Alba Cruells

From start to finish, Alba put together a terrific two week itinerary of Northern Spain (Madrid, San Sebastian, Bilbao, Las Rioja, ALQUÉZAR* and Barcelona). She (and her staff) have set the standard for working with a travel planner. Alba gave us a broad suggestion to start and over subsequent KimKim messaging system and direct phone calls we were able to shape a dream itinerary that gave us everything we wanted to do and was able to afford. Moreover once we set out on our adventure she and her staff were in constant contact to make sure all the plan's details were falling in to place seamlessly.

Note that Alquézar is starred. That is because it was the star of our journey. A quaint little Medieval Village in the foothill of the Pyrenees held the most amazing foot journey through a beautiful river valley. So different from the big tourist cities like Madrid or Barcelona. We spent several hours walking through forest trails, on catwalks (installed into the rocks) overlooking river falls and along river beds. And the village itself was so charming and picturesque!

Within the large city Alba's stable of vetted tour guides (both private and small group) only enhanced our overall experience. Each was personable, knowledgeable and totally amenable to our needs. Pairing us with this type of service truly showed that Alba listened to us.

Alba...as far as my wife and I are concern, you are a Rock Star of the travel industry!!

We are 3 couples from the USA visiting Spain for 12 days. From the beginning Alba was incredibly helpful in arranging this trip. First, we shared with Alba what we were interested in seeing and doing (And what our budget was!), and she gave us her ideas on what the most popular things to see and do are . This was followed by several ZOOM calls and written communication back and forth until we had an itinerary that Alba thought we would enjoy and also appealed to us. We shared with Alba some suggestions that we had received from friends who were from Spain, and she was willing to incorporate some of them but wasn't afraid to tell us what wouldn't work for us. Ultimately, Alba devised an amazing CUSTOMIZED Spain vacation.

We spent 4 nights in Madrid, 3 nights in Bilbao (Basque Country) and 5 nights in Barcelona. Alba arranged everything for us including airport transfers, hotels, dinner reservations and a tour virtually every day. The tours included visiting The Royal Palace, The Prado, Botin Restaurant, Guggenheim and Dali Museums, a Flamenco Show, A Wine Tasting, La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona's Gothic Quarter and day trips to Toledo, Avila, Segovia, San Sebastian, Costa Brava, Girona and Montserrat. And of course we ate lots of Tapas and Pinxtos with our Guides taking us to some awesome places in each city. The Guides (Beatriz, Rosita, Mati, Julen, Anna, Stepan and Julia were all excellent. They were friendly, informative and very well organized. They all shared the history and culture of Spain which we found very interesting. In the Prado and Dali Museums Rosita and Julia taught us about the artists and showed us specific pieces or art, giving us an understanding of the meaning of each one. That really gave us a better understanding of what we were looking at and made it way more interesting. And we saw some fantastic natural landscape, incredible cathedrals and interesting architecture. We also had enough free time to wonder on our own. Throughout the trip, Alba kept us up to date on What's App to confirm what we were doing each day and who our Guides were which was very reassuring.

It's hard to say what our favorites were. We really enjoyed everything (Except maybe The Guggenheim Museum and Nerua Restaurant which we all thought were a little weird but certainly an unforgettable experience). But that is a matter of taste. The H10 Villa de la Reina, Hotel Miro and H10 Art Gallery hotels were nice in good locations with good staffs. And we had some really enjoyable meals. If anyone is planning a trip to Spain, we would recommend starting with our itinerary, and let Alba customize it based on your interests. We highly recommend KimKim and Alba!!!!!

All the guides were amazing! Not only where they very knowledgeable, they interacted with you like a friend would. The hardest thing in planning the trip was to decide what to do out of all the ideas that alba and Stefy gave me. Communication with them was on point. I had a question or concern, and I got an answer within a day. Rarely two. Once I got to Spain, they provided me with their phone number in case there were any problems. They also sent the numbers of the drivers and their information as the day to the tours approached. (I’m including in this the information for the guides as well). To me it was worth every penny not to have the headache of having to foresee problems or complications. The culture and the food there were also amazing and whenever I needed a recommendation for anything, Stefy and Alba where at a text or phone call away. Overall experience, awesome!

Hotel Reviews

Acta Splendid

Barcelona

Great service. Very centrally located

Authenticity & Character

Location

Centrally located!

Staff

Very personable and kind

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel NH Collection Granada Victoria

Granada

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

NH Málaga

Málaga

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Intur Palacio San Martin

Madrid

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Inglaterra

Seville

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Monumental Seville: Royal Alcazar Cathedral and Giralda

Seville

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Park Güell & La Sagrada Família

Barcelona

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Local Market Visit & Cooking Class

Barcelona

Loved it!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Alhambra & Generalife Gardens Visit with a Historian

Granada

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Taste of Granada Walking Food Tour

Granada

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Tapas & Flamenco Experience in Seville

Seville

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Frigiliana Hike & Wine Tasting

Málaga

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ultimate Córdoba Day Trip

Seville

Carlos was amazing in showing the city of Cordoba and the guide that we had for the Mosque-Cathedral (sorry I can’t remember his name) was incredible. And he happened to have been Rick Steves, the travel guru’s guide, during his visit to Cordoba!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Madrid’s Royal Palace

Madrid

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hotels selected were appropriate comfort level, clean and well located for easy walking to most attractions. Breakfasts were uniformly excellent. Staff were friendly, helpful and conversant in English at all facilities.
Tours and guides were great. Sean in Madrid for the Palace and Prado tours was very informative, enthusiastic and fun to listen to. Juan Carlos for the Toledo tour was enjoyable guiding us in his hometown. Theresa and Jaime in Sevilla and Cordoba both were locals and entertaining and we really enjoyed both tour days. Stepan was great on our tour of Montserrat. He had a unique perspective as a non native of Spain. Ana gave us a nice overview of Gaudi architecture and Sagrada Familia visit. We have nothing but positives for all of the guides. The trains were great. No problems with any delays, etc. I believe the trip was planned really well and we were able to see many different areas of the country and both large and small communities without feeling too stressed or rushed. Alba did a great job planning and adjusting a few things on the itinerary. Her periodic check-ins and reminders were appreciated and was like having our Spanish Madre looking out for us!

Hotel Reviews

H10 Puerta de Alcalá

Madrid

Authenticity & Character

Clean, friendly and nice rooftop area

Location

Close to Retiro Park

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Las Casas de la Judería

Seville

Unique property with friendly staff. May be diffcult for some with poor mobility because of the outlay of the rooms but we really enjoyed the character of the building and proximity to attractions

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

H10 Art Gallery

Barcelona

Clean, friendly, nice greeting with Cava or juice on arrival, nice rooftop and dipping pool

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sercotel Palacio De Los Gamboa

Granada

Clean, friendly, great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Day Trip to Montserrat & Scenic Hike

Barcelona

Private Gaudí Architecture Walk with La Sagrada Família

Barcelona

Madrid at a Glance, Culture, Royal Palace and El Prado

Madrid

Sean was great!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Toledo Day Trip

Madrid

Juan Carlos was fun and informative guide

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monumental Seville: Royal Alcazar Cathedral and Giralda

Seville

Ultimate Córdoba Day Trip

Seville

Group Guided Tour To Caminito del Rey

Spain

Alba booked us an incredible trip to Barcelona and Madrid. Her attention to every detail made the trip truly easy and enjoyable for us. Guides Anna in Barcelona and Carmen in Madrid were knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful; we've had private tours in multiple cities and never had better experiences. We wanted a special trip to celebrate some recent life events, and we got everything we wanted and more! We will definitely be back to KimKim, and to Alba should we return to Spain.