Adam Gomez

Adam our travel consultant was very approachable and very knowledgeable about Portugal which made planning the trip easy and satisfying. The drivers who transferred us around were all quite accommodating and very efficient and easy to communicate with . There were some excursion options that we were interested but not available thru KimKim , which forced us to book outside of their app. Overall, a great experience.

Loved Cordoba and Grenada. The Mezquita and Alcazar were amazing, as was the Alhambra. People were friendly and we received an excellent overview of Spain which we can build on in future trips. Loved the Tapas tours and the opportunity to eat as the locals do. Appreciated all our guides and their passion for the history and culture of a nation who once claimed ownership of more than half the known world.

The entire experience from the moment I reached out to KimKim, to getting engaged with our specialist Adam, to the crew that supported us during our trip was exceptional. This was a trip that I and my family will remember for ages. The agenda was so bespoke, so well planned taking into consideration varying age groups and interests. Each tour company that we interacted with was of the highest caliber and each experience above the bar. I sincerely am grateful to Adam, Lea, and the rest of the support team for making it a trip of a lifetime for our family. Thank you, thank you!

Adam, Jessica and the entire kimkim team were invaluable in making this a wonderful and memorable trip! Their insights, guidance, and outstanding communication and availability to assist were critical for us. They easily handled our major and minor itinerary changes after our luggage was lost. They were reassuring, calm and efficient. I am happy I trusted kimkim...they delivered on an unforgetable adventure!

Hotel Reviews

Joya del Casco Boutique Hotel

Seville

Joya del Casco is the best hotel we stayed in during our Spain vacation. The accommodations, the staff, and the location are all phenomenal!

Authenticity & Character

The staff, especially Joanna, were so genuine and helped us navigate local culture.

Authenticity & Character

The staff, especially Joanna, were so genuine and helped us navigate local culture.

Location

So accessible to major site seeing spots and restaurants.

Location

So accessible to major site seeing spots and restaurants.

Staff

So very friendly and gave the best hints and recommendations.

Staff

So very friendly and gave the best hints and recommendations.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Such a beautiful and comfortable facility and rooms.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Such a beautiful and comfortable facility and rooms.

ICON Valparaíso—Adults Only

Cala Murada

The staff, amenities and views were excellent. We absolutely loved the views and breakfast buffet. The beach was phenomenal!

Authenticity & Character

Location

It was too remote. Each time we had to to take a taxi to get dinner as the meal plan was limited and very.expensive. Also, it was challenging to get to the beach.

Staff

Very helpful and accommodating. We requested a room change because of a drainage issue and they assisted it right away. The staff was very friendly and kindly gave us local insights as well as arranging transportation.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Flamenco Show & Museum Visit

Seville

Wonderful and exciting performance! The museum was small but the gift shop had great items, though overpriced.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Self-Guided Local Market Trip

Seville

Great, easy-to-follow self-guided tour...got to see and interact lwith ocal artisans, crafts and fresh foods. Throughly enjoyed exploring the variety and genuine culture of Savilla.

My son and I traveled to San Jose, Puerto Viejo and La Fortuna. We had a great city tour in San Jose and spent a lot of time shopping around the Mercado central. In Puerto Viejo we surfed and had an amazing time snorkeling in Cauhita National park. The Caribbean coast was a favorite for the culture, beaches and food. During our last stop in La Fortuna we really enjoyed the hanging bridge tour in combination with time at the hot springs. We had a few minor issues with one of the hotels during our trip and Jessica was super responsive and helpful in getting things resolved letting us just spend our time enjoying Costa Rica and the spirit of Pura Vida.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Lavas Tacotal

Fortuna, San Carlos

This was such a perfect spot. Despite one of the pools being renovated and the restaurant being closed, we had a great stay! The staff were friendly and accommodating and offered us excellent restaurant recommendations in town. The landscaping around the hotel was beautiful and made it feel like we were alone at the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Costa de Papito

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón

Had difficulty checking in with this hotel, they were not able to confirm the payment from kimkim. They put us in the wrong sized room from what we requested. Breakfast was $8 and was not good- instead go to the hostel across the street for food and ocean views. The location was great, close to the beach and a short tuktuk ride into Puerto Viejo.

Authenticity & Character

Cute bungalows

Location

Staff

Staff were nice but seemed inconvenienced with our check in issues.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Holiday Inn San José-Aurola

San José

Great location, clean and nice staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

So close to walk to everything downtown. Recommended to not walk around after dark

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Balmoral

San José

Worked for what we needed, one night stay prior to going to airport.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

San José City Tour

San José

Great tour of the city with a great tour guide via car. Museum tour and food at the end were also great.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Surf Lesson at Salsa Brava

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

Great surf lesson in a small group! Everyone was new to surfing and everyone was riding waves by the end.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cahuita National Park Excursion

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

Highly recommend this tour! The boat ride and snorkeling were amazing. There is so much aquatic life to see and we went to a few spots. The hike after was also great. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable about the park, animals and was really friendly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano National Park Boat & Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

Nice boat ride across the lake. The walk was underwhelming

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Hanging Bridges Guided Walk & Paradise Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great tour! 10 out of 10 day! The bridge tour was amazing. A beautiful walk through the rainforest with a great and knowledgeable tour guide. The hot springs after were a favorite of the entire trip. Absolutely recommend.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All of our guides were good. Most good some
Great. Having microphones in ear buds was the best. I will use you again. Thank you!

We took a family trip to Barcelona and Costa Brava. The itinerary was great in terms of the variety and nature of the day trips. The planning process was fairly straightforward and interaction with the Kim Kim team was good. We did need to touch base with KimKim a couple of times during the trip. On one occasion, they were very quick to respond to a request for a transportation time change due to a modified check-in time. Unfortunately, on another occasion, the time zone difference/response speed meant that we missed out on part of a selected activity due to a booking error on KimKim's part. For the most part, we greatly enjoyed the trip, but a few issues detracted from the experience.

Our first full day activity was a trip to Montserrat, which was described: "After a private transfer from Barcelona to a charming farm, meet your host and the horse you'll befriend for the day. Enjoy a guided ride through Montserrat Natural Park to the monastery, with the tour culminating in a traditional lunch on the ranch". The ride was perhaps 30 minutes along a trail and then 30 minutes back to the start again before taking a taxi to the monastery. The local tour company advised me the day before that lunch was not part of the tour, and I did contact KimKim about the discrepancy but did not hear back before our tour started. En route to the horseriding, we were offered an upgrade option of lunch for extra money. Discussions with one of the guides and the local tour company by phone indicated that KimKim had not booked this. Despite attempting to resolve this with KimKim, the guide and the local tour company, we were unable to clarify the situation and did not hear back before boarding the return bus. There was no further mention of the lunch option from our (underwhelming) guide, but when we brought it up again were told we would need to get off the bus, wait for another guide, pay the extra money and take a different bus home. We gave up and returned to Barcelona. This was the only real excursion disappointment, but as the first full day activity did not set us up well. It was also an indication of the problem of booking a trip with an intermediary in another timezone. The inaccurate description of the tour may be more due to the tour operator than KimKim, but we had presumed that KimKim had a solid understanding of the nature of the excursions that they are booking. A much more accurate description of the tour appears to be in place now when we search the local tour operator's tours online. KimKim did subsequently get back to us about the booking error and apologised and have since refunded us for the difference.

A minor nuisance on another day was a discrepancy in the meeting point location between the Itinerary document (Park Guell) and the detailed activity description (which described the tour as finishing at Park Guell and starting at Passeig de Gracia). We realised the discrepancy too late in the evening prior to clarify, which did make for a bit of a scramble the next morning to ensure we were in the right place in time. However, this tour was wonderful.

Our last criticism would be the lack of transparency over pricing. KimKim provided a service and deserve an appropriate payment for it, but I would have expected a breakdown of the pricing (per hotel, per excursion and per transport) that was available both before and after booking. Despite a detailed itinerary, the details of our choices (breakfast selected or not), were not apparent after booking, and neither was KimKim's charge. This has been flagged by other travellers and could be easily rectified.

Overall, the experience was good and the vacation was very fun. However, I suspect we would not book with KimKim again due to the added challenge of dealing with an intermediary in another timezone, when both hotels, excursions and local transportation can all be easily booked in Spain. I would also encourage travellers to perhaps leave more open time in their schedules. We booked activities on every day except our travel day. There is so much to do in Barcelona, that leaving an open day or more later in the week would allow the opportunity to fit in extra activities as desired (but skip-the-line tickets need to be booked in advance for the busy activities).

Hotel Reviews

Sonder Casa Luz

Barcelona

We stayed in a family room, which was generously sized and very comfortable. Beautiful bathroom. The room was kept very clean. The location is good and right next to a metro station. There is a very small reception area where the main desk is located, but no real lobby as such. Reception staff had perfect English, although we did try to use our limited Spanish! Staff were generally friendly although we didn't feel this at the breakfast. We tried breakfast once and found the food very nice, but there was nobody else there and staff were not at all forthcoming about the nature of the buffet or options for drinks. El Arbol nearby is highly recommended for breakfast, however.

Authenticity & Character

Between the absence of a proper lobby and view only to nearby buildings from the room it did feel a little soulless.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Hotel San Jorge & Spa

Calonge

Very comfortable rooms, with beautiful sea view. Rooms and grounds were kept very clean. Staff were friendly. The food situation was a bit unclear, with multiple dining areas but which menu and hours of service were not readily apparent for the different options. We did not try the fine dining option or full breakfast. The cafe breakfast was good, but a tapas meal was very bland and was inferior to all other meals/tapas on our trip. After sampling the tapas, we gave up trying to eat their and walked into town (1.5 km) for breakfast and dinner the next day.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Barcelona by e-Bike, Boat & Cable Car

Barcelona

This was a fantastic tour. We saw plenty of the city during the bike ride, and the ebikes made it easy to get around. We saw views and locations that were less busy than many of the typical tourist locations and were great to see. We had feared that the combination of activities would not give enough time to properly do any one activity, but it was perfect. The tour guide was great (Elizabeth I think). The boat trip was unexpectedly brilliant due to the arrival of the America's Cup racing boats, which were out practicing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Gaudí Experience with La Sagrada Familia and Park Güell

Barcelona

This was a great trip with Mari, who was a wonderful and informative guide. Happy to mix English and Spanish as we continued to try and improve. All of the locations were worth seeing, and the skip-the-line tickets were absolutely essential.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private El Born Walk with Tapas & Flamenco

Barcelona

We went with Bosco - an informative and engaging tour guide. He was happy to deliver the tour in English and still have some Spanish interaction so we could try and work on our Spanish. We learned plenty on the tour and had a good introduction to the city. Good food choices with plenty of good food at the couple of places we stopped. Bosco was great about ensuring that there was some food for our vegetarian kids at his choice of food stops. The flamenco concert was fun to see, but I confess I have no idea what the show was about...

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sailing with Winery Visit & Tasting

Barcelona

Enjoyable and informative winery tour and tasting. Really enjoyable sail along the coast.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Costa Brava & Medieval Villages Day Trip

Spain

A really great day exploring several pretty villages along the coast. The guide was easygoing and the itinerary worked well. The only snag with this trip was that we would have rather eaten at almost any of the restaurants we walked past, but went to a restaurant that the guide hadn't previously tried and found virtually nothing on the menu we wanted to eat. The food was sufficiently expensive that it should have been excellent, but we were underwhelmed.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Driver was really smooth and safe.

Boating, Hiking & Kayaking in Tossa de Mar

Costa Brava

We went with guide Stepan. He was probably the most professional and competent guide we have encountered on any trip. He was knowledgeable, informative and engaging. We learnt about local flora and fauna as well as local history. Stepan was well-organised and took great care to ensure we were safe, confident and comfortable. He works with the capability of the group. It's obviously not the Caribbean, but we saw many fish as well as starfish, anemones and an eel. One of our party developed a particularly severe case of seasickness after snorkelling and Stepan handled this with grace, reassurance and compassion.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Stepan is the best. I would consider trying any tour that he was involved with.

Transport

Self-Guided Beach Day in Costa Brava

Spain

We just chilled on the nearby beach. Pleasant enough, but we didn't have it in us to bother taxiing further away to explore other options.

Quality of Experience

Montserrat Monastery Visit & Horseback Riding in Natural Park

Barcelona

This tour promised much but totally failed to deliver. The KimKim description of the tour was inaccurate compared with the description currently provided by the actual tour operator. A KimKim booking error also meant that we did not get the lunch that was supposed to be included in the tour. The horse ride was fine, but was a 30 minute ride along a trail before returning the exact same way back the ranch and then taking a taxi ride to Montserrat. In fairness, the guide and staff for the horseriding were very good, and the horses were well-looked after. Our guide at Montserrat provided a pretty brief amount of guidance before giving us time to further explore the grounds. The farm lunch sounded good but we will never know what that part of the experience would have been like.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guided Montserrat tour part of this was pretty minimal. There was some good information on the bus ride up, but the Montserrat tour itself was rather limited. Horse-riding instruction was good.

Transport