Kimkim Trip Reviews

This hotel was literally incredible. Our favorite of the stay, amazing hospitality and the room and property were gorgeous

Beautiful property and amenities just a little dated—rooms (even the superior rooms) were small; however other than that we loved it! Breakfast spread was excellent and the free luggage service (van meets you at the dock to take your bags so you don’t have to carry them to the resort) was a great touch

Amazing hotel and really nice staff! Small bathroom and small room, but it had a lot of character and we enjoyed the hotel a lot! Only thing to note is there is no elevator and LOTS of stairs down and up; staff was helpful with our bag though. Location is INCREDIBLE, 2 minute walk from everything

Excellent location , spacious and modern room, great bathroom, and staff was friendly! They even met us out at the Main Street outside of the palace walls in split so they could take our bags and show us where the hotel was!

Beautiful, well appointed hotel. We loved the thermal pools and the swim up bar.

This hotel has beautiful views, but it was a little more rustic than I like. It is situated on a very steep hill, making it very difficult to walk the grounds. Thank goodness they have a shuttle bus to pick you up and drive you to the on site restaurant. The food was delicious.

My whole family loved Capitan Suizo! Our room was beautiful and had a wonderful sitting area by the front door looking out into the gorgeous landscaping of the resort. The beach was awesome and had surf boards available. We also enjoyed the pool and bar area very much. The food was very good. The restaurant even cooked a tuna that we caught offshore fishing.

Nothing quite like soaring through the jungle over waterfalls! Awesome!

Our guide was very informative and we learned so much about Arenal. We had an amazing hike even though it was raining!

A must see if you love plants and wildlife. The cloud forest is like no other place on Earth.

This was so much fun! It is SO dark! The guides are superb!

Simple beautiful! Worth the hike!

Very friendly and helpful staff. Clean and comfortable rooms. Convenient location.

We did not stay at this hotel. I was unable to remove the star.

Not close to old town, but walking distance to one beach. Very large and busy hotel. Beautiful outdoor pools and seating.

The restaurant, Clube de Fado, was beautiful and the entertainment was excellent. Table service was very good. Not my favorite meal of the trip, but adequate.

Sandra was a lot of fun and very informative. The tour was longer than described, but very enjoyable.

Joao knows exactly how to make this an incredible experience. We enjoyed every single minute of the day. The Quinta lunch and tour was authentic in every way. The river cruise was very peaceful and beautiful. The views were breathtaking. Joao kept us engaged in interesting conversation during transport.

Eva was very knowledgeable and friendly.

Josez was friendly and informative. It was a very hot day, and he did his best to find shade whenever possible. We enjoyed the restaurant that he recommended for lunch.

This day was a bit of a disappointment because we were unable to see Pena Palace and Quinta de Regaleira because the mountain was closed due to the fire hazard that the heat caused. We were given the option of seeing the National Palace and Queluz Palace instead, which we agreed to. Paulo was our driver and guide of Sintra. He was informative and good company. We were late getting to Queluz Palace, though, so we had to go back the next day with Marta.

This day was completely changed for us because of the previous day's issues. We saw Cascais the previous day, which was lovely. On this day, Marta took us to Obidos, which we really enjoyed. It was a great alternate plan. Then she took us back to Queluz Palace, which was absolutely incredible! We appreciated that Paulo spoke to Marta about making sure we could get back to Queluz on this day.

This was one of our favorite days of the trip. Rudy and Tina were very good at their jobs. We couldn't get into Benagil Cave due to congestion, but Rudy took us to an alternate cave that was beautiful. The yacht was gorgeous! The views were incredible! It was such a great break from all the walking.

Nicholas was very friendly and interesting. We loved seeing the countryside and learning about all the different things that grow there or are produced there. The lunch that was included was one of our best meals of the trip.

We enjoyed the evening, but it wasn't quite what we expected. We stopped at several times along the road to Sagres, but didn't explore Sagres as described in the tour info. The transport was the same old jeep as the day before.

The staff was very attentive and helpful. Amazing breakfast and dinner. Rooms are spacious, quiet, and clean. The bathroom is open to the rest of the room with the bed (it’s one room). Overall pleased with our stay. It’s about a 30 min drive to the airport.

This was an amazing experience! We saw so many animals & the views were incredible. The meals were delicious and we enjoyed getting to know the other couples on the boat. This is a must do!

This was a modern and very unique hotel. Beautifully decorated. The free breakfast and coffee each morning was very nice. The staff was very friendly and helpful.

This is a beautiful hotel with a very authentic old world safari feel. Pics of Dr Livingstone are everywhere. The outdoor pool and bar area are very nice & I wish we would’ve had a day just to spend hanging out there. We enjoyed the breakfast every day and they had great coffee. Very glad we stayed here. It is walking distance to Vic Falls but I would caution anyone to not walk there with just two people. My husband & I walked back after touring the falls and had a difficult time getting past the vendors and panhandlers. If you have 4 or more people you should be ok.

We loved Fairview Winery. Our guide Radheeka even arranged for us to see the goats!

We loved our dinner cruise. The sunset and views were spectacular!

This was a once in a lifetime experience! Amazing!

Beautiful views! Bigger than I thought it would be! Bring a jacket it gets cold!

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Hotell Bondeheimen. The hotel checked me in extremely early, the concierge GiGi was very kind - all staff was friendly and responsive. I slide my room key into a port by the front door to turn all the lights on in the room between the shower and bedroom - something that I was not accustomed to but encountered in every hotel throughout Norway. The full bed was very comfortable; great sheets, fluffy pillows, lovely little view of the street from my 5th floor room (out of 6 floors).

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel. The hotel was flawless. My room & shower were exceptionally clean and new; the building itself is the tallest building in all of Oslo. The rooftop bar had a magnificent view, and the nearby pubs that a local I stopped to speak with recommended, Pier 42 and Papa Borracho; both were fantastic for beautifully crafted cocktails and wide varieties of snacks.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Flåmsbrygga Hotel. This is 1 of 4 hotels right in Flåm - not the most luxurious as it is a smaller building with 41 total rooms but that was absolutely unnecessary because it was by far the best that I visited in all of Flåm, it sits closest to the water and is cabin-like with a cozy vibe, right next to the local brewery/pub that is extremely popular but not rowdy (can't hear any noise from the pub if your balcony door is closed. This hotel was top notch and my balcony view overlooking the fjord was unreal (until the next morning when a gigantic cruise ship came into town and took up my view).

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Heimly Pensjonat. This is a fairly older building, the rooms are very small which is tough for a bigger person like me, and it is far from the rest of town with a decent incline to drag your luggage up for about a quarter mile. I would suggest this place for backpackers and light travelers who would prefer some solitude from the small town. It’s surrounded by an orchard and the top-floor rooms have a great view of the fjord - there is no form of A/C though, so you can expect some bugs in your room from the orchard if you open your window to try to get some air during the day/night.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Kviknes Hotel. One of the greatest hotels I’ve ever been to in my life around the world - this would be 6 or 7 Stars if I could make it so. Even in the Modern-Section of the hotel, the rooms felt rustic but very high quality, and my fjord-view was breathtaking. Extremely kind staff that were insightful about the area and provided great recommendations for hikes, meals, and history of the area. A historical and modern side of the hotel (I would love to go back and stay in the historical side).

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Zander K Hotel. This is a pretty hotel but all of Bergen is cobblestone! You either pay for a $30-40 taxi, or do what I did and walk over a mile completely uphill. The breakfast was delicious, the staff were personable and helped as needed. The rooms are extremely spacious but not well-ventilated.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Bergen Børs Hotel. This place had the greatest breakfast buffet I've ever seen in my life. This is one of the nicest hotels in all of Bergen, and for great reason. This hotel was my favorite by far - the room was very modern and the shower was actually big enough for someone my size, thankfully! It sits right by the ports in the heart of Bergen and was absolutely amazing. 12/10

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I stayed at the Thon Hotel Tromsø. The staff were friendly and helpful with providing plenty of suggestions for local pubs or restaurants to try during my free time. The room was comfortable but it felt cramped with minimal ports for chargers because a desk was in my room with "ports" for charging but none of those ports worked, and there wasn't enough room to move the desk to access the outlet that desk was plugged into. Shower was very tight but worked. With each night, you get a ticket for "Evening Fare" in the dining room on the lobby floor - the light fare is a great little appetizer selection of bread, cold cuts, soup, little snacks, etc that you can enjoy before going out to dinner for a real meal. The hotel has no views in any direction of any room, so you will see other buildings in the city nearby only.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced A Norwegian Evening on the Fjord. The cruise really started boarding just before 6:30pm, so when I got there at 6:30pm, there was already a large line that had already started taking most of the seats along the sides of the boat (highly recommend claiming one of those side-seats, especially along the stern or a seat up top along the bow because they are all side-of-the-ship-seats). The boat workers were very funny and informative throughout the cruise about local island names and some history of the fjord. The Prawn dinner wasn’t bad, definitely gotta recommend travelers take advantage of the dill and lemon that come with it as they make the prawns delicious but it is fairly bland without the seasonings, you also literally pick apart a full shrimp/prawn from head to tail, so some travelers may be a little grossed out like a few people around me. Sunset was insanely beautiful along the fjord, the cruise had blankets and heat lamps all across the boat, and they played a lot of fun American tunes from the 80’s that had many passengers dancing.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Private Tour of Oslo's Highlights. Lisa was my tour guide and she was absolutely phenomenal! We started out our tour by going up above the city to a lovely viewpoint where you could see a panoramic view of Oslo, she described the various sections of the city from the far edges of wealth to the bustling city center mostly full of businesses vs residents, and the areas of homes and apartments just below us from our view that was filled with the majority of everyday contributors in the city and the nieghborhoods filled with a younger crowd of citizens who recently graduated from university and move back to Oslo. Next, we went to the Oslo City Hall where she shared the history of the Norwegian murals all along the inside of the City Hall auditorium. Some depicted the religious transition from Catholic to Lutheran while others showcased the start from farming and fishing up to the noble expansion of the land surrounding Oslo. She also shared information about Alfred Nobel and how the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony take place December 10th every year in Oslo. After City Hall, we tried to visit the Kvikness Art Museum but it is closed on Mondays, there is a special seat within the museum you can reserve to sit in that was once sat upon by the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm. We instead headed to the Fram museum which was incredible! We passed by the Royals’ away home by the beach, and pulled up to the museum which is located in the wealthiest district of Oslo. The Fram museum is dedicated to Norwegian polar expedition and has several subsections in the museum dedicated to Viking sailing and Maritime revolutions from Norway. It holds 2 gigantic ships that you can go on and explore inside, as well as a fantastic 5-minute film, with headphones to translate the commentary into 10-different languages, that tells the story of how dog-sledding was invented and the 3 different Fram-ship expeditions that led to the northernmost exploration of the Arctic. After the Fram museum, Lisa brought me to the Olympic Ski Jump Centre which was enormous, truly a wonder of engineering - followed by a fantastic little Norwegian-Germanic hotel-like restaurant atop one of the nearby mountains. Our final activity before finishing the tour was exploring the The Vigeland Park, a city-sponsored park filled with work exclusively from the famous Gustav Vigeland - it was a cloudy day with sprinkling rain, the park is composed of a dark color palette, and it was practically empty of other visitors; the aesthetic provided a perfect experience for what Gustav would have wanted his visitors to see. Afterwards, Lisa dropped me off at the Munch museum to finish my day before dinner and sleep. I bought my ticket and entered - it was a beautiful museum filled with art from a very distressed man who expressed tremendous emotion in the most subtle ways. I made it upstairs just in time to see the Scream be revealed (it is unveiled for 3-minutes every hour). A must-do aside from seeing the Scream painting is to go to the top floor of the Munch museum - there is a rooftop restaurant and bar that overlooks the harbor and downtown Oslo.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Private Floating Sauna Experience. This was incorrectly scheduled; I did not have a private experience, I was crammed into the sauna with 2 other couples and a family of 6. They were all friendly but none of us were terribly comfortable. Aside from the lack of space in a sweaty environment, the sauna felt great and jumping into the fjord a dozen times was insanely fun, especially being able to climb a ladder on top on the saune to jump/dive/canonball into the water.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Ægir Pub: Viking Dinner Experience. This is the most popular spot in all of Flåm (extremely small town with only a few hundred people, during peak season), a reservation is paramount. The dinner experience was phenomenal - I was overjoyed from the moment it hit my table; the 5-beer samples were all beautifully colored with perfect pairings for the flavors of the incredible little meals assigned to each plate in front of each mug. It was colorful, delicious, unique, and full of some items I had never tried but can’t wait to eat again. My dessert was an apple compote with a strawberry & rhubarb creme that I’ll never forget, along with a great espresso martini.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Summer Kayaking Excursion. My guide, Patryk, was a fantastic German exchange traveler who actually lived about 10-minutes from where I spent some time living in Stuttgart! He was a great guide who helped everyone tremendously, gave informative knowledge about the fjord, the waterfalls we passed, Flåm, the city of Aurland we passed, and a sunken WWII battleship that could be dove to if you’re certified! Patryk and I talked for a bit after, he suggested a couple waterfalls that I could hike to from Flåm, and we plan to connect when he visits Colorado at the end of next summer for a kayaking trip.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Summer RIB boat Safari & Local Taste of Undredal. This was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve ridden plenty of RIB-boats while my dad was in the military and I’ve seen some cool places on the water in the past but this experience was like none-other. First & foremost, being a solo traveler has its perks - everyone else on 1 of the 2 boats was either from a giant group or a family. Although the captain asked the tallest people to sit in the back (eyeballed me jokingly), others filled the back first, and only the very front was left - he said it was ok for me to sit up front, so I sat alone up front! When we were going 30kmph most of the time, it felt like I was completely alone on the boat seeing the most incredibly mountain views and waterfalls in EVERY SINGLE DIRECTION THAT I LOOKED!!!!!!!! (Counted 58 but I think I missed a few, definitely at least 60+ in the 1.5 hours we went outward from Flåm). Our boat captain, Robby, was hilarious when he would stop and tell stories about the different areas of history we were viewing - he even drove us up under a waterfall to get the edge of the boat wet and splash a little water on me, after asking if I was okay with it, which was great. We finished the tour by stopping in Undredal which was incredible - it’s a tiny town founded in 1127 which hadn’t gotten a road until 1992 and WiFi until 2014 - it’s famous for the brown cheese you find all around Norway! They have 50 people and 400 goats in the tiny town surrounded by mountains - we were given a cheese tour of how the cheese is made and sampled plenty; the story is basically that a road was built in the early 1900’s between Oslo to Bergen, and branches were built to lead to Flåm and a couple other cities - Undredal was only accessible by boat and wanted to give the state of Norway a region to blow a few miles of holes into the mountain to make a road for Undredal, so they took great care of the goats and developed a technique for making a mildly sweet cheese that could be stored without refrigeration for up to 75 days, it is now a globally-known award winning cheese!

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced Visiting the Stegastein Viewpoint with a Bus. The 3 buses that were set to take us were severely overcrowded, as was the viewpoint as a whole. As a solo traveler, I had the perk of getting the last seat on one bus, sitting next to the sweetest driver - she admitted that every single day, the buses get overbooked by the company and they just give out refunds like it’s nothing because it’s so common. Essentially, you have to fight for entrance to the bus (a lot of folks were very aggressive, shoving their tickets at the drivers to get their group entry to the ride up the mountain). These buses obviously don’t have A/C, so the bus is very hot. The view was nice but a hike to a different peak would be just as good, and would not have hundreds of people within the space of a couple hundred feet just for an oversold view.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Cider Tasting & Lunch. This was a 12/10 experience - 6 Stars without a doubt. This was an incredible experience. You walk 15-minutes from the town center. There are over 1,000 genes of apples sitting on the orchard, and we were taught plenty. 7,500 different kinds of apples in the world. In Norway, the term difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic cider is simply saying cider or juice, unlike the U.S. The ciders produced onsite had 4.7-16% alcohol. I was able to sample ciders on each end of that spectrum. Fun fact; heavy rain seasons may produce great amounts of product that year but they are actually not good, they cause water weight to hurt the trees and generally exhaust them, so the following 2 seasons after a heavy rain will only provide minimal amounts of product. The food pairings for lunch with each cider were perfectly crafted.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Fjord Cruise to Rosendal. I sat on top of the cruise ship to enjoy the views for the 2-hour ride, it was beauty in every direction. Plenty of comfortable seating in the ship as well if desired and a helpful cafe with an assortment of snacks and drinks. Roseldal is a cute town with an absurdly cool backdrop as you pull in with the ship. It is basically directly between two conjoining mountains and there is a large, steep waterfall cascading down between the mountains. The hike to the waterfall viewing area is extremely easy. It goes past the town, through a few miles of countryside, and you end up at a gigantic roaring waterfall! I knew I was going to hike to the waterfall, so I packed extra clothes, just in case… the locals I asked all said swimming in it was totally acceptable but chilly; If you’re as adventurous as me, that’s just motivation! I made my way through 30ish yards of extremely difficult brush and tore off my shoes to jump into the waterfall and pools beneath it - NO REGRETS, IT WAS AMAZING! The handfuls of people walking the trail up & over the falls cheered me on and applauded me while in the water. I dried off with the towel I brought and changed into fresh clothes to hike back to the town for lunch. Ate a chicken quesadilla which was super random but honestly one of the most packed and delicious quesadilla’s I’ve ever eaten. Sat inside the ship and relaxed on the Fjordcruise back to Bergen - it was very comfortable even with my dead phone.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Aurora Safari Minibus. This was a very nice experience that everyone needs to do. It was led by a young Austrian woman named Sonya, she was very informative about Tromsø facts and science related to the Northern Lights. The sun sets incredibly late this far North above the Arctic Circle in early September, so we started our tour by going Northwest, off the island and through an underground bridge over to the Kaldfjord - a beautiful view of the only fjord near Tromsø (all other bodies of water actually belong to the Norwegian Sea, and are not fjords). We were able to pick some wild blueberries, they were delicious. After hanging out by the fjord, we hopped back in the van and were driven 2 hours practically directly South (back in the underground bridge, through Tromsø, over a different bridge to the mainland, and down to an area called Solligården. Our guides know a man who owns much of the land, has a beautiful house atop a hill, and a small cabin with benches outside by the water that the guides are aloud to bring tourists to try viewing the Northern Lights. Our guides set up a bonfire after about 30 minutes of hanging out and telling us about the area. From about 10:15pm to 12:30am, we sat by the fire chatting and eating stew/drinking hot cocoa. At that point, we hadn’t seen much but had a perfectly clear sky filled with stars which was beautiful. The guides decided that they would slowly start to pack up and we would leave to head back. Almost as soon as they were done packing, another traveler and I noticed some weird movement in the sky that looked like off-colored clouds swaying. The guides identified those as the Lights starting to form - on camera, it looked bright green. 5-minutes later for the next 30ish-minutes, the sky started filling with all sorts of green wispy cloud-like forms filling up every area we looked, and the shots on our cameras were like gigantic rainbows everywhere! We were driven back at about 1:45am. The company will drop off certain travelers at the Tromsø campground on the way back and everyone else in Tromsø at different hotels will be returned to the Radison Blu where we were picked up originally.

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Husky Hike & Puppy Visit. This is a 100/10, 10-star experience. I was exhausted from the Northern Lights trip and minimal sleep but a few minutes after arriving at the Puppy Farm, everything changed and I was beyond revitalized. This is something every single traveler to Tromsø should experience if they aren’t afraid of dogs, and those that are but might be open to overcoming their fear absolutely will at this Husky Home. We started off by putting on rainboots and heading down to a marsh where a dozen puppies were released and came sprinting down to us. 9 travelers total, we split into teams of 3 and spread far apart with a bunch of treats in each group. We spent 30-minutes calling the 2 month old puppies to each of us to teach them to respond as a group! After they were put back, 8 older puppies came sprinting towards us and we all walked over to creek where each group spread out again and we proceeded to call them back and forth across the water to get them to practice being comfortable traversing water like they would have to during dogsledding. When training was done, 3 people (I was one) were allowed to put on harnesses and our group took 3 sled dogs on a 2 miles hike through the area! It was so fun - the other 2 people were dragged and stumbled a few times but the biggest dog which was pulling me was having a blast trying to yank me around but I was big enough that he couldn’t pull me around. We were given a traditional Norwegian/Portugese lunch and told about the history of Norwegian fish being shared with Catholic countries, how the relationships developed, and why the Portugese made a meal that is now famous in Norway. For the last hour, we were walked into a gigantic enclosed area outside where there are over 100 huskies housed, all of them were extremely friendly and loving, I was able to go play with all of them at least 4 times before the bus had us leave!

I'm a kimkim staff member and I was on a work trip when I experienced the Tromsø Cable Car. The cable car is off the island, across the bridge, on the mainland. I caught a Tromsø Taxi which was very easy - the walk would’ve been over 45 minutes while the taxi ride was 10-minutes. The cable car made it to the top in about 5 minutes overlooking all of Tromsø and the surrounding areas of mountains, sea, fjord, and outskirt towns! A cafe called the Fjellstua Café sits at the top where the cable car deposits you. The open-faced roast beef sandwich was great, especially sitting out on the open viewpoint tables. There are dozens of trails all on top of the mountain that you can traverse to go get different perspectives miles away from the cable car. I explored little bits of a few different directions of trails and got some fantastic views. The cable car ride down was just as easy, along with the Tromsø Taxi ride back to Tromsø Island!

Cruise Director Chris was an absolute delight and Jin, another crew member who taight Tai Chi and the cooking lesson, should have his own show. So much personality! While I struggle a bit about having done tihs cruise due to my concerns about the 500+ boats in this gorgeous Bay (Sustainable? Doubt it.), it was as nice as it could be. Our room was on the top floor with a large deck from which we could watch the sun set over the sparkling green waters. Also, Capella is the only ship out there with a 2-story (soon to be 3-story, we hear) slide that was a blast. I went down it about twenty times, coud not get enough. Well played, Capella, well played.

On our recent 13 day trip to Ireland, we stayed in 8 different hotels and I say without a doubt that this place was the best. The lounge, the restaurant, the room- amazing. The staff cleaned mud off my shoes for me overnight. The golf course discount was much appreciated and it was a remarkable course. The grounds were lovely and Kenmare is so quaint. I even had a great conversation with one of the grounds keepers about their lovely plants. The best thing also happened … shows their commitment to customer service. We took a free shuttle from the hotel to the golf course and had a great chat with the driver. So impressed. While at the golf course we mentioned that “our driver” told us to do this outing, and the golf course manager smiled and said, “your driver” was the General Manager of the whole place. He drives the shuttle often just to stay in touch with the guests and keep his hands on the pulse. Being in the service industry myself, it doesn’t get any better than that. So if you’re planning on staying here for a couple of days, make your visit longer!

100% worthwhile.

It was OK. Did not compare to the Irish dance we saw later during our trip. Venue was questionable- in a low ceiling basement.

100% worth a trip

Tucked away in a corner of Thamel, but was fairly comfortable. Good breakfast and excellent staff.

Beautiful ancient temples and architecture. Walking through the narrow alleys and into the courtyards of the palace & temples was amazing and unforgettable.

Good food and an important meeting with Sangita - useful information with an overview of what to expect

Unique and interesting architecture of the buildings, temples, wooden doors, clothing of local people. Excellent yogurt , must try - Juju Dhau

Beautiful and captivating

Very interesting, witnessed a wedding.

Pashupatinath Temple was extra-ordinary. Being Hindus, we fully embraced and immersed in the cultural & tradition. The Boudhanath Stupa was immense and captivating - good feeling about it.

Overall it was very clean and functional. The staff were very helpful, friendly and personable. The rooms are of adequate size but the bathroom was small. Air conditioning was fine once we figured out how to set it - there were no instructions in the room. The fridge was cold but the tiny freezer was unable to keep ice frozen. Location is in an area that is a bit rundown. Easy walk to town. The beach at the hotel is ok but not as remarkable as other nearby beaches reached by bus (buy the tickets before you board) or taxi (expensive). The two pools were very clean and inviting. Maid service very prompt and efficient. Breakfasts were very extensive and many types of self-serve fresh-brew coffees were available. The layout of the hotel is a bit inconvenient in that you almost always need to go up and down short stairways to get around. The Galaxy pool is smaller and there were rarely, if ever, any shaded lounges available on sunny days. More umbrellas and chairs would be useful. The restaurant, serving breakfast and dinner adjacent to the large pool, was actually part of the next-door sister property Naxos Resort. Bar staff were admittedly worn out from a long season but did their best to put on a game face. If we did this trip again, we would not choose the Galaxy and instead have KimKim offer other choices.

Very clean and the executive suite is large with a kitchenette and separate bedroom. Quiet except for a couple emergency vehicles at night. Perfect location. The hotel's claim that Executive Suites have a view of the Acropolis, Hadrian Arch etc. is misleading---if you stretch out over the very small balcony overlooking the street and turn your head as far as possible to the side you can get a glimpse of them in a narrow opening down the street between buildings. Hotel breakfasts were extensive and very good. We used the reception/bar area for our family/friends group pre-meal cocktails with both our own wine and wine purchased from the bar. Staff was very friendly and helpful and on our last night they did recommend a restaurant in an out-of-the-way beautiful location that was the culinary highlight of the stay.

Clean, with very friendly staff. Nice location with restaurants nearby and you can walk to the Acropolis. We only stayed one night so can't give a full review - except to compliment the staff for having a takeaway breakfast ready for us when we had to leave at 4:30.a.m.!

This tour was billed as a cooking class in someone's home with a farm and garden tour before making lunch and eating it outside under the trees. There was no farm or garden tour and lunch was served in the stuffy kitchen. But the most disappointing was that the meal was not something that seemed Greek. It was meatballs with two kids of potatoes - mashed and fried. I was expecting salads, filo dough, olive oil, honey - those kinds of things. Having to make common meatballs and peel potatoes seemed like work, not a culinary experience. Our driver/guide was suffering from a root canal and he tried his best to be helpful but you could tell he couldn't wait for the tour to be over. Same with us. Also, the tour said we would stop at a distillery (we did, just ok) and an artisan pottery studio (we didn't). The woman teaching the class was pleasant but she seemed tired. I suggest finding other options for anyone wanting a cooking class - this one wasn't great.

We had so much fun on this sunset cruise. The catamaran was spacious and classy - one of the nicest catamarans in the harbor. We were lucky with the weather - no wind, the water was like glass and the temperature perfect. The crew was nice but didn't engage with us much. They brought out two kinds of appetizers, including chunks of banana with honey and cinnamon that was different and delicious. They served plenty of ok chilled white wine. The crew anchored by the arch for the sunset, and we watched a big full moon rise over Naxos harbor on the way back (it was twilight). We were all in great spirits, lots of laughs, and this was one of the highlights of the trip.

This was just what we wanted on our first full day: an orientation on Naxos and a visit to three villages that coincidentally let us check out some hiking options. Guide Gina was enthusiastic, personable and knowledgeable, explaining the quarries and terrain as we entered the hills. She had only been on Naxos a year and the driver cheerfully added information during her narration on the way to the villages. We met very nice local cafe in Melanes who provided some delicious snacks. (If we had known there would be food we would have skipped breakfast. )

On time, friendly drivers.

Ferry vouchers and transport to/from Naxos ferry were all in perfect order. We could have handled these easily ourselves but a couple in our group liked having the support of KimKim in case something went wrong (it didn't). The ferry boarding process is a bit disorganized but if you have ferry experience in your travels and go with the flow of passengers you're fine. Pay attention to announcements (in Greek) as you approach your destination, especially if you have a car, and go to the loading/unloading deck as it can take over five minutes to get to the boat exit and the ferries sometimes only stop for a few minutes. You may not make it off if you wait in your seat for the boat to dock.

Leo the guide was very thorough and knowledgeable, not just about the food we sampled but also about the eating habits and daily lives of the average resident. He knew well the story of Athens and Greece and answered numerous questions about history. We walked several miles and he made sure we were all up to the task. The shopkeepers were friendly and appeared to like Leo. We started with a breakfast filo dough pastry spanakopita at shop that had locals lined up outside. Then we had a delicious baklava. There was a larger meal with many different Greek foods at a local restaurant. He took us to the old town with the street markets, where local fishmongers, butchers and produce stalls had all types of fresh and dried food on display.

Between our research and the help of KimKim, this was a custom tour. We enjoyed the visits to villages like Lefkes where we had coffees and talked about Greek life and politics, then to Naoussa where we had a marvelous harbor-side lunch. The town was just beautiful with a quaint, authentic, old central shop area. We made a mistake in asking for a 4-hour midday tour. While it was interesting and the guide very professional and knowledgeable, we would probably have changed the timing as we returned to Naoussa about 3pm when all shops were closed and we had to sit in a cafe playing cards until the 6:15 ferry. It might have been better to either go much earlier in the day and return to Naxos to enjoy the afternoon, or do a longer tour and spend more time in Naoussa town and at a beach instead of sitting around for 3 hours.

The guide (Magdalena?) was exceptional and knowledgeable. When she realized that not many of our group of 12 were deeply into mythology, she adjusted and concentrated on pertinent facts about the Acropolis with just interspersed mythology references which were interesting. She did her best to maneuver through crowds, gained us immediate entrance to a couple areas that had lines, and several times we were off by ourselves near shade on a hot day.

Upon arrival and greeting your expectation is aroused. Walking to your accommodation through olive and date palms sprinkled with roses and other fragrances, you wonder. Once you are led into your room your thought becomes ‘hmm I can live in this royalty.’ The room is elegantly adorned in color and decidedly Moroccan accents; a feast for the eye! The garden is immaculate and everywhere there are alcoves to sit and soak in your surroundings. The ambiance lent to romanticism and reached a pinnacle here when the breakfast table was placed in the courtyard one morning, and in the gardens the next, the white table cloth strewn with red Rose petals. The dining room was ornate and seating was arranged to allow privacy of conversation. After dinner sitting in the gazebo beside the pool allowed your fatigue to drain away.

Our guide Abdelhaq in Marrakech was truly knowledgeable of the area and the quality of the artisans we visited. He was well received by all entrepreneurs and that courtesy was extended to us. His descriptions on architecture and history were so detailed that I did ask if he was a historian only to find out his specialty was linguistics. I especially loved that even though engaged in their work artisans were willing to take time to explain their craft.

Our travels are always designed to gain an appreciation of the people, their culture, customs and history and where possible to live as locals do. Ahmed, Mustapha and Ali became our best buddies at camp in the desert, they being labeled as the best cooks on the tour. Their camaraderie was evident when they gave us new names! I was now affectionately known as Ali Baba and my wife as Amina! In camp we were able to experience rainfall, which was the first in seven years! I came out of our tent for half an hour after midnight to listen to and feel those raindrops! I walked away with a sentence I would never forget one night at the campfire after experiencing some amazing guitar playing. Ahmed said that his ‘best teacher in the desert was the silence.’ They had to do something to break it and playing the guitar was his.

The hotel is located in a good part town that is easy to access from Airport. Lots of good restaurants and shops nearby. The staff are very accommodating and the luggage storage room fit our ski bags and was easy to access when needed. The rooms vary in size. The pool room is relaxing.

A fantastic hotel. great location above the fray of the city with views of the harbor. The owners are super kind and accommodating to customers. (thanks for the Birthday breakfast with soundtrack!) The public space and outdoor area is clean and relaxing, which is nice after a day on the streets in town. The local is food is good if you want to stay in for a meal.

Upscale and modern. I wish I had an extra day here to relax outside under the tree.

The hotel is peaceful and clean. Wonderful artisan craftsmanship adorn the space. Hours of love and care have built this hotel.

The location is fantastic. Easy to walk around town and get picked up by tour companies. A bit noisy with guest leaving rooms. simple accommodations.

a fun filled day customized to meet our needs. We were able to surf the sand dunes ( "maybe we can ski it" ) and go swimming after a food feast of fresh local fish. When your guide (Angel) really listens and gets to know his guests, magic happens. We had so much fun and laughed so hard we had tears in our eyes.

Bright moon prevented good star viewing. telescopes were cool and learned new things. communication on pick up time, location and which tour operator could be improved.

good guides and drivers. very interesting day, learned a ton.

A very interesting experience and worth the early morning pick up. Rare and unique, great photos opportunities.

Our driver was excellent. He was kind and understanding as emotions were overflowing while seeing the Andes mountain range up close for the first time. Which in itself was a remarkable experience. With safety in mind, he delivered us in a timely manner. 80's pop sing along a bonus.

A great tour with Angel, our local guide from Responsible Travel. We hit the best empanada spot, met the owners and got to know about local spices, before heading to the markets for shopping. Drank traditional Mote con huesillo and the Pisco Sours. Enjoyed dishes showcasing the variety of fresh regional seafood. Finished the day with a sunset picnic in a secluded park overlooking the city. A magical day and a great way to spend a day in Santiago. Our guide was knowledgeable about regional dishes and local restaurants. Came prepared to escort us through the busy market stalls and answer all of our questions.

good communication from tour guide, great funny driver. Amazing murals Valparaiso. Go for the art, stay for the winding streets and discover /support local artists. good unique food and bar scene.