Espíritu Travel

Anita planned us an excellent trip in Spain. She saved us hours of planning time and eased the stress of travel days with thoughtful instructions. We particularly liked the H10 hotel in Seville, and had fabulous tour guides in all of the cities we visited. Barcelona was our favorite, and Anna, our guide to Sagrada Familia was a particular treat.

Bea was amazing. She came up with several itineraries- adding/subtracting excursions based on my feedback. She had too pivot on one accommodation because it wasn’t available at time of booking and gave clear information. The services were spot on! All transfers very smooth and we can’t say enough about our driver Alberto who transferred us to Granada and was also our driver to Ronda and El Torcal park. Our excursion to El Torcal was prohibitive due to dense fog- that was a disappointment but Alberto was such a good driver he still brought us to the top and 2 of our family braved the weather for a short hike. Our guide at the Ahlhambra was also Alberto and he was so knowledgeable and engaging. All our drivers were friendly, prompt and communicated status and directions well. Our street tapas tour in Madrid was a highlight- our guide and the group became fast friends quickly. The entire Espíritu team was tremendous including a beautiful table of snacks at our last destination. That was a great final touch and a credit to their personal commitment. We will use KimKim again and refer anyone to Bea- she really created the most memorable trip.

Hotel Reviews

Melia Barajas

Madrid

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Intelier Casa de Indias Sevilla

Seville

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Palacio de Santa Inés

Granada

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

H10 Villa de la Reina Boutique Hotel

Madrid

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tapas Culinary Experience

Madrid

Highlight of Madrid- our guide was engaging and fun - the choice varied and all the people in the restaurants were friendly

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit of Alhambra & Generalife Gardens

Granada

We had to change the date and time of the tour and the support person at KimKim was right on it and made it happen. Our guide Alberto was thorough

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ronda Wine Experience

Spain

Because it was winter there was no one at the winery which made it special. Our guide was so knowledgeable and gave a good history of the area. Wines were superb!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Alberto is the best!

Flamenco Show in a Sacromonte Cave

Granada

Quality of Experience

This was our first experience with KimKim and we had such an exceptional experience. The hotels that were selected for us were in perfect locations for the type of touring we wanted to do—within walking distance to attractions, public transit, great neighborhoods and yummy restaurants. We are an active family who like experiencing the more “local” flavor or places, and Bea did a great job of planning and adjusting our trip to fit our personal preferences and personality. There was the right amount of scheduled activities and downtime for personal exploring. We were totally impressed with the warm demeanor of all of our tour guides, who also gave great, local recommendations of places to eat/things to see. It was such a gift for me to not have to plan and hold all of the details so I could be present with my family. We are so grateful for the memories we made and have since recommended KimKim to many friends looking for a memorable travel experience. Thank you!!

Hotel Reviews

Rome Life Hotel

Rome

This hotel is in a fabulous location with a helpful staff and clean, comfortable accommodations.

Authenticity & Character

This is a more modern place but we loved the breakfast area and sitting spaces, where we were able to play cards and chat during downtime.

Location

We loved the walkable, easy access to the Collosseum, Metro and Monti neighborhood (with great restaurants).

Staff

So kind—especially the bellman who delivered our bags.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Refreshed daily. Love.

Hotel Piazza Bellini & Apartments

Naples

This hotel was right outside the bustling Piazza Bellini—which was full of local life and markets/food. We loved the courtyard, which immediately provided a respite from the busy city, and our flat, which was cozy, clean and very comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

This is a really quaint, bright hotel.

Location

So close to easy pick up spots for tours and nightlife/Naples life etc.

Staff

Their suggestions of where to go and what to see how to easily access these things. We ate amazing food in Naples and the hotel staff helped!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Somehow our room was on a crazy busy piazza but it was also very quiet. So nice to sleep well in a place after busy travel days!

Hotel Meninas

Madrid

We loved the charm of this place and the friendly people who greeted us every time we came and went. Again, super helpful folks with great suggestions—who made reservations for us so we could enjoy the 3 Kings parade as soon as we got to town.

Authenticity & Character

The stairwell in this hotel is charming—and the room was just right. We appreciated the daily refresh and the overall cleanliness of the space.

Location

We loved the easy access to city attractions, transportation and eateries. We also liked that the hotel is in a side street so just a little bit away from the hustle!

Staff

Again, so great and helpful. I couldn’t believe they offered to make our reservations for us—which is amazing when you don’t speak the language!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Campo de’ Fiori, Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere Food Experience

Rome

We loved this whole evening—it was the perfect start to our trip and a great introduction to Rome. Silvia, our guide, was the best—she was kind, funny, and gave great information about the food and history around the neighborhoods where we ate. We had our 16 and 19 year old with us who also loved the entire experience (and Silvia!). This was a trip highlight for all of us—highly recommend!

Quality of Experience

The food was delicious and the commentary just awesome.

Food

So fun to try local, delicious bites and walk through so many cool neighborhoods during the process.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Silvia. We loved Silva. She made our photo book!

Colosseum & Roman Forum Visit: Arena Access, Gladiators Gate & Ancient City

Rome

This was just a fabulous experience. Dennis, our tour guide, was excellent—in demeanor and knowledge. Again, my kids really enjoyed his commentary, which says a lot. We visited on a crisp sunny day and enjoyed the whole thing. We didn’t realize we would have an ear piece to hear him and we loved it—there were a lot of people around but it didn’t matter!

Quality of Experience

Dennis. We were so sad we didn’t think to get a picture with him—he was excellent!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

After weeks of planning with Hector, our first trip to Portugal during Christmas was fantastic! Hector was patient, flexible, responsive and very helpful, including Marta and the Espiritu Team too.
Highlights:
-Bessa Hotel Liberdade was top-notch!

Tuk-tuk tour of Lisbon was a fun and unique way to see the city. They had one blanket that was great

Marta was very knowledgeable about the different sights we saw on our tour of Cascais and Sintra, from local artists to the history of different famous buildings. She also brought us to an authentic Portuguese lunch spot where we enjoyed a variety of good foods. She was very flexible and accomodating when we expressed an interest in seeing Pena Palace rather than another place. Pena Palace is worth it for the first time visitor, especially during off-season winter holidays. Lines were manageable. Waiting for the shuttle took the longest, but if you're fit, take the 10min walk up the hill. Excellent views and many interesting details inside the palace itself.

Our driver for Obidos, Fatima and Porto was friendly and very helpful.

Braga and Guimaraes were lovely day trips and our guide was excellent! He reserved a fantastic restaurant for lunch in a historic building and gave us a superb tour of the places.

Enjoyed climbing the Clerigos tower on Christmas and going to a Portuguese mass.

The bike tour in Porto with Biclas and Triclas was also great and the company did a good job helping us get to our train on time while still seeing all of the beautiful viewpoints in Lisbon. Piedro, our guide was excellent in navigating us through the city safely and shared his wealth of knowledge about the city sights. Our first time on E-bikes, it was perfect for the hilly terrain.

Our train back to Lisbon was a little delayed and we didn't realize that there were 2 stops in Lisbon and got off early at Oriente instead of the other one!

Things that could be improved:
- Mercure Hotel Santa Catarina in Porto was not 4 star worthy! Staff were pleasant, buffet breakfast was good, but compared to Bessa Hotel, it really was more 3-star caliber. Our first room had a strong moldy smell and they moved us without hassle, but having that experience in the first place was unpleasant. Floor was linoleum out of the 1970s, with no robes or slippers and no view. The room our kids and grandmother were in had a great city view.

Definitely recommend Portugal for the winter holidays.

Hotel Reviews

Mercure Porto Centro Santa Catarina

PORTO

Very surprised this is considered a 4-star hotel. Staff were pleasant, buffet breakfast was good with panoramic city views, but compared to Bessa Hotel, it really was more 3-star caliber. Our first room had a strong moldy smell and they moved us without hassle, but having that experience in the first place was unpleasant. Floor was an odd linoleum with no robes, slippers or body lotion,no view and room was small with a double bed. Surprisingly, practical dental kits were bathroom amenities. Our children’s triple room had a great city view.

Location

Close to the main shopping districts

Staff

Pleasant and professional. Moved us right away when we called about the moldy smell.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Moldy smell, possibly from the bathroom bidet in our first room.

BessaHotel Liberdade

Lisboa

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walkable to shops and Rossi, but for some reason, carshare had difficulty finding the place

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Get to know Porto by E-bike

Porto

Piedro, our guide was excellent! Skilled at navigating us safely through the city and sharing his wealth of knowledge about everything Porto. Our first time on E-bikes, it was perfect for the hilly terrain and we covered a lot of ground! Sara was also great helping us get the bikes together and our carshare back to our hotel.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

E-Bikes were in excellent condition, easy to ride and maneuver

Thank you, Helena (and KimKim), for building an amazing family trip to Andalucia and Morocco! Here are some of the highlights:

Spain
1. The Alhambra! Susanna was a very knowledgeable guide. Later that day, Nacho gave a great walking tour of the Albaycin neighborhood, and we had an excellent meal at Carmen Mirador de Aixa - great food and views of the Alhambra :)
2. Hiking in Las Alpujarras! Jaime was one of our favorite guides. The scenery was beautiful, and we loved the small mountain towns (Capileira, Bubion, Pampaneira).
3. Malaga. Fany was our favorite guide of the trip - we learned a lot and she helped our daughter with her Spanish, too! Plus, Malaga is a beautiful city. We especially liked the fortress, cathedral, and Roman theater.

Morocco
4. Yousef was a wonderful guide and host throughout our time in Morocco. He arranged every detail for us and we were worry-free throughout our stay.
5. Hamid taught us so much when he guided us through the medina on our first day in Marrakech.
6. We loved getting outside the city. Driving through the Atlas Mountains kept us on the edge of our seats! And riding camels in Agafay was a highlight for all of us. The sunrise hot air balloon ride was a first for all of us - cold, but really fun.
7. Essaouira was our favorite town in Morocco. It's a beautiful, clean, beach town - the fortress and old city were so fun to stroll. Rashida was a wonderful guide - she taught us so much, and adjusted her pace to match what we wanted.
8. Back in Marrakech, we loved our stay at Riad Anya. The entire staff was so welcoming and kind and helpful, in spite of late arrivals and/or early departures, and changing plans. They accommodated us wonderfully throughout. A huge thank you to that staff!

Thanks,
The Lockwood Family

Happy New Year, Raquel! We had a FABULOUS and MAGICAL time in Spain! We can’t thank you enough for making this trip for our family of nine, run so smoothly and efficiently. Our drivers were top notch, always on time, courteous and very helpful, and the vehicles they transported us in were very comfortable, roomy, and accommodating. Your choices of hotels for us were AMAZING!..very clean, friendly staff, centrally located, and within walking distances to a lot of places we wanted to visit. The guides for all of our tours were very well educated, knowledgeable, and willing to go above and beyond their call of duty to answer any additional questions we might have, recommend eating places, and very patient when we needed to add an additional stop along the way to grab a water and/or a snack. The 15th birthday celebration for our granddaughter was a hit! She loved the cake, the balloons, the food, and the ambience in general. We were very pleased with how quickly someone always responded through the chat when we had questions, or needed existing reservations changed. We look forward to planning our next trip through KimKim, as you truly made our 50th Golden Anniversary a very memorable one!
Gloria and Jose Ramirez
Wimberley, TX

Hotel Review

Eurostars Puerta Real Hotel

Granada

Beautiful hotel with great amenities, super friendly staff, clean and spacious rooms, and a delicious spread for breakfast! Location is superb!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Private Tour of Barcelona & La Sagrada Familia

Barcelona

This place is beyond belief!…a must see in person to really capture all of its beauty and exquisite detail. Dani, our tour guide, did an excellent job explaining the history of every corner of this amazing place!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Marina was very responsive and had an amazing itinerary for us. We had young kids and this was very kid friendly. Our guides were great with kids. Our accommodations were very comfortable and nice, and close to all the destinations. We walked to most places. Highly recommend Marina and kimkim.

My daughter Alayne and I had a wonderful memorable winter trip to Madrid and Barcelona, all thanks to the meticulous planning and care from Beatriz and her amazing team at Espiritu Travel. The Trip Plans App made the experience seamless, with all the information, instructions, guides' names and meeting points and times, tickets for events and train travel, maps, suggestions for restaurants and other interesting sites, events or areas to explore, are all included on the app.

Our guides were professional, timely, personable and truly knowledgeable.

The hotels were beautiful, well-managed, accommodating and so very helpful with directions, taxis or any questions we had about getting around in the city.

Thank you again!
Patti and Alayne S

Hotel Reviews

7 Islas Hotel

Madrid

modern hotel with all amenities, amazing, helpful, attentive staff. Delicious breakfast and dinner service

Authenticity & Character

lots of amenities - great bathrooms stocked with toiletries, plush towels and bathrobes, a tub!

Location

right off Gran Via and in the heart of both Malasaña and Chueca, both very cool neighborhoods. Easy access to Metro station.

Staff

The front desk was so very accommodating with helping get taxis, information about metro cards, directions around town.

Cleanliness & Comfort

everything was so clean and comfortable

Hotel Astoria

Barcelona

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful building - loved watching local people come in to dine in the restaurant

Location

great location, close to Avenue Diagonal and major shopping and metro stations. Loved the little tapas bar, Bar Paris around the corner - sat at tables outside with the locals. So Fun

Staff

Helpful, professional and so very accommodating with questions, directions, taxis, etc...

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Visit of Madrid: History, Culture & Architecture of the Capital of Spain

Madrid

Our guide Geze, was so friendly and knowledgeable - the day was actually quite cold and drizzly, but he kept it moving along and it was quite enjoyable. Had lots of tips for hidden restaurants, bars, etc... we took his advice on a few of them! Funny to see how the guides from different tours all know one another and greet each other

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Geze was very friendly knowledgeable, spoke so many languages, had so many friends greet him along the way, not just fellow tour guides, but neighborhood people, too.

Guided Visit of Museo del Prado with Art Historian

Madrid

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lina is a great art history guide; my daughter loved talking to her about the finer points of the art work, being an AH minor

Barcelona & Gaudí: An Architecture Walk

Barcelona

Didn't know much about Gaudí prior to this trip, but have come away with a new found appreciation for his genius

Quality of Experience

The Sagrada Familia was such a moving experience, both artistically and spiritually. The sheer genius of the intention and artistry and engineering is awe-inspiring. I couldn't appreciate it until I saw it in person

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Catalina was an excellent guide

Tapas Culinary Experience

Madrid

great way to meet other fellow travelers and have a good time, make some new friends, go out for a drink afterwards. It was so much fun. Our guide was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Raquel was excellent! We loved our trip, she did such a fantastic job. The tours she selected for us were perfect. The catamaran was a highlight for sure!

Activity Reviews

Douro Valley Excursion with Wine & Olive Oil Tastings & River Cruise

Porto

This was a perfect day! The guide was excellent and we the scenery was stunning.

Catamaran Cruise to Benagil & Carvoeiro w/Snorkeling & SUP

Portugal

This could not have been more perfect! The group was small and the guides were fun. We loved this experience.