Nader Hussein

Nader was a fine vis-a-vis during all our interactions. He very well seized what we wanted and his quick response time was very appreciated!
There are maybe 3 points that I wld underline:
1. It seemed that there were a lack of synchronization between what we had as an itinerary and Mohamed's ( the 2nd guide). For instance the Esna temple was on our list but not on his. Plus lack of clarity as to when we' d board the ship.
2. Our complete flight schedule was sent more than once to Nader but there still was some confusion on his oart as to when we'd leave Egypt.
3. Tips: that was the major kerfuffle, and quite embarrassing for us. The second Mohamed mentioned to us that Nader was underestimating the amount per activity, especially guiding. Nader told us that 8$/day was ok, but the guide showed us that he was promised 15$. That's almost double the original amount. We readjusted our finance accordingly but found that pretty disconcerting. Being perceived as cheap wasn't on our list wish!! We just hope that this won't be our reputation among your staff and contractors..

Hotel Reviews

Seti Abu Simbel Lake Resort

Abu Simbel

Astonishing location, fabulous architecture and decor, colourful and comfortable bedrooms. Weak point, food.

Authenticity & Character

For some - luxurious- yet local Nubian experience, that's the place.. I made all my friends jealous with my pics

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Just to repeat myself, food was the weak point of this hotel. I guess we were spoiled with our previous egyptian culinary experiences!

Fairmont Nile city

cairo

Just one word, WOW! And the food, just amazing. Very well earned 5 stars.

Authenticity & Character

Luxurious

Location

Staff

Everyone was extremely polite and smiling.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Dahabiya Akhnaton

We wanted some exotic experience and we got it! Very cute small ship, comfortable, clean and not speaking of an incredibly nice, charming, competent, beautiful crew. Their devotion to us was so complete, it was simply admirable!

Authenticity & Character

What more cld we have asked for?? I wld highly recommend it!

Location

Staff

As I said, the staff was absolutely wonderful, responded the best they could to our request, despite a limited knowledge of English. I cannot but have admiration for their sense of duty.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Movenpick Aswan

Aswan

Very well located on Elephantine Island, this hotel is a 70's aficionados dream. Huge open space, pool, bars... magnificent gardens... we loved it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Accessible by boat!! Quite unusual!

Staff

Our sojourn was very short and despite this, we cld enjoy the staff's wonderful attitudes. We had a lot of fun with our waiter who tried to give us some lessons of Arabic, quite unsuccessfully unfortunately!!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sound & Light Show

Abu Simbel

The Sound & Light Show at Abu Simbel was an emotional and breathtaking experience. I was moved to tears by the beauty and splendor when the entire temple was illuminated. It was an unforgettable moment that no one visiting Egypt should miss.

Dendara and Abydos temples Day trip

Luxor

The visit to the Dendara and Abydos temples was incredible and worth the long, rough journey. Abydos particularly left us flabbergasted with its antiquity and historical significance. It's one of the older ones, dating back millennia, and witnessing it was an awe-inspiring experience.

We crammed a lot of things into 5 days and the whole experience was seamless. All the guides were fantastic and looked after us throughout the whole trip.
Fabulous trip, exceeding our expectations. 👏👏👏

The trip totally over delivered in every department , every aspect was covered to a fantastic level and all we requested was accomplished, the 2 guides were amazing including Michael who accompanied us on the 3 day Nile Cruise his knowledge was exceptional , none of our request to any one of the guides or operators was too much and everyone was totally amazing , this was a bucket list trip and I cant thank everyone enough for making it extra special

Hotel Reviews

Mariott Mena House

Giza

Amazing hotel everything was fabulous

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Blue Shadow Nile Cruise

Karnak, Luxor

Staff were fantastic in every respect

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Day tour to visit Pyramids& Sphinx and Old Egyptian Museum

Cairo

The day tour to visit the Pyramids and Sphinx and the Old Egyptian Museum was great overall. We started in the morning, but had the option to begin earlier. The place gets very busy quickly, and starting earlier would have made the experience better. Despite the crowds, we had an amazing time, and the activity was well-organized.

Visit Abu Simbel temple and Kom Ombo temple

Aswan

Our visit to the Abu Simbel and Kom Ombo temples was absolutely brilliant. Originally planned to take the bus, we decided to change to a flight at the last minute, and the team handled it seamlessly. Everything was reorganized without any issues, with new guides greeting us, making the experience at Abu Simbel a dream come true. This flexibility and perfect execution made this part of the trip truly outstanding.

Visit Edfu temple & Luxor temple and Karnak temple

Egypt

The trip to Edfu, Luxor, and Karnak temples was very nice. Though Karnak was busy by the afternoon, the size of the temple complex made it manageable. Although the crowding wasn't a major issue at Luxor and Karnak, we would have preferred smaller crowds for better photos, but by the time we reached Luxor, the setting sun created a very atmospheric experience, which our guide also appreciated for its perfect timing.

We had aa wonderful trip to Egypt! From the moment we arrived to the time we left, we were in very good hands. The local team took very good care of us in each city. Our accommodations were great, including the Nile cruise. Two things I would do differently: I would make the journey when the temperature are A LOT cooler! We would have enjoyed seeing all of the temples and the pyramids more if we were sweating. :) And I would likely not do just a day trip to Alexandria. It was a 6+ hour round trip ride just to see a couple of things and not even go "into" anything. But overall, we were very pleased with the itinerary!

When you initiate a travel plan with Kimkim, the company will assign you to a local agency who makes all the travel arrangements for you. The price was steep and was a black box, there was no breakdown when I asked for it. I should have stopped by this hint.

The agency works with certain hotels that give them an agency rate that’s lower than the consumer rate. They put me in fairmont, an Arab owned establishment. The problem was that they have a party every other night hosted by the Arabian Club/ casino (yes hotel has a casino) until 3 am. The noise could be heard from the highest floor of hotel(20th). For the Cairo Representative he was very nice but didn’t speak much English. I was a little devastated by the difficulties of communication as I just arrived in a foreign country. The tour guides, their English are mostly heavily accented. At the end or middle of the tour days, they take you to commissioned shops for overpriced and roughly made souvenirs (not included in the itinerary, you are on your own to defend from the hard sell ). The extra events are also marked up with a lot of room for the guide/company. For example the hot air balloon at Luxor is marked up very steep, for 140USD per person, if you book through the hot air balloon business directly, you can easily get a quote at 30 USD/person. It is a very dark industry with people who are careless about your wellbeing.

The flight returning home was a breaking point for me. You pay everything with a fat margin but you don’t get the best in line, or not even a professional service. The Egypt agency(Egypt Promotions) was careless as to mistaking the flight times to return home. After the first negotiation, they refused to book the flight for me. They think it is my fought for not checking the travel plan they made. Told me that I should buy another ticket out of my own pocket(3000usd). After desperate attempts to battle with the agency. they were finally able to change the flight for me when they discovered that the airline can put me on the same flight for only 300 usd, a discounted price. (I bought business) Perhaps also fearing that kimkim will no longer send them quality clients. egypt has its enchantment but the business is rotten. During the entire event kimkim did not care to reach me via phone or to apologize.

A dark price breakdown:
I paid kimkim 5000usd for 7days in Egypt, not including flights.
fairmont hotel was 200usd/night on Expedia agency should have better price.
200*4nights=800usd
Tour guide + driver: 64 usd/day*5days=320usd
Movenpick cruise: 400usd/day *3= 1200usd

Total paid: 5000
Total cost from agency: 800+320+1200= 2320
They earned about $2700 from me on this trip.

If I booked on my own I could have stayed at four seasons or at St Regis (best line of hotel in Cairo with much better service and no noise from casino/club) and an upper deck suite at movenpick. And I will still have surplus.

And it is a shame that I had to flight for my ticket back home. I was on the edge of experiencing a full mental breakdown at the airport.
If you decide to travel to Egypt, it’s best to book the hotel by yourself, tours with a local company separately.