Amazilia Travel

I was impressed with KimKim from beginning to end. I worked with Olman to plan our itinerary and everything went like clockwork. All our transfers were arranged and on time. Our tours were scheduled and went off flawlessly. We stayed in wonderful lodges/hotels with no issues. We visited three areas of beautiful Costa Rica -La Fortuna, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. Our itinerary allowed us to experience waterfalls, safari river float and hot springs in La Fortuna, cloud forests, hanging bridges hike and horseback riding in Monteverde and beach time in Manuel Antonio. In Manuel Antonio, we watched monkeys from our balcony while staying at the Jungle Vista Boutique Hotel. I Gracia from KimKim checked in us while we were in Costa Rica. Because of rain we had canceled one tour and she wanted to see if we were ok. She also answered questions I had about our departure so we felt well taken care of while there. I highly recommend KimKim and am a very satisfied customer.

I am happy I did this trip, but there was no cultural activities, no gastronomical activity, no great architecture, no museum at all, no connexion with the locals. It is checked off my list, but will never return. All is formatted for americains, so we loose the costaricain feel. Food is very average. The facilities are not up to date in terms of hotel offering. At at the end, it is not worth theEXCESSIVE amount of money it requires to be visited. There are planty of places around the world to visit beside Costa Rica and that would be equivalent or more offering for the price paid....

Hotel Reviews

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

very noisy. But clean, close to the airport. Close to americain standards.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Air conditionning so noisy, dont expect to sleep!

Auténtico Hotel

San José

ok, not more, we stayed there only few hours. Basic offering.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Aninga Lodge

Limón, Tortuguero

It is always interresting to sleep in the jungle, but when it is raining 24 hours per day, it would have been noce to be able to close the windows, to allow to dry and to sleep. There are no hooks to let our clothes dry or to hang our luggages.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Wyndham

Tamarindo

the best of our trip.

Authenticity & Character

Location

a bit far from the downtown, but it was ok for us since we have a car.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villas del Caribe

Puerto Viejo

AC not too noisy. Clean, close to ocean. Staff nice, restaurants nearby. Miss some hooks to hang our clothes, jackets, etc. We have to put our stuff ont the floor.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Montaña de Fuego Mountain Resort & Spa

La Fortuna

This hotel requires serious renovation. Mold in the shower. Windows and doors broken. Again, we have to put our stuff on the floor since there are no place to habg or put it.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Cipreses

Monteverde

very disapointed with this hotel.

Authenticity & Character

lodge very cheap, not service no AC, no fridge no hooks, amenities are very minimal. Breakfast very fade.

Location

Staff

they try to accommodate, but the hotel does not offer much.

Cleanliness & Comfort

the roof is made of corrugated steel and since it rained, we were not able to sleep at all. We left as early as we could.

Karahé Beach Hotel

Manuel Antonio

noce hoel near beach,

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Snorkeling at the Catalina Islands

Costa Rica

Snorkeling at the Catalina Islands was enjoyable, but it felt like the local customer service in Tamarindo was lacking. It seemed like the staff took tourists for granted, which affected the overall experience.

Yuliana was amazing-all our transportation went smoothly and the information she provided before was very helpful. I especially loved the cooking class and organic garden tour with information on medicinal plants. Our tour was just the 2 of us and we had much more hands on than other tours that came through at the same time and the food we made was amazing. We saw lots of wildlife especially at Cariblue on on the Cahuita Park hike. Our lodging in Monteverde was in town and allowed us to explore. Yuliana did a great job of prioritizing everything we hoped to do on this trip.

Hotel Reviews

Park Inn San José by Radisson

San José

Very helpful staff and nice rooms. Good breakfast. Easy to get transportation from the hotel to explore.

Authenticity & Character

Location

had only 1 night here not a lot of time to explore around the hotel

Staff

Very friendly and helpful at recommending places to eat and transportation

Cleanliness & Comfort

Quiet room and nice bath/shower although the sliding door on the bathroom was noisy

Cariblue Beach & Jungle Resort

South Puerto Viejo

Saw sloths in the trees. Expect the early morning Howler monkey wake up call but that made us feel closer to nature. Easy walk to the beach and good restaurants-especially Beach Break. Good breakfast. Nice to have filtered water dispensers all around for easy access. Pleasant bar staff.

Authenticity & Character

Felt like we were in the jungle

Location

Great wildlife on site and easy walk to beach

Staff

Very pleasant staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

clean comfortable spacious bathroom and room

Montaña de Fuego Mountain Resort & Spa

La Fortuna

Rooms were beyond tired. Our first room lacked hot water and the shower and tub faucets didn't work. Very odd layout in both rooms. Second room had tepid water but the shower was above the jacuzzi tub which had a crack in the bottom and was hard to stand in but since there is no partition next to the tub the tile floor got wet and was perilous. The second room was nest to a busy highway and there were people near the highway cheering late at night. There was no WIFI in that portion of the property so we had to walk back to the office to access. The thermal pools were cool but that was probably due to the persistent rain. Nice walking trails although challenging in the mud. Found monkeys in the trees and lots of birds-saw Toucan at the pool, turkeys in the trees, hummingbirds

Authenticity & Character

The pool area was lovely and the staff delightful. The thermal pools were cool due to rain. Worth hiking to the Maleku Village & learning about indigenous culture

Location

Arenal came out from under the clouds one morning-nice view

Staff

Very friendly and helpful staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

See description of rooms above

Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco

Monteverde

Loved the proximity to St Elena and walkability. Lots of steps up and down on property-could be a problem for some but not for us. Pleasant and helpful staff

Authenticity & Character

Nice grounds and gardens

Location

Walkable to town

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

spacious room and bathroom

Auténtico Hotel

San José

Good location and beautiful grounds. Room was small and AC unit made a ticking noise which was distracting. Cramped bathroom/shower

Authenticity & Character

A tour hotel but nice restaurant/breakfast

Location

able to walk in the area and explore parks, coffee shops

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Noisy AC unit and small bathroom but adequate. The shelves next to the desk helped organize since the bathroom was small and not much space for suitcases

Activity Reviews

El Silencio Volcano Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great guide and we learned a lot about medicinal plants. Unfortunately if was raining so not much wildlife but that can't be controlled-hike was shortened because of rain.

Quality of Experience

Weather dampened the experience-views were gone

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was personable and informative

Transport

organized and efficient

Cahuita National Park Snorkel & Rainforest Hike

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

We were expecting the possibility of snorkeling per our itinerary but were told we were only registered for the hike-as it turns out the weather did not allow anyone to snorkel. The guide was amazing and we saw lots of white faced monkeys, Jesus Christe lizard, howler monkeys, learned about local plants and had a lovely time cooling off in the water on the beach

Quality of Experience

great guide and lots of wildlife

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide

Transport

organized and convenient

Arenal Hanging Bridges Guided Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

Enthusiastic guide who was quick to find things for us to see with her spotting scope. Loved the waterfall

Quality of Experience

Beautiful views from the bridges

Guides, Drivers and Staff

great guide who was sensitive to members of group with anxiety about the bridges

Transport

accommodating

Traditional Cooking Class - Dinner

Arenal/La Fortuna

Private garden tour was amazing with more information about native medicinal plants. The cookiong class was very hands on and we loved the food we made-can't wait to make gallo pinto at home! The chef did not speak much English but fortunately I speak a fair amount of Spanish so it worked out.

Quality of Experience

Loved the hands on

Food

The food we made was excellent although I need more practice on the tortillas

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great garden tour guide who was also our driver and we had enjoyable conversation to and from the farm

Transport

see above

Coffee, Chocolate & Sugar Cane Experience (English Tour)

Monteverde

Our guide did not drink coffee so emphasized the chocolate and sugar cane more but informative. Enjoyed tasting all the coffee roasts in the visitor center. Loved seeing the coffee beans on the trees. Very interesting to see the steps in cocoa bean processing and chocolate

Quality of Experience

The tasting in the chocolate part and cane joice was good

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Pleasant guide

Transport

organized

Cloud Forest Reserve Hike

Monteverde

Learned about bromelias and tree ferns. Heard more birds than we saw but did get to see a Quetzal and went to the hummingbird cafe at end and saw 4 species of hummingbirds. Saw enormous tree ferns and learned about the filming of Jurassic Park in Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Guide was informative, beautiful area-lush

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Informative, pleasant

Transport

organized

This was my first experience with kimkim and overall everything was great!To start, the communication with Yuliana was smooth, complete and efficient.
Both properties were excellent: Naturalista Reserva was very comfortable, the food excellent, and the staff extremely accomodating and friendly.
Taylor at Naturalista, although quite young, was an excellent guide. I think in one day I was able to photograph over 40 bird species!
Sagreve, in San Gerardo de Dota, was truly high end, being luxurious without being pretentious.
My guide Melvin, quite experienced, was responsible for me seeing and photographing Quetzales for the first time!
In additon, his range of knowlege was over the top!
I can't forget the drivers: all 4 were quite friendly, courteous, and above all, on time.
All in all my experience in fantastic!

From Beginning to End Everything was great. I normally plan all of my trips but this time around I was short on time an focused on other priorities. Olman &his staff were patient with me and made sure I and my family's needs were met. All the drivers and staff we met were great, informative and welcoming of us. Our family had a grand ol time and would definitely return to Costa Rica. Thank you for all of your patience, help and knowledge for this trip.
Until the Next one.. :)

Had a great time! Zip lining, canyoning, and hiking were all top notch in LaFortuna. Had a much better view of sloths in Arenal than on the Sloth tour, but we had bad weather during the tour, so no fault to that organization. Don Rufino was tasty, but by far our most over-priced meal of the whole trip. The boat ride from Arenal was nice but I felt it was presented as a way to avoid a long, bumpy shuttle ride. We still had a long, bumpy ride in a van after the boat. We added a coffee tour on our own in Monteverde since our cloud forest hike ended an hour earlier than expected. The forest guide was very informative, but it felt rushed; I would’ve preferred more time to hike and explore the forest on our own at the end of the tour. Treehouse restaurant was the best dining experience. Decent prices on the food and drinks, cool pics with the tree, and the live music was phenomenal. The transfer to Tamarindo was long as expected, but took 2hrs longer than expected. We also stopped twice for 20min breaks. Added 40min unnecessarily. 10min bathroom and snack breaks make more sense. I don’t want to waste vacation time in a roadside gift shop. It was wise not to book anything for that afternoon with the slow drive. Also great was the hotel dining at El Jardin del Eden. Breakfast and dinner half-board was perfect. Huge breakfast spread and gourmet dinner options. No need to waste money outside restaurants. All 3 hotels were great. I would recommend all 3 as long as the people you are booking are capable of the hikes. Lomas was a decent uphill walk from pool/restaurant up to the room, but there’s a golf cart on site if needed. Helped a lot when it rained. Ficus was a grueling hike up from St. Elena. Golf cart on property was good, but back from town was rough. Even Jardin had a long walk from the beach, but it was a flat path. Probably the best part of the entire trip aside from food and stays was the catamaran sunset experience in Tamarindo. Olman and Graciela were both very helpful before and during the trip to help with reservations and transfers.

We had a memorable trip to Costa Rica, and I would like to thank Kim Kim for putting the itinerary together and making all the required bookings. Olman was fantastic and super responsive to all our questions. Everyone we interacted with, including the drivers and guides, was terrific. I highly recommend Kim Kim to anyone planning a vacation.

Activity Reviews

Day Trip to Doka Coffee Plantations, Poás Volcano, & La Paz Waterfall Gardens

San José

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal 1968 Hike & Visit to Ecotermales Hot Springs

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Whitewater Rafting on the Balsa River Class II & III

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Río Celeste & Tenorio Volcano National Park Guided Rainforest Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our interaction with Olman from the very beginning has been great. He was very helpful in helping us put together the trip and his suggestions were also great. He made sure we were able to fit in all the things we wanted to see and do. The communication was also awesome and we received timely information and updates as our dates came closer.
From the time we landed - to the moment they saw us off , everything worked like clockwork and all the people and guides we met were amazing.
We had a great time and would recommend you all to everyone we know.
Thanks so much for making our trip so good.

I was very satisfied with the level of interaction from planners, detail of the itinerary, and the quality of the hotels, excursions, and transportation. I'm a seasoned traveler and usually do everything on my own. However, finding myself in the midst of a last-minute planned marriage left me little time, if any, to put this trip together. So, if you would rather skip all the time and headache, I can't recommend them enough. However, just know that it comes with a price, and I estimate I could've saved 20-30% on my own. Nevertheless, they excel at what they do, so if the time value of money leans the favor of a third party, go for it!