and personality. Our guide in Venice, Fiona Giusto was also very solid.
The transports to hotels and back to the airport were also very dependable, calling the hotels to remind/confirm our departure times.
One of the highlights of the trip was wine tasting and lunch at Cantina Planeta Buonovini. They had a great presentation, excellent wines, and a great lunch in an outdoor setting.

Giorgia was very responsive to the several questions we had while on the trip, and sent reminder messages to us about tour times and connections. Her choices for accommodations and tour guides were, overall, excellent.

There were a couple of problems when we were using the private transfers. We couldn't find the drivers and had to call the car service a couple times. The drivers were actually there but they were hard to find. They usually had a sign with our name but those times we couldn't find them, the drivers were in a high traffic area or not holding the sign up at all. When we called the car service number we provided, they often did not speak English so it was difficult to communicate the problem. Otherwise, the transfers were fine.

Giorgia was very attentive and answered questions quickly. When we had problems with the private transfers or with a tour guide meeting point, she was attempting to troubleshoot and find solutions. She always checked in with us to make sure everything was going well and was very friendly.

The itinerary - Giorgia worked with us to create the trip that was suited to us, at a fair price.
She was always there if we wanted to contact her with any queries or comments.
The hotels - Were all in great locations, and were very good to excellent rooms. There was only one that was unsuitable, and this complaint was quickly rectified by the hotel and Giorgia. The staff were always helpful and friendly, and were always expecting us.
The connections - All connections were met, the drivers were on time, English-speaking and well-briefed.
Extra activities - All activities that we booked were arranged with excellent guides, and were great experiences for us. Tour guides were professional and fluent, and activities such as food tours of particular towns and the cooking class were outstanding value for money.

All this meant that we were able to be confident in our itinerary, certain about what would happen, and therefore fully able to experience the trip without worry.

Thanks to Giorgia of Kimkim for her great work in organising and implementing what was an excellent and memorable two-week immersion into Sicily. We have great memories for life.

Robert Lewis and Ros Gilchrist

Only one slip-up on a day which was overpacked with 2 archaeological sites and a guide scheduled too close together.

It was mostly perfect. The drivers were all wonderful. They were punctual, friendly, obliging and cars were immaculate . The guides were even better, especially Valentina in Palermo who we adored.The others were fabulous too.Accommodation was mostly good,but we found the agiturismo in Agrigento tooooo remote,and my brief did say we were city slickers . Also it was feragosto eve and they had a party.
However,I have been recommending you to everyone.

Also nearly perfect but better than good. As I mentioned,The accommodation in Tenuta San Giovanni was really not us, we would have preferred something in the city of Agrigento. This place was 7 kilometres from the nearest village and 50 minutes from Agrigento.I have stayed at farmhouses before but they were walking distance to piazza's. Not this one.
Also, the voucher for the Etna excursion said meet at 9.30 at the hut. When we arrived at 9.23,they told us the 9.30 group had gone and we would have to wait for the 10.30 group. This would've got us back to our transport to Messina too late, and also we had arrangements in Messina to get to on time.So we paid for the shorter version out of pocket. The man in charge of hut Etna excursion said we should get a refund for the one we missed,so I am also enquiring about that .

Every part of your itinerary went off without a hitch - perfect! Thank you, thank you. We never waited a minute for any of our transfers or activities. Would definitely recommend and use you and KimKim again.

Transfers: The drivers who did our transfers all were in time, polite and had nice, clean luxury cars.

Lodging: Our accommodations were well selected. The locations were great and staff very helpful. Our only comment on hotels was the the Hotel de Corsa in Taromina : the location, staff and breakfast were good but the rooms were small and "tired" looking - no "wow" factor, seemed more two star, we wished we had upgraded. Just two doors down was a similar boutique hotel called "Hotel Taodomus", prices for lodging looked similar...you might
want to look into that one for future bookings.

Activities: Taromina - Our day of Mountain Biking on Mt. Etna with Luca from "Sicilybiketouristservices", was fun and challenging. Luca was waiting with all the equipment for us (nice comfortable mt. Bikes) plus a picnic lunch. He made it safe and accommodated our skill level- which was "beginner."

Would strongly recommend him again- a lovely kind person who refused to take a tip, only asked that we give him an hi set review. A great day to away from of the crowd streets of Taromina - still back with plenty of time for dinner and shopping.

The next day's cooking class at Porta Messina with owner Stephano was top-notch . Learned much about Sicilian food with a trip to the market first, then back to his restaurant for the cooking and learning experience -so much fun and so much food to eat !!! Five star experience!

Modica: A nice drive to a different part of Sicily- arrived with our road bike tour guide" Raffaelle from "Sicilybikeroutes.com" was waiting for us with wonderful road bikes. We took a nice ride through the countryside on stone fenced roads and almost no car traffic- a dream for us cyclists.

We visited a cheese farm where we watched them make fresh mozzarella cheese and then we sat down to wonderfully prepared lunch awaiting us. A different scenic route back with a stop in Scicli to view beautiful church, then a fun climb navy to our luxury hotel in Modica. We later heard that the restaurant at the hotel was so good it should be Michelin star rated, but we had already been offered the chance from the hotel to go to an evening cooking class in an old villa in town, which we did (and enjoyed immensely.

The following day's bike ride took us to the Noto region for another fun ride with a private tour and lunch at a winery with the owner, Baron Sergio. Raffaelle and his company "Sicilybikeroutes.com" were top notch- excellent bikes, clean transport van, great food selection activities plus some added flexibility when we asked to visit a local bike store one morning. We felt like we were treated like royalty and would definitely highly recommend using Raffaelle again.

Ortigia: Our bike operator transferred us to Ortigia where we had very nice accommodations at Hotel Alla Giudecca. The next morning our city guide Eva was waiting for us with a taxi to take us on our private tour of the history sites of Syracuse. She was an excellent choice of a guide for us - very knowledgable, spoke great English and a lot of fun- again a great choice.

Our early transfer to the Catania airport worked out good. The airport was very crowded and by the time checked in at the airline, we had something to eat we had little time to spare, so you were right to get us there 2.5 hrs early.

All and all we had a lovely, stress-free time in Sicily - all due to your good planning.

One small issue, airport pickup in Sicily did not show up on time and had to get a cab.

Giorgia was a pleasure to deal with!

Awesome trip

We loved this trip! Hike to the top of an active volcano at sunset (Giorgia ordered the full moon, too), snorkel in the Ionian Sea, learn about the earlier inhabitants of Sicily, their architecture and way of life, amble Baroque towns, hike to ridges looking over volcanic islands and along the seashore and through the marsh (Giorgia organized the flock of wild flamingos), eat gelato, drive and explore at your own pace. The hotels were FABULOUS! The hiking routes really made the trip, especially the hike on Lipari and the Vendicari Nature Reserve south of Siracusa. The Stromboli volcano was unforgettable. I appreciated having an expert guide us on the itinerary and loved just calling the rescue number when the ferry and flight were delayed. Thank you!

Georgia was super responsive, especially when we were experiencing delays in flights and ferries. It was very helpful to have someone to brainstorm possible itineraries with.

Kimkim did a great job. Our liaison (Giorgia) coordinated exactly what we wanted and when one of the tours fell through, arranged for a substitute on short notice. Well done!

Giorgia was amazing! Couldn't have asked for anything better. Timely responses, adaptable to our desires, and provided excellent advice.

Overall the hotels were excellent and the trip-planning advice was spot-on. I was thinking of renting a car in Amalfi but was VERY glad I did not! Great job.

One hotel was not great, since it provided little in the way of service. We wished we had a guide in Pompeii. I'm sure I'm the one who didn't want it, but it would have been good to have one.

Could have had better maps for the trail in Lipari and more options with boats from Lipari to other islands.

Antonella was above the call of duty. Answering so many questions, putting up with my friends (who then later didn't join the trip!), making changes at the last minute for me. She really knows her stuff.

Planning and booking went pretty well. I would suggest that the organizers answer all of the questions asked by the clients, even if they seem unrelated to the actual booking, just so that there are no misunderstandings. Questions such as recommendations for restaurants were simply ignored. Answers to questions like that would have been extremely helpful.

Giorga did a nice job. She answered emails in a timely fashion and her responses were mostly clear. She was as responsive as possible when our driver did not show for a pick up from the VCE airport. Considering we were using a water taxi as transportation from VCE and had never been to Italy, this was somewhat challenging.

Small exception with one of the drivers but overall it was exceptional.

Giorgia was quick to respond with any question or issue.

Great experience with the website and working with Georgia. She was great. The package of materials was excellent. I loved all the maps and they saved us a few times - I couldn't have gotten the Sicily road map on my own but not all the local maps she sent us. Also loved the driving directions and suggestions with details for optional tours. She worked with us to create our itinerary and her knowledge was so good. We never would have done what we do without her help. I loved all her suggestions for options on our transition days. Lodging was great as well. I really liked having the resources of her office - she sent us stuff that was important during the trip as well - for example, revised driving directions to a hotel because of road construction. The team she works with backed her up and someone always answered the phone and responded to our messages. Joost was great to work with as well.