Kimkim Trip Reviews for Malaysia

Here are a few thoughts on our trip.
Overall the trip was well thought out and paced. Our dealings with Nick were professional and he imparted his local knowledge of the area to us very well.
Just some things of note:

Kuching - A Ranee Boutique suites - great location, room and attention to detail. The breakfast of Nasi Lamak was beautiful presented in a atmospheric space.

Saloma’s Homestay - a wonderful introduction to life in Sarawak. Family life, cuisine simple country space but with a true understanding of what travelers require eg drinking water dispenser.

Mukah - Kingwood hotel adequate, Lamina Dana….. Felix, was an enthusiastic guide loved the tours, boat trip, museum and walking around the village. A little strange going backwards and forwards to and from the hotel to the village for meals. Dining in a very large space with just ourselves eating and the staff looking on. We would have preferred staff joining us.
Very warm and friendly people.

Miri - informative and helpful drivers, hotel well located.

Mulu- activities and cave experiences excellent both days, homestay very basic, pleasant hosts. Would have liked them to provide drinking water rather than selling us plastic bottles which wasn’t very eco friendly.

Kiulu - picked up by driver and guide, lovely farm stay and environment but it was a long day travelling - an earlier departure from Mulu would have been preferred. Very well appointed bamboo house, wonderful warm village people who shared their life and family very generously. Meals were a highlight, well presented and varied.

Kinabatangan - river cruises and wildlife experiences were excellent - boatman / guide was exemplary and knowledgeable. Downside , food atrocious (often inedible) staff totally disinterested and the whole property rundown and requiring a thorough clean and maintenance. We strongly recommend an alternative in the area.

Sepilok - very nice accommodation staff extremely obliging and friendly, great location. Downside again no drinking water freely available, forced to buy plastic bottles of water.

Overall the tip lived up to our expectations…. Well done Nick.

Hotel Reviews

Ranee Boutique Suites

Authenticity & Character

It’s a great location

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Saloma Homestay

What a lovely space and family

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Kiulu Guesthouse

Great people and location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Great space …. Just needed a few cushions for the bamboo furniture

Borneo Natural Sukau Bilit Resort

Terrible accommodation.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Terrible staff , particularly the fat controller. , they have no interest in customer service

Cleanliness & Comfort

Needs a good clean

Sepilok Jungle Resort

Sandakan

Great location, just bring your own drinking water - they charge a lot for plastic water bottles

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arrival Transfer from Kuching Airport to Hotel

Kuching

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Saloma Homestay ( Longhouse & Village Life)

Kuching

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat Tour & Melanau Craft Workshop

Mukah

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Deer & Lang Caves Excursion

Mulu

Quality of Experience

I

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arrival Day Kiulu

Kiulu

Quality of Experience

U

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kinabatangan River Exploration (River Cruises)

Kinabatangan

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was really easy to plan our trip with Nick and he made everything seamless. Even at the last minute when our flight was disrupted, he managed to change our Orangutan trip so we didn't miss out.
We wouldn't stay at the Ranee Boutique Hotel again. The room itself was OK but the breakfast is very average - weak orange juice, weak filter coffee, only bananas if you wanted fruit for breakfast (most other places at least have watermelon, pineapple or papaya.
It also advertises that there's a bar but there isn't. We wouldn't want to stay in a Hilton or Pullman but somewhere with a bit more ambiance and better breakfast would have enhanced everything.
On the plus side, all our organised tours were great. John was an excellent guide, as was Farhah who took us on the cycle tour and we felt very lucky to see proboscis monkeys, silver leaf monkeys and the orangutans (though no dolphins).
All in all, I'd definitely recommend Kimkim and we would book with them again as the itinerary felt well balanced and still gave us free time to explore on our own.
Some other companies like yours do suggested other things to do while in an area and some recommended restaurants so if you were to enhance anything then this could be something to add - just a suggestion based on our experience in the tourism industry.

Hotel Review

Ranee Boutique Suites

The rooms are fine for a short stay with a safe and daily bottled water. We thought the breakfast was very average with a poor selection of continental options.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great location on the riverside in Kuching near the Chinese and Indian area - good access to a variety of restaurants.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Semenggoh Orangutan Centre Visit

Kuching

Loved this trip and seeing the orangutans. It is quite commercialised with a lot of people visiting at the same time, however, seeing these amazing animals in the wild was a wonderful experience. There are set feeding times each day so you have to fit in with these for a chance to see the orangutans and the park does warn that you are less likely to see them in fruit season. We saw 6 orangutans in all including a large male and a mother with baby.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Rangers had walkie talkies to communicate where the orangutans had appeared

Transport

Best of Kuching Cycling Tour

Kuching

Farhah was an excellent guide and took us around a great variety of areas. Being able to have good e-bikes made it easy for us to experience this trip although it is pretty much all on the flat so we needn't have worried. We had plenty of time to get off and take photos while she explained the history and significance of each of our stops. We visited back lanes, the spice market and the local produce market as well as historic places which made for an interesting variety. Highly recommend

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

E bikes were good quality and easy to use

Bako National Park Daytrip

Kuching

Loved our trip to the National Park. John is really informative. We were able to see proboscis monkeys and do an add on trip around the shore line to see the rock erosion and rock stacks nearby.

Quality of Experience

Food

John took us for an authentic noodle lunch - very inexpensive

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mangrove & Dolphins Cruise

Kuching

We really enjoyed being out on the water for this tour. You will join a small group to do the trip even if you start out with a private guide. We didn't see dolphins or crocodiles but did get a glimpse of a proboscis monkey and a group of silver leaf monkeys. A snack - fruit, cake and biscuits along with water are provided on the trip which was good as we didn't get back to Kuching until around 8:30 pm

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Really enthusiastic and vey informative about the local fishing village and the area we visited. They so wanted us to see the wildlife, even if it was a bit elusive on our trip

Transport

Arrival Transfer from Kuching Airport to Hotel

Kuching

All good. John was at the airport to welcome us

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Departure Transfer to the Kuching Airport

Kuching

All good - John dropped us directly to the airport after we'd seen the orangutans

Trip was amazing. It really was exactly what I was looking for with limited time.
I found trying to book a trip online to Borneo Rainforest Lodge really difficult until I found Nick at KimKim. I am positive it was not the cheapest way to go about it but it was worth it for me to not have to be constantly chasing quotes etc and I felt like Nick had the right connections to make it a smooth trip.
Everything ran like clockwork and we had no problems at all with connections or our package etc.
We saw orangutang at both Danum Valley conservation area and Sukau Rainforest Lodge!! And SOOOOO much more. Both experiences were entirely different but wonderful in their own right. Experiences were rich. Guides were great. Food was fab. I cant recommend going to Borneo enough. And if you want a seamless booking experience definitely use Nick.
Take a proper, good pair of binoculars if you want a full experience.
I would have loved more information on what to take before we left as I found myself scrambling to find information in online reviews/forums to know what to take just before we left - which I don't love doing and it should be reasonably simple for these guys to put together but apart from that I cant fault this experience of a lifetime. It would also have been good to get a heads up that it was Hari Raya (Malaysian/Indonesian version of Eid) when we landed as so much was closed when we arrived in Lahad Datu it could have been problematic if we hadn't fluked our accomodation being near one of the only open restaurants. Small detail but worth knowing in advance.

Thank you for a wonderful trip! Jassie, our driver, was terrific. So personable and helpful. We really enjoyed both the river excursion and sea setting. It was wonderful to be taken such good care of - transfers were super efficient and always on time.

Nick did an excellent job of creating an itinerary that suited us. He was incredibly responsive as well - even when we had a question while at Sukau Rainforest Lodge.

The staff at both Sukau River Lodge and Lankayan Dive Resort were all wonderfully helpful and kind. Wendy, the dive master, was especially helpful!

Our guide Jason was wonderful. He suggested additional things to add to our day with him that were fun, interactive, and allowed us to learn more about the Malay culture. He took us to a local restaurant for lunch that was excellent, and suggested a few places for dinner that were also great. Sam was a great guide as well, a bit soft spoken, but very knowledgeable and thoughtful. His botany experience made the trip to the botanic gardens extra special! Many thanks to Nick for all of his help and guidance in planning our trip. Everything went smoothly and it was a great experience!
Elizabeth Irwin

Thank you Theresa, for planning a seamless trip very last minute for me and my daughter to Malaysia. Plus, I greatly appreciate offering alternative itineraries “on the fly” after unexpected weather impacts arose. Each step of the way our drivers and activities were waiting and ready, all very courteous and offering additional advice and insight. Your suggested itinerary met all our touristy goals. This is my second time to use KimKim’s services, I’ll be back soon!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Park Royal Service Suites Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Room was very neat and clean. Breakfast buffet offerings were very good. Location was good, quick Grab ride to anywhere we needed to go.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mutiara Taman Negara Resort

Kuala Tahan

Authenticity & Character

The chalet was cute and gave yiu the feeling of sleeping in the jungle, especially as monkeys pounced on the roof.

Location

It was fun to cross the River and feel very secluded from the world.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Strawberry Park Resort

Their Christmas buffet and Malaysian Santa was very festive for an American away from home at Christmas.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Loved being up on the hilltop with cool breeze and great view from the cozy balcony.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Travel from Kuala Lumpur to Taman Negara via Batu Caves and night trekking

Malaysia

Had to check this off the touristy list … just beware of the monkeys, they were aggressive.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Taman Negara

Taman Negara

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Alisha was really helpful in her recommendations and customizing the trip! She also provided timely responses which was appreciated.

The trip overall was great- Hasan was our driver guide and he was so friendly and gave us a great overview of Malaysia's history and areas we visited. He even showed up one day when we didn't expect to see him in order to make sure we got picked up by our other local tour guide. All the pick ups/drop offs went very smoothly. We really enjoyed our time in Teman Nagara, Cameron Highlands, and Penang.

Two minor hiccups-
1) When we checked in at Taman Negara, the resort had listed us as participating in different activities than what we expected on the itinerary: no biggie though, it was easily switched around without extra cost!
2) Our itinerary didn't list what time our dinner was in Penang, and we completely forgot to ask about it. A guide showed up to our hotel and waited for an hour to meet us (which we feel so badly about) but we were already in the town! We didn't make it to the dinner but I'm sure it would have been delicious!

I'd definitely book another trip with KimKim based on this experience!

Activity Review

Visit Mossy Forest

Cameron Highlands

Beautiful place!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

An unbelievable trip of a lifetime. Through Kimkim, Sticky Rice we’re able to put together a truly unique experience. Although some details weren’t exactly clear before travelling (some confusion over one accommodation) when I arrived the whole trip ran like clockwork. I can’t recommend Sticky Rice and each of their staff more, and without KimKim I wouldn’t have found them.

Our guide was well informed but sometimes didn't seem very interested in answering our questions. He was a bit impatient when we wanted to wait to see animals. Otherwise, we loved it!