We had an excellent experience from start to finish. My husband and I were working on booking our honeymoon to Europe, but on a whim, we decided to go to Peru instead after we saw an interesting documentary about it. I contacted Kuoda the next day, I received a return message from the travel designer, Jesus, who said he’d get back to me. Never in a million years did I imagine that I’d have an entire trip proposal that same day. Within 2 days of the original message everything was set up. There were little changes, but other than that, we were all set. Jesus is a machine- so fast! And by the way, we booked the trip less than 90 days prior to our departure date.

He asked a few questions about what sort of hotels we were interested in (we chose boutique hotels) and what pace we would like for our trip. He sent back a detailed itinerary. Everything was with a private bus and guide. Our guides were experts at avoiding crowds and taking us to less well-traveled places.

Fast forward to the trip. It was everything we could hope for and more, all while being completely in our budget. The hotels were excellent- we will review them separate. Especially loved the Hatun Inti hotel in Aguas Calientes (the town below machu picchu) and La Lune One Suite Hotel. They were both quaint and absolutely lovely. In addition, the grounds at the Sonesta Hotel in the Sacred Valley were just stunning. Kuoda left us a nice honeymoon surprise there, as well. Very cute.

The excursions that Jesus booked were great. Of course we saw Machu Picchu, but he also booked us for Huayna Picchu without me even asking (great, because it books up very far in advance). Our favorite excursions, though, were the little places off the beaten path. For instance, going to lunch in this couple’s house in Maras, where they serve vegetables that they grow in a lovely garden in their backyard. Pachamanca done just for us in Ollantaytambo, right next to the organic farm where all of the animals are raised and the vegetables are grown? Check! Or one of my other favorites- meeting the women in a small town that still live the Inca lifestyle. They showed us how they farm, how they spin yarn, wash it, and dye it, using all natural processes. We were both really touched by this experience.

We asked for restaurant recommendations and received a big list. Jesus booked everything for us, which was a huge help. All of the restaurants were smaller places that weren’t crowded, and every single one was delicious. We are big foodies and really enjoyed this.

We only had one slight problem- one of our tours was not quite right- the places we were supposed to visit were not open. However, when we contacted Kuoda via email to ask what happened, we received a very quick response and they quickly corrected the problem. We definitely don’t expect everything to be perfect, but it meant a lot to us that they were so responsive to fix everything. I actually wouldn’t even mention it, but I think it is useful to know that in the rare event that something does not go as expected, they are right on it.

Everything from start to finish was perfect. Jesus did an excellent job, planned an amazing honeymoon for us, and was very responsive anytime we had a question. I will definitely book a future trip with Kuoda. They are truly the best!