Rutopía

The trip was super memorable from the beginning to end.

Isa was amazing from the very beginning. She understood our need to have private tours to learn about meso-american civilization and culture.

Luz Ma fantastic as well and was constantly in touch via WhatsApp. She helped us with daily questions and resolving daily issues.

Our tour guides Louis and Guadalupe for Teotiuhacan and Cholula were great. Appreciate their professionalism and knowledge.

Then comes Manuel, our tour guide for the majority of our stay in the Yucatan and Mayan sites. He became my Mayan brother. He further customized our trip as per our need on the go. We would love to do more trips with him.

Finally, our tour guides at Punta Lagoona, Enrique and at Muyil, Memo made some indelible impression for this trip.

Hotel Reviews

Kuka y Naranjo

Mérida

Loved the hotel's interior decoration and authentic style. Our room with a big terrace was a win (if I remember the name of the room it was Santa Lucia). Great service, they used to deliver tea or coffee at our request in the room.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa de la Luz

Mexico City

Great location, historic property, fantastic service. The only issue I had was with rooms with no windows as I was feeling claustrophobic and altitude sickness. They understood and changed my room twice to accommodate my need that was super service. Shoutout to Lazaro!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Le Muuch

Valladolid, Yucatán

It was a good hotel but the room was a bit small and a little inconvenient with the luggage.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Villa Pescadores Tulum

Tulum

This was the best and the most comfortable of all the hotels we stayed during our trip. Great room, comfortable, big, open design, separated from the bathrooms. Eco friendly yet they cleaned everyday. It was within the boundary of a national park and Tulum archaelogical site. This made it more private, a bit secluded, and safe. I loved it. Extremely friendly folks and great service including room service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Uxmal and Kabah: The Jewels of Puuc

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the archaeological site of Teotihuacan

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover the Magical town of Cholula

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The car was too small for 4 people.

Merida to Valladolid Visiting Chichen Itza Archaeological site and Yodkzonot

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Lo

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The archaeological site of Cobá

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit the archaeological site of Tulum

Tulum

It's a great site but most of the access was closed to visitors. We could see it bit could not enjoy it to fullest.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Float in the Muyil Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

Tulum

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ek Balam Archaeological Site & swim in a cenote

Mexico

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Look for spider monkeys in Punta Laguna

Mexico

Not the most interesting activity for us. Although the experience was fun.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an incredible experience in Mexico City. The trip was completely customized to our needs and we thoroughly enjoyed our time. In particular, the market tour, the cooking class and the tour of the Chinampas were excellent.

Activity Review

Discover the flavors and colors of the exotic San Juan Market

Mexico City

Clara was an amazing tour guide. She was incredibly attentive to the needs of the entire family and adjusted the trip to accommodate our interests. She was very kind and very knowledgeable. Really terrific trip.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My local specialist was Sofia. I enjoyed the planning process with her. The local support person, Mariana was an excellent communicator and always responsive. The tours were excellent. Most were private tours. We would have enjoyed more group tours to have the chance to interact with others. The guides were very knowledgeable and fun to be with.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Casa Eva

Colonia San Pedro Cholula, Puebla

The Hotel Casa Eva was a very comfortable hotel, with easy access to the city centre. Hotel staff were friendly and responsive. The room was spacious with a great bed and linens.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful courtyard, delicious breakfasts

Location

Easy access to city centre

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Oaxaca Real Hotel

Oaxaca

The hotel was beautiful and well maintained. We especially enjoyed the gift of a water bottle. The pool was excellent and we really enjoyed it after a day of touring.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Parador Margarita

San Cristobal de las Casas

The hotel has a lot of charm and character. Very spacious room with a good courtyard view. Breakfast was good and staff were helpful and friendly.

Authenticity & Character

The decor of this hotel is unique and beautiful.

Location

The walk to the center of town was okay

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel La Aldea del Halach Huinic

Palenque

The hotel is peaceful and serene. The pool was beautiful and surrounded by plants and trees. The rooms were a bit dated, but clean and comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The jungle location of this hotel was unique. However, it was far from town and without a car, few dining options

Staff

No help with bags to room which was located down 2 flights of stairs.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Comfortable bed, pleasant patio outside the room, good restaurant

Hotel Boutique Casa Piedad

Campeche

This hotel did not meet our needs. The room was advertised as 20 sq meters, but was only 13 sq meters. There was no room for luggage and the bathroom was tiny. We did not stay a second night.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Not close to the centre of town

Staff

No greeting, not friendly. There was no breakfast and we were not given any suggestions for breakfast restaurants.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was clean but not comfortable

Kuka y Naranjo

Mérida

This is a unique hotel, with a beautiful patio sitting area. The room was comfortable with minimalist decor.

Authenticity & Character

A vegan restaurant on site had an interesting menu

Location

Not far from the city centre but not the best part of town

Staff

Friendly, helpful and attentive

Cleanliness & Comfort

The concrete floor had crack that should be filled for hygienic reasons.

Casa Quetzal Hotel Boutique

Valladolid, Yucatán

The hotel is lovely with a beautiful courtyard and pool. Very close to amazing restaurants, this hotel was the perfect place to stay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

No help with the luggage to our room on the second floor.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Fives Oceanfront

Quintana Roo

Authenticity & Character

The lobby is amazing with a view of the ocean and pool. Check in was organized. We were encouraged to use the pool and beach until our room was ready.

Location

A very quiet and peaceful resort

Staff

Every staff member we met was friendly, helpful and attentive. Enjoyed yoga and bike riding with Will. The gym was well equipped and clean

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was spacious, clean and modern. Exceptionally comfortable bed and linens. Large balcony, unfortunately on the street side of the hotel.

Activity Reviews

Free Afternoon in Puebla

Mexico

We actually stayed in Cholula and did not get to see Puebla. It was disappointing as I was interested in seeing Talavera pottery.

Between markets and corn in the magical town of Cholula

Mexico

We had a fantastic time at the market in Cholula. The food tasting was diverse and delicious. Our guide was very attentive to our interests. The experience at Mili was very interesting. We enjoyed tasting all of the food products made from corn.

Quality of Experience

We enjoyed the variety of food on the tour

Food

The foaming chocolate drink was delicious

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The pace of the tour was very good.

Get to know the history of Mole Poblano through the streets of Puebla

San Andrés Cholula

We had a great cooking experience making and eating mole. The class took place in the home of the guide, making it a very comfortable experience. The mole was excellent.

Quality of Experience

The instructor was very good.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The entire trip was fantastic. Most all scheduled events took place on time and as advertised. Any questions were answered promptly and satisfactorily. It was nice to have Kimkim check in with us daily.

Of particular note, were the informative, helpful, knowledgeable and enthusiastic guides.

1. Montse greeted us in Mexico City on our first full day and shared her love of the city, its culture and food.
2. Pablo was a wonderfully informative guide through museums and Teotihuacan. Both days with him were great. We had spectacular meals in Mexico City and enjoyed walking through a few of its charming neighborhoods.
3. In Oaxaca, we were expertly led by and taught by Alex through the old city, to the awesome ruins in Mount Alban, and wonders of Teotitlan del Valle (including the hike!). We were fortunate to have had multiple days with Alex.
4. We rounded out Oaxaca with an expert led mezcal tour and tasting with Daisy. That was great fun.
5. To end with relaxing days in Salchi was perfect! The boat trip guided by Captain Isidro Cruz (including seeing whales) was a great way to see the coastline and snorkel.
6. Our drivers (if not included above) were also great.
7. We hope we didn’t leave anyone off—all were great!

The hotel Casa Mauna at Salchi was very good (and peaceful). We had room 3, which seemed likely to be the very best at the small hotel. The vegan food was also very good—the drinks excellent. The pool delightful. We highly recommend it.

We will now share comments about the hotel choices in Mexico City and Oaxaca. Both hotels were beautiful and well-staffed. We were always made to feel welcome. The restaurant at the Zocalo Central was very good.

However, both hotels were situated in the center of vibrant, busy, and very loud areas:
• It was about impossible to sleep soundly in our room, 515, in Zocalo Central. The noise from the square continued most of the night (drumming and crowd noises), and then the sound of heavy chairs dragging noisily on the dining room floor just above our heads started about 6:15AM. One additional, seemingly minor but noteworthy item, was that we found out on Saturday afternoon that there would be no laundry service on Sunday—which we knew about-- but also on Monday (due to the national holiday on Monday. It would have been useful if we had received this advisory on Thursday or even Friday night, as then we would have had our laundry done on Friday or Saturday. As a result, our carefully planned light packing was confounded—we spent time doing our own wash in the room. When traveling, little things like this matter.
• For the first two nights in Parador de Alcala, we slept well. Then things changed. It was Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday and Sunday when the noise became a real issue again. The local bars blared music until 3AM (or later), and then the party goers continue the festivities in the streets until dawn, at which time the street traffic noise becomes quite high. I know the hotels do not have control over the bar noise or the traffic—but for Kimkim, we think charming hotels chosen away from the noisy parts of the city centers would be better.

Finally, as it goes for Kimkim:
• Mariana did a fantastic job of providing on-the-ground assistance for the inevitable adjustments which were needed. She was prompt with response and follow-ups. She provided a very reassuring and effective backup to situations that came up.
• Our first point of contact was Isabelle, who also did a great job of helping us design our perfect holiday. She was very responsive and helpful in discussing with us our preferences, and making adjustments to, our itinerary.
• The Kimkim service and platform worked well and we would recommend Kimkim to others. We plan to do so ourselves. We were able to focus more on enjoying the trip then on logistics. There were two minor changes to the itinerary that came to light during the trip—it’s possible a Live Itinerary would help alleviate these inevitable discrepancies – but no problems arose from this either.

We were pleased with adjustments and we happy with Kimkim and their entire team.

It was our first experience with this company and we were pleasantly surprised, the trip was planned very well and the local assistant was fantastic. Highly recommended!!

Activity Reviews

Tour of historic Mexico City with street food tasting

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Be amazed by the pre-hispanic beauty of the chinampas in Xochimilco

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to the National Museum of Anthropology

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Authentic Mexican Cooking Class

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Shared biking experience through Teotihuacan "The City of the Gods"

Mexico City

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our trip to the Yucatan was very special . All service providers were pleasant and friendly. The interactions with Mayan families in their community and learning to make tortillas , plant corn, make handicrafts and spot monkeys in the jungle was especially memorable. Of course, exploring the ancient Mayan cities and learning about their culture and scientific achievements was inspiring. Our guides were amazing in their knowledge and interest in our understanding of Mayan culture both in ancient and modern times. Hotels were excellent and transportation services efficient. A particular shout out to the taxi service drivers , Carlos, and others. Mariana from Rutopia was always a text or call away which helped smooth out any logistical wrinkles. Of course, thanks to Rene who helped plan the trip!! Finally, a round of applause to the zip line team in Punta Laguna who threw some thrilling adventure into the day.