Franck Lemaitre

Thank you Franck, of KimKim/Once in a Lifetime. The trip you planned for us to New Zealand exceeded our expectations. We kept saying, “thank you Franck”!! We loved the process of planning. You came up with a first idea plan and listened to how we wanted to personalize it to fit our dreams. We liked all of the accommodations upgraded to water/view front and we asked for something unique. It was nice having a few days in Auckland at MSocial to check out the bay and whale/dolphins excursion and acclimate to the 18 hour time difference. We loved the night time redwood tree walk and our morning stroll again in Rotorua. We had a breathtaking tour and wonderful chat with Jill Simpson, own of beautiful Akaroa Garden; then off to a fun and worthwhile dolphin cruise . Mount Cook Lakeside retreat on lake Pulaski was luxurious; great views, chef cooked meals and perfect location to explore the Mackenzie region. We had a private plane, The Grand Traverse to fly over the glacier and mountain areas of Mackenzie Aoraki National Park. Two of us made it to stargazing after a wonderful dinner in the dining hall, lead by lodge owner. Magnificent!!! Crazy, amazing place to stay (photos). We had an informative and fun backcountry tour as one of our adventures while there. We also got up close to an iceberg and glacier at Lake Tekapo, Next we drove to Clyde and stayed at a unique and authentic Oliver’s Lodge. The people are so welcoming there! Our favorite place was Milford Lodge staying at Cabot Lodge. Breidi met us with umbrella and she and husband Brad Alexander/owners made us feel so welcome. Such a luxuriously unique accommodations on the beautiful hills of their Lodge overlooking the Fiordland National Park and Lake Manapouri. Breathtakingly beautiful. Milford sound is a magical place. Jeff, of Trips and Tramps was our bus driver, part of our coach, cruise and walk tour. We snuck in a helicopter ride that he set up while we were there.

Thanks again Franck. It was a trip of a lifetime. You took care of every detail from pick up driver at every needed venue, rental car, and several amazing meals and awesome excursions. This was our second time using KimKim and you did not disappoint.

Franck was able to plan the perfect vacation for us. We took the quiz and everything he recommended was spot on! We had plenty of down time to choose our own adventures along the way. When our flight to the South Island was delayed, Monika messaged us and gave us options. Everyone was so helpful and we made memories that will last a lifetime!!! I will definitely book through KimKim again!!!

Our 12-day trip to the North Island was fantastic and exceeded our expectations! Our trip was originally scheduled for Nov 2020 and because of Covid we had to defer. Franck helped re-plan the itinerary for March 2024. Highlights included a New Zealand food story tasting menu at Ahi in Auckland, the Wai Ariki Spa at Rotorua, Mt. Takawera crater walk, Waiotapu geothermal area, Tongariro National Park and Kapiti Island. The trip was perfectly customized to our preferences and everything worked very smoothly.

Very Memorable Vacation

It was my first time using kimkim and I wasn't sure how it would work out -- I mean the concept is great --they have a system where you state what you want to do and hook you up with a local expert who designs a trip, then you give them a lot of money and (hope!) it works out.

you get a paper with your confirmation codes for the various things (car rentals, hotels, activities) but we never needed it. We just gave them our name and that was sufficient. The hotels he picked were really amazing (honestly, I would never have found most of those on my own and some of them were really amazing) and most of the activities (hikes, biking, kayaks, etc.) were really fun.

We did have to make a few 'game time changes' while we were in New Zealand in terms of some activities but It was easy to work with the tour groups to make those changes (we moved some times around while there and upgraded to e-bikes for one of the rides), folks in NZ are generally pretty chill....

My biggest advice is to really look at your itinerary and the distances and timing. In our case we sometimes had activities that were either sort of far from the hotel (1- 1.5 hours away) and sort of early (9:00AM start) which made for some really early mornings (again, we were able to move most of them around while there).

I would like to thank Franck for helping us plan a magical trip to New Zealand! Going to NZ is like going back in time. The country is beautiful and so clean, the people genuinely friendly and the food and wine delicious. We absolutely loved the places where we stayed and overall the tours we took were great. We travelled from Auckland to Queenstown and in each place had wonderful experiences. Highlights included: wine touring on Waiheke Island, nighttime kayaking to see glowworms and exploring the Waimangu Volcanic Valley in Rotorua, boat tour to Apawapa blue pearl farm, whale watching in Kaikōura, staying in the remote and very private Scrubby Bay at Annadale, 2 different 4WD tours one with Micheal on “The Road to Mesopotamia and Christine on the Cass Valley Backcountry Tour, our fabulous stay at Azure in Queenstown and finally our private wine tour with Kate from BlackZNQ.
There were a couple of things that stopped me from giving this trip a 5 star. Franck, overall, did a wonderful job organizing the trip but we found his Travel Book somewhat confusing and sometimes lacking in detail. One situation in particular we ran into difficulty when flying from Rotoura to Blenheim. We did not have detailed flight information and when we showed up at airport we found our flight had been delayed and we were not on the flight we expected. If it wasn’t for the amazing Air New Zealand staff we would have lost a whole day of travel. As well, I was disappointed with our Marlborough wine tour. We were happy Franck had arranged a private guide but unfortunately the guide knew nothing about wine and the vineyards we visited for tastings gave little information about region or wines. I would recommend asking for an experienced guide with in-depth knowledge of wine and region and request to talk with the guide to plan the day. Luckily we had very knowledgeable guides for our other 2 wine tours but it still would have been helpful to discuss expectations before hand. We loved our trip to New Zealand and appreciated the service KimKim provides!

Hotel Reviews

Azur Lodge

Queenstown

This place is amazing. The staff were so professional, friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the delicious breakfasts and canapés with cocktails and appreciated the shuttle to and from the Azure. Thanks for the great stay!

Authenticity & Character

The private villa had amazing views of the mountains, was beautifully decorated with natural woods and neutral luxurious fabrics and colours.

Location

This was a secluded enclave of a number of private villas outside of Queenstown.

Staff

Everyone was friendly and helpful. Special thanks to Linda for the excellent restaurant recommendations!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lakestone Lodge

Lake Pukaki

The Lakestone Lodge is a great place to stay if wanting to explore Mount Cook but not stay in the village. The lodge had great service and the staff were friendly and helpful. The lodge is situated at one end of Lake Pukaki and looks up towards Mount Cook. We arrived late in afternoon on a gloomy day. Following a delicious dinner the weather had cleared so we climbed up the hill behind lodge. The panoramic view was spectacular but Mount Cook remained hidden. After sleeping in a clean, comfortable but smaller sized room with a private outdoor sitting area we awoke to a spectacular view of Mount Cook. It was a perfect sunny day without a cloud in the sky and this view was memorable. I will never forget the stunning blue of the lake and the distant snow peaked Mount Cook. Thank you for a wonderful stay.

The Vicarage Geraldine

Geraldine

We enjoyed staying at the Vicarage, Geraldine. We stayed here one night on route to Queenstown and found it clean and comfortable and located right in heart of Geraldine.

Annandale

Pigeon Bay

Wow, this place is exceptional! From the personalized thrilling cliff hugging drive to the secluded private bay with Caroline leading the way, to the beautiful, fully stocked home with floor to ceiling windows across the front, to the gourmet meals provided daily by the chef, this place exceeded all our expectations. The food was abundant and delicious, the hot tub spa provided a fabulous place to star gaze and soak sore muscles after climbing the cliffs on both sides of the bay. We loved our stay at Scrubby Bay, Annadale and can’t wait to plan our next visit.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hapuku Lodge & Tree Houses

Kaikoura

It was a pleasure to stay in this unique hotel. Loved everything about it. Only wish our stay was longer

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Marlborough Boutique Hotel and Vineyard

Marlborough

We loved this hotel! The property is spectacular and staying there feels like you have gone back in time. We loved our room, it was spacious, beautifully decorated and filled with extra goodies, the delicious breakfasts we had each morning and the creative canapés and cocktails we had each evening were memorable. The heated pool area was a favourite place to drink wine, swim and enjoy the summer weather at the end of our busy days. All the staff were friendly and helpful but want to give a special thank you to Chris for her outstanding service. We can’t wait to return!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Black Swan Lakeside Boutique Hotel

Rotorua

The Black Swan was lovely, clean and comfortable. We enjoyed wine and cheese by the pool and the breakfast was good. We also enjoyed our dinner in the restaurant. We were disappointed the morning we had to leave early when we understood breakfast was served from 7 and no one was there. Overall, we enjoyed our stay and would recommend this hotel.

Park Hyatt Auckland

1010

Location fantastic, rooms clean and beautiful with great amenities and breakfast fantastic!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Whale Watch Kaikoura by boat

Kaikoura

The VIP Captain Cabin feature was well worth it! The spacious comfortable seating, the top level viewing deck and the friendly and knowledgeable staff made the experience of viewing the male sperm whales memorable!

National Hatchery

Rotorua

It was very educational to learn about the endangered kiwis and how NZ and volunteers are making a remarkable difference in their survival! Well done!

Glowworm Paddle Board Tour

Rotorua

Such a memorable experience. Imagine paddling along in a tandem kayak with your husband on a star lit warm night. Then imagine gliding into small caves with glowing worms on the sides and ceiling. Magical!

Waiheke Wine tour exclusive

New Zealand

We loved the island, our guide and learning about the wine produced on this paradise!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Ahi Restaurant - 4 snacks and 4 courses

Auckland

The creative menu and variety of unique foods was memorable. We enjoyed meeting Christian one of the owners of restaurant and particularly appreciated when he realized one of our party was not eating much and brought her a lamb dinner which she loved! Thanks so much for the exciting journey through NZ foods.

My trip with the help and direction of Franck was great. Unfortunately with the change in weather we were not able to do all the things that we paid for on the trip to the rain forest as some of the roads were flooded but a driver John did try his best to help out and took us as far as he was allowed. But all was great and we had a wonderful time.
Thanks again Franck and his team

Hotel Reviews

Naumi Hotel Wellington

6141

The colours were wild, very modern, only problem they do not have enough parking for visitors that have a car. Other than that ok.

Authenticity & Character

The wild modern colours

Location

Location was great right in the middle of everything

Staff

They were helpful and considerate

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was clean and comfortable

Ruapehu Country Lodge

Ruapehu

The people were great ,food was wonderful, the animals were cute especially the goats and Lama

Authenticity & Character

cute place felt like home

Location

A little out of the way from downtown but it is in the country area so still beautiful

Staff

the family was great

Cleanliness & Comfort

everything was clean and comfortable

Regent of Rotorua

Rotorua

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Tongariro Alpine Crossing guided

Tongariro National Park

Did not get to finish the trip had a small accident on the way up but although we only got to do 12 k it was worth it.

Quality of Experience

Did it with friends

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The driver and staff was great waited for us to come down and helped us back

Transport

Great

Kayak Taupo - Maori Rock Carvings

New Zealand

The day was perfect no rain and very interesting information

Quality of Experience

Fun

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The captain of the ship was funny had jokes to tell along the way

Transport

Glowworm Paddle Board Tour

Rotorua

It was fun

Quality of Experience

It was with friends

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Staff very great and helpful

Transport

The driver was cute

Mt Tarawera Crater Walk Experience

Rotorua

Loved it very scary and exciting all at the same time

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The driver and staff Jessie and Ahn made it more fun than expected

Transport

Bumpy ride but well worth it.

Wine Tastings & Vineyard Visits on Waiheke Island

Auckland

Quality of Experience

Food

Transport

Franck and his team were excellent in their plan for our vacation in New Zealand...he listened to what we wanted and set up the perfect itinerary...rooms that overlooked lakes and vistas that were amazing...the planned outings were superb...I would recommend this company to anyone if you want to see the real NZ

We had a wonderful time. The trips were great. Everything worked well. We enjoyed all the hotels. thank you Franck for organizing.

Franck planned a three week trip for us in New Zealand, and we left feeling like we did it all. The planning process was easy and done through the messaging platform. We felt confident showing up that all the details were taken care of from airport pick-ups to daily activities. While traveling we ran into a couple of issues like a cancelled flight, and Franck was quick to help us course correct. I would book again using Franck and Kimkim!