Unforgettable Nordic

Our planner & guide, Gummi was wonderfully responsive to our wants in planning and needs once we arrived. His sense of humor was a plus. Gummi was in tune to the children’s ages and was able to flex to keep them interested. He planned tremendous activities, tours, and events for them.
We did experience a couple of very minor issues. With a call to Gummi, his immediate response resolved the problems nearly immediately.
Our trip was a complete success.

Hotel Review

Óðinn Penthouse Apartment

Reykjavík

Pros: Nice, clean, well appointed, comfy beds, plenty of room. Cons: 4th floor walk up with 7 & 4 year olds was a bit difficult at times when they were carrying their luggage & when they were tired.

Authenticity & Character

Seemed like a typical Reykjavik apartment & furnishing

Location

Right in downtown

Staff

Did respond to our initial questions when we tried to check in but seemed irritated with some of our questions

Cleanliness & Comfort

Comfy & generally clean. The 1 bathroom, though functional, was in need of updating

Activity Reviews

Hunting the Northern Lights with a Guide -Private tour

Iceland

Our guide, Joost, tried hard to conjure up the northern lights for us. They just were not cooperating ;) We had amazing views of thousands of stars and a myriad of constellations.

Quality of Experience

A new experience for our young grandsons

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Joost was pleasant and his efforts were apparent

Transport

Comfortable ride.

The Golden Circle Private Tour

Iceland

Gummi, our guide, offered just enough information to make the journey educational without being boring. Additionally, his sense of humor was delightful, very much like our own.

Quality of Experience

Traveling in winter, there were no crowds so we were able to enjoy the quiet beauty.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Gummi tailored the experience to suit the needs of our 3 generational group.

Transport

Safe and comfortable

Reykjavik Hop-On-Hop-Off Tours + Wonders of Iceland Exhibition

Reykjavík

We used the bus as our public transportation within Reykjavik. Harbor views we beautiful.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The drivers were polite, but not the least be hospitable

Transport

FlyOver Iceland

Reykjavík

Excellent show. Thrilling but not frightening. The children loved it and compared it to a Disney Park ride.

Quality of Experience

So much fun and oh so interesting.

Perlan Museum - Icelandic Wonders & Northern Lights Show

Reykjavík

So much to see and do, even for the 4 & 7 year olds.

Quality of Experience

High quality multi-media presentations

The Reykjavík Park and Zoo

Reykjavík

We went at night to view the Christmas lights. They were beautiful. We saw many animals, unfortunately not the reindeer that night.

Quality of Experience

It was free admission when we went and therefore were not disappointed when we were unable to see all the animals.

Whales of Iceland

Reykjavík

This was very interesting for the adults. The children were only interested in the scale models. It was geared more for adults.

Quality of Experience

More for the littler ones to do and manipulate.

How to be­come Icelandic in 60 minutes

Iceland

What an enjoyable presentation! Wonderful for all ages. There were many facts embedded in the humor that we all retained.

Quality of Experience

The comic was terrific, playing well off the audience.

Gummi helped plan our itinerary and he was very helpful. When you book trips for people, it would be helpful to ask their physical condition and capability. I have a balance disorder and osteoporosis (Bad bones, so I don’t want to fall and break anything) and I’m 65 years old. I spoke with Gummi about this and he said bring my walking sticks.

The lava cave tour was hundred of steps down and up (a lot of space between each step..easy to trip or fall for me) and once we arrived there, I was unable to participate because it was too risky for me. My husband went and enjoyed it and that was fine but I wouldn’t have paid for me to go, so we lost that money.

The glacier and ice cave tour was ridiculous for me to participate. The truck driver to get us there drove like a maniac on the off road terrain to get to the glacier. He drove so fast and my back was smashing up and down and it was very scary too. Once we arrived (it was extremely windy and rainy) and I saw what it would take to participate and once again, I had to wait in the truck for an hour and a half because it was way too dangerous for me to participate. We lost that money for me too.

Our guide, Guttie (I’m sure I misspelled his name) was truly fabulous. His knowledge of Iceland and history facts were wonderful. I give him 10 stars! He made sure we saw the northern lights and spent two late nights with us until we did! He is warm and friendly and took care of everything for us.

So, like going into a restaurant and the server asks you if you have any food allergies, your company should ask the travelers if they have any physical limitations first!

Thank you,
Julie Mandell

Hotel Review

The Reykjavík Edition

Reykjavik

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Sky Lagoon - Experience the seven-step Sky Ritual

Iceland

Quality of Experience

This was a celebration trip – celebration of 25 years of friendship and we - Gail and Aru - picked the land of Fire & Ice! Both of us having experienced Kimkim earlier, decided to go with Kimkim.

Our trip to Iceland was planned by Veronika from the Unforgettable Nordic. The initial part of nailing down a broad itinerary was a smooth process. Where it got tedious for us was when it came to planning the details. For example – we were specific in mentioning that we wanted a hotel with an elevator and a room of a particular size. All these details and more were overlooked. Veronika’s attention to detail and responsiveness was poor, at best, and it required a considerable amount of our time to ensure that all details were attended to. Further, we noticed a few planning glitches, information gaps, a general quality of oversight and a lack of regard for our collective & individual budget. She needed to have a far more in-depth knowledge of us, our abilities, our needs and what we want to do before she could fulfill what Kimkim actually promises – a customized trip. The amount of time it took for us to push her to get things done, we would have spent it better if we planned this on our own given that almost all the trips she chose are online anyway for people to make their own choices.

Thankfully, about a month prior to the start of our vacation, we were informed that Veronika is no longer with Unforgettable Nordic and we were assigned to Connor. Connor was an absolute delight to work with. He was informative, responsive, on-the-ball, quick to handle itinerary changes/ requests, clear in his communications, offered an opinion when needed and has a wicked and lively sense of humour! It was an absolute pleasure to have Connor partner us on this critical phase of our vacation and we enjoyed interacting with him. We were both relieved to have ‘on the ball’ Connor, especially since many of our activities were cancelled and needed rescheduling and reshuffling and he handled all these changes efficiently.

In terms of ratings, we would divide it:
For the portion with Veronika, my rating would be 1.5/5
For the portion with Connor, my rating would be 4/5

Some feedback for Unforgettable Nordic & KimKim:
1. Creativity of the itinerary: The portion of the itinerary from Unforgettable Nordic (Veronika) was standard tourist fare. Many of the interesting activities added to the itinerary were a result of our own research. All the tours were available through Viator, Tripadvisor or other such online spaces. We being seasoned travelers know this. Kimkim loses significant for us since it provides nothing new. So to actually have us as customers again Kimkim will need to up their game.
2. An escalation process/request a change of primary contact: Despite our initial discomfort, we had no way to escalate or discuss our issues - we (the customers) had to endure the poor levels of service with no place to complaint. This by any service standard is just poor customer management. Unless Kimkim does some quality control customers will dwindle.
3. More transparency: For a few of the experiences, we were booked for the premium level. We certainly did not mind. But it would have been appropriate to check if we’d prefer a standard or premium ticket for our experiences. The point is we weren’t aware that we had a choice.
4. Our experiences with service on Kimkim for Japan and Vietnam (separate vendors) were awesome. That experience led us to book Iceland with Kimkim. But the standards of service were much, much lower.

Overall, we had a beautiful trip. But it was seamless, primarily due to the level of attention and follow-up we did to the itinerary. If it wasn’t for us being on top of the itinerary, we would have experienced many glitches on our travel. As also, Connor’s contribution at the end – his on-ground coordination really helped us.

Hotel Reviews

Eyja Guldsmeden Hotel

Reykjavik

Great stay and service. Very friendly staff. Small rooms, but beautifully done up.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Superb

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gerði Guesthouse

Höfn

Basic. But good. Tiny rooms - ok for a night.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dogsledding Mosfellsdalur

Iceland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ultimate Icelandic Night—Northern Lights Hunt, Cozy Blankets & Local Treats in Reykjavik

Reykjavík

We did not see this properly

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

2-Day South Coast Tour: Waterfalls, Ice Caves and Glacier Lagoon (Day 1)

Iceland

Reykjavík Food Walk

Iceland

Icelandic Lava Show Reykjavik

Iceland

Golden Circle Super Jeep and Snowmobile Tour

Iceland

After some hiccups my program for Norway and Sweden was set. Silvia helped me set up my bookings for various places in Norway – Oslo, Flam, Bergen and Trondheim, and Stockholm in Sweden. My challenging trip involved booking hotels, trains and a short cruise and she met them all. I had an idea of what I wanted to do and she enhanced the trip by making some suggestions, which I took and enjoyed! All in all, my trip was successful and it was great to have all the tickets and bookings done before I went to the countries. The walking maps, places to see and where to eat Silvia provided helped me to see the city. In three key places my room had excellent views. I don’t think I would have been able to do that myself. I took the day tours she recommended, and they were all great. I look forward to working with Silvia again sometime (if she will work with me – LOL) to see Iceland and Denmark.

Hotel Reviews

Comfort Hotel Karl Johan

Oslo

The location is the best part of this hotel. It is near the Central Station and it was super easy to go everywhere from there. Rooms were comfortable and staff was ready to help with anything. The only thing I missed having was a hot water kettle to have tea in my room. Breakfast was a bit boring. Same thing everyday (I stayed 5 nights).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room and bathroom were all clean and in good condition.

Fretheim Hotel

Flåm

I think this hotel is a bit overrated. It was just like any other 3 star hotel. The room was okay, my view was in the front so yes, it was great. Flam is really small and this hotel was just a 1 min walk to the station. The bathroom was clean, bed was comfortable. Wifi was fine. The breakfast was boring and not much choice for vegetarians despite the huge spread. Even the hash browns were dry and hard.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Scandic Torget

Bergen

The hotel was about a 12-15 min walk from the station but the location was excellent. It was right in the historic district of Bergen. I was lucky to have a room on the 6th floor with a great view. The location was superb. I could walk to all the buses, tourist places, grocery store and visitor center. I completely enjoyed that. The hot water kettle really helped as I am tea drinker. Room and bathroom were both great. Breakfast was okay.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

MS Vesterålen

Tromsø

This was the short 2 night, 1 day cruise from Bergen to Trondheim. The room, wifi, bathroom - all were good, although I was almost in the bowels of the ship. I did have a peephole to look out. This was quite expensive cruise. It was kind of cheap of them to not provide meals for everyone who stays the night. They did not even provide breakfast. There were plenty of places to sit and view the scenery. And there were some eating places to buy food. They could have had more evening programs to engage passengers.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Thon hotel Nidaros

Trondheim

The room that was booked for me was the single room. It was good size. All was good - the room, the bathroom, the hot water kettle, the wifi. The best part was the food - breakfast and the "light" dinner was great. The light dinner was not so light. For me it was a full meal. The breakfast was also great. The only thing was that they did not have the dinner on the weekends...why? The location was fantastic.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Queen's Hotel

Stockholm

The location was a little far from the central station, but otherwise it was okay. I had to walk a bit to get to the buses and trains. But the walking was okay - it was all through the shopping area, so fun to look around. I did not like that they did not have an elevator for the first floor. Carrying luggage up and down is never fun. Room was comfortable. Breakfast was quite boring...same old bread and eggs.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Stockholm Archipelago Tour with lunch

Stockholm

It was a good tour. Got to see Stockholm and surrounding area. It was wonderful.

Quality of Experience

Food

Everything. I have no idea what I was eating. And I had to pay extra for tea.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Scenic Oslofjord Sightseeing Cruise

Oslo

It was a good tour if one was visiting only Oslo. But since I was going on to see more of the fjords, this trip was not worth it for me. I could have done something else.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This trip was a long overdue senior trip for my now 24-year old son. Let's go on an adventure Mom, he said.

Our Travel Planner Gummi curated the perfect adventure for us - seeing Iceland up close and personal, while camping in a van. We had no idea where we were going other that we wanted to see waterfalls, Northern Lights, Hot springs, and Fly Fish. Check, check, check and check!

The daily itinerary was spot on with critical tips that kept us on course. Each and every day we repeatedly were saying "No Way!!" And the perfect trip book ends were the Sky Lagoon on day one to get us grounded and Blue Lagoon on the last day to ease us back into reality.

Not only was the timing and the logistics of the itinerary on point, but each campground recommended had exactly the services we needed.

Hotel Reviews

Landhotel

Hella

It had been a super long day fly fishing when we stayed at Landhotel. It was raining hard, it was dark, and we were quite late arriving. The agent at the front desk was friendly, and accommodating. The hotel is modern and stylish. Great beds, fantastic sauna and hot tup. We liked it so much we stayed a second night.

Authenticity & Character

Modern / minimalist

Location

It felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, but we had a fantastic view of the northern lights because there was no light surrounding the area

Staff

Exemplary hospitality

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds were fantastic

Courtyard by Marriott Reykjavik Keflavik Airport

Reykjanesbær

So perfectly located for an early morning departure and to return the rental van

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to airport and van rental company

Staff

Our reservation was difficult to find, but the staff went the extra mile and didn't become annoyed. :-)

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nice breakfast

Activity Reviews

Fly Fishing

Iceland

FishPartner guide was professional and skilled at her craft. My son caught a HUGE Arctic Brown trout. Fish of a lifetime. Our guide was knowledgeable on all things Iceland, and all things fly fishing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sky Lagoon - Experience the seven-step Sky Ritual

Iceland

What a unique venue. I didn't know what to expect, but so loved the 7 step ritual. Each of the steps offered artfully designed spaces to enhance the experience. A fantastic way to kick off our trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff