Kimkim Trip Reviews for Morocco

Pluses:
+ we loved the people, country and culture of Morocco
+ our driver Moad was good - friendly and drove very safely over the 1,500 kms we
+ 2 places we stayed in Quarzazette and Marrakesh were good

Negatives:
- Larbi, does not review the trip advisor ratings of places he books people into. He claims 3 stars, but the ratings are much worse and the experience is just as spotty.
- the bathrooms in the desert saffari were terrible and the “standard luxury” tent was mattresses laid on carpets. There was no “luxury”. Clearly a bait and switch operation.
- when we pointed out the poor quality about some of the places we were staying in, his reaction was pretty much take it or leave it, you are on your own. This was true especially on our last day in Casablanca.

Conclusion:
- we would NOT recommed using Larbi.

Just back from a 5 day visit to Marrakech and Essaouira which was largely organised by the Kimkim team. We had a tremendous time; everyone was very helpful and the guides, drivers, riad staff, etc that we encountered were so friendly and professional, really knowledgeable. In many years of travelling, I had never previously used a company to arrange trips and transport in advance but i'm very glad I did. Kimkim removed the stress factor so that we could really relax and just enjoy the activities.

Our driver Sellam was outstanding and so were Larbi and Hassan, the guide in Fes.

The riad in Fes was beautiful, but the food was awful and the owner, Assis kept promising food/meals that never came since the kitchen didn't know about it and his stuff has no clue and the cook(s) don't either. The bathroom always stank of sewage. We were in room #19.

We also were required to pay an extra $85 for a New Year's Eve Fiesta, that also did not exist and the New Year's dinner was uneatable. Plus, Assis refused to return the $85 to Larbi, Larbi nevertheless did reimburse us out of his own pocket. We learned later from another driver, that Assis did the same thing to him and his guests. We understood, that Assis took over the management of the riad only recently and that the riad before was run very well.

The main dinner course in the hotel in Rabat was also uneatable. We were the only guests and the meat and veggies were cooked in rancid, old and overheated oil. The hotel has a 4-star rating - it should have a minus 4-star rating.

Hassan and Samira in the riad in Marrakech were absolute charming and great hosts. Samira is a fabulous cook. Everything was great!

All the other places were fine. I only mentioned above the really great and really bad experiences.

We loved our time in Morocco! It was especially great because of our driver/guide Saleh. He was very professional and respectful to us. We were very satisfied with Hotel Amlal, beber camp site, and Hotel Casablanca. The only issue we had was with Hotel Akabar. It did not really meet our expectations and the hotel and dining staff were not great. It was the only accommodation that did not provide us with any water during our dinners, and did not give us an option for dinner like the other accommodations. We would go out to buy water for our meals at Hotel Akabar. Other than this, we truly had a great experience and we are so grateful for our driver and guide Saleh! Please give him a special shout out!

We (a group of 4) started planning our Morocco trip almost too late - by first week of December we were still discussing whether Morocco is our destination for 2017's Christmas - New Year break.

I was elected to be in charge of planning this trip.
We only have 7-8 days but we don't want to miss a thing in Morocco - eventually I was sitting there scratching my head looking at a list of 7 different cities/places and trying to weaver them together with almost no knowledge of how to get around when we get there.

So I made a decision of entrusting the entire trip to an agency.
I contacted two agencies (both N. America based) and got their fee proposals. The prices were exorbitant. I also found some Morocco based tours but they lacked the flexibility we needed.
Here's what we wanted to do:
Casablanca - Chefchaouen - Fes - Merzouga (camel ride and sleeping under the stars!) - Ouarzazate - Marrakech - Casablanca.
That's nearly 2000km.

Eventually I stumbled upon KimKim and gave it a try. Ian Hardie replied my message in under an hour and then we started talking. In the next 3-4 days we exchanged at least 20 messages discussing every detail of the trip. Ian was extremely helpful. He had extensive knowledge about the places we plan to go and what to be expected. He was always very patient and willing to accommodate our many requests. His partner in Morocco - Larbie Anzal - was helping us to book accommodations and arranging transportation. I knew I could trust these good people and the results proved me right.

It was almost a mission impossible to plan and execute such an intensive trip in such a short timeframe but we did it.
The trip in Morocco was very memorable. I'd even say it is one of the best trips I've had in my life.

Youssef our driver was a great guy who was always passionate to show us anything and everything about his country. He also stepped up and defended us when a local cafe vendor attempted to overcharge our espressos. But trust me we loved almost every encounter with Moroccan people. They were very welcoming and kind.
Youssef had a copy of our trip plan and it was executed in the best way possible. By comparison some friends of mine visited Morocco last year and they decided to be on their own - and had a lot of difficulties moving around trying to take a combination of trains, grand taxis and other means of transport. I did just that in Czech, Austria, Slovakia etc last year - in central Europe it was doable. In Morocco however, especially when you have a tight schedule and are planning on visiting the Sahara, having an exclusive car and driver is your best bet. My advise to people who are planning this trip: talk to Ian, and ask for Youssef to be your driver and trustworthy travel companion - you will find your trip extremely pleasant, easy, comfortable and hustle-free.

My friends just told me that their coworkers and friends who've been to Morocco were all surprised how efficiently we were able to visit so many places in 7 days and yet were still able to have a very enjoyable trip. My friends gave me tonnes of thanks and compliments for making this happen - I'd like to pass them on to Ian Hardie, Larbie Anzal and our driver Youssef. Without them our trip may not even be possible, let alone being awesome.

I won't hesitate to recommend Ian and Larbie to anyone who's planning their next trip to Morocco. You won't regret it.

There are so much about this trip and about planning for this trip that I wanted to write here and share with everyone, only if I had more time. Maybe some other day I'll come back and add more details to it.
Now I have to go back to the endless hardwork of sorting my 5000+ photos taken on this trip...hope I can finish before next trip starts.

Ian has provided me with a really good service and information.

Also thank to Larbi, his partner in Morocco for arranging the trip. I got to visit lots of places in my short amount of time.

Since I am a solo traveler, the amount they’ve given me to explore each city is adequate.

Within 5 days 4 night, I’m able to discover Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Volubilis, Fez, and Chefchaouen. Also a short city tour in Ouezzane.

If I added 1 more day, I’m sure I’ll be able to discover Marakkech as well. But for now, northern Morocco is more than enough.

Thank you so much for everything, Ian and Larbi