Kimkim Trip Reviews for United Arab Emirates

It was difficult to connect with my trip planner in Cairo. Only working through the KimKim website worked well. Phone calls were difficult to connect and difficult to understand. Not enough information is included in the .pdf provided with the itinerary. It is provided too late not giving us time to check on company names. There was no listed company providing the “Luxury Dinner Cruise of Dubai”. Our guide pulled a switch on us and we had an inferior experience. We did not recognize that we had been put on a different boat because we had no name for the company. By the time we realized what happened it was over. The trip planner said we should have reported it right away but if someone is speaking another language and it just “seems” wrong how could I report it. It was also after work hours. We missed out on what was probably a $100/person dinner with hotel transfer for a lousy pontoon boat with cold food and music loud enough for hearing damage. I feel cheated on that one.
Our tour of Abu Dhabi went well until our guide wanted to end the day before we saw two things we had tickets for: The Presidential Palace and the Etihad Tower. He said we didn’t have time. I texted our trip planner immediately and she made sure we got what we paid for. We got back to Dubai at 8:30 pm. The guide substituted a tour of Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental Abu Dhabi instead thinking I wouldn’t notice one palace for another. A hotel is a hotel not a palace.
The hotel upon check in had our name wrong from the agent. We got twin beds instead of a King as they were fully booked and only assigned on check in. Our agent never said this. We assumed we would get what we paid for. The hotel said the room prices were the same. If it’s the policy of the hotel to assign rooms on check in I should have been told ahead of time. On the whole I felt we overpaid for the experience

Hotel Review

DoubleTree by Hilton Dubai Al Jadaf

Dubai

Type of bed only assigned on check in. If you want a King bed for certain pick another place. Otherwise the hotel was nice.

Authenticity & Character

Modern

Location

Staff

No complaints

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very good

Activity Reviews

Dubai Heritage Land Rover Desert Safari with Traditional Dinner

Dubai

The experience was great and lots of fun. A good view of desert culture. I did not like that my only water source was a gift thermos. They were filled from a big wrapped container. I made a mistake in drinking from it or eating food from the Luxury cruise. One or the other made me ill.

Quality of Experience

The atmosphere of the desert

Food

Better water please

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai full day tour with Entry ticket to Burj Khalifa at the Top

Dubai

Please be aware that the line to get into the tour was 1 hour 45 minutes long with no where to sit. I’ve been told it can be longer. The view took all of 15 minutes long to see then a 20 min. Line to go back down. It was interesting but not essential.

Quality of Experience

Offer the premium entry

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Driver's English not great. Looked up facts to tell us while driving

Transport

Dubai Luxury Canal Dinner Cruise

Dubai

This was a disaster. We think our guide did a switch on us changing our ticket for a lesser boat. ( or not buying it at all). We were on a two deck pontoon boat with plastic garden chairs, warm water and inferior food that did not even keep up with the local women and kids who attacked it like the last meal. The music was deafening and I had to cover my ears waiting for the food line. The entertainment was a Disney style LED lighted Sufi dancer that shames the religion. The GI issues I got in Dubai probably came from this lukewarm food buffer. We didn’t realize we were being taken to the wrong boat. The guide lied multiple times. He gave it away at the end contradicting himself. We felt cheated of this experience. The company name was not on the .pdf given to us nor a photo of the boat we should have been on. It’s like going to a party with no address

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides who take you where you are supposed to go

Transport

Abu Dhabi Full-Day Sightseeing Tour from Dubai

Dubai

This was amazing because we fought to see the Presidential Palace that we paid for. Our guide substituted the Emirates Palace and was going to skip the Etihad Tower. This time I was more careful about our itinerary and contacted my trip planner. She had the guide take us to the two sites we had paid for. We got back to Dubai late but we were glad not to miss the real Presidential Palace which was spectacular. The Etihad Tower had no line. This was a better experience than in Dubai

Quality of Experience

Food

Only a mall fast food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fine until he tried to bring us back to the hotel without completing the itinerary we paid for.

Transport

Timing of events was not ideal even though we gave our information ahead of time. We had to pay for additional items that were supposed to be included. Tour guides were great and reliable.

I have planned several trips through kimkim and this by far was the worst. the communication was poor. here are some examples
1. we never got an updated itinerary with exact times
2. we did not received contact info about the driver or tour guides
3. the tour described by the agent were not the same as what was provided
4. we were supposed to go directly to the dessert from the airport. instead we were taken to the hotel through dense traffic and one hour late for our tour
5. our trip to burj khalifa was booked during a scheduled dinner
6. we ended up paying for several things which were supposed to be provided: burj khalifa and monorail tickets

based on this experience, we are not sure if we willl use kimkim again

Hotel Review

JW Marriott Marquis

Dubai

love the hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Red dune Desert safari without dinner & with camel ride

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai full day tour with Entry ticket to Burj Khalifa at the Top

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My family’s experience with Dubai left us with some good memories but not a place we would revisit. It started off with me telling our Kim Kim agent, Habiba, the wrong arrival date. This lead to her scrambling to rebook everything which is credit to her and my fault.
The booked events left something to be desired with a combination of tourist traps that were often backed by cold service.
Mr Zain gave us the city tour our first day and it felt very canned with short stops to pop out and snap a picture, then move on to the next spot. It didn't factor our personal interests and showed poor use of time. We got swindled by a vendor he personally took us to which was a head scratcher.
The safari experience epitomized tourist traps with a super lame quad ride on the dunes which we upgraded to side by sides at a significant expense. We had to follow a guide around who drove a quad on a path through the dunes making us feel like….tourists. The SUV trip our driver/guide took us on the reach the dinner spot was the highlight showing some very skilled and daring driving giving us a thrill. At the dinner location was a camel ride that amounted to one circle about 50’ in diameter. Every step along the way this evening provided opportunities to pay for pictures that were constantly being snapped throughout the desert safari embodying the tourist trap vibe.
We got to see the Burj Khalifa on another event which was worthy.
Durgesh (worked directly for Navita tours like Mr Zain) drove us to several events displaying a great personality and genuine interest in us having a quality experience. He personalized some unscheduled detours once he knew our interests.
My summary: Dubai has some pretty amazing food, especially Indian, a super conservative culture (good luck getting alcohol at a store on New Years Eve), and lots of mind boggling wealth. It felt like a combo of Vegas, Scottsdale, and Salt Lake City with a super conservative and mostly cold Middle East-Arabian/Muslim twist.

Activity Reviews

Dubai Marina Yacht Guided Tour with Breakfast or BBQ & Sunset

Dubai

Nice Indian guys who drove us around the protected inside water offering a great unique very of the city. The captain shared his personal beer when they saw my disappointment there was no alcohol served.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai full day tour with Entry ticket to Burj Khalifa at the Top

Dubai

We separated the Burj experience on a different day than the city tour. Burj great, city tour not so much.

Quality of Experience

Our driver on the city tour (Mr Zain) was cold and condescending.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great driver to Burj, lousy city tour guide.

Transport

Two different drivers leaving contrasting experiences.

Desert Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride & Al Khayma Camp

Dubai

Tourist trap.

The country of so many world records was very interesting! We had a blast doing the X Line Zipline (which we added to our itinerary a couple of days before we arrived)! Definitely recommend for those on the more adventurous side!

We would also recommend going up to the top of the Burj Khalifa! Great views from that high!

We also really enjoyed the desert safari and paid extra for a more adventurous ride on the quad bikes which was worth the experience! Our guide for the evening was great! And the desert dinner and entertainment was enjoyable.

While the canal luxury cruise offered us awesome views of Dubai and great photos, we thought the food was just average, and was expecting a little better quality.
Our hotel, the Revier Dubai Hotel, was great! Very nice room and amenities. Loved to fitness center and the breakfast buffet was awesome! Wide variety and very good!

For things we felt needed improvement, real time communication had been a little difficult. Responses to questions or communication regarding pickup times came in when we were sleeping and because of that, we didn’t receive the change of plans/timing until the morning which threw us off a bit. Also, confirmation on adding additional itinerary items (example: adding the zip line) was a little slow. And, there seemed to be issues between the drivers and the tour office on pickup times, etc. We also arrived way too early in the evening for the dinner cruise, and had to just walk around in the heat which we did not enjoy. I would have preferred to be dropped off closer to our departure time. Finally, while a lot of things were air-conditioned, if we had had flexibility in our travel dates, I would have not wanted to visit in the middle of August when the temperatures were extremely high and made our trip more exhausting. I would definitely recommend visiting when it’s cooler! Unfortunately for this trip we didn’t have that flexibility.

All in all, our experiences in Dubai made it a memorable trip!

Hotel Review

Revier Dubai Hotel

Dubai

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dubai full day tour with Entry ticket to Burj Khalifa at the Top

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Zip Line across the Marina

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Desert Safari, Quad Bike, Camel Ride & Al Khayma Camp

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Food Tour

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai Luxury Canal Dinner Cruise

Dubai

Awesome views of the city at night. Relaxing. Food could have been better.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Habiba helped plan an amazing trip! Really enjoyed all aspects of the itinerary, and the day tour to Al Ain was a special standout!

This was our first time in Dubai and thanks to Pradeep, Fahim, and team, we had the best time! Everything was very well organized from our driver, to our personal tours and excursions. We were able to experience both old and new Dubai as well as all of the activities requested including a day trip to Abu Dhabi. Pradeep worked with all of our requests and budgetary requirements with the highest level of communication and professionalism. It was a relief to not have to stress about planning our trip including all the nuances that come with trip planning, and instead focus on enjoying it to the fullest. Thank you to Pradeep and the kimkim team - we highly recommend and will be using them again in the future!

Pradeep was great with planning our trip. He stayed in touch with us the entire time. Faheem was great, he was knowledgeable, friendly, and funny. Noor was also a great tour guide. If you get any of these guys your in for a treat. Also get the WhatsApp( they use it) Pradeep I hope your feeling better and thank you Faheem for being an awesome/amazing tour guide, and Noor thank you for being a great tour guide and thanks to all the classy Uber drivers. I will never forget my experience in Dubai and all the amazing people I met💕💕💕❤️

Activity Reviews

Dubai - Desert Safari - Exclusive 4x4

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai - Tour of Traditional Dubai !

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Abu Dhabi , an exclusive tour of the Capital City!

United Arab Emirates

Quality of Experience

I

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dinner in the Sky !

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Abu Dhabi - visit to Qasr Al Watan, Presidential Palace

Abu Dhabi

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Abu Dhabi - Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Abu Dhabi

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai - Lunch at Burj Al Arab & an afternoon of Shopping

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai - Museum of the Future

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dubai Frame

Dubai

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Dubai. We came to celebrate a friend's 40th and I pretty much cleared my bucket list with this trip. Pradeep was an amazing, patient and most gracious host. I really enjoyed riding ATVs in the desert and the cruise with the jet skis.

Everything was awesome! Pradeep is the best host ever!!!

Pradeep was excellent! He was a joy to work with and really helped to bring my vision alive! I would be happy to work with him again! We had a great time! He was super friendly and very helpful!

I wanted to go out to desert and experience, however, due to medical issues was too nervous to do any of the advertised trips. Pradeep to the rescue! He assured us that he would arrange an excursion for only my partner and myself and that we could go at our own pace. We had a wonderful driver, making certain I was comfortable, yet seeing to it that we still had a lot of fun. Even went sandboarding. Food was quite good considering it was buffet for many people. I highly recommend this organization!

Mohamid our guide was early which we appreciated and was a very nice person. On getting in the very back of the vehicle I put my hand on the back seat nearest the window and it collapsed and on the way it collapsed more.
Our guide stopped on the way to go in the Mosque and pray.
When we arrived at the place to let the tyres down for the sand dunes we were pestered to buy something from the shop. The people there then propped up the seat with breeze block bricks. One of our male party needed the toilet which was a disgrace and advised us not to use it as it was flooded and blocked. We arrived at our destination and then we were told we would have to pay for the meal someone came and saw us and asked for the paperwork then gave us a ticket to say we had paid for it. If there had not been six of us I would have found this very daunting but we had a good laugh although I felt guilty about everything that went wrong as I had booked it.

Regards

Carole Perry

This was an wonderful immersion into the UAE! Pradeep was better than I could have wished for!

We initially began with email correspondence outlining/brainstorming various areas of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and beyond that centered around my photographic exploring. I would bounce locations off of Pradeep and he would also suggest places and things to do. He was always quick to reply despite the time difference and picked up on my interests swiftly!

We ended up creating a very solid itinerary over the course of two days that covered a lot of ground from the top of Jebel Hafeet in Al Ain all the way north to the abandoned town of Al Jazirah Al Hamra just south of Ras Al Khaimah and numerous stops in between including the renowned Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. He was also very insistent that things were not set in stone and I could alter the routes or locations as I saw fit and that was cool and comforting.

I was also transferring from Abu Dhabi to Dubai after the second day and he worked that into the itinerary.

Upon my arrival in Abu Dhabi we were in contact almost right away and he picked me up from the hotel the next morning right on time

It was a real treat having Pradeep in the driver seat! He was personable, knowledgeable (being in a new place, I had a lot of questions) and had a wonderful sense of humor! He was attentive to my needs and always focused on the photography aspect of my exploration being aware of the light or angle for each location and always suggestive of other angles etc for everyplace we visited. During the ride between locations he would educate me on the system of government, other things to see and do and things to eat while visiting the UAE and other insider items a foreign visitor may not know about. Two somewhat unplanned stops I loved we’re the Fish Market in Abu Dhabi and the Blue Souk in Sharjah, these weren’t places I had even thought of but Pradeep suggested them and I was so happy he did!

By the time he dropped me off at my hotel in Dubai on the second day I felt much more confident in my knowledge of the United Arab Emirates and very fortunate to have seen so much with such a spectacular guide that now I would call Pradeep a friend.

Overall, this was such a fantastic experience! I would highly recommend Pradeep and his services for anything UAE related! I really don’t think it could have worked out any better!

Huge thanks to Pradeep, kimkim and the wonderful United Arab Emirates! I’ll be back!

Most sincerely,
Trevor Christian
Boston, Massachusetts USA