GUEST TRAVEL REVIEWS

We traveled to Puerto Maldonado, Cusco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and Lima on a 154 day tour in May/June of this year with Kuoda Travel. We chose Kuoda based on excellent reviews on Tripadvisor. Jesus Ramos listened to our interests and gave us an excellent itinerary keeping in mind our interests (ex: hiking in Wayna Picchu, food tour in Lima, visit a local chef in Maray, Hike in Ollantaytambo). We were pleased with the all the guides and drivers in all the locations.

We loved the special touch of Kuoda owner, Mery Caledron and Liset (who was behind all the bookings) to personally come and visit us when we were in Cusco. However, we do feel that few of the guides rushed us thru the day (ex; we had a wonderful time with our guide who was with us from Sacred valley, Machu Pichu and Cusco journey. He was wonderful all the time till we reached Cusco. On our day of Cusco visit (last day with this particular guide), he rushed us thru the day which annoyed me a bit but he was very good rest of the tour. With the same guide, even though he was lovely, we had to stop him many times (during the entire course of the visit) to slow down and let us take pictures.

Off course he was very happy to take pictures when we tell him, but the inherent rush was at times annoying. Similarly in Lima, we felt rushed near the end of our day tour in the morning. Also the hotel in Lima (Dazzler hotel) on the 1st night was very disappointing. We were told that the hotel was 4 stars but the room we were given was worse than a Holiday Inn (I must say that their breakfast had lot of variety and way better than Holiday Inn but the room itself was very disappointing). We did not have similar issue with hotel rooms anywhere else. All other places had excellent rooms and service. I feel Kuoda took our complaint (after the 1st night at Dazzler, I emailed them) seriously and made sure that we do not have similar issue again. I will recommend Kuoda to anyone in a heart beat.

If you’re looking for a personalized tour of Peru, look no further than Kuoda Travel. My family and I just returned from a 10 day trip and we can’t say enough good things about Kuoda. Kuoda anticipated and managed our every need, allowing us to thoroughly enjoy our trip rather than having to spend time worrying about arrangements. The itinerary Kuoda created for us matched the interests we shared with our trip planner, their hotel recommendations were perfect, and our tour guides and drivers were exceptional. Kuoda and our tour guide even modified our itinerary when I had to spend the day in the hotel due to altitude sickness (it happens…). Thank you Kuoda for an amazing trip that our family will never forget!

My wife and I, and another couple just returned from a trip to Peru organized by Kuoda.
I have to say Kuoda is a first class tour company,
To start, they tailored the trip around us, not an off the shelf trip. At every step of our vacation, there was a Kuoda employee to guide and help us, a very personal touch.
All the guides, were friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and very sincere. But I am compelled to mention one of our guides “ Dimas”, this man was truly fantastic, he made us feel like family.
My wife and I are seasoned travellers, because of Kuoda I can honestly say this was my most memorable trip.
I would book with Kuoda again in a nano second.
Using anyone else would in my opinion be a mistake.

We just completed 3 weeks in Peru with Kuoda. Perfection. Urpi’s planning was terrific. Each recommendation was correct. Every question and concern taken care of.

The guides at each location (Cusco, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Lima, Nazca) were knowledgeable, helpful, caring and responsive to our needs. Each hotel was superb. Every day was an adventure. There was not one aspect of this trip with which I can find fault. I can see no reason anyone would travel to Peru and not use Kuoda.

My husband and I recently returned from our vacation arranged through Kuoda Travel. On the travel documents that they gave us it is titled “Amazing Peru Adventure” and I must agree that it turned out perfectly and was truly a trip of a lifetime!

Machu Picchu has been on our bucket list for a long time. Having read the great reviews on Trip Advisor we contacted Kuoda well in advance of our time frame to travel. Jesus Ramos was our travel planner. I went over the details with him over the phone and he planned our entire itinerary. We tweaked it a little bit and changed a few of the hotels and then waited patiently for our date to travel.

We can’t thank Kuoda enough for how flawless the arrangements were and on how well they treated us! Most of the time we had a personal driver and guide with us. Our hotels and most meals were included and pre-arranged. Our guide was Ofelia. She is lovely and a very knowledgeable guide and it was nice to get to know her. Jose David was our driver and Jason Ayerbe was our customer service coordinator.

We arrived in Lima very late at night, so we stayed the first night at the Wyndham Hotel right across the street from the airport. The following morning it was back to the airport, and we flew to Cusco where we a had lovely lunch at a restaurant called Limo. It was really great! Before we could feel the affects of the high altitude we were whisked away to the Sacred Valley where we stayed two nights at the Belmond Rio Sagrado. It is a lovely hotel right on the river with beautiful grounds and mountains surrounding you. We stayed here two nights and toured a museum where they have llamas and alpacas and weaving demonstrations, visited the Inca ruins at Moray, the salt pans, and the agricultural terraces. We also had lunch one day at the home of a lovely woman who is a gourmet chef. Her home had a spectacular view. This turned out to be a a real treat!

Next we checked out of our hotel and took the Hiram Bingham train to Machu Picchu. I highly recommend taking this train. It was a great experience and so much fun. Enjoy a beautiful lunch as the train rides through the scenery of the Sacred Valley and at the back of the train drink Pisco Sours and dance to the music (three guys playing guitars and singing).

When we arrived in Aguas Calientes we then took the bus up to Machu Picchu where we checked in to the Belmond Sanctuary Lodge and met again our guide Ofelia, who was waiting for us. We toured around Machu Picchu with our expert guide. Ofelia left us that afternoon, we stayed overnight at the hotel and were able to enter the gates of Machu Picchu the following morning to explore a little more on our own. The Sanctuary Lodge is the ONLY hotel up at the top, so this was also a very special experience to stay there. It’s a very small hotel with around 30 rooms.

When we left Machu Picchu we took a different train (Vista Dome) to Ollantambo and our driver was again waiting for us, to drive us back to Cusco. There we checked in to the Belmond Palacio Nazarenas for two nights. This was an amazing hotel…our favorite of the trip. The hotel and our room were amazing! We toured around Cusco with our guide…went to the San Pedro Market and walked around the town. We also visited some local ruins at Sacsayhuaman. Before we checked out of the hotel Mery Calderon paid a surprise visit to us while we were having breakfast. She wanted to introduce herself to us and she gave us a beautiful gift, a frame made by a local artisan. I have already framed our Machu Picchu photo!

We next flew to Lima where we had three nights at the Belmond Miraflores. Kuoda planned a foodie tour for us which was a lot of fun! We also planned another tour to visit the Peruvian Paso horses at Casa Hacienda Los Ficus. We did this on our own, as someone had recommended it, but it could have easily been arranged by Kuoda.

I usually do a lot of research and make our own vacation plans, so I was a bit nervous about how this would turn out, leaving everything to a travel agency. But I never could have planned all of this as well on my own, and I am so glad we used Kuoda. Our vacation was truly special and magical. I highly recommend them to anyone considering a trip to Peru. You will not regret it.