Alexia Saint-Haont

Alexia did an incredible job planning our 4 week and Spain vacation! Our accommodations, tours, transfers, recommendations completely met our needs. Alexia was very responsive addressing our questions or any issues we may have had to ensure a smooth and seamless trip. Thank you KimKim and Alexia!

Paris - Mgallery Echiquier Paris Opera - paid ourselves ~$475 Euro/night)-4 nights. Nice, tiny, but just okay.

Seine River Dinner cruise - excellent first day tour, food was good, singer for entertainment. It would have been better to have had window table for better view.
Louvre - self guided with headphones was great
Versailles - Impressive tour, October was not great time of year for the gardens
Moulin Rouge - did not attend (poor reviews from others); attended Paradis Latin Show - was excellent and food was very good.
Pastry Tour - Fantastic!!
Side Car ride around Paris to Sacre Coeur Montmartre. Excellent.
Wine tasting at Louvre Cellars . Wine was not great for Paris.
Reims, Champagne (2 nights) - B&B Le Clos Corbier - very nice, large room. Lively and quiet. Too isolated and no restaurant/food within walking distance, uber was $60 euro into Reims for dinner! After a day of Champagne tasting, I did not wish to drive.

Champagne wine tour w/Thomas (3 wineries) - 1) Veuve Clicquot 5*, 2) Collard-Milesi w/ lunch 3.5* 3) Lancelot-Royer 4*

Strasbourg, Alsace (2 nights) - Hotel Du Dragon (good hotel, central). Great city! Great spatzle! Nice wine bar (Terres a Vin)

wine tour with Jerome (3 wineries) - 1) Wach winery - good wine, mediocre tour 4*, 2) Gilg- not great wine, poor tasting 3*, 3) Louis Sipp - good wine, good story

Beaune - (5 nights) (Ermitage de Corton, Chorey-Les-Beaune, Bourgogne, France - very nice B&B, large suite. Outskirts of Beaune (10km) and getting a taxi or Uber required a reservation or a potentially long wait. Other than the included breakfast, there was no food service other than full meal dinner and lunch. No coffee machine available in room.

Burgundy Wine Region Tour Operator: ( Emanuel ) France Intense tour company

Wineries: 1) Domaine Comte Senard Aloxe-Corton (8 tastings) 4*; 2) Maillard-Grivot (12 tastings) 5*;
Wine store - (5 tastings)
*** plus shared a bottle of wine at lunch and dinner
Great tour! A daunting number of wines tasted. Excellent quality!

Tours:
Hospices de Beaune - great private tour!
Mustard factory (on own) and could not gain access to the factory, only the store.

Side car tour - this was fun. Rode through the vineyards and had a glass of Kir Royal w/ gougeres!
Burgundy Cooking Experience - Fantastic day of cooking!! Made several dishes, then enjoyed a wonderful lunch. Great class! Highly recommend this class.

Dinner at La Table Du Square… Amazing!
Excellent Wine Bars: Le bout du monde (wine bar), L’arche des vins
Dinner at L’Ecrit Vin Beaune… great dinner.

Lyon (Le Phenix Hotel) 2 nights

Dinner at Le Boeuf d’Argent - great dinner and food presentation!
Beautiful historic centre
Secrets of Lyon’s Gastronomy food walking tour (good tour, just okay charcuterie, but excellent brioche dessert with red candy covered almonds), okay wine pairings

Bordeaux (Hotel Indigo Bordeaux) - 4 nights Oct 13-17
decent hotel, rooftop restaurant; awesome buffet breakfast!!

Discovered 2 great bars - Le Sobre, Bar de Vin

Chartrons, Bordeaux wine walking district food tour (3hrs) - tasted coffee, pastry, and something else; was not a great tour ☹️.
Saint-Emilion wine region tour 7 hr tour small group (incl picnic (mini van tour) - Ended up being a private tour! Went to 3 wineries, and had a lovely picnic lunch in the yard of one winery.
Day trip to Arcachon Bassin and Dune du Pilat. Was not a great tour. Sand dunes were pretty cool though . Went to an oyster restaurant and had disappointing wine ☹️.

River cruise - Would not recommend . Ambiance was rather cold (like a cafeteria), food was lousy, and the wine was just okay. The cruise in Paris was far better!

Madrid (Hotel Emperador) - 3 nights - very nice hotel, great lobby bar, nice rooftop bar/restaurant. Breakfast was included, and very good. A large hotel with some large tour groups which can make for morning elevator access waits and checkout chaos. Clearly they handle large groups frequently as it was very organized chaos at peak times.

Tapas Tour Oct 17 (really good, food was really good and plentiful); wine was just okay.
Private Madrid Winery tour (10-4pm) - Excellent tour, guide was amazing, winery tours were fantastic, and wine and snacks were great!
Royal Palace guided visit - great tour! Guide was excellent!
Flamenco and Tapas night - Great show!, but would not recommend the tapas.

Barcelona (4 nights) - Serras Barcelona Hotel - Magnificent in every way!!! The staff, the food, the bar, the restaurant, the service… all exceeding expectations! Very intimate hotel. The VERY best hotel!!!

Barcelona Market Tapas dinner Tour - Really good tour, food and wine were very good, food was plentiful.
Catamaran sunset dinner cruise - great cruise with live music ( guitar player) and very good food (intimate dinner on board)
Day trip to Montserrat and the Penedes region wine tasting region - Wonderful tour of Montserrat, and very nice winery Llopart Family Estates tour and tasting! Our tour guide was terrific! We were able to have lunch away from the crowds.

Transfers between airports and hotels were much appreciated. Drivers were competent and helpful with our luggage.

Alexia was instrumental in coordinating our travel and was attentive to our concerns and requests.

Alexia really knocked it out of the park! Truly an amazing experience from start to finish. The travel was immaculately coordinated, the daily adventures planned were exciting, and the hotels were fit for royalty! An unforgettable and unique experience in France, perfectly tailored to our dreams. We will absolutely be booking through KimKim again!

It was a great trip to wine country and Paris. Our guide, Alexia, was fantastic; very responsive, attentive, and available thoughout planning and the visit. We both learned a bit about what works for me and my partner. Every single guide we encountered was as good as you could hope for. The baking classes were perfect and we learned a great deal. I’m looking forward to planning a Spain/Portugal trip with Alexia next summer.

Hotel Reviews

Grand Hotel des Templiers

Reims

The Grand Hotel des Templiers in Reims was quaint and a bit removed from the city center, but manageable. It was clean and nice, and overall, it was fine for our stay.

Hotel de France

Beaune

The Hotel de France in Beaune was disappointing. The mattress in our first room was bad, and we had to be moved immediately. The room was very small and on the fourth floor. While it was clean and not too far from activity, it was not close to the fun parts of the city. Overall, it was a pretty poor experience.

Hôtel Le Mireille

Paris

The Hôtel Le Mireille in Paris was better than the hotel in Beaune but still not ideal. The location was not where we wanted to be, and in retrospect, we should have chosen a hotel closer to the main attractions. The hotel itself was okay, but the location was a downside.

Activity Reviews

Excursion in the world of Champagne: visit of Veuve Clicquot and a family grower with lunch

Reims

The excursion in the world of Champagne was really good. We had great guides and visited some excellent places. The timing was just right for our trip, and overall, we were very pleased with the experience.

Guided visit of Beaune and of the Hospices de Beaune

Beaune

The guided visit of Beaune and the Hospices de Beaune was very good. We loved the places we visited and thought it was a nice range of locations. The whole experience was very enjoyable.

Self-Guided Visit of the Eiffel Tower with Access to the Summit (Entrance Tickets included)

Paris

The self-guided visit of the Eiffel Tower was fine. By the time we got to Paris, I was a bit indifferent about doing it, but my companion wanted to, so we went ahead. The tickets and access went smoothly, and I have no complaints, but it wasn't a highlight for me.

La Baguette and ‘Boulangerie’ Class

Paris

The baking classes were fantastic. We had great instructors and a wonderful experience. The people in the class were fun, and it was definitely one of the high points of the trip.

Full-day excursion from Paris of D-day beaches - U.S. sector

Paris

The full-day excursion to the D-Day beaches was terrific. Although I was initially hesitant about the drive, it turned out to be just the right amount of time and a very worthwhile experience.

The two guided tours in Bordeaux were excellent. They were in different parts of the city, so that was great. Both guides were very knowledgeable. Our food and wine tour ended up also being a history tour. As my partner told Rio, our guide, we hit the trifecta! History, wine and food all from one guide!

We also loved our sunset cruise in La Rochelle and our bike ride to Ile de Re. Beautiful villages and coastline.

All of our drivers were on time and courteous. We ran into one issue in Paris. This was the only driver that didn’t text me on where to meet him. I had to call and we weren’t in the right location. Took a while for us to find him and many phone calls later. All worked out in the end.

I need to also mention that Alexia went out of her way to try to find us an alternate way to get to Bordeaux as we had an unexpectedly long layover at CDG. The effort was much appreciated.

This was our second experience with KimKim and I would highly recommend their services. We will definitely be back!.

Alexia did a wonderful job planning the trip - we had a great mix of hotels and activities. The boat trip to the Calanques was amazing - I had never heard of this place, and our captain, Hugo, and the boat were fantastic. The hotel over the port city was in a great location, with a great view and fun decor.

The Royal Riviera in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat was beautiful! The room was perfect, and the staff was very accommodating, making for a wonderful stay. The lunch at Le Chèvre d'Or was truly special - the view from the restaurant was amazing, and the meal was spectacular.

We ended the trip in London for a quick visit. The Bloomsbury Hotel was great, and we spent a couple of days seeing the sights of London.

Everything was well planned and coordinated, and a great 10 days.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Résidence du Vieux Port

Marseille

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Royal Riviera

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

Beautiful location, wonderful staff, and amenities.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Bloomsbury

London

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Calanques Afternoon Cruise

Marseille

Our guide Hugo was fantastic - a truly unique day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lunch at La Chèvre d'Or restaurant

France

Absolutely amazing - the food was unreal, the staff was gracious and attentive, and the view was one of a kind.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Cruise during sunset

France

A very fun way to see the coast, learn about the beautiful homes and palaces, and get up close to the Super yachts! Our captain was very knowledgeable and easy going. Very relaxing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Had an amazing time in France. The trip Alexia put together was incredible. When I needed to make a few changes while on the trip Alexia was super helpful and help sort everything while I was out enjoying the activities and sights we had planned on the day, so I didn’t have to stress.

Staying the night on Mont St-Michel and experiencing it after the flocks of tourists died down was incredible! Also fell in love with Bordeaux would definitely go back.

Hotel Reviews

Auberge Saint-Pierre

LE MONT-SAINT-MICHEL

Authenticity & Character

Staying in a Mont St Michel residence couldn’t be anything but Authentic. Definitely recommend over staying near the information centre or main town on the mainland. Just pack light and leave what you don’t need in the car to make getting around easier.

Location

Amazing location being on the island and being able to have view from the top of the village looking back over the main streets, rooftops and coastline.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Originals City, Hôtel Chantecler

Le Mans

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Best Western le Vinci 3*

Amboise

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mercure La Rochelle Vieux-Port

La Rochelle

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Le Boutique Hotel & Spa

Bordeaux

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in the historical center of Bordeaux and with designer stores and stunning cafes and landmark at your doorstep.

Staff

The staff here are amazing, casual but friendly team that work together to looks after guests. Nothing is too difficult and they are super proactive and thoughtful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms are presented beautifully and everything was immaculate.

Activity Reviews

A Taste of Saint-Émilion – Afternoon

Bordeaux

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Martell Cognac - A unique experience

France

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A day at the Mont Saint Michel with a small group - Meet us there

Saint-Malo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Alexia was responsive in handling the logistics of our trip. However, I substantially designed the itinerary myself, so my feedback relates to the execution rather than the planning.

My primary disappointment was the selection and oversight of the local guide. For a premium private travel experience, I expected much stronger vetting and quality control. When concerns arose, I did not feel that my interests as the client were the primary focus. Instead, I often felt that the priority was accommodating the local vendors.

I also would have appreciated more proactive advocacy on our behalf once it became clear that the guide was not meeting expectations. Ultimately, the execution fell well short of the premium experience we were expecting.

Activity Reviews

Private Paris Fashion Experience & Immersive Store Visits - Day 1

Paris

This was, unfortunately, the most disappointing experience of our trip. We booked a private experience expecting a highly personalized, engaging, and seamless day. Instead, the tour felt unprepared, disjointed, and largely unengaging. There were extended periods of silence with very little historical context, conversation, or storytelling, and much of the day felt like simply walking from one location to another without the added value that a private guide should provide. The guide's attention frequently seemed divided by coordinating other tours and promoting her own book, leaving us with the impression that our experience was not her primary focus. There were also unnecessary delays and awkward lulls caused by transportation and logistical coordination that should have been anticipated in advance. Additionally, portions of our itinerary were changed without consulting us, and I found the guide's communication style to be abrupt at times. I was also uncomfortable with the repeated insistence on handling my personal phone after I had declined. In contrast, our private guide at Notre Dame was exceptionally engaging, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and well prepared. That experience demonstrated exactly what we expect from a premium private guide and made the shortcomings of this experience even more apparent. My advice to future travelers is to confirm who your guide will be in advance and ensure your expectations for the style of the experience are clearly communicated. A great guide can make a private tour unforgettable; unfortunately, this guide made what should have been a highlight of our trip the most disappointing part of it.

Quality of Experience

The experience would benefit from being far more engaging and personalized. There were extended periods of silence, very little storytelling, and limited historical or cultural context. A private guide should provide insights, conversation, and perspective that guests could not easily obtain on their own. The tour often felt like simply walking between locations rather than a thoughtfully curated private experience.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide should be more attentive to the guests and less focused on other responsibilities during the tour. Throughout the experience there were frequent phone calls and messages coordinating other tours, as well as discussion promoting her own book, which made us feel that our tour was not her primary focus. I also believe guests' personal boundaries should be respected. I was uncomfortable with the repeated insistence on handling my personal phone, and my decision to decline should have been accepted without question. Finally, I would recommend stronger vetting to ensure guides are engaging, enthusiastic, well prepared, and professional in both their communication and demeanor.

Transport

Transportation logistics should be much better coordinated. There were unnecessary delays and idle periods while transportation was being arranged, which interrupted the flow of the day and contributed to long stretches where nothing was happening. A private guide should anticipate these logistics in advance so transitions feel seamless and guests remain engaged rather than waiting while arrangements are made.

Towers of Notre-Dame Before Hours

Paris

This was, without question, the highlight of our trip to Paris and exceeded every expectation. Having access to Notre-Dame before it opened to the public made the experience incredibly special. The peaceful atmosphere allowed us to fully appreciate the beauty, history, and significance of this remarkable cathedral without the crowds. What truly made the experience exceptional, however, was our guide. She was engaging, exceptionally knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and wonderfully prepared. Every moment was filled with fascinating history, architectural details, and stories that brought Notre-Dame to life. She had an incredible ability to answer questions, adapt the conversation to our interests, and make the experience feel personal rather than scripted. If you have any interest in history, architecture, or French culture, this experience is absolutely worth adding to your itinerary. It was the finest guided experience of our trip and one we will remember for years to come.

Quality of Experience

The exclusive early access transformed the entire visit. Being able to experience Notre-Dame in a quiet, uncrowded setting made it feel far more meaningful. Combined with an outstanding guide who continuously shared fascinating history and architectural insights, the experience felt immersive, educational, and truly memorable.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was exceptional—engaging, highly knowledgeable, enthusiastic, well prepared, and genuinely passionate about Notre-Dame. She made every moment interesting and brought the cathedral's history to life

Transport

Transportation and logistics were seamless. Everything ran on time, allowing us to focus entirely on enjoying the experience.

The trip to hike along the Brittany coast from Port de le Duc to Saint Malo was a treat. The transfers were mostly flawless. The hotels were nice and well situated Watching the Eiffel tower sparkle through you hotel room window is quite the treat as is listening to the crashing waves on the beach in Dinard. The only feedback that would keep it from a 5 star was no map was provided for the route the travel adviser expected us to take. Perhaps I should have done that ahead of time instead of spending 45 minutes to an hour each evening reviewing the route and finding the location of the hotel etc etc. Once there was a surprise but it was sorted out and a great alternative was found. The written description of the route, the time estimates and the location of the hotels did not always match up perfectly. Fortunately the GR 34 is easy to follow and can be found on many hiking sites as a GPX file. The extra day in St Malo was a good idea but another day of walking would have been appreciated as well. The Brittany coast is stunning.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Le Port-Jacquet

Saint-Briac-sur-Mer, Ille-et-Vilaine

I would have slept on the floor in a closet to get at the breakfast! so good. so friendly.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hôtel Les Charmettes

Saint-Malo

Fun hotel on the St Malo beach. A 20 minute walk from the walled city. The beach is fun with water and wind sports abounding. Lots of happy noise.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Day Trip to Cancale & Mont-Saint-Michel

Saint-Malo

Mt St Michelle is very nice. We skipped the Cancale portion as we had each day been in a nice town along the coast and wanted to spend more time in St Malo. We stayed an extra day in St malo to enjoy the city but would not have had any real time there had we spent 3 hours in Cancale.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had a great time. All the connections between stops worked out just fine. The guides were wonderful. Enjoyed our time there very much.