Paul swalwell , 30 january 2012
We chose ideamerge as they were by far the cheapest offering
moturis 4-5 sleeper RV. Although from Scotland ideamerge
replied to our e mails almost immediately even though there was
a large time difference.
We arrived to pick up our RV from San Fransisco at 08.30 for a 9
am pick up. The gate was locked and we could not get in until
09.20 (not a good start waiting on a highway for 50 minutes with
a 4 and 2 year old!! However the pick up was fine once we got in.
The RV only had 9000 miles on so fairly new and as described
online.
Everything worked well in the unit apart from we found the
kitchen equipment very cheap and easily broken and the pans
were very hard to keep clean as they were not non stick. At the
weekend we could smell gas (propane) so we phoned the 24 hr
helpline for advice. The lady said she would get someone to
phone us back...... We are still waiting on that call! So next 3
days we had no gas.
On drop off we advised them off the leak and they apologised but
we had to ask for compensation for having no heating or hot
water. We were given $45 off our over mileage. We also were not
aware we ad to pay for any generator use. Luckily we only had 3
hours use.
All in all a very good rental but the leak was badly managed (well
not at all!!) would definitely RV again!

Lance Liza Cullinan, South Africa, 18 january 2012
Ideamerge, you were great! We were collected in a stretch limo which
impressed our two teenage daughters no end! The staff were great
and the RV in good condition. This was our 3rd holiday and more
enjoyable than the previous European ones. The RV was very well
equipped and well designed. We will definitely consider renting an
Ideamerge RV again. Thanks for a great experience.

Ana Romero De Avila Villacastin, 18 january 2012
We have repeated twice with IdeaMerge in the same year. In USA in July and in NZ in December and everything has been all right. We rented a two berth campervan with Britz in Auckland, the shuttle was free from the Airport. We dropped off the campervan in Christchurch and they gave our money back for the insurance quickly. All the equipment in the campervan worked perfectly so thank you for these fantastic holidays.

Chris Myung Gun Lee, 17 january 2012
We are really grateful to IdeaMerge for the rental arrangement. We enjoyed our trip to Europe so much with the rented camper van and everything was satisfactory. In particular, even though the relevant pick-up cost was raised by the local rental company, McRent, after our booking IdeaMerge did not charge the additional money by its takiing the cost.

We are going to contact your company again when we do our next trip to Europe to travel around another part of it.

Nick Adamson Australia, 11 december 2011
Highly recommended way to see Italy. We prefer quiet villages
and countryside to cities and the choice to drive up any road if
we like the look of it. This approach took us to some wonderful
locations not overrun with crowds. We took off with a map and
just a general idea of where we wanted to go. One highlight was
the decision to drive to the Abruzzo mountains after discovering
the Amalfi Coast was closed due to road damage. It highlights
the flexibility a camper van gives you.

Recommendations for travelers include
- take a GPS
- don't go after Oct 31 as too many parks shut down
- avoid going to close to Sorrento in the van
- Camping Michelangelo in Florence is worth the extra cost
- check petrol station nozzles are unlocked late at night before
putting money in

The people at Freedom are great and we would be very happy
to lease a van from them again in the future.

P Thames, 05 december 2011
This was my first RV trip, so when booking it was confusing trying to work out what each company offered, with each company presenting all their options in different ways. Ideamerge was brilliant for giving me a straightforward way of comparing different RV rental companies.

We ended up with Motoris, and the service at pick-up and drop-off was extremely friendly, and at pick-up they did a great job of explaining the RV to us newbies. The RV itself was great fun, we drove from Denver to Las Vegas via all the National Parks and had an amazing time.

Yazeed Altunisi, Saudi Arabia, 02 december 2011
It's A Life Time Experience
I Had always wanted to tour Europe in a motorhome with my wife and 2 daughters. Finally, I had the chance to do it.
I browsed the internet for the best motorhomes, and found Ideamerge.com to be one of the best websites offering a good motorhome. Italy was the closest to Saudi Arabia, so we went to Rome as the first destination.
In Rome, we visited most of the historical places, then rented a car to Pisa. It was a 3.5 hours drive, and after we visited the Pisa Tower, we went to pick up the Motorhome, It was a nice Fiat T 5841 McRent Comfort Standard that sleeps up to 4, almost brand new, fully equipped with W.C, Shower, Oven, Refrigerator ....

I hooked up my GPS, and away we went. The first destination was Venice. i had prepared for the trip before we left our country, all places to visit, roads, places to park the motorhome ....

We arrived at Venice in the evening, parked the motorhome in the special motorhome parking area just outside Venice, and took the People Mover train in a 5 minute trip to Venice (1 Euro per person) for a dinner at a nice restaurant, and went back to the motorhome.

It was a cold night, so I struggled to turn on the heater, the manual i had was in Italian, and the CD they gave me was in Italian too, but I managed.

Early next morning, we went to visit Venice, and stayed till the evening. 1 day is more than enough for venice, as my daughters (15 and 13Y) are young to be interested to visit art galleries and museums, but we enjoyed Venice, and we took a taxi boat back to the motorhome.

Our next trip was Gardaland park on Como lake, the biggest theme park in italy. a 3 hours drive, We stopped at a service area 10 minutes before Gardaland to spent the night, as motorhome parking is not allowed overnight in Gardaland as i knew when preparing for the trip. Early next morning, we arrived at Gardaland and spent a nice day there, they were celebrating Halloween.

We left in the evening, to Switzerland, our next destination was Interlaken, a nice city on a lake,
the girls did Paragliding and we parked the motorhome on the lake, and went for a nice quite walk, had dinner, and went back to sleep in the motorhome.

Next morning, we went to Geneva, spent the noo time there then went to Germany Europa-park, 1 of the largest theme parks in Europe. We parked the motorhome there, and connected to a power sources to recharge the Laptops, and Camera batteries.

The next day, we went to Disneyland Paris, arrived at 5 pm. We parked the motorhome at Disneyland, and joined the Halloween night, and spent the following day in Disneyland too.

our next destination was Annecy, we had a wonderful night and day there.

Then we went to Milan, my wife did some shopping, then went back to Pisa to drop the Motorhome, rented a car to Rome airport and took the flight back to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Time fly's !!!

Notes :
1. Time fly's, so enjoy the most of every minute.
2. Must prepare very well before the trip, use Google earth to find destinations (according to your interest), routes, and insert locations in the GPS. (as must do)
3- be prepared for many toil charge in Italy and France.
4- it is very convenient to use the W.C at the service stops.

Steve and cathy Ferndale from NSW Australia, 30 november 2011
In late October we completed a 21 day motorhome holiday in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and The Czech Republic. The Ideamerge booking system worked very well and everything was organised as agreed in the contract. We hired a McRent van thru the Munich office which is at Zoolmoos. The unexpected difficulty was that because it is so far from the airport the taxi drivers at Munich airport had much difficulty in working out how to get there. On arrival the van which we had ordered was unavailable and we were upgraded at no extra cost to a bigger van. The handover was conducted in excellent english, a friendly manner and was very detailed but like others we had difficulty retaining all the information provided and it would have been very handy to have simple insructions written in English. We were disappointed with the standard of bedding which we hired as the doonas and sheets were small, the pillows old and misshapen. The kitchen fit out was below expectations when compared with hire vans in New Zealand and Australia. The frying pan and saucepans were cheap and below standard and whilst we had a kettle it did not have a lid. The van performed extremely well and at a cruising speed of 100km/hr was very economical on fuel. As it was late in the season we found the the guide for European Camping Grounds invaluable even if it was in German. When returning the vehicle the system was fast and very efficient with no issues. The deposit was recredited to my account within 5 days. We recommend to renters taht a GPS is essential, they consider buying or providng their own bedding particularly in the cold months and plan on supplementing the kitchen fitout with small purchases. Overall a great way to holiday and we would use the services of Dreammerge and McRent for a future holiday.

Assie Liefie De Klerk, Bloemfontein, South Africa, 30 november 2011
On January 27, 2011 we booked a VW California
through Ideamerge at McRent in Frankfurt
(Friedberg). Within 60 minutes the booking was
confirmed and paid. We arrived at Frankfurt Airport
on 20 Sep 2011 and took the S-Bahn to Friedberg
station(25 euro/4 persons). At Friedberg we took a
taxi to McRent(5.50 euro). The reception at McRent
was very friendly and proffesional although we were
about 3 hours early.The motor home was ready at
12:00 although it was booked for 14:00. Suzanne and
Klaus were superb as always as it was the second
time we rented from McRent.
The VW California was an excellent vehicle although
recommended for 2 adults and 2 children we were 4
adults of 60+ and we had no problem with space. I
must say that the 4 of us had been camping together
for the past 20 years. Fuel consumption was about
8.5l/100km at an average of 80km/hour. The primary
reason why we choose the California was for the
parking. It was no problem to park in a parking
garage with a height restriction of 2.05 meters.
When the motor home was returned to McRent there was
no problems and my deposit was paid back into my
credit card within 3 days.
We really had a joyful time in Europe for 42 days
and traveled a distance of 9800km.
I would also like to thank Ideamerge for their
assistance with our Schengen Visa applications.

Michael Shulman, 30 november 2011
We arrived at the depot near Madrid to pick up our Dethleffs T2 camper van which was ready for us to drive. The details were gone over with the English speaking Ingnacio who explained everything clearly. Just in case there was an English Manual in the cabin which came in handy a few times during the trip. The camper had loads of storage space & was very clean and comfortable. Unfortunately though quite early on in our trip through Portugal the key which was used for the entrance door, water, and wc cassette broke off in the lock of the entrance door. This should be checked out by Dethleffs as it seems that the key is much to thin to use for so many daily uses. The entrance door lock needs to be turned with quite a bit of leverage. We had to have a spare key mailed to us to be picked up. This did set back our travel for a few days and we missed out some important plans which we had made. We returned the camper to the Madrid depot and were charged 80 euros for the cylinder to be changed etc,even though we didn't really feel that this was our fault. Aside from this unpleasant business, we enjoyed our camper van and would consider another rental again. Just make sure the door locks are not a problem!!!

Five Aussie Blokes, 30 november 2011
We hired a FS 31 through ideamerge. This was my second hire
and was totally satisfied again. We picked up our RV from Dallas
and we were all pleased to each have our own beds without
having to pack up the dining table. This proved invaluable as
most nights some of us stayed up to sample the many various
forms of alcohol that America has.
We travelled from Texas to Louisiana then to Kentucky. Back to
Alabama for some NASCAR then up to Virginia for some more
NASCAR. The return trip was then back to Dallas. We got around
10mpg for the whole trip with a total of 3800 miles in 3 weeks.
We dry camped using the generator a few nights and couldn't of
asked for a better way to do the trip.
This is the third time I have hired an RV in the States and there
will definitely be another through Ideamerge.

Alexander, 29 november 2011
We rented Dethleffs T6401-4 based on Fiat Ducato in Manresa (Catalonia). It isn't closed to Barcelona, but we got train to Manresa station. And Mcrent pick us up from Manresa station to hire station by our motorhome for free. And then transfer us back after drop off for free too. It's great!
The motorhome was good, everything was work, except used water gage. From time to time it showed full tank regardless of it's real state. But it's not very important.
Mcrent gave us manual in English and camp site guide for use. Because it was our first motorhome experience, they show DVD movie about motorhomes and their using. And after that manager show everything one more time in the motorhome.
Mcrent charged deposit 750 euro from my credit card. And after motorhome return they made refund. Because my card's count isn't in euro, I lost about 40 euros on conversion in two directions. If mcrent can only block the deposit, and unblock it after return, I wouldn't lost anything.
Generally, we are very glad to deal with ideamerge and mcrent.

Pierre-André and Marilena Breetz, Sept. 16th - Oct. 5th, 24 november 2011
We had a lovely time in N.S., the camper was just what we had asked for (thanks to Mark in Barcelona who helped us via telephone). I have a remark, however, we were very surprised that the gas stove had no safety shut off (compulsory everywhere in Europe) and we paid 2X 75 CAD for bedding and kitchen utensils which were insufficient and of not too good quality.
Nevertheless, we want to thank you for your support and wish you a happy winter.

Steve UK, 17 november 2011
We rented a 33 foot RV from Idea Merge at Las Vegas and took it via Yellowstone to New York over a 6 week period, covering about 4,200 miles. The vehicle was a low mileage current season model, which worked really well for us in every respect. We expected to get about 10 miles to the gallon, and achieved those sort of figures. Staff at both ends were very pleasant, although on pick up, we could have done with more information on how to check water and oil levels; we had to ask as the information wasn't provided in the brief.
We paid for additional mileage up front, so as to avoid any sort of surcharge. We came in about 800 miles less than required and paid for, but were unable to get any form of refund, so make sure you're as accurate as you can be, when estimating how many miles you want to pay for.
On the whole, happy to recommend this rental company, and will use them again, next time.
Wherever you intend to go, enjoy the trip, you can understand why RV'ing becomes a way of life.

Regards.

The Edlins from UK, 17 november 2011
When picking up Rv found that it was lasrger than ordered and no alternative availiable. Vehicle was thus bigger and havier than needed and gas costs higher also less suitable for some wilderness areas. Cooker unit rattled on roads that were not billiard smooth and conveniece kit had no means of storage to prevent more rattles and shakes of cullery and crockery . Ended up folding it on blankets and half dismantling cooker on the move.
Otherwise vehicle reliable and all other functions worked well. Might consider a smaller range of vehicle for 2-3 person trips but not seeminly availiable in New Mexico

David Melissa Cunningham - Perth, Western Australia , 14 november 2011
We hired from DRM in Markt Schwaben, Munich from 6th
October to 27th October (21 days). the pickup procedure all
went well. The staff were very friendly, spoke good English and
most helpful. The Fiat karman Davis RV was nice and clean on
pickup and was trouble free for the duration of our trip.
However, we would like to point out a few suggestions to DRM
to improve the experience.
1. PILLOWS ... Very poor quality.. Small , flat and lumpy... The
pillow slips did not match the pillow size.

2. NO KETTLE supplied in the kitchen pack
3. NO FRYPAN supplied in the kitchen pack
4. SAUCEPANS... The pots supplied are of poor quality with
detachable handles which are a safety hazard. Very thin bases
means that food burns quickly and easily on the bottoms. Not
really suitable for camping.
In general, we found the Kitchen Pack which was supplied, to
be very basic at best. Check what cooking utensils are there
before you leave. Eg. Tongs, egglift, decent cutting knife.

5. INSTRUCTIONS... A detailed list of instructions on the
operation of the internals of the RV would be a great benefit,
Although the staff were very helpful in explaining how things
worked, there is so much to remember that it soon becomes an
INFORMATION OVERLOAD !

6. VEHICLE MANUAL and other manuals ( fridge, gas stove,
grey water, heater) need to be available in ENGLISH.
We had red lights coming on the control panel and the manuals,
in every other language BUT English , were of no help. We
never did find out what they meant !

So, to DRM these are some fairly simple improvements which
could be made to make the customer's camping experience
safer and more comfortable.

THESE ARE NOT COMPLAINTS about DRM... Merely
suggestions, as we found their service was excellent and hassle
free. We had NO problems with the return of the E1200
deposit ,as others have had. It was credited in full within 4 days.

We would have no hesitation in using IdeaMerge / DRM Rentals
Again.

Andrea Kersten - Perth, Western Australia, 14 november 2011
This was our second experience with McRent and they were wonderful to deal with. We made a few changes to our booking before we picked up, and this was all organised without any problems.
They happily organised a shuttle from the airport for us, and another to take us into the city when we returned our van.
The campervan itself was clean and exactly as described, and the demonstration they provided was very informative and helpful. Both the pick up and return were quick and painless.
We were allowed to look at their 'stock room' and take any additional items we needed (kitchen utensils, kettle, toaster, leftover food items from other rentals (eg. cooking oil, canned items) and even a set of boules). This was great as the kitchen set we were given was not adequate for our needs. We still needed to purchase additional items though.
We also needed to buy new pillows (pillows provided were not comfortable), and blankets - we were only given thin doonas despite our booking being in October.
Overall though, we were really happy with our rental and I would certainly use McRent again.

The Wickett's Australia, 13 november 2011
We rented our RV through Ideamerge with Motorius/Camping
World, New Jersey, NY. Everything from the online booking to
confirmation from Ideamerge was great, despite changes we made
at the last moment . The pick up with Camping World was very
good even though a hurricane had passed through the day before,
our RV was spotless. Pick up was no problem. We travelled 8000
miles across Canada and the States without any issues with our RV.
If we were unsure about anything pertaining to the RV we rang
Camping World and were provided with the information promptly.
The book provided with camping sites was extremely useful as
were the maps provided. We also hired a GPS which was invaluable
especially going into cities and finding Camping Grounds.

AMIT H, 11 november 2011
We hired a 5 berths (A-68) family camper in Lisbon, returning it 3
weeks later to the same place. Not only all went smooths and easy,
we have found great team and service while checking out and in.
Service was always professional and friendly and the people down
there were helping out with big and small things. We even called
them on Sunday to consult on a small issue and felt the smile over
the phone. The car was almost new, in great condition. Make sure
to take care of the bedding and towels and small little things they
don't provide (wine glasses. Glass, not a plastic cup...). We would
advice not to buy any of the extras but rather to bring your own or
buy in the nearest supermarket. The renting process went flawless
and the price was attractive. Portugal is lovely simple country, with
warm people and great non-famous hidden treasures awaiting
exploration. Enjoy!

Christopher Hall, 09 november 2011
My Apollo USA motorhome booking from the UK with Ideamerge was very satisfactory and the company was a pleasure to deal with and was very quick to respond to my e-mail questions prior to our trip. We had an amazing holiday after picking up the Apollo motorhome home in Denver and covered over 4700 miles in just over a month visiting Mount Rushmore in South Dakota followed by Yellowstone & Teton National Parks and then most of the Canyon parks in Utah and Arizona before touring the Colorado mountains prior to returning to Denver. However, the Apollo motorhome did not quite achieve the high standard shown by Ideamerge. The Apollo staff in the office were very helpful and the handover was very comprehensive. The vehicle was in very good condition overall, but it soon became apparent that the vehicle quality control was not as good as one might have expected. The motorhome (a compact touring model) was supplied without the dining table and a camping table was supplied as an alternative. This was totally unsuitable and proved very difficult to use in the confined space. Other faults soon became apparent including a warped fridge door that was difficult to open, a light that was not working and defective drawer catches that allowed the drawers to open even on the slightest bend in the road!! The contents were then liable to fall on the floor at the next bump in the road!! More attention to detail is required here prior to handover. We also encountered a couple of other problems on our tour. The 12 volt system completely failed due to a loose auxilary battery terminal which had not been tightened up properly and one of the water hoses under the sink unit began to leak. These items were repaired en route and Apollo refunded the cost of the repairs. My complaint about the other defects resulted in a $50 refund. Mechanically the vehicle did perform faultlessly, but I am unsure about recommending Apollo in Denver. I think a liitle more attention to detail is required before the customer picks up the motorhome.
Christopher Hall, Cornwall UK.

Bernard Senecal, Quebec, Canada, 03 november 2011
When we pick the RV up in San Francisco, everything was clean and functional. The refrigerator was ON, ready for us to be filled, as well as the fuel tank. No delays, no excessive paper work. We went fron San Francisco to Las Vegas travelling through Yosemite Park and Death Valley (possible because we were late in the season...be carefull it may not be authorized for you if you travel during summer!!). We dropped off near San Diego, also whitout any significant delay. In our case the insurance was INCLUDED in the price which is very interesting as it may become a nightmare when we have to provide our own and deal with the according paperwork. Thank you for this awesome RV trip to the south western USA!!!

Gordon Bailey-McEwan, 02 november 2011
The IdeaMerge campervan experience was a positive one for my wife and I. The customer service was very good and the people were friendly. This was our first campervan experience so we were a bit nervous at first, but the vehicle was easy to drive. Also it was in very good condition & clean. We had a small problem with a cracking noise behind the fridge which we informed them about at dropoff but other than that everything worked fine. You will definitely need a GPS, and we had to buy a proper frying pan & bring our own pillows.

Winfried Ruebesam, 02 november 2011
We picked our RV up in San Francisco for a two week trip to Denver to visit on our way some of the great national parks. The take over was very easy and unbuerocratic and after 45 minutes of instruction and some necessary paperwork we were on the road. Returning the RV two weeks later in Denver was even easier. Staff was always very friendly and competent, RV was technically and optically great which helped to have an unforgettable RV trip through some of the most beautiful sceneries I have ever seen. THANK YOU

Phil Young, 01 november 2011
We collected our rv from the Newark Depot and had it for 6 weeks. The staff were efficient and our rv was very clean, the design/layout was excellent, by far the best of the four we have rented over the past 7 years or so.
The instructions given on vehicle operation were good, the process of signing out and returning the rv both went smoothly. The transfer to/from Newark Airport hotels was very important to us considering the location of the depot. All in all, we would recommend Road Bear/Idea Merge to our friends and acquaintances.

John Murray November 2011, 01 november 2011
We had a great few weeks travelling in a 30 footer camper around the north east of the USA. The camper was in good condition with no mishaps until we returned the camper and was advised we had broken something on the TV aerial. It was associated with winding down the aerial after use. On picking up the RV were were told just to wind it up for use and wind it down after use. We were not told that after winding it down you had to position the aerial in a particular position. Consequently a part broke and they made us pay about $60 for the part. They did not accept that we were not advised of this at the time we picked up the vehicle. I would have willing accepted responsibility for the broken part had I been given proper instruction on its use.

John Cox, 01 november 2011
We had 6 weeks. The vehicle was in excellent condition, and we had a great time.

Chris Dora Corpe Trip aug-15 to oct15, munich rental, 01 november 2011
Over all our rental experience went very well and we would use this company again. The drop off and pick up went smoothly and we didn't have any problems with paperwork. Tips for fellow travlers.
1) The pillows for the bed were really bad, small,mismatched and uncomfortable. 2)If you get a kitchen pack make sure it works for your situation. We were givin to many dishes and not enough cooking items. Just pay attention to what will work for your trip.3) We brought our own GPS,if you don't have one ,rent one ,you'll be gald you did.

Hobbs, 01 november 2011
This was second time we rented from BW Campers and both times
there have been issues with the condition of the vehicle due to its
age. Although Amsterdam is a convenient location for us to pick-
up an RV, I think next time we will use a vendor in Germany from which
we rented a new, VW california model that was well-stocked and
enjoyed our vacation without issue.
The first time we rented a VW California model from BW Campers which was what we
expected, it was an older vehicle but was not checked thoroughly
before we rented it. There were several fuses that were blown,
including the one for the windshield wipers(!) and the other was for
the power outlet for our GPS unit, both of which caused
considerable distress at the time of discovery. This most recent
time we rented we were given a taller top older model van in which
the side windows were impossible to open and close properly and
the van needed a wheel alignment quite badly. The kitchen utensils
were also seriously lacking...not a single knife for cutting was in the
drawer.

Alan Grimes, Brisbane, Australia, 01 november 2011
My wife and I hired a Compact Cruiser campervan from DRM Frankfurt depot for 47 days during August & September in which time we completed a circuit of western Europe, travelling through Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg, covering 16,000km in all.
The booking process with Ideamerge was quick, simple and easy with no problems whatsoever.
The DRM depot at Kelsterbach is very easy to get to as it is the next stop from Frankfurt International Airport, outbound on the Wiesbaden line. It is an easy 15 minute walk from the station to the depot. We were given a thorough briefing by a knowledgeable young lady who spoke excellent english and who had a great sense of humour. There is an Aldi supermarket nearby and we were given clear instructions and a marked up local street map and found it easily.
We have had many unfortunate experiences during our travels with the bedding provided being far too warm for the prevailing conditions so had decided to buy our own bedding and had researched the availability and cost on the Ikea Frankfurt website where we found suitable lightweight bedding. We took our own sheets and pillowcases so only needed to buy a quilt cover with a lightweight quilt set and a couple of pillows. This worked out perfectly for us and was quite economical.
We hired a kitchen set and on the whole this was adequate but we didn't like the camping set of saucepans with the (not very positive) removable handle that we found to be potentially dangerous and so ended up buying some cheap saucepans and a frying pan. Also there was no kettle provided and we ended up buying a cheap one after a lot of searching.
The van had only 4500km on the clock when we picked it up and was beautifully fitted out. The layout with the permanent double bed across the back of the van was excellent. It was also a pleasure to drive and very economical with diesel.
A GPS is almost essential in Europe and after having problems with the one we took over from Australia, we ended up buying a Garmin in Copenhagen after a couple of days travel. It came with the whole of western Europe maps preloaded and performed brilliantly for the remainder of our trip and only cost us slightly more for the whole unit than it cost to download the Europe maps from Garmin back in Australia.
We delivered the van back to the depot with no damage whatsoever and after a thorough inspection, our entire security deposit was refunded on the spot and we were on our way to the train station within an hour.
All in all a great trip.
We certainly recommend booking through Ideamerge and hiring from DRM Frankfurt and would do so again ourselves without any hesitation.

Greg Deborah Wiseman, Brisbane Australia, 29 october 2011
This was our first RV rental with El Monte in the States and we were very happy. Idea Merge organised everything and we were impressed with their professionalism.
We booked to pick up in LA and spent our time driving around Califonia.
Only a couple of small things but we really loved our baby. Our RV broke down at the Hoover Dam of all places and it was very hot. Our generator also decided not to work on that day. Not very happy kids. However the RV was fixed the next day and on our return El Monte refunded us quite generously for our inconvenience. The vehicle was a little older than we though it was going to be but very spacious.
Would definitely rent with Idea Merge again, in fact will be booking very soon for the East Coast. A wonderful way to spend some close time with the family, the kids loved it. KOA campsites are great and one of the best was Chula Vista.
Thanks we will be back.

Derek and Lynne Parker, 29 october 2011
For our first RV holiday we have spent 4 super weeks in
California. RoadBear produced an excellent neArly new vehicle
that was totally problem free. We recommend them as renters.
A super holiday with first class arrangements.

Lisa Devries Vancouver Canada Munich McRent Jun-Jul 2011, 28 october 2011
Our second Ideamerge/Mcrent vacation - we find this a great way to travel with our family economically and comfortably. Not without some concerns; however, which may be of use to future travellers.

Our RV was not ready at the Munich McRent depot at our 2 pm pick-up time as it had been returned "late and dirty" so it was nearly five o'clock before we got on the road, at which time we were a bit anxious to get going. Annoying, but what can you do?
Bigger problems on return:
We parked near McRent the night before. It was teeming rain. We had a 12 pm drop off next day, as contracted through Ideamerge. At about 1030 we had the bulk of it done - but floors were still a mess - decided to take it through the car wash - voucher provided by McRent - and hope they had a vacuum. When we arrived, they told us we were late - must hurry! They put us through the wash first and urged us to go straight to McRent. When we did we were told someone had been waiting since 7 am - a very nice S.A. family as it turns out.

The guy at the depot was really stressed and rude to us. We told him our drop off time was still an hour away and we needed that time to finish our cleaning - could we use his vacuum? (there hadn't been one at the carwash) "You are supposed to do that last night at your campsite!" Not very practical in a campsite in the pouring rain - maybe they should just build in the cost of the cleaning to the rental? Don't know what solution is here, but it is very hard to empty an RV, clean it to a high standard then pile back in with all your stuff and deliver it clean - in the rain.

So the angry rude man insisted we stop cleaning as they would finish the job and eventually agreed that we wouldn't be charged. They did charge us for a small scrape on the wheel hub - no idea how or when it happened, but our pictures confirmed it was new since we took it, (highly recommend you take pictures of all sides of vehicles and close- ups of any existing damage, even very slight before you leave the depot) so we paid 150E - cash. I would be surprised if they actually made a repair - most units I saw in the lot had a few small abrasions somewhere - but they were entitled to charge and we paid.

We spoke to the SA family, apologized for the confusion and let them know it wasn't our fault - then were given the bums rush out. This was a very unpleasant way to end our holiday and really upset me, as we were now the despicable people returning the RV "late and dirty"

A few hours later, I realized we never received any paperwork relative to the return of our 1200E damage deposit. When we returned to Vancouver three days later I contacted Ideamerge with our concerns and asked for confirmation that our damage deposit had been refunded. They contacted the depot who assured that it had been - but could take 10 days to process.

Three weeks later, still no refund. So we emailed Ideamerge, and they contacted the depot, who THEN said they were going to process it right away. We finally had it credited back to our Visa about five days later - more than a month after we returned the RV. As previously reported in other reviews, we lost about 85 dollars owing to currency fluctuation.

I did't get the sense - this time around - that Ideamerge was very oriented to customer after-care. Whenever we sent them an email they just forwarded it to the depot and then forwarded the response back to us as if it had nothing to do with them. No one ever said "sorry about the delay in returning your damage deposit." Seems odd the depot could have an extra 1200 E on the books for more than three weeks without noticing. If we hadn't been watching our visa, would we ever have got it back?

This weekend, I was cleaning out our passport folder and found the original document that my husband signed - hours after our scheduled pick-up time - with McRent. It says we will return the vehicle at 7 am. My husband signed it without reading it carefully - no doubt because we had a sheaf of papers from Ideamerge that clearly spelled out all the terms of the rental - including our return time - 12 noon on a Saturday - for which we paid an additional fee. So now I don't know where the mistake happened - Did Ideamerge and McRent miscommunicate, or did McRent simply modify our return time to accomodate another booking and see if we would notice the change? So be careful what you sign - even if you are anxious to hit the road.
We will definitely rent RVs in Europe again. We might go through Ideamerge. We won't book through the Munich McRent again.

[Note from IdeaMerge: Dear Ms. DeVries, we want to thank you for bringing to our attention the problems you experienced with your rental — especially regarding the return of the vehicle. We take such issues very seriously. In light of the information provided in your customer review (above), we’ve secured a refund of your EUR65 Saturday return fee and have credited the CAD equivalent to your card. We’ve also changed our software and webpages so no such problem will occur again. We had programmed that software and information based on the most recent information provided to us (and other agencies) by McRent, circa the autumn of 2010. Apparently that information did not correspond to the reality on the ground at Munich by the time you returned there. Strangely your case was the first one which brought the discrepancy to light, even though we book many Munich rentals for McRent every year and have been doing so for many years. It’s not extremely unusual that a vendor’s general information does not perfectly match the reality at a depot, but we have to assume it does until events suggest otherwise. Per your customer review and our request the McRent headquarters queried the Munich depot (and perhaps other depots) and responded to us with a stricter Saturday return time window than before: 9 am to 10 am. That was even stricter than the 9 am to 11 am window which a top McRent executive had described to us by the phone a few days earlier. McRent explains as being a mistake in their system the 7 am time noted on the document you e-mailed to us, which mistake they claim to have verbally noted to you on the pick-up occasion along with the 9 am to 10 am time window. McRent nevertheless apologizes to you for that mistake as well as for the misunderstandings regarding the standard Saturday return window — and for any rude behaviour by an employee or employees at the the Munich depot. We at IdeaMerge apologize as well. It truly pains us to learn of such discrepancies and problems and we are determined to embrace them methodically and treat them as opportunities of sorts by which to improve our service and the service of our vendors in general. Perhaps we could have done a better job of that in the more immediate wake of your rental, but when we more clearly became aware of the problems you experencied we quickly took corrective action for your benefit and for the the general benefit. Regarding the return of the security deposit, there was indeed an ultimately unexplained delay in this case, but it was nearly in accord with the policy we describe in this respect on our McRent Payment & Policies page and during the online order process: "the security deposit — minus the cost of damages (which cost is limited only by the relevant, per-occurrence insurance deductibles) and traffic or parking tickets — will be credited to the customer's card within a month after the customer returns the vehicle." … Thanks again for helping us improve our service and McRent’s service. We very much hope to assist you again.]

Gord Smeland, Canada I August - 7 Oct 2011, 28 october 2011
Gord Smeland, Canada I August - 7 Oct 2011, 28 october 2011
We found IDEAMERGE and DRM ideal to work with for this fairly long journey. As we arrived 30 July from Canada WE stayed at the IBIS Hotel which has free shuttles almost every hour to and from the airport. The IBIS is also only about 4 blocks from the DRM Pickup location, so that was also very good for pickup and drop off at the end. We walked over to DRM early to see if we could bring our luggage and drop it off as we had to check out of the hotel at noon, and Claudia mentioned the vehicle was ready and she could take us through the check out at that time, so that was great.We had a FIAT Karman Davis camper outfitted vehicle which was very good except for some minor problems with the plastic parts of the outfit and computer which DRM was going to talk to the maker about. Also, coming from North America on a long flight you really need to have things written down as it is too much to assimilate/remember and the vehicles booklets were in 4 languages but not English. We did not have a kettle in the dishes and looked for almost one month in several countries before finding one at an Antique Flea Market - most people we asked thought we were crazy not wanting one with electrical connection.At times we had trouble emptying the "grey water tank" as sometimes the computer "allowed" it to empty and other times the alarm rang but nothing came out. We did go to 9 countries including England via the "Chunnel" as we had time due to heat/crowds in south of france in late August. We had changed our dates from May/June due to a medical scare but can STRONGLY RECOMMEND you do not go to Italy and the French Riviera in August with a camping vehicle. Too hot and crowded.
Most of our plans were based on living in Europe for 4 years 30 years earlier and this was totally outdated. We were in a dream world to think we could drive around like in 1980. You NEED A TOM TOM or GPS as many of the roads have totally changed and the signs at round-a-bouts do not correspond to the map sequence. Generally there are too many people driving and many have what we call in Canada - Road Rage - but as they have grown up with it, no one talks about it and the police do nothing.It is very bad in Italy and France.You cannot avoid some of this no matter how you plan the trip. It was the longest DEFENSIVE DRIVING COURSE I have ever been on and I have driven in all the major cities in the USA many other countries like Cairo in Egypt and all the European ones we were going to. It was somewhat better in September and early October. We drove approx. 14-15,000 km I believe. Best deals in France were the CARREFOUR stores for groceries, wine and many have low priced GAS.CO-OP in Italy. Make sure you know where to obtain the toilet chemical before you start. Good Luck

Peter Eberhardt, South Africa, October 2011, 27 october 2011
We hired a camper in Munich, Germany in September this year. What a great holiday! The service at the Camper Hire place was great and the camper itself was really nice and comfortable. You could not have asked for better! We only had 2 gripes:- We hired linen - and this was a disappointment, as it was washed but not ironed, seemed quite old and not even the duvet covers were put on the duvet inners. It was also very thin and I think we would have died of the cold if Europe had not had a hot spell over that time! We expected better considering what we had to pay for it. Another concern was that they debited our Credit Card with the EUR1200 deposit when we arrived, and refunded us with the EUR1200 on our return - but we lost over R1100 due to the exchange rate - which made our hire quite a bit more expensive than we had expected - approx 10% more overall! Surely this could be done another way so that the client is not out of pocket due to a deposit? Other than that - great service and a great holiday experience thanks!

[General note from IdeaMerge: As described on our relevant Payment & Policies pages, and during the online reservation process, and also in similar notes from IdeaMerge further down in these customer reviews, the Germany vendors do indeed charge the security deposit to the client's card upon the pick-up occasion and they do credit that amount back to the card in whole or part (i.e. minus the cost, if any, that happens to be due from the client for damages and such) after the return occasion.]

Alistair and Pat Still, 26 october 2011
October 2011
We have just completed a months rental from Road Bear. The
rv had completed only 14000 miles and looked as bright as a
new pin. The vehicle drove very well and importantly for two
people in their sixties we felt very safe.
At Los Angels the induction was very thorough as was the return
at Las Vegas.
We can only speak highly of Road Bear and of course
Ideamerge for first class arrangements.

Alexanders Oct. 2011, 26 october 2011
We read all the reviews and find it hard to add to them. We were very satisified with the camper and also the staff at IdeaMerge.We travel by RV in the USA and really didn't know what to expect in Sweden, but we would certainly do it again.We were really impressed by the fuel mileage and wish we could purchase the same vehicle here in America.

Gibson Family, 26 october 2011
We booked a 31S RV through ideamerge and Motorius from
Tappan, New Jersey, with a Churchville (Buffalo), New York drop off.
We were extremely happy with the service from both companies. No
problems with the booking or the payment. Everything was true to
word. Unfortunately Hurricane Irene had hit a couple of weeks
earlier and the destruction to the office in Tappan was obvious. The
RV was not brand new as we had hoped but comfortable. Well done
to those guys for being able to still operate and fill all their orders
after losing several RV's in the Hurricane. The staff at the
Churchville office were fabulous. They allowed us an early drop off
to accommodate our flight that day. I will definitely booked through
the same companies again.

Mr. Smith, 24 october 2011
We booked our El Monte C25 Slideout with IdeaMerge with no probems other than we had to upgrade slightly from the C25 I booked, as it wasn't available. This turned out to be to our advantage as the C25 Slideout made a HUGE difference to our living space! We picked up from All Stars RV rentals at Louviers, which is the Denver El Monte Depot. Once we did eventually manage to arrange transport to the depot the staff were brilliant. However, Louviers is quite a distance outside Denver (many people hadn't even heard of it!) so it would be brilliant for All Stars customers to be offered the option of a reasonable cost transfer to and from the depot - a taxi from downtown costs around $80 and to the airport $120! The vehicle was great and the only small problems were 1. (the same as Mr J C Inward's problem) the position of the dump connection and fresh water inlet, on opposite sides of the vehicle making their use difficult, and 2. the incredibly awkward position of the dump hose connection making it really difficult to hook up. However, this isn't All Stars fault and the service we got from them was faultless. All the personal and kitchen kits were brand new and there wasn't anything missing from them that we couldn't live without for a few weeks. All in all a great first experience of touring the National Parks in an RV. I would certainly recommend booking through IdeaMerge to others.

Mark Swinnerton - Singapore , 23 october 2011
We picked up the campervan from Ideamerge and only have positive feedback. Service was friendly, relaxed, and the van was top quality.

Graeme Phillips NSW Australia, 21 october 2011
Part of our vacation in Europe consisted of 21 day
Motorhome rental that was managed by Ideamerge and supplied by McRent Munich (Sulzemoos). Ideamerge is an excellent professional Company that manages rental vehicles Worldwide and this professionalism was evident in all our initial booking dealings. McRent Sulzemoos our pick up depot came with a measure of apprehension due to a certain amount of negative feedback from some recent post rental reviews.
Let me state categorically that all our dealings at PICK UP AND RETURN was first class This is our
second Motorhome rental from McRent Sulzemoos in 5 years and on both occasions the vehicles were near
brand new, well equipped and clean.

If I could offer one suggestion regarding rental pick up, that would be the introduction of a DVD
posted to the customer before the rental explaining
relevant Motorhome details e.g electrics, gas bottle change over, waste water disposal etc.
After a long International flight it is
hard to absorb all of the instruction offered at pick up
graemeelena@bigpond.com

René Gervais, 18 october 2011
Nous avons fait un voyage formidable avec le camping car que nous avons pris a Sintra.Le personnel nous a bien informé des détails pour utiliser le VR.Les rues dans les villes sont trop étroites pour se balader en VR au Portugal et en Espagne.

John Weel, September 2011, 15 october 2011
This was our second RV trip booked through Ideamerge/McRent. Our review is still online under All RV Customer Reviews, 07 September 2008.

We booked a larger unit at the South Paris (France) depot, a Dethleffs A68 Sunlight, for this trip as there would be three adults for our 25 day adventure in France and Spain. My wife and I both had an International Driver's Licence.

Ideamerge/McRent and South Paris were excellent to deal with. We were able to leave our cardboard bicycle boxes in their storage area. The office and RV staff were friendly. There were no delays when we arrived for pick-up nor when we returned for drop-off.

Unfortunately, we had approximately 600 euro damage due to the RV size. The Dethleffs A68 Sunlight was easy to drive on the freeways and there were no motor problems. We would travel over 7,000 kilometers.

Our rented dish package was adequate but we did purchase wine glasses and a drip coffee pot, and of course a bucket for the dish wash-up areas. We brought matches with us, duct tape and some cleaners; i.e. SOS, cut wax polish, dish soap, dish sponge and towels. We brought our own bedding. We brought with us a small carpet mat that was recommended in a review that kept sand and dirt to a minimum in the RV. We brought a small RV broom with us. Our rented table and chairs were adequate; however, we were glad we brought two folding chairs with us which we left behind in the recycle area of the last campsite along with the carpet mat.

We nicknamed our trip The Amazing Race with Speed Bumps. Four important notes to avoid "speed bumps":
(1) Check the RV over carefully inside and outside ... take your time ... and why not even open the awning,look at the RV's roof and bike rack too; check the bathroom area and make sure the tap will not start to run water while en route and fill up the shower area, start all the propane stove burners and see if they work, open and close all the cabinet doors;
(2) Understand how the bathroom cassette system works, and it is also very important to understand how the grey water system works to avoid foul smells;
(3) Check the gas gauge before you leave the depot;
(4) Know how to use reverse!!!

My wife and I researched campsites on the ACSI Eurocamping.eu website and made some reservations ahead of time. You could purchase a Camping Card but we chose not to do so. On this trip we did not require hotel accommodations as the pickup/drop-off times would fit into our itinerary. We brought three folding bicycles for the trip. Campsites were chosen so we could travel by train or bus to tour major cities and also tour some smaller towns.

Again our Tom-Tom GPS was invaluable though it was a bit of a learning curve to get to an exact address. My wife found that the nearer we got to a town she could finally enter the street name and/or address and we would find the campsite much quicker than at the start of the trip. Arriving in Toledo we had a taxi drive my wife and sister to Camping El Greco while I followed in the RV. Saved frayed nerves and we had plenty of time to enjoy our evening tour of Toledo. The GPS and the map we had printed up for this campsite with many roundabouts was confusing. Of course easy enough to find in hindsight so leaving town was easy.

The itinerary: Two nights in the Loire Valley at Parc du Val de Loire (self tour of Amboise and Chenonceau); two nights Camping Le Brasilia (relax at the pool and tour Collioure - Carcassonne also close by; three nights on the beach at Camping Bon Repos in Santa Susanna (1 hour train to Barcelona for self tour Ramblas, Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell) and took guided tour via Julia Travel of Montserrat; two nights Camping La Manga near Cartagena (tour with a motorhome through Valencia for a Harley-Davidson T-shirt not recommended especially during hours for siesta ... but we found a great grocery store and loved the scenery, just not the traffic); two nights Camping Maria Eugenia in Granada (self tour of Nerja on Costa Del Sol on the way to Granada and guided tour of The Alhambra, free tapas when you order a drink we found in downtown Granada much to our surprise, and we booked a guided night tour of Sacromonte from the campsite to see the lights of The Alhambra at night and enjoy Zambra (flamenco) Dance; two nights near Sevilla at Camping Villsom, Dos Hermanas (self tour of Cordoba on the way to Sevilla and Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tour in Sevilla); one night Camping El Greco, Toledo (5 minute bus trip to Plaza Zocodover for self guided evening and morning tour); three nights Camping Escorial (base to tour Avila, Madrid and Segovia); two nights Camping Igueldo, San Sebastian-Donostia (self tour of scenic town, La Concha Beach and Promenade and enjoy tapas); long drive north for two nights Camping St. Michel to tour Mont St. Michel Abbey and D-Day beaches; one night Campsite La Briquerie (rode bikes down the hill into Honfleur from the campsite); two nights Campsite Huttopia in Versailles (less than 10 minute walk to the Porchefontaine train station for a 20 minute trip to Eiffel Tower, and evening and day self-guided tour of Paris by Metro); time to pack, clean up the RV and head to Paris South depot by 11 a.m. in Paris rush hour. We made it!

As my sister says now in looking back, we had some trying times but a lot of good times too. Drove a long way. We saw a lot of beautiful and historic sites, enjoyed our share of Sangria, wine, Calvados ... and who can forget the great tapas bars!

My wife and I look forward to more travel in Europe. This time we might even consider a Volkswagen California style of camper. We enjoyed the Compact Standard Globescout Fiat Ducati on our first trip.

Hope this review is helpful in your travel plans to Europe via RV.

Mr C J Inward, 13 october 2011
This was our tenth RV holiday in the States and Canada. The booking through IdeaMerge worked well. We booked an Apollo 22' Happy Explorer for two people, picked up on Friday 9th September at the Las Vegas Office for a trip up into Utah. The Apollo staff were excellent, handover was good.

On leaving the compound I remarked that the engine did not seem as powerful as previous Class C RV's we had rented. Once clear of Las Vegas about 35 miles up I15 it became clear that the engine had a problem as it would not accelerate past about 65mph without protesting. We pulled off and contacted Peter at LAS Vegas Apollo, who pulled out all the stops and brought a replacement vehicle, just returned, about 4 hours later. On checking our vehicle he discovered that, despite its 41000 miles, a modification to remove a flap from the air intake had not been carried out, and this was causing air starvation to the engine. (I cannot believe nobody had suffered from this previously.) The new vehicle was fine throughout the trip, and Apollo made suitable adjustments to the charges. Thank you Peter for your help.

However, I would not rent this type of vehicle from Apollo again as it was not as good in various respects, some quite important, as previous rentals.

1. A very annoying design defect was that the dump and fresh water connections were on opposite sides of the vehicle. Any of you who have ever used dump stations will know how awkward this is, as it is often impossible, because of access, to present both sides of the vehicle to the appropriate connection. I cannot fathom why this design was chosen.
2. As a result of 1. and the limited lengths of the dump hose and fresh water hose
supplied, it was impossible, on the only occasion that we used a commercial campground, to use all the full hook-up facilities for which we still had to pay.
3. As with all RV's we have rented in the last few years, the vehicle is fitted with an information panel which purports to inform you as to the contents of all the domestic tanks, grey water, black water, Propane gas, and fresh water. On this vehicle the readouts were meaningless, forcing us to visit dump stations far more frequently than probably was necessary, and by so doing, determining and curtailing our itinerary unnecessarily. On previous rentals this information has been reasonably and necessarily accurate. This facility is particularly important to those of us who like to use National Park, State Park, BLM, and National Forest campgrounds.
4. The toilet and shower cubicles are extremely small, and at over 6' tall I had great difficulty using either. The shower was rendered even smaller as the door, presumably broken, had been replaced by a shower curtain on a rail inside the original door position, which made it very difficult to use.
5. The cupboard over the wash basin protrudes such that I was unable to bend forward to wash properly, and was obliged to sit on the corner of the bed and try to bend forward far enough to wash - not easy!
6. The gas oven and hob was a poor design, with no grill, (an electric toaster is supplied) and only one gas ring has a simmer facility. As we do 90% of our own catering, this was very inconvenient.
7. Vehicle Equipment: There were no kitchen sink plugs or brush and dustpan in the replacement vehicle, but this was missed by me, almost certainly due to the rushed handover.
8. We noted that other rental companies now supply wheel wedges to assist in leveling the vehicle on rough ground, and I suggested to Apollo Las Vegas that they should also offer this as a convenience to customers.
9. Most companies offer suitcase storage at the pick-up point, Apollo do not. For overseas visitors this is very inconvenient.

As usual, we enjoyed our trip to Utah and its fabulous scenery, but the design problems with the vehicle definitely curtailed our enjoyment, and for that reason would not rent from Apollo again.

The staff at Apollo Las Vegas could not have been more helpful in every respect, and I feel that they are let down by the design of vehicle that they are obliged to offer.

Hamilton and Marisa Sell – 11 october 2011 (Brasil), 11 october 2011
Me and my wife Marisa just got back from 22 days trip to Europe by motorhome. It was our first experience with motorhome and we liked it so much. We pick up the vehicle in Mc Rent Dusseldorf and traveled 3.063 km through Germany, Nederland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Czech Republic. The vehicle was very good and we didn’t have any problem with it. The pick up and drop off were easy and quick. There are well structured camping sites at any place in Europe, so you can find one of them without worries. The experience with Ideamerge was amazing. We intend repeat the experience in the future (Europe or EUA?) and certainly we will contact Ideamerge.
The only thing McRent could improve is the security deposit, because though McRent return the deposit in the drop off, there are some prejudice due the exchange and taxes. Maybe they can review this procedure, mainly when the customer get a vehicle insurance.
(hamiltonsell@gmail.com)

Kasra, 11 october 2011
We rented a 4-person motorhome for 10 days in the
beginning of September, and were upgraded to a 6-
person vehicle once we got to Euromotorhome. That
was a nice, and unexpected, surprise. The vehicle
was new and clean, very low mileage and driving was
smooth.

Mario, the depot manager, gave us a thorough
collection walk-through of almost a full hour.
There weren't any other customers collecting or
returning vehicles, so we had his undivided
attention. Same customer service upon returning the
car.

Still can understand why the motorhome agency
actually charges the credit card (in our case 600
euros), rather than blocking off the amount. Be
that as it may, the deposit was fully refunded 2-3
days after returning the car.

Summary: I'd go back to these guys for my next
rental.

Banfield Family - Sept 28th, 2010, 11 october 2011
Doug, Ideamerge was excellent to work with. Booking thru Ideamerge saved us money & was very fast & highly efficient. You answered our questions quickly & were very helpful when we almost had to cancel. Good thing we didn't, b/c we had a blast. The RV unit, through Canadream, was great, well equiped, clean & in great repair. Shuttle was there upon arrival, but was tied up when we got back. Oh well! I Highly recommend using Ideamerge! Well done.

Peter Mills, 11 october 2011
We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Andalusia with a McRent motorhome. The motorhome met all our expectations. Minor criticisms are that there should have been a better selection of pots/pans. There was no toaster or kettle supplied and the outside table and chairs were of poor quality, torn and uncomfortable.

Laurent and Véro, 10 october 2011
We had a great holiday in Sweden this summer. The staff at Touring
Cars was very helpful and the vehicle just perfect for our needs. A
Touring Car representative met us at the airport and drove us to the
depot with our motorhome. It was actually very nice to see it right
away. The kids were already excited! The drop off and drive back to
the airport went very smoothly too. We will definitely recommend and
rent again from IdeaMerge/Touring Cars for our next trip in
Scandinavia.

Paul and Lyndall Baker - Australia, 07 october 2011
We have just returned from Europe after doing our
first ever motor home trip for 52 days through
Ideamerge, they were very helpful and professional,
they set us up with DRM out of Frankfurt, this is by
far the easiest depot to get to, we took a taxi from
the airport that only took 10 minutes. Our pick up
time was in the afternoon but as we arrived at 6am
in the morning we had breakfast at the airport and
then headed over to DRM to see if we could leave our
luggage there while we took a look around Frankfurt
and did some shopping for the motor home, when we
arrived at DRM Claudia greeted us and informed us
that our motor home was ready to go and that we
could have it right away, after she explained the
workings of the motor home to us and gave us
directions to a very new REAL outlet so we could buy
some groceries and two bicycles for our trip, we set
up the Navman (a must have) and we left on our big
adventure.
We headed towards Heidelburg and made our way around
Germany into Holland, Belgium, France Italy and then
on the way home came back through Switzerland to
Frankfurt, we covered about 7,900 Klm and the motor
home performed beautifully, it was a bit hot in
Italy and France and an air conditioner would have
been nice, you don't need a TV take a good book or
two and relax. Getting back to Frankfurt a day early
and booking into a hotel for the night was a good
idea as it gave us time to empty and clean the motor
home ready to hand it back at 10am the next morning,
there are a few hotels close to DRM so you can walk
back to the hotel after leaving the motor home at
DRM.
Claudia was very helpful and friendly to deal with
and we would highly recommend anyone to use DRM in
Frankfurt. We did bump into another car on our trip
and put a dent into the right side bumper, this was
fixed by DRM and we were pleasantly surprised that
it did not cost us an arm and a leg, hopefully our
insurance will cover this.
Thank you Ideamerge and DRM Frankfurt for all your
help we will be back.

Graeme, 06 october 2011
We rented our RV through Ideamerge with Motorius, Charlotte, NC. Everything from the online booking to confirmation from Ideamerge was great. And everything with Moturis was good as well. Pick up was no problem. The RV was clean and well presented and the drop off was good. This is the second time we have rented from Moturis and we would definitely rent from them again.

Jane M, 03 october 2011
We rented an RV from San Francisco, and dropped it off in Las Vegas afterwards. The El Monte team were pretty hard to get hold of beforehand, by phone - but when we did eventually speak to them, they were extremely helpful. Picking up and dropping off the vehicle was easy and quicker than expected. Staff were all helpful on what was a really busy day.

The RV itself worked well and I'd definitely use El Monte and Ideamerge again for a similar trip. Many thanks.

Roy and Maureen Hessey, 03 october 2011
We recently returned to Australia from 4 weeks in Europe, starting at McRent in Frankfurt and traveling 7000km through southern and eastern Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. The motorhome we hired was in excellent condition and very clean. The handover both at the start and finish was excellent. This is the third motorhome we have hired in Europe and so far was the best. I notice that some people have complained about no TV but they need to remember that they probably wouldn't be able to understand the language anyway. Just eat out every night and you won't miss a TV at all :-)

Our only complaint is that IdeaMerge actually cash in the credit card security deposit. This meant we lost over $200 on the exchange rate when getting the deposit back. We were told that all motorhome companies do this but NO.. they don't. Our previous two motorhome hire companies swiped our credit card and tore up the slip upon us returning the motorhome in good order. IdeaMerge need to think of a better way. This is the only fact that would prevent us from using IdeaMerge and McRent when we holiday again in Europe next year.

[General note from IdeaMerge: As described on our relevant Payment & Policies pages, and during the online reservation process, and also in similar notes from IdeaMerge further down in these customer reviews, the Germany vendors do indeed charge the security deposit to the client's card upon the pick-up occasion and they do credit that amount back to the card in whole or part (i.e. minus the cost, if any, that happens to be due from the client for damages and such) after the return occasion.]

Cabe Franklin, 30 september 2011
We rented our RV via IdeaMerge from El Monte to go to a festival in
Nevada. I've rented an RV for the past five years for this and it has
always been tough to find an RV in that part of the country -
IdeaMerge made the process of checking and comparing availability
and pricing easier than I ever thought it could be; it was as easy as
renting a car via Kayak or carrentals.com.

The RV itself was gorgeous (bigger than we usually get; we could
afford more because IdeaMerge got us a good rate). The only other
thing to say about IdeaMerge is we had made a 2nd reservation
which ended up being surplus to requirements; IdeaMerge were
great about being clear on the cancellation policy and then making
it possible and easy to transfer the reservation to someone else.
Based on that, I had thought I was just happy with IdeaMerge for
the low rate and the searchability, but they did also add value in
managing that change with the RV vendor. So, all in all, hugely
satisfied customer, I will definitely use them again.

Roy zimmer, 28 september 2011
My wife and my wife Cindy just got back from a two week trip to
Germany with stops in Switzerland. We picked up our Drm
camper van at the Frankfurt depot which is just one train stop
from the airport and then less than a quarter mile nice walk from
the stop. We were very happy with the people st this depot and
the camper van was great, clean with everything working and in
good order. Turning it in also was a very good experience and
we will be going back next year for sure. The people at Idea
Merge in Oregon were very helpful in booking our trip and I
would highly recommend them for anyone looking to travel this
way. We are hooked and will not travel any other way in
Europe. Make sure you either rent or bring your own GPS. With
Europe maps installed. We had our own Tom Tom GPS and it
will make your trip a breeze in navigating. We also used the
provided Europe camping book and found that extremely helpful.
Roy and Cindy Zimmer. Winter Park, Fla. 1-407-620-6014 if you
want to contact me for tips feel free

Eli Basson from Israel, Sepetmeber 3, 2011, 27 september 2011

The Oslo representative met us at the airport and took us to the parking of the motorhomes. We were given a thorough briefing on the motorhome and all related equipment. Excellent!
The motorhome was 1 year old. The motorhome was comfortable, reliable and we managed to drive over 2,500 km without any problem. All the equipment worked well.
When we returned the motorhome, the final check was smooth and the local team took us to the airport.

We would definitely rent from IdeaMerge again.

Best regards,
Eli Basson

Marco Mul - Dubai, UAE, 27 september 2011
We had a Moturis S-27S for 2 weeks in California. We took the free shuttle from our hotel to pick up the RV and were soon on the road thanks to the quick, efficient service. The RV was almost new (only 500 miles on the clock) and was very clean and comfortable.
We had a wonderful trip and would have no hesitation in using Ideamerge again.

Iain and Ros Macrae, 25 september 2011
We picked up our camper from DRM in Düsseldorf for a 30 day
trip through Austria, Italy and Switzerland. Whilst the van was
quite new we were surprised to find that it had no TV and no
speakers for the radio in the main part of the van - minor
inconveniences though. What did annoy us was the poor quality
cooking utensils ... Handles on pots and pans were loose and
had to be tightened every day! The other problem we had was
on day 4 when the electric steps jammed in the open position.
We called the help number and were very pleased that on a
Sunday morning that the road service was out to us within 2
hours and managed to force the steps back in - but they were
unable to be used for the remainder of the trip. One last gripe
.... The horn didn't work either. We needed it in Italy to avoid
one of those damned Vespas that duck and weave out of traffic
with abandon but it didn't work so we had to head off road to
avoid what would have been death for the Vespa rider. That
little excursion we called the "scratch the side of the van with a
tree branch deviation". DRM's response was that I could get the
horn fixed and claim back the cost .... Not good enough! It
should have worked (and I should have checked that it worked
before taking delivery).

Apart from the gripes above the van went very well - it powered
up the Grimsel Pass in Switzerland without problem and gave reasonably good fuel economy overall - 11.8ltrs/100kms ... Not
bad for a big (8+meters) truck!

Irina Starinsky, Israel, 17 september 2011
This travel was the third time we using motorhome and especially DRM. As usual, top of service, all problem
was resolved at time and we got a compensation about
this. Thank a lot for service and wonderful trip!

Bill Sylvi Delaney, Australia, 16 september 2011
We recently finished a 85 day trip around Europe,
starting in Frankfurt, and travelling along the
Romantic Road to Fussen, then via Munich, through
Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany
again (Berlin, Rostock), across to Sweden, up to
Norway, then back through Sweden, across to Denmark,
and through Netherlands, Belgium, into France,
before finishing back in Frankfurt... whew!

For more details on our EU trip (and ongoing UK
trip), check out our blog at
www.motorhomevirgins.blogspot.com

Travelling from Australia, and for such a lengthy
rental, we searched high and low, and Ideamerge
provided the best service and deal over the
competition in Australia, Europe, and the US.

I was very appreciate of how responsive and open
they were with us, which gave us a lot of confidence
in doing the transaction.

We hired a large vehicle through DRM, who moved a
vehicle to Frankfurt for us, with IdeaMerge's help.
It was brand new on pick up, and the DRM service was
very good. We flew into Frankfurt a few days before
to get over the long flight, and to look at that
city. Something I would highly recommend. Flying
in long haul, and taking possession of a rental
motorhome the same day is not advisable.

While the motorhome was in excellent condition being
new, my only negative comment is that rental firms
in Germany (not just DRM) don't fit out the vehicles
very well. No TV, no oven, etc compared to what we
have seen in New Zealand and now the United Kingdom.
We knew about this, but it is a pain.

Luckily we were travelling for a long time, so it
was cost effective to buy a few things to make our
travel more comfortable.

The vehicle performed very well throughout. On
return, all went well. We did crack a rear bumper,
and knew we were going to be hit with that cost, but
I was surprised that the cost seemed to be
reasonable (well within the damage deposit), rather
then the usual rip-off, and hopefully we will get
that back from our travel insurance.

I highly recommend IdeaMerge, and DRM. I would
definitely hire from both parties again.

I also highly recommend this form of travel to see
Europe.

Ian Toy, 16 september 2011
We ( wife & self)rented a RV for 28 days Henk Booij at Almere-Buiten some 35 minutes by train from Amsterdam. Henk was very helpful and explained how the accommodation worked. The vehicle was nearly 2 years old and in good condition.We toured Germany and Austria and rarely spent our nights in a fee charging camping grounds.The camp guide book Henk provided gave us plenty of free camp sites to use.

Tim Muff, 15 september 2011
Thanks, we had a great holiday this summer in
Norway. The booking through Idea Merge went smoothly
– no frills, attention to detail, prompt and clear
replies to queries. The camper van we picked up was
in pristine condition and the reception staff at
Touring Cars were multilingual, friendly, efficient,
and informative. We have absolutely no complaints.
Quite the opposite – we enjoyed the whole
experience, felt that we received excellent service
and good value for money. The camp sites we stayed
on were all first class – clean (especially the
sanitation blocks) and spacious. We’re already
planning a similar holiday next year!

Best regards,
Tim Muff

Arthur Pruijt, 07 september 2011
The depot is not a very inviting place and since nobody showed up at the agreed hour, we got a little worried at first. Fortunately, the owner showed up after about 45 minutes after all and it turned out there was just a little mishap during the check-up at the garage. The car was a VW California from 1998 with over 200,000 km on the clock, but there were no major issues during the 5,000 km we traveled through Germany and Italy in the following 3 weeks. The inside of the car was in reasonable state and the advantage of an older car is that nobody cares about an extra stain! It was confirmed to me that the car would have air conditioning, but that turned out to be not the case. Fortunately we didn't really need it anyway, so no big deal. The owner is indeed very nice and all handling was straight forward. It would be nice if he could be reached by handphone though, even though he does react swiftly to messages left on the answering machine. Would I hire from them again: Probably yes, but I would insist on a clear discription of the car, the year it was build and km driven, together with some pictures. Anyway, we had a great holiday.

Sylvain Martin, trip to Norway in August 2011 , 06 september 2011
The booking of the motorhome through Ideamerge worked very well. They were friendly and replied promptly to all the questions I had.
We picked up the motorhome(C3 class) from DRM in their Frankfurt location. The staff was quite friendly and we should not complain much about the pick up (nor the return) except for the 3 following points:
- the kitchen set was uncomplete and lacked some important / practical stuff
- there were no hangers in the wardrobe, which I find a pity as we had to stop during the trip to buy some,
- DRM gave us only 1 dose of chemical for the toilets for 16 days rental...again we had to stop to buy some.
Besides these 3 points, we had no mechanical problems with the vehicule, which was quite new and nice to drive.

Last point was a bit of a concern for us when travelling with 2 kids (1 year old and 4 years old). Indeed the 2 "high" beds and certain spots such as the seats structure were not very safe and had sharpe edges.

I highly recommend Ideamerge for those who want to get a good deal for their money.

I also recommend DRM, though a few points will need to be double checked at the time of the pick up in order to have a perfect holiday!

BR
Sylvain

Paul Marjorie Willcox ( U.K.), 02 september 2011
Rental was for 3 months - Apollo Cheapa Campa Euro Tourer. Las Vegas - Las Vegas. Ideamerge sorted me out a good value all-inclusive deal which was cheaper than going direct with Apollo and with the minimum of hassle. We travelled 17,500 miles in the 3 months.The Apollo vehicle was an older model (which was expected), mechanically excellent, but a bit tired inside. The pre-hire briefing was very poor - rushed and incomplete. We spent the first night in Vegas, which was just as well as we found various things wrong or missing as well as having a fuse burn out and stinking out the van. We returned the following morning to have the faults corrected. We had a problem with a fill of dirty petrol which we cannot blame on Apollo and an air-con breakdown which we can (it turned out to only be a circuit breaker switch which we didn't know existed due to the poor briefing). After these early problems the trip went smoothly with no further problems. We would use Apollo again because they were cheap and the only company we could find that hired small 2 person campers - economical and easy to drive in towns and on restricted roads such as the terrific "going to the sun" road in Glacier N.P.
Advice -particularly for long hires. We found invaluable the book/directory "Trailer Life R.V.Parks and Campgrounds" This lists many thousands of campsites all over the U.S.A.. Together with a sat-nav (GPS)-also essential- this made finding a campsite, even in the most out of the way places, a doddle. It's an enormous, heavy, book. We bought it through Amazon U.S. and had it delivered to the hire office to pick up when we arrived.

Matt Grunke, 01 september 2011
The trip through Spain, Portugal, and France via RV
was amazing. Saw and experienced so many places that
we would have missed via train/plane/hotel. The RV
was a little out dated compared to what we saw out
there on the road. It got the job done though and
delivered us safely to all our destinations. Please
update the bedding supplied to sleep with. Being
6ft2 the bedding was too small and I would end
freezing most mornings.A little more info as far as
tolls go on the highways would help alot. That was
something we forgot we would have to pay in each
country. Booking, pickup, and drop off of the RV
was very simple. All went as planned.
Thank you

Matt

Simon Higgins - Australia, 01 september 2011
Ideamerge was a great way to source and secure our RV. Service was excellent. Our family of 6 travelled around the North West of the US for 8 weeks in an El Monte 32 ft Class C. Pick up and drop off in San Diego was hassle free and even when the roof top airconditioner went on the blink we had it fixed very quickly at the El Monte outlet in Las Vegas. RV was new in 2011 which was great. Everything worked well for us expect the indash CD player that wouldn't play CDs. GPS should also be standard on these hires, particularly in the newer models. Overall a wonderful experience for our family! Thank you!

rick herzog, 01 september 2011
Using idealrental was a great call. Hassel free, great
equipment and support. Easy pickup and drop off.
Friendly service. Would recommend to all .

James Sarah, 31 august 2011
Booking was very smooth and Doug+ others very helpful. later on we had to cancel our RV hire very late due to a relative loaning us an RV instead - IdeaMerge handled the refund and credited our account extremely fast - many thanks, great service.

John and Terry-Lynn Hemmerling, 30 august 2011
We have dropped off the vehicle and must compliment
your company. We have enjoyed the ease and
professionalism displayed at every interaction. We
enjoyed a lovely trip and the camper met our needs
perfectly. Your staff is excellent and we feel very
fairly treated over the window replacement. We will be
recommending you to a few families we know who are
planning a similar trip in the future. Thanks again!

Kellington family, 28 august 2011
We had a very good experience with our RV rental this summer. We were given the use of an almost new unit, which was well equipped with everything we needed for our trip. Check in and check out was very efficient and all the features were explained to us very clearly. The shuttle service to and from the hotel was a great convenience. Very courteous and helpful drivers. We would certainly consider another RV vacation.

tomas casado de diego 18 julio 2011, 28 august 2011
El alquiler de la autocaravana con IDEAMERGE ha sido del todo satisfactorio .En un principio contactamos con su sede en Barcelona lo que nos permitió entendernos en español . A través del correo electrónico nos poniamos en contacto y contestaban con gran rapidez.
Viajar en autocaravana es una experiencia muy gratificante porque te permite parar en los lugares que desees sin estar sujetos a periodos de tiempo.Los camping están muy bien preparados pero si no llegabamos aparcabamos en cualquier lugar del camino En Bergen Alesún....hay aparcamientos para autocaravanas. Las carreteras son estrechas por eso hay que ser buen conductor.

Elena Laura Flavio, 28 august 2011
We rented an El Monte RV from Phoenix to San Francisco for 9 nights and we drove for almost 1600 miles through National Parks and cities.
This was our first RV trip. The instruction how to use RV was good and they showed us also a short video in our native language. The pickup and drop off activities were good and precise.
The RV seemed in good conditions but during our experience we have had some problems (e.g. the microwave was not correctly fixed to the structure, loss of water from the tank when we was on the road and when we connected on the city water, etc). This is not acceptable considering the renting cost.
Moreover we have called the Roadside Assistance, because we had a technical problem, but their help was not so good.
In conclusion talking about the trip, our experience through the States was very good. The landscapes, the national parks, the cities, the people, everything have been delightful and our adventure to go around using a RV is been a great experience .

Jorge Fernandez, 23 august 2011
This has been our first experience in a motorhome. In our country, this kind of trips are not so common as in the north of Europe, so we had many doubts before making up our minds. IdeaMerge web page was really useful.

From the very beginning we have felt we have made the right decision. Choosing IdeaMerge and Touring Cards was a great idea. Both the booking and the pick up/drop off process have been really easy. The girl who went to pick us up in the airport (Nina) was really nice and she gave us all the instructions to use the MH. We had no trouble at all. Furthermore, all the questions we had during the booking process were answered very quickly by e-mail.

We would like to repeat this experience in the future. Unfortunately, it is a bit expensive so we have to save some money until we can repeat!!!

Thank you so much for this great experience!!

Ícaro Vilar, 22 august 2011
Everything was awesome! Really, really perfect! We took the RV in New Jersey and cross the USA until Vegas. It was a fantastic trip, and the RV was really really good.
Thank u guys!!!

Ferrers from your-rv-lifestyle.com, USA, 20 august 2011
We had a good experience with both IdeaMerge and McRent in Dusseldorf. In planning the trip, our questions were answered ahead of time, every detail of the costs and terms and conditions of the rental were clearly spelled out.

The vehicle we rented was brand new and we had no problems mechanical or otherwise. We traveled for 3 months in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria.

Just a note for others' information: We had been concerned that we might run out of propane since we had such a long rental. The vehicle came with 2 bottles, and we had bought adapters for use in other countries in case we happened to run out while we were outside of Germany. We found out that there really was no reason to buy the adapters since it seems that no countries actually refill bottles, they just swap them for a full bottle. McRent had advised us not to swap our German bottles in another country. Fortunately we never ran out of propane, and if we had run out toward the end of our trip, we were back in Germany by that time, and could have exchanged an empty German bottle for a full one. In case others wonder, thought we would share this.

In any case, we live in an RV fulltime back in the USA, so we love travel by RV. We naturally rented a much smaller unit in Europe (necessary to manage the roads and campgrounds), so knew we would have much smaller space to live in for 3 months. We were very satisfied with the quality and practicality of the unit - a Dethleffs Globebus T15. And the European campgrounds are excellent!

John Gustavson, 19 august 2011
IdeaMerge was very easy to work with. Unfortunately our reservation was with McRent of Dusseldorf.

The entire 2 1/2 week journey through England and Normandy was tremendous. This was the third time we have traveled in Europe via a VW camper and we would strongly suggest this mode of travel for anyone who wants to see the "real" Europe.

Unfortunately, we returned the VW van to McRent with a very small dent in the roof. Although the roof was completely functional, they proceeded to charge us almost $1000 for a completely new roof. This extra charge put a serious damper on our expereince with McRent. I would strongly suggest not renting from McRent and instead using DRM who we had no problems with in the previous two rentals.

Remember: they take a 1200 euro deposit and can pretty much charge you whatever they want when you return the vehicle.

Enjoy your journey!

Klaus Isbruch, 17 august 2011
Rented Class C Motorhome from Road Bear Las Vegas for three weeks in July, 2011, through IdeaMerge.

- All IdeaMerge representatives I communicated with while finding the right vehicle for me and my family were always very polite, answered very quickly, and provided all necessary information in an understandable way. Perfect!

Road Bear Las Vegas: also perfect.
- Road Bear location easy to find
- Warm welcome (in German) upon arrival
- Very good explanation of the vehicle
- Vehicle in immaculate condition, exactly as described, spotlessly clean from outside and inside.
- Everything working, nothing broken or not usable.
- Short and uncomplicated procedure.
- Same upon return.
Also Perfect.

Only drawback, but this is not Road Bears or IdeaMerge's fault: these American Ford vehicles suspension is so weak, that sitting in the back is not possible for a longer time, because on the average paved road in Nevada, Utah or Wyoming you get seasick, even if you are usually not susceptible to that.
Unfortunately only two passengers can sit in the front, so that for two familiy members this meant to lie flat on the benches or the bed in the rear.

I wish that either the suspension were better suited for the typical road conditions, or that there were a bigger bench in the front, so that three or four people could sit there.

Van Nieuwenhuyse, 17 august 2011
In a period of 16 days we did the tour of iceland
with
a motorhome. This was our first motorhome experience
and it was very positive. We found the motorhome to
be the ideal way to do this kind of roundtrip with
our family (2 adults and 3 kids between 7 and 12y)
Our experience with booking and collecting/drop of
is also positive. The fact that, during our trip, we
were informed regularly on potential heavy wind
hazards gave us a comfortable feeling.

Jane and John UK, 16 august 2011
We hired the RV from Apollo in Las Vegas, for 11 nights, and dropped it off at LA. It took 3 hours for them to get the paperwork etc together at check in, even though there were only 2 couples hiring that morning, and we had pre-paid everything ahead and had telephoned them etc etc. I would not recommend them, and apart from the pick up and unfriendly and unco-operative 2 managers, there were quite a few things wrong with the RV, as we discovered on our journey. This is poor when you consider how much it cost. We left our feedback in LA and wander if it will improve. The folks in LA are completely different, it was so well organised, all staff were excellent, so think again about Las Vegas, and start your journey with Apollo at LA!

Tom Resman, 15 august 2011
Overall we had a great adventure in Europe while renting our RV from the depot outside of Munich. We purchased the recommended TomTom GPS in the United States and it worked well. We could punch in the GPS coordinates of the campsites and always found them. The depot gave us a camping book with campsites throughout Europe. It was invaluable for finding sites in the countries we visited. The RV we received was brand new and they gave us a walk-through when we arrived. The only challenge we had sometimes was trying to find a place to park the camper around tourist sites. There were plenty of parking places for cars but campers were restricted. I recommend that you park the camper in a campsite and then take the public transportation or shuttle service to the sites. My only negative comment is when I returned the vehicle at the end of the trip. We kept the vehicle in near perfect condition. On the side of the left rear bumper there was a minor surface scratch which you could barely see. The paint was still there but the surface probably was scratched by a bush when backing up. The depot charged us 70 Euro to buff it out. At first they were threatening to charge me to replace the entire bumper. I took some pictures of the scratch and you couldn't even see them with my digital camera. I think this was just another way for them to collect some money on the rental vehicle. Overall it was a great experience but the depot ended the trip on a sour note with the charge to buff out the surface scratch.

fank ND Carol, NH, USA, 15 august 2011
We had a great trip to Yosemite and Carmel, California. This is our fifth RV trip. We went out of Las Vegas, arrived at 9 am and left there at 2 pm. The Apollo van was not clean or ready so we had to wait- this threw us off schedule. There were a few things that did not work with the RV- the rear view camera display had to be fixed in the the parking lot, the company (Apollo) had to fill the propane tank and clean the vehicle. We also did not get the vehicle we requested, we wanted a 22 foot and they gave us a 25 foot. When these were finished we were ready to go and Apollo gave us free use of the generator for our late start.
Since this was our second trip out of Las Vegas we noted that each time there was quite a wait before we were actually given the vehicle for our trip- I would suggest they look into getting the vehicles and paperwork ready in advance for the customers.
All and all it was a fantastic trip and the RV was excellent- we had a bump out and their was plenty of room. It is a geat way to travel. Enjoy your trip.

Gleasons from Alaska, June 2011, 15 august 2011
This was our first time renting an RV through IdeaMerge, but our second time renting from DRM in Frankfurt. We rented from DRM in 2004 and were happy with the RV and service. We were very happy with the service from IdeaMerge, as the staff always responded promptly to our email and phone calls with questions. The website is easy to use, and we always knew what the cost was without having to figure out the exchange rates. Our Condor flight directly from Anchorage to Frankfurt (about 10 hours) was a major improvement over the more than 24 hours with many plane changes we had in 2004. DRM checked us out in a nearly new RV which was just big enough for the 4 of us, including our adult daughter and 12-yr old grandson. We brought our own sleeping bags, towels and camp cook kit, but didn't bring dishes, so the staff put the kitchen kit in the motor home. In the future, we would also pay the rent for camp chairs. We brought our own Garmin GPS with European maps loaded. We enjoyed our visits in Germany and Italy, and our quick drive through Austria. We had no particular set schedule however we liked to stay away from the big cities as much as possible. The staff at all of the campgrounds were friendly and helpful. Although our RV had a shower, we found the showers in the campgrounds ranged from adequate to excellent. All of the campgrounds had wi-fi, so we were able to stay in communication with family and friends at home via the internet. There were only 2 very small problems with the RV. One was our fault: at the check out, the staff showed us how to check the oil, but we forgot that you had to use the key and turn the lock both ways to open the hood. We later found another family driving an identical RV, and they showed us how to open the hood to check the oil. Another was a very strong sewer smell coming from the bathroom. Cleaning the chemical toilet didn't stop the smell. We saw the drain plugs hanging in the bathroom, but didn't recall the staff saying anything about plugging the shower and sink drains. Putting the plugs into the shower and sink drains stopped the smell, which was coming from the gray water tank. The check in at DRM was fast and easy. We received our deposit refund within about a week. Our GPS worked well, except it wanted to take us on the toll roads, when we sometimes preferred some back roads. Once we were looking for a particular market in Heidelberg, and the GPS kept telling us to make a U-turn. After going in circles a few times, we abandoned that effort and headed straight to the campground. As we later learned, sometimes markets are located in other buildings and don't even have parking lots. The GPS was worth it's money on the return to DRM in Frankfurt, navigating us through the many highway changes and construction without a problem. Our grandson was able to play with some of the children in the campgrounds, even though he speaks no German and the children spoke little English. We never saw another American in any of the campgrounds, but we were able to meet many of the other campers from around Europe and as far away as Australia and New Zealand. We like to hike, so spent a total of about 6 days at Camping Tennsee near Garmisch. A really nice campground with very helpful people. And by camping and going to places out of the usual tourist route, we were able to see and experience many things most tourists don't even know about, such a a Roman wagon road on a hiking trail near Tennsee. Overall, the RV experience was very good. We will be sure to use IdeaMerge again on our next trip to Europe.

Michiel van der Nol - The Netherlands, 15 august 2011
We booked our RV way before our actual trip. Because of that we
made a very good deal with Ideamerge, which was confirmed by El
Monte later on.

My contact with Doug of Ideamerge was very good. He is fast in
replying, and during our trip easy to get in contact with.

Although we had some problems with our RV, this was solved in a
very professional way by Doug. Next time I call Doug again!

Have a wonderful trip!

Daryll Hemingway Perth Australia, 15 august 2011
We hired a El Monte 30'( Santa Fe Springs CA )a free upgrade from the 25' we paid for - which came with a slide out, As there were two adults 3x children 14,12,7 - Definately recommend getting a slide - out. We travelled 3900 Miles Vegas to Canada to San Francisco and looked at everything in between. Great way to see USA / Canada. My main gripe with travelling all that distance was the Cruise Control worked only Intermittently, and detouring to Larger Cities and allotting time to have it fixed didn't work in with our schedule.
Small issues with the RV was as it was getting a little old - The system display for Potable / Black water / Propane storage didn't work. Mainly inconvenience. As we needed new sleeping Bags for the kids who are in scouts and cubs anyway - Didn't buy the personal pack and saved.
FANTASTIC way to travel -USA /Canada set up for a great RV Road Trip- PS Don't go out the drive without a TOM TOM or similiar Navigation System.

The Benoit Family, 14 August, 2011
People tended to respond incredulously to the idea that our family was going to tour the Alps in a motor home.  “You’re going to what?  Really…?” seemed to be the most common response.  And we had our own doubts too.  Would the RV be a piece of junk?  What would the campsites be like?  How would I do driving a motor home in the Alps or on the Autobahn?  According to the internet, the Europeans vacation this way all the time; could we Americans make it work?  I’ll provide more details and resources below, but the short answer to all these questions is that we had a great time and experienced Europe in a way that few Americans do.

We’re a bit adventurous, but are a pretty typical family: middle age parents and two boys, 8 and 11, from Illinois, USA.  We tent camp (North Shore of Lake Superior, the Black Hills, and Yellowstone over the past three summers) and enjoy traveling.  However, we had never used an RV before and had never been on a trans-Atlantic flight as a family.  I like to come up with big ideas (Lets go to Europe in an RV!).  My wife is great with the details – little things like plane reservations or actually booking the motor home.

We started planning in the mid-winter time using the internet and tour books.  There really is not a lot of information about Americans doing this type of travel.  Rick Steves has a few articles, there was a long discussion thread we found that focused mainly on a couple’s anxiety and subsequent aborted trip, and what seemed like some latter day hippies with great color pictures and glowing reviews.  After looking at a variety of RV rental agencies, we chose to go with Ideamerge.  The web site had pictures of the various vehicles, the prices were competitive, and I actually spoke to a customer service rep who was very helpful and spoke great English.  The vehicle rental was pricey and we took all the add ons we could – extra insurance, bedding, dishes, folding chairs, and towels.  Our reasoning was that renting the bedding, etc was easier than bringing it with us (we traveled without checking baggage) and less expensive that trying to buy these essentials in Europe.  The insurance was more to provide some additional piece of mind in potentially difficult driving circumstances.  It turned out we didn’t use the insurance, but I’d probably get it again – just in case.  To balance out the cost of the rental, we kept in mind that this cost included a large chunk of our lodging, rental car, and dining expenses.  There was also a convenience factor as we would not have to keep packing and unpacking like you would each night at a new hotel.  Fuel was an additional expense, especially at European prices; however, we would have been putting gas into a rental car anyway.

In the end, we rented “The Beast”, a 23 foot diesel motor home.  It was small for an American RV, but was one of the largest caravans (that’s what the Europeans call an RV) we saw during our two week trip.  A lesson learned for next time – book as early as possible.  By mid to late spring, we had few options on which caravans were available.  The Beast worked great, but something smaller would have been more maneuverable on the roads and in the campings (the European term for RV parks).  We spent very little time inside beyond driving and sleeping.  Even on rainy nights, the awning provided plenty of shelter to eat outside.  The bathroom with a shower was an important feature for my wife when we booked the caravan.  She worried that the campings would have dirty bathrooms and showers.  As it turned out, we never used the caravan shower once.  Even the camping with the dirtiest facilities (Munich) had acceptable restrooms (Cathleen chose not to shower there and used the bathroom reluctantly – the only place she was put off by the showers; the boys and I had no issues).  The toilet was useful for late night bathroom trips when you didn’t want to walk with the kids to the restrooms, but other than that got almost no usage as well. 

Upon our arrival in Munich, we took a cab to the rental depot.  It was about a 40 minute cab ride away.  We could have used the train to get there from the airport, but chose the more expensive, but convenient route.  This turned out to be a good idea because everyone was tired and our full attention was demanded at the depot.  The staff there were very helpful and went over the operation of the caravan in great detail.  I didn’t need any type of special license to drive the Beast, in fact the staff at the caravan depot joked that with an American license, I could drive whatever I wanted.  I did get and international drivers license from AAA, really just a translation of my Illinois license into a variety of different languages.  We never needed it, but it seemed a reasonable precaution.  A lesson for next time – everyone should pay close attention and ask questions when the depot staff are explaining things.  Trying to remember a few days later how the awning set up or which plug adapter worked in which country presented a challenge that a little more care on our part would have prevented.  Also, when the gentleman asks you if you’re familiar with the transmission and driving characteristics, don’t encourage him to gloss over the details.

For example, when he said, “Do you know how to drive a 6 speed manual transmission?”  I replied, “Yes.” – thinking I had driven plenty of 5 speed gasoline powered manuals here in the U.S.  I turns out reverse isn’t on the far right of the gear shifter and I didn’t realize this until we had started driving.  Luckily, we arrived at the first camping and got settled in without having to go in reverse, because I needed to look at the pictures in the German language manual to figure out that you got into reverse by pulling up the plastic ring around the shaft of the shifter, then pushing it up and to the left.  No problem once I figured it out, but more attention on my part would have spared us a few anxious moments. 

A much bigger problem was the difference between driving a diesel and a gas engine.  I had no problems using the clutch- in fact I never stalled the Beast.  But initially I struggled with the amount of fuel I provided to the engine after I shifted.  I tended to stomp on the gas pedal after a shift to compensate for the Beast’s lack of acceleration; after all, I was in Germany, getting ready to drive on the autobahn.  In my ignorance, I was flooding the diesel engine and causing it to bog down and lose power.  This caused a few panic stricken moments, as the Beast lost power on the highway and I had to pull off to the side of the road to start from first gear again.  Luckily, no one rear ended us and my wife was quick with the emergency flashers!  Once I figured this quirk out, I did not have any more problems with the Beast’s transmission. 

Now after reading the previous paragraph, you might assume that driving on the autobahn in a rented caravan was a challenging experience, but I believe it was actually easier than driving the same size vehicle here in America.  Although speed limits could be higher and cars came up very quickly from behind in the left lane, vehicles in the right lane seemed to move more slowly than we’re accustomed.  And people did not tailgate (no matter how slowly you drove), did not pass on the right, and pulled back into the right lane as soon as they were done passing.  To top it off, the traffic density also seemed much lower that we’re used to here in the northern suburbs of Chicago.  As a result, I was able to drive slowly and carefully early in the trip without feeling uncomfortable and, after a few days’ practice, drive at the posted speed limits (as long as I allowed myself enough time and space to pass slower vehicles).

Driving in the towns and in the Alps were more harrowing at times.

Narrow and twisty country roads, mountain passes that looked barely wide enough for two cars – never mind our huge caravan and a tour bus, and urban routes that looked like they were designed for horse carts were all par for the course.  There were plenty of white knuckle moments, a few truly panicy incidents (We’ve got to turn around here?!?  I swear the street was only a few feet wider than the caravan was long.), but no accidents.  Well, maybe one accident if hitting a portable plastic barrier with a side mirror counts like my wife says; however, it didn’t leave a mark on the caravan and it was there a warning not to hit something more serious, so I’m sticking to my original story that there were no accidents. I drove about 1,600 kilometers over a two week period in a large, rented vehicle on unfamiliar roads with signs in a language we didn’t really read across three countries.  And to hear my wife tell it, I don’t even drive that well! The Beast had plenty of power, handled well, and had a small turning radius for a vehicle of its size.  One problematic point, we did drive slowly, slowly enough that at times I felt badly for the people stuck behind me.  So next time, we’ll need to multiply all expected travel times by 1.5 to have a more reasonable estimate of how long it would take us to get anywhere. 

One thing that helped us navigate was that we brought a portable GPS with us.  Prior to the trip, we bought and downloaded the European road maps into it from the Garmin website.  The GPS performed admirably and we never were lost.  But relying on GPS in Europe had the same issues that we’ve grown accustomed to in the United States – just more so because everything was unfamiliar.  For example, one source of confusion was that the road names/highway numbers were not always the same on the signs and on the GPS.  Another problem was that we couldn’t find a GPS setting for “Driving an Oversized Vehicle”.  As a result, it often took us on roads that were the shortest in theory, but problematic in reality.  An arch that was too short for our 3.3 meter tall vehicle was the least of the difficulties (Recalculating…).   Addresses and roads in rural areas that were off just enough (Recalculating…) were not a big deal. Taking us with 1 kilometer of Marionplatz in the center of Munich during rush hour when all we wanted was to get on the highway that skirted the city was a much bigger issue (No chance at Recalculating… due to the traffic. We fought over that one.).  We used a paper map and the map on Cathleen’s I Pad to cross-reference routes when we were worried about the directions from the GPS.  Obviously, this didn’t give us perfect results, but I can’t imagine the difficulties we would have had without the GPS.

[General note from IdeaMerge regarding GPS navigation software designed for large vehicles. …

Initially, we were using the internet to research the campings.  There were problems with this approach, including discovering their exact location, reading the German web sites, and determining the quality of the services offered.  We knew that the campings would not be like American National Parks campgrounds, but we didn’t want to stay in a dirty, cramped, shade-less RV park either.  Floundering a little, we were relieved to discover Caravan Europe 2 published by The Caravan Club of the U.K.  (www.caravanclub.co.uk).  This book covers all of Western Europe except France, Spain, and Portugal; those countries are in Caravan Europe 1.  In addition to short reviews of campings, the book has numerous articles about caravanning and orientation articles about each country.  All of the campings described in the book have been recommended by people who stayed there and submitted a review.  The descriptions, particularly the abbreviations that they use and directions, can be pretty cryptic, but the information they contained was very accurate.  Each entry also contains contact information, address (including GPS coordinates), and services available at the camp site.  My favorite part of each entry were the quotes from the reviewers inserted at the end – they gave me a good feel for what each site might be like.  I’d highly recommend this book.  Every place we stayed was as advertised in the guide.  We also purchased the International Camping Card before we left (Internet address).  This gave us another list of campings, but more importantly acted as our identification for check in at the sites (rather than presenting our passports).  It also gave 10% discounts at some of the campings which more than paid for the cost of the card. 

The campings varied widely in what they offered and where they were located.  Two dimensions that seem to capture the variances are family owned/company owned and rural/urban.  The second dynamic, rural/urban, was the most suprising to me.  We stayed at Thalkirchen, a famous camping within the Munich city limits, Camping Nord-Sam in Saltzburg, and Camping Hirzberg in the medium sized city of Freiburg.  The equivalent in the U.S. would be having an RV park on the North Side of Chicago walking distance from an El station or in Boston out by Bunker Hill.  I expected these places to be small, paved over, noisy, and filthy.  My expectations couldn’t be further from the truth.  Each site had grass and trees everywhere.  Thalkirchen actually backed up to a large river and abutted a park.  Hirzberg had a playground across the street and a walking path along a river just beyond the park.  Nord-Sam was the most urban, but the kids still found plenty of space to play badminton and to run around.  City noises were much less than you’d expect in a downtown hotel and the convenience of public transportation, shopping, and restaurants more than made up for what little you heard.  Using public transportation you could get from the camping to downtown Saltzburg or Munich in 20 to 45 minutes respectively.  It was a 15 minute walk to the historic old town/downtown Freiburg from the camping.  In all three situations, a real advantage was that we could easily get what we wanted to see and back once we figured out the public transportation.  Safety was not an issue that we were concerned about in these urban campings.  They were full of people, had on site staff 24 hours a day, and had gates that locked when quiet hours started (typically at 10 or 11 pm).  Disadvantages to the urban campings were that the sites were somewhat smaller and that driving in and out tended to produce more than its share of white knuckle moments.

The rural campings had somewhat larger sites (realistically none of the sites were large) and tended to be in truly beautiful places.  At Campingplatz Tauber-Romantik near Rothenburg ob de Tauber, Germany, we woke to the sound to cowbells from the herds on the hills above us.  At Camping Manor Farm near Interlaken, Switzerland, we were surrounded by the Alps and less than 30 years from one of the glacial-fed lakes (Interlaken means between the lakes).  Each camping had its own small store with basic groceries and supplies, but larger grocery runs were more difficult (longer walks or bags on the bus – and Europeans are into the Eco-green movement so either bring your own bags or expect to be charged for each plastic shopping sack you use).  There was always at least one place to eat near the camping and some of the restaurants were quite good.  Transportation to tourist sites was do-able, but tended to mean either longer bus rides (with a less frequent bus schedule) or longer walks.  Next time, I think we would try to rent bikes to improve our mobility.  What we ended up doing at some locations (castles and waterfalls names) to make up for transportation difficulties was leaving the camping early, driving to the nearby attraction, parking in the caravan/bus lot, and spending the morning/early afternoon site seeing before we moved on to another camping.  The rural sites also tended to have larger play areas for the kids with soccer pitches, volleyball nets, or playground equipment.  Some even had bikes and scooters for the them to ride. 

The family owned/company owned dynamic was displayed most in the customer service you received.  Every camping had English speaking staff who were polite, but the family owned campings tended to have staff who more passionate and helpful.  Whether they were helping you with directions, restaurant recommendations, or how to use a Swiss electric outlet with a German plug, the staff of the family owned campings really demonstrated customer service above expectations.  At Lech Camping near Augsberg where we stayed our first night, the staff helped Cathleen print emails that contained prescriptions for medications that she had lost going through airport security (This campsite also had a great restaurant).  At Camping Hirzberg, the site was nearly filled, but the owner found a place for us.  I had to back it down a very narrow 50 foot long path and into a tiny spot between two other caravans, but he found a space and gave excellent directions as I maneuvered the Beast into position.  The company owned campings tended to be much larger and have more amenities such as larger stores or gift shops. 

What all the campings had in common were that they were clean, quiet, and easy to use.  We only had a reservation for the first night.  Every other night, we showed up in the late afternoon (beware the after-lunch siesta when the offices are closed) or early evening and were always able to get a spot to stay.  We traveled in June, which is just at or before the start of the high tourist season.  I don’t know if we could have been as lucky later in July or August when all of Europe is on vacation.  The cost of camping tends to be lower, but there were additional fees for everything – each additional person, electrical use, water hook up, wireless internet, at one place showers and hot water were coin operated.  However, we never spent more than 45 euro a night for the four of us.  Compared to the cost of a tiny European hotel room, that seems ok.  I recommend ordering bread for breakfast each morning.  The campings have it delivered fresh before 8:00 and it is delicious with some local honey or jam.

We never met another American at a camping, but most Europeans speak some English.  There were plenty of people from the UK (I heard that 18% of the population owns a caravan) who were on vacation.  We saw caravans from all over Europe, from Norway to Greece to Slovakia.  Everyone was friendly, but people weren’t intrusive.  We got some great recommendations on other campsites and activities in casual conversations with people.  Our kids played with kids who spoke no English and had a blast.  (Although I don’t know what people thought of our 8 year old who ran around playing tag and yelling, “No sprechinze Deutch!” for two nights.)  And on top of this cultural and fun experience, they had new places to explore and playmates to keep them busy rather then spending time bugging us or fighting with each other.

The caravanning experience also allowed us to tailor activities for our kids.  We did our share of Cathedrals and museums/cultural monuments, but we were able to vary our activities so it wasn’t “boring”.  We spent time in cities and in the countryside, at museums and out hiking, experiencing an adrenelin rush (ziplining down the side of an Alp or being lost in the Munich subway) or relaxing in the shade.   Food was rarely an issue as we were able to buy enough familiar food in the grocery that the kids were willing to try a variety of foods when we ate out.  A beer or three with dinner was also not an issue; we weren’t driving anywhere after the Beast was set up for the night.  Bed times and mornings could be a little cramped, but less so than spending time in our family tent.  And the Beast offered electricity, refrigeration, and shelter from the elements.

So is a caravanning vacation for everyone?  No, but, if you’ve got an interest in some adventure, a desire to set your own itinerary, and a motivation to see Europe in a way that few Americans will, caravanning can be an excellent choice.  It was extremely enjoyable and memorable for us.  Probst!

Ninik Stroud, Australia, 14 august 2011
Overall we had a beautiful memory with your services. Your car absolutely clean and a good conditions. We hired for 17 days in Germany, Swiss, Austria, Slovakia & Cekoslovakia on 29/6 to 16/7/2011. We drove for about 4,000 km. The GPS was great. Next time we like to go back to hire your car again.

Greg Newman, 12 august 2011
Boking through idea merge was easy and more convenient than
direct. The pick up in Friedberg also good, we where given all the info
needed to get on our way - even the nearest ikea for bedding.
The camper was almost new and didn't miss a beat the whole
trip through SWI, ITA, HUN and CZE.
Would have been good to have a table a chairs in the camper -
wouldn't mind paying a couple of EU extra for these (maybe you
can in the booking process and I just missed it).
For travelers; GPS is a must (make sure you know how to use
and check the route first) - also hardcopies from viamichelin.com
come in handy. Also understand the toll/vignette system of the
country you are going before you get there.
Thanks to Doug@ideamerge and Sussana@mcrent for a
seamless experience, we'd definitely do this again.

PJ Anderson, Florida, USA, 12 august 2011
We had a great trip thru western Europe in May and June of 2011. This was our first trip abroad and we traveled over 4,200 miles trying to see everything possible. IdeaMerge was great,easy to work with and had amazingly quick responses to the booking and any questions. Customer service at McRent near Dusseldorf was also excellent. They were nice enough to accomadate our early arrival and the young men who did both the check in and check out were very knowledgable and spoken wonderful English. All of the McRent RVs were very new and seemed well maintained. The only tip I might pass along is to get the smallest possible RV to accomadate your group. The small RV was still difficult to drive and to park in many small towns esp in Italy.

G. Naismith, 12 august 2011
We were pleased with the service from IdeaMerge and
McRent’s agent in Madrid. We travelled nearly
17,000km throughout western Europe over 2.5 months.
We were impressed with the fuel economy of the
McRent Fiat 2 berth motorhome which achieved less
than 10 liters per 100km over the 17,000km.
We chose to not drive on the motorways/toll ways as
much as possible so that we could see more of the
country and the smaller towns.
Our only regret was not looking at hiring an even
smaller van-type vehicle which was narrower and
lower to allow better access into the center of the
older towns with narrow streets, and the potential
to park in these towns. We hired camping table and
chairs but did not use them because we were always
visiting the towns or places we stayed at, only
getting back in time for bed.
We had a great holiday.

Johann Badenhorst, 12 august 2011
My family (4 people) rented a campervan from Idaemerge/McRent near Dusseldorf in June 2011 and toured 4500 km's through Europe in 30 days. As a whole I found the experience and service very pleasant. Advice to future travellers would be: 1) Find out whether you need a "vignette" at the border post - some kind of sticker you buy that serves as a road tax. 2) Be prepared to drive on very narrow roads when you leave the freeway.

The only thing I would like McRent to improve on is the supply of basic utensils like a small broom + scoop, a bucket and maybe some basic cleaning liquid. Apart from that the company is effective, transparent and trustworthy.

Gail Gilbert, 11 august 2011
I found it hard to commit to a booking agency for a
Rental vehicle half a world away, but the person
working after hours was very helpful and Ideamerge
found me the perfect camper for our group of 2
couples. We arrived at McRent Frankfurt, the paper
work didn't take long and were soon on the road with
some extras from there storeroom, like pegs,
clothesline, bar-a-que, detergent etc (left over's
from other campers). Watching the DVD proved
helpful although we had hire a camper before and
were delighted with camper, our only problem would
be working out the fridge between gas & battery. We
drove through Germany, France, Belgium & Switzerland
over the amazing countryside, some of the roads were
very narrow but just took our time. We followed
some of Tour De France and drove up the Alp d Huez
and over the Col de Galiber - the camper handled
this narrow windy road just great. The staff at
McRent were very helpful and would use both Idea
Merge and McRent again in the near future (I hope).
Regards Gail

Jan M Nielsen, 11 august 2011
We rented a 29" Roadbear RV through Ideamerge. Picked it up in Denver and drove it almost 3,000 miles through all the national parcs to Las Vegas. Ideamerge provided great service all along - even when I had to alter the original package. When we arrived at Roadbear we got an almost brand new RV and a really thorough orientation by a guy who went above and beyond our expectations. The RV was very well equipped and very clean, and we couldn't be happier.
Returning it in Las Vegas did run as smoothly as we could have wished. For some odd reason they had booked pick-ups and drop-offs at the same time, so efter we scrambled to be there in due time for our drop-off we had to wait 45 minutes to actually get rid of the RV. That was not good enough, but I contribute that to poor service and planning skills on the Las Vegas depot side.
Ideamerge and Roadbear were awesome, and we would definitely book there again and recommned it to everyone.

Chester Juroska, 11 august 2011
My wife and I rented a McRent RV for two people in Munich (actually Sulzemoos)and toured through southern Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. It was the same trip my son and I went on in 2003 when we used DRM. Overall the trip was wonderful and the rental process was easy. However, the renter needs to be fully aware of how far out of Munich the depot is. The taxi ride out and back in to the airport is significantly more than stated, so be prepared and have an adequate amount of euros available. Some of the taxis allegedly take credit cards but the car we used with every credit card company displayed on it did not. Ask beforehand. The only other thing is that the rental companies should make clear that some countries like Slovakia and the Czech Republic require the driver to purchase a sticker to display on the wind shield which I suppose is like a road tax. The Slovakian police flagged me down and gave me a 20 euro fine for not having one and then directed me to where I should purchase it. Hungary also requires it. Other than that, the trip was great and I recommend anyone who is the slightest adventurer to do the same. Ideamerge is easy to work with and I will be renting from them again the summer of 2013 to tour The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.

Brett Gilbert, 11 august 2011
From start to finish the service with IdeaMerge is
excellent.

Being from Australia it is always a long trip to get
over to Europe. After 24hrs on a plane you don’t
want any hassles hiring your camper. Well the guys
from DRM Dusseldorf were fantastic. In our group we
had 7 guys and hired 2 campervans. The service was
great and after the tuition we were on the road in
under 1 hr. We travelled in excess of 3,000km in 10
days throughout Germany on main roads and back roads
all without fuss.

On this holiday however both campers returned with
some damage. One of our campers suffered some side
damage (Australians not used to left hand drive) and
the other the awning got caught in the wind and
broke. When we arrived back at the DRM depot we
expected a major issue and confrontation. Not to be.
We were very embarrassed that we had damaged the
campers however the guys from DRM were very
professional and did not make us feel bad about the
incident. We filled out the necessary paperwork and
obviously had to pay for the damages from the bond,
however the price was reasonable and the way that
the guys treated us was exceptional. Thanks guys.

I would like to recommend IdeaMerge to anyone who
wants a trouble free holiday. The C3 Family Sport
campers that we hired were modern, spacious, easy to
drive and the options of bedding, crockery, table
and chairs just makes the holiday a fantastic
experience. This is my second year booking with
Ideamerge and all I can say is there definitely will
be a third booking next year.

Regards,

Brett Gilbert
Sydney Australia

Jan Aarsen - Canada, 11 august 2011
We rented a motorhome from the Frankfurt depot this past June. The
pick up and drop off went very quickly and smoothly. The staff who
went over the motorhome with us were very friendly. The motorhome
was exactly what we were expecting and was brand new. It was easy
to drive and everything operated well. Thanks

Chris Wall, 11 august 2011
Myself and wife, plus another couple, rented a 6/7 berth motorhome from Avis, with a pick up in Paris, for a 22 day hire. The van had a fixed double bed over the front and 2 fixed bunks in the rear, which is exactly what we required. No bed assembly necessary and dining area usable at all times. Good for poor sleepers. Instructions at pick up we very vague and shown video was not our vehicle so was somewhat useless. Quality of equipment supplied was very poor and only covered the bare essentials. No drinking glasses, no kettle, no teapot and no real cooking implements. Hired pillows were cushions and required us to replace at our cost. Internal maintenance of vehicle was poor with doors not shutting or rattling and goods flying about until I fixed everything. Simple jobs Avis should do before each hire. The van itself was a delight to drive (Fiat Ducato) and the accommodation worked extremely well. Storing suitcases for 4 adults was extremely awkward, taking up valuable space, which is not provided for in these vans. Hire companies should offer storage space for these at their depots. The holiday the van was hired for was fabulous and we would hire another van without a second thought to do another tour, especially now we know the pit falls. Only change we would make would be to hire a narrower van as it is very stressful driving the minor roads of France in something this wide. Managed to destroy the passengers mirror in a really narrow encounter and got stuck twice, requiring some nifty reversing. Cost of mirror replacement was shown in manual at 348euros so no shocks when vehicle returned, and cost very reasonable. This was our first Motorhome hire anywhere, so it was a new experience for us. Idealmerge was excellent in its professionalism and information, and was most competative with its price. Would certainly use them again and recommend others to do the same. A great holiday and a great way to travel. Pity Avis could not offer better service, equipment and care.

G.Danos, 10 august 2011
the service was good,the camper was in good condition,the camping table was not very comfortable because is was not flat. friendly staff in Stockholm.

Wei from Taiwan, 10 August, 2011, 10 august 2011
Thanks IdeaMerge give me a nice experiences. From pickup to dropoff, we received good services. Norway and Sweden are both beautiful and wonderful countries. The persons are all friendly. We always can communicate with them in English. That's why we choose these countries as our honeymoon places. The campervan is new and comfortable. Thanks the agents of IdeaMerge and Touring Cars. They always try their best to deal with the problems or questions that I asked as soon as possible. In summary, we have nice experiences in Scandinavia. THANK YOU IdeaMerge and Touring Cars.

Daniel du Toit, June 2011, 10 august 2011
Booking: Booking through IdeaMerge was faultless, I had a couple of questions and they were all answered almost the same day. Good feedback on all questions and additional arrangements.
Pickup: pickup in Stockholm was reasonable, Touring Cars picked us up at train station and after going through all the paperwork and the elaborate pre-inspection we were eventually on our way. Tip: allow a couple of hours in your schedule for pickup and do a proper inspection of the vehicle. It felt a bit as if Touring Cars were trying to get me to pay for more insurance than I wanted to, almost a little intimidating about the excess that will have to be paid on return if there were damages and we were told the roads in Norway are narrow and almost all vehicles return with damages (well, we return without issue and did about 3,000 km in Norway).
Trip: No mechanical problems at all, nice ride, plenty of space (we had the biggest one). True that all the extras add up and some items I believe should be standard, like the levelling wedges and the table and chairs. Had a problem with the back bed support comming appart in the luggage compartment. Took it to Touring Cars in Oslo and they fixed it on the spot, no questions asked and we were off in 15 minutes. Thumbs up for Toruing Cars Oslo!
Return: Took a very long time, paperwork that should have been done after our pickup was only done on return, were told it was a system error. The inspection took for ever and scratches were found that I cannot explain how they got there. After that long of a wait I did not feel like battling another couple of hours to figure out if it was pre-existing. Tip to future users: Take pictures of the exterior at all locations and at at all angles before pickup and make sure that Touring Cars know that you did (date them as well). Also asked if we could return the full toilet chemicals, but was told there are no refund. Tip: don't bother getting the chemicals if you are going to be using campsites and buy some at the campsite if really needed.
Summary: Had a nice trip and the motorhome behaved well. Pick-up and return process could be improved. Booking service was great.

Villacastin, 10 august 2011
The trip in the States was perfect! We made around 2500 milles in the West Coast and we enjoyed a lot.
We rented a motorhome for 5 peoples and it was really confortable to stay, the problem was that the motorhome was a little old and it vibrated a lot when you drove in highway. We have to add that the brakes started to smell in the slope down long.
The pickup and drop off was correct.
Do you have any tips for fellow travelers? Yes, ask for a new motorhome.

Fatima Akhalwaya/ south Africa, 10 august 2011
We hired 2 x 6 sleeper campervan thru Ideamerge - Freedom Holiday. in Italy.
We had very good service from them from the beginning and good discounts.
We made our way to Freedom Holiday from Rome-it is very far and took us very long to get there as there was alot of traffic.The owners were very helpfull and friendly.
The campervan was great - we took our own sheets and pillows- in the summer u do not need a blanket so a sleeping bag is sufficient.
We also took our own dishes and kettle-mostly throw away stuff and plastic cutlery,plates.
We had a problem with the microwave as it did not work in the campsites- something to do with the power supply so we did not use it at all.Actually the gas stove was sufficient.
We were credited for it at the end.
The trip around Italy was great .We saw alot and went from: Rome,MtVesuvius,POmpei,Sorrento,Naples,Florence,Pisa,Cinque Terre,Milan,Verona,Venice,Modena, SanGimiano,Sienna and back to Rome
Yes we covered alot but managed to see the important areas in each place.We stuck with the motorways which charge toll fees but u save on time.The motorways were very good.
In the smaller towns the roads are narrow but with good driving skills we managed thru.Also tried to take the local transport into the city centres.
Most of the campsites had very good transport from there to the centre of town.
The campsites all had good facilities ie toilets and showers,laundry and electricity.Altho it was crowded in the peek period - as expected!!
You do save on the cost of the accommodationm however the petrol and toll fees are high in Italy.
You also gain with travelling at your own leisure between cities.
Do not take alot of clothes-in the summer take shorts and t-shirts and good walking shoes.All else is a waste.And use the washing machines at intervals
In all we had a great ,memmorable trip.
We would love to do it again
Ciaao!!!!!!!!!!

Roland Sommer, Taiwan F3K team at 1st. World Championships 2, 09 august 2011
Starting with the 1st. contact and booking procedure over the net, everything was smooth and comfortable till hand over and drop off back in Stockholm. Special praise to the IDEAMERGE personnel which made that happen due to their excellent service.

The motor home was rather new, of very good quality in driving as well as giving stay for 3 of our team mates for 12 days without missing home....

All supplied and standard and additional rented equipment was fully functional.

The total cost was very acceptable in comparison to stay in a hotel and renting a separate car. Also the IDEAMERGE Motor home was office, canteen and social center for our team during whole time of contest.

Many thanks to IDEAMERGE from the Taiwan F3K-Team...:-)

rosanne Stuart, 09 august 2011
I was pretty happy with my experience with our RV, the only concerne we had was the air conditioner kept cutting out and the RV was getting a bit old, I will add that we did get the cheapest one possible so this could have been the reason

Zdzislaw Majewski from Australia, 09 august 2011
We rented 25 feet RV from El Monte in San Francisco. We had it for 6 weeks. It was 4 years old. We traveled from San Francisco to Jasper NP in Canada, then to Las Vegas and back to San Francisco. We drove 12000 km and had no problem with our RV. It had very nice setup. The holiday was excellent. We got used to this RV and it was very difficult to return it. We already planing another holiday in a motorhome.

S. Cotini, Italy, 9 August 2011, 09 august 2011
We took a 25 feet El Monte RV from Denver for a 3
week holiday. The trip was fantastic, the RV was a
really new 2011 vehicle, very comfortable and clean.
The personal and kitchen kits given with the RV were
brand new and suited every necessity. The personal
at the RV deposit was very kind and friendly. At the
pick up they show you a 15 minutes video, in your
native language, that explains all the main features
of the RV, then you can pick up the RV and ask for
every further doubt. Excellent service and fantastic
experience!

N. Kippers, Zaandam, Holland, 09 august 2011
We rented our 2 persons RV Ford at Idea merge/Apollo. The information we got from Ideamerge on the internet was complete and clear. We picked up the Rv at Las Vegas. It’s a pity that we could not pick up and bring back the Rv at the airport. It took a rather long taxi drive to reach the Apollo pick up location.

The instruction how to use the RV was good. The RV was not new but in good shape.One point of criticism: the kitchen equipment was poor. We had to buy some glasses, pots and shelves ourselves.

The RV gave no problems during our 3 weeks holiday except one door of a cupboard: it could not be closed properly.

For us, this RV was an excellent way to travel through this beautiful country.

Rhoads Family, 08 august 2011
we had a GREAT time. The camper had everything we needed.
Sise OF the car wad perfect. When we got to pick up the RV,
staff explained everything very complete.

Maxine Rogers, 08 august 2011
We picked up our vehicle in Denver great customer service very friendly and helpful staff. We drove down to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and our trip ended in Los Angeles, the vehicle never missed a beat and the extra help from the Tom Tom was appreciated. There were only 2 issues the TV stopped working 2 nights into the trip much to our son's disgust and I would have liked one of the sheets in the sheet sets provided to be fitted.

Deb Whitewood, 08 august 2011
We rented our RV from Road Bear in Commerce City, CO. What a wonderful experience! Our unit was brand new, only had 5000 miles on it. It was spotless and everything was in working order thoughout the trip. We put a lot of miles on our unit. We travelled from Denver to the Badlands in SD, then to Yellowstone, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Walnut Canyon, Petrified Forest NP, Petroglyph National Monument, the pueblos in NM, and then back to Denver. There was NEVER problem with the RV!

My father and mother who have travelled around the country by motor home were impressed with our units set up and with Road Bear's rental program.

When my father in law broke his hip and we had to come home early, the guys at Road Bear were more than accommodating. Patrick was WONDERFULLY compassionate about our circumstance, and made the transition from vacation back to reality as quick and painless as possible.

I would definitely recommend Road Bear to anyone who was interested in renting a RV to travel around the country. We saw folks who had rented from other companies sitting at repair shops during our stay...but NEVER a Road Bear unit!!!

Mark Drury, 08 august 2011
The service at IdeaMerge was top class. We dealt with one person the whole time and they were keen to follow things up. The RV we hired was perfect. New, clean and functional. Fraserway provided a friendly efficient service at both the pick pickup and drop off and there were no hidden nasty suprises. This was our first Rv hire experience which makes us want to come back for more. Thanks guys

Eric Worden, Spokane, WA USA, 08 august 2011
We picked up our RV in Barcelona and a bit of a mix up at the airport for the shuttle, but no big deal. Mario was awesome at the station and we got a larger unit at no extra cost. Mario went through everything with us and even though we didn't speak much Spanish and he spoke ver little English we figured everything out. The RV was awesome perfect for 3 people. Clean and ready to roll. The only thing I would have liked to have known was that it didn't come with any dishes or cooking stuff, so we had to buy some stuff. Bike rack was awesome and the chairs and table we rented were pretty old, but worked fine. No issues with the RV and ran awesome. No shuttle back to the airport and we ended up spending like $50 on a cab which was unexpected. I would rent again!!

Judy Brower, 08 august 2011
8 week campervan through France, Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and then back to France to drop off in Bordeaux which we had picked it up.
We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 teenagers) and I had specifically asked for 4 beds that were fixed and did not need to be made every day. However, the van we got - even though it was very comfortable, had a pull-down double bed above the kitchen which was not what I was anticipating. We were travelling for 8 weeks and wanted to be sure that we had somewhere we could just rest as a couple. But not a major issue.
The van was a Fiat Ducati and the pickup was good although the young guy at McRent in Bordeaux could speak some English it was not entirely fluent. I can speak some French so it did help.
We spent hours trying to get our luggage (hard suitcases) into the back so fit with the table and the chairs which I thought were far too big really. They were very comfy and we eventually worked out a system to get everything in. The van was brand new - only 22 km on the clock. Wonderful to drive but it meant every problem/scratch was visible.
I had forgotten that there were no sheets/bedding/towels/pillows/duvets supplied so we had to go and buy these.
Also there were no mugs for tea or coffee - just tiny espresso sized cups which were great for a small coffee.
Also no teapot or coffee pot - which I think should be in the van.
The toilet and shower worked very well, as did the heater of water and the stove. There was plenty of storage space for our clothes and food.
The design of the van was such that you could not put a bin on the door - which I would recommend. Easy access to outside.

Had I known better - I would have rather rented a van which was a little narrower - as the roads in Europe are incredibly narrow and we had so many near hits it was terrifying. Rather longer but not wider.
We enjoyed the van and we had a few scrapes along the way and when we returned the van - they checked it for problems and the cost came to 1750 Euro and when we checked the Excess amount on the contract - it was 1800Euro. I had misread this on the contract and was horrified and it spoilt our whole holiday. We had paid virtually 4500 Euro for the 8 weeks to rent the van - and now we had to pay nearly half that again! We should have read the small print better but I do think that they should have made us more aware of it.
I feel that the cost of fixing things we broke we could have had fixed for less and I felt that we were being taken advantage of.

We were also only given a full map of France with its campsites when I had specifically said we were going to other countries. I would have expected them to supply more info on other countries too.

Generally a great holiday - and would recommend it but READ THE SMALL PRINT!

Kim Clarke, 08 august 2011
We had a wonderful time, the camper was almost brand new and very clean. Caravan parks very nice and every one very helpful. Great way to travel and save at the same time, found Italy very cheap. Camp sites only 30 eruo a night for 2 adults and we avarage 600 km per tank. Approx 100 eruo to fill the tank. The best caravan park book you can order is on line is called Camping Card ACSI a must as it has GPS in it very easy to follow. We are plaining to do more of Europe next year.

kelly, 07 august 2011
This is by far the best RV rental we have had. The check-in and check-out was efficient and hassle-free. The vehicle was spotless and new. We had a 31' RV which, with the pullouts, provided plenty of space for our family of 5 with 3 adults and two teenage boys. We will definitely recommend Ideamerge and Fraserway to our friends.

Guillermo Buitron USA AND MEXICO, 27 july 2011
We rented an RV through McRent. Everything was so professional. The paper work at McRent was easy. Thier staff was very nice explaining all the details to make it an easy travel. The RV had only 8000km aprox, so we could consider it new. We traveled throughout Spain, Italy and France. Everything fabulous, exept fot the toll rd costs. Regarding the overall experience, it's a must for everyone, at least once in your life time. Although never do it without a GPS. JUST DO IT!!

Martijn Brouns, Amersfoort, The Netherlands, 11 july 2011
We rented with IdeaMerge for a holiday in California
in May 2011. What really striked me in IdeaMerge's
service is its incredible transparency around pricing,
hidden cost factors and all sorts of things you
wouldn't know if you (like us) never rented an RV
before. The pricing was unmatched with ANY rv agency
we checked out. I trust me, we checked tons of them on
the internet.
Guys, keep up the great work! Will recommend you guys
any time.

Horacio Ocariz, 11 july 2011
We are very pleased with de caravan and with the people in Germany. We had no problems at all, neither with the vehicle nor with Frankfurt Mc Rent. It was the second time we rented a motor caravan. The first was in Spain, also good, but the treatment we received this time was better.
Kind Regards.
Horacio Ocariz

S Peder Olsen, 09 july 2011
We were quite satisfied with our rental as a whole. The staff in Germany was very kind and helpful, and the get the vehicle and handing it back again went very fast and smoothly.

The car itself was also very good. First, it was brand new, and the design etc. was also quite good. When we handed back the car, we saw another way the same kind of car had the bed made. We would have preferred that way, as we during the night would not have had to climb over each other to get into or out of the bed.

In short we were satisfied renting the vehicle, and would not hesitating recommending others to rent in the same way.

Kind regards
S Peder Olsen

Lim, 09 july 2011
The service from the beginning (online) to the end (caravan depot) was perfect: fast, efficient, error-free, and friendly. As inexperienced first-timers with caravans, there was no unpleasant surprises as the staff at both Ideamerge and caravan depot were very informative from the beginning. The caravan we had was really nice and almost brand new! It was a wonderful trip for us with great service from Ideamerge and McRent Stuttgart.

HyunHo Park, 06 july 2011
It was very exciting trip for me and DRM provided almost new car less than 2,000km mileage VW California Star..

Alessandra Cestari, 06 july 2011
My family and I had an incredible experience as rv first timers at the beginning of May. We rented a motorhome from El Monte via Idea Merge and everything worked out well. Pickup also worked out fine, mainly because we traveled from Brazil and our connecting flight in Newark had a two and a half hour delay. That put us behind our schedule. I called El Monte and they said they could wait some time. We did our best to pick up on the same day and fortunately we did.
The vehicle was 26 feet and was spacious for our party of four. Renters from other countries may wonder how difficult it is to find parking lots for an rv. We may say that we did not find it difficult at all. We visited parks, towns and even big cities like Denver and whenever we wanted to park the rv, it did not take too long to get it done.
All facilities in the vehicle were working, except for the tv and dvd player. Our vehicle also had a fuel leaking problem all the times we filled up the gas tank. While pumping, a little fuel kept leaking. We noticed road assistance, and it did not cause any further problems, except for spending some more money than we were supposed to. We were not reimbursed for the extra gas we spent, not even offered another type of solution for compensating the worries with the leaking problem.
Despite the inconveniences, we still think it was great traveling to the Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore and so may other memorable places. It was more than fantastic, it was an experience, one a person should remember for all life.
When we have the chance we will travel by motorhome again.

Stefan Nielsen, 05 july 2011
In addition to my review below, I can say that I have been
contacted by the always helpful preople from IdeaMerge. They
took hold of the case and within 24 hours have gotten on top of
the case and promised me to refund most of the owed amout,
leaving a reasonable amount for McRent to fix the minor scruff
mentioned.
Great customer support, leading me to use IdeaMerge in the
future (but avoiding the mentioned agent)

Charanpal Singh, 05 july 2011
It was our first family holiday in Europe and we decided to tour Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria in a camper. I booked via Ideamerge online and received the confirmation in less than a few hours. Great work Ideamerge! On the day we arrived, we picked up our camper from McRent's depot in Friedberg on 30 May for an 8 day trip. Klaus was very helpful to allow us an early pickup ahead of our scheduled pickup time of 2pm. As it was our very first time traveling in a camper, we had to view a 20 min video describing all of it's features. Everything was provided as described with the only exception being the chemical for the toilet which I didn't check until the next day. I had to buy a bottle from a shop in Italy but it was pretty cheap and cost me 9 euros only. I was told the camper we got was about a year old but it was certainly in very good shape and was very clean. My wife and kids simply loved the convenience of traveling in our own camper and staying in campsites along the way. We visited Interlaken in Switzerland, Pisa, Florence and Venice in Italy, Innsbruck in Austria, Fussen, Meersburg and Stuttgart in Germany before returning our camper in Friedberg. We returned our camper slightly later that our scheduled time at 11am due to heavy rain when we travelled from Stuttgart to Friedberg and traffic was slow on that morning. But Klaus was kind enough not to charge us any extra for the late drop off (Thanks Klaus!). In my hurry, I forgot that my jacket was still on the driver's seat and I forgot to remove it, but oh well, it was my fault for not remembering. Overall, it was an extremely fun way to travel and my family and I have decided that we will surely travel by camper again on our next holiday in New Zealand.

Stefan Nielsen, 04 july 2011
Picking up the camper at McRent Hamburg was a breeze and we were quickly off.
Througout the 10 days we rented it, it turned out to be really bad
quality of interior. This did not affect our use of the camper, but
made of think of how owners handle long time ownership without
everything falling to peaces. This was a Dethleff Sunbeam by the
way.

Returning the car, we were noted a small scratch, sadly. However,
the agent - Steffen Frank - told us he would have this cared for
quickly and send us a bill for the damage. Now, almost 1 month
after return of the car, we still havent heard anything and it took 5-
10 calls and mails to him just to release half of the 1200€ deposit.
He still holds the rest without any word. So we had a very bar
experience with him and are just waiting for the 1 month limit for
return of the deposit to file a case thorugh the credit card
company.
It should be noted that we gladly pay the few € for the small
damage, but McRent has not come forward to find closure on the
case

Mike, 03 july 2011
Ideamerge was great. Good communication and quick reply time.Everything was as advertised, no surprises. Claudia at DRM was great, with a wicked sense of humour and Mike was very helpful.The vehicle was almost new (we were the second people to drive the unit). Similar comments to others. Gas adapter needed as we were in France and everything is exchange (if it's French!) Get a higher end Tom-Tom as our old Garmin wanted to put us on a course for the nearest toll road and would only accept about 30% of French addresses. We bought a spiral bound Michelin France map. Much cheaper than in Canada.Our camper was a Karmann-Davis and had much better fluids capacity than last year's Detleff Globecar and we even had a useable shower. Great unit. Averaged about 9.5l/100km over 4,800 km and 22 days. To cook a better variety of meals buy a toaster oven (20-30 euros). Go into Frankfurt if you want to rent as the people make the difference, both Claudia at DRM or Suzanne at McRent are fantastic. You can't lose either way. Germany last year, France this year (May-Jun). Look out Italy next year!

Mark Ehlers, 28 june 2011
Rented a camper from Madrid McRent and toured around Spain and Portugal for the whole of April 2011. As usual the IdeaMerge booking was flawless and professional. The pickup and drop-off were good. This is the third time we have rented a camper from McRent and it was by far the most comprehensive and informative process yet. The camper was in great condition and with new kitchen utensils and extras. The trip itself was also our best so far, Spain is an amazing country and very camper friendly. IMHO the only way to see Europe is with a campervan, a GPS, bicycles and booked with McRent through IdeaMerge.

Fatima Frensch, 28 june 2011
As I was the driver most of the ride, like to talk
about tourism. It was very good reception of Claudia
(DRM), who gave us the MH and received back. We had
a great trip through 8 countries and had no problems
with the car. It was very stable, comfortable and
economical. We have told friends about the trip and
all say they want to try but are unsure, seem
fearful, they do not know what they are missing. The
catalog with the addresses of the campsites also
helped much. So speak the Portuguese of Brazil, but
if anyone needs a testimonial for the ease of
renting and driving a MH IdeaMerge can give my
email. So hope that the translation is readable.
With good will, a catalog mail campsites and a GPS,
you're going anywhere in the EU. I am available for
any information. Thanks.

Cathy Ray Potstra, 26 june 2011
We arrived from our home in Canada to visit the land of our roots on May 16, 2011. Rene at BV Campers greeted us with a very good sense of humor and a thorough review of features of our camper home for the next 15 days in Europe. We enjoyed our well-outfitted camper very much during our tour of Belgium and the Netherlands. In fact, we have been missing the cosiness and comfort (gezelligheit) of the Ford Nugget and will definitely consider camping in Europe when we go there again in the future.

Ian Elleray, 24 june 2011
Wow! Just had a flick through some existing reviews - we aren't the
only ones who are impressed!

Both Ideamerge and Road Bear were great.

We had to rearrange our trip from last September to May/June this
year because of a family tragedy. Doug and Mark at Ideamerge
were really sympathetic and Roadbear agreed to refund us all the
money we had paid (barring a small admin fee). We were so
impressed with this.

Both organisations have done an excellent job, dealing with any
queries right away.

We have given Road Bear a note in their feedback form about a few
small matters that would we think improve the customer
experience;

1. The double duvet provided was a bit too small for two people -
also even with the extra thin duvet provided, we were a bit cold
sometimes. We managed to borrow some bedding from friends, so
we were ok for the trip.
2. Cooking utensils - it would be good to provide a wooden spoon
and/or a spatula. The corkscrew left the cork in the bottle - poor
"screw".

These points really are a bit "nit-picking" though!

In summary, the whole experience was superb!!

Michele and David, 22 june 2011
We rented the RV for Easter holidays. We were headed to Denmark and Norway. Henk was very patient on the pick up as I got stuck in rush hour traffic in Amsterdam making a 1 hour trip into a 2.5 hour trip. If I had the option I would take the train to the pick up point next time.
The RV was very new and everything worked well and we had no problems with the use or driving of the RV.
The ferries ask RVs to be backed onto the front of the boat. That was a little scary.

The experience was quite straight forward on the paperwork and dealing with Ideamerge.

Thanks.

Bill Johnston, 21 june 2011
We spent almost 2 months on the road in Europe in a
Detleff's RV arranged through Ideamerge. This was
our 3rd time renting an RV in Europe but the first
time with IdeaMerge. Using Ideamerge was a great
experience. They are very knowledgeable and we would
use them again. The McRent rental location in
Sulzemoos Germany (outside of Munich) is quite
another story. We will never use them again due to
their total lack of customer service and
unwillingness to accommodate customer needs. As many
others have experienced, the location itself is a
problem as it is an expensive taxi ride from the
Munich airport and then not easy to find when you
arrive at the location with luggage and hand bags.
The rental RV was brand spanking new with only 9
kilometers on the odometer. Normally, this should be
a good thing but obviously it had not been throughly
checked out prior to our taking possession. The
vehicle inspection and orientation was hurried
without much detail. Our first day out, we
discovered that the water pump was not working.
Repeated phone calls back to the McRent management,
resulted in no help what so ever. My wife and I both
speak fluent German so language was not a problem.
We simply requested that they locate McRent dealer
near our location so we could get the problem
resolved. They (Sandra Wierschak) refused to help in
any way , shape or form. I eventually called the
McRent headquarters company in Germany and they were
very cooperative, finding a dealer in the immediate
area and calling ahead so we were expected. In two
short hours, we had a new water pump (at no cost)
and were on our way. We had no further problems with
the RV after that rocky start. Upon returning the
vehicle, we needed to pay some extra due to a
scratch in the side that I had reported. I informed
Sandra Wierschak that I did not have any credit
cards because I had been pickpocked in Spain and
they were all stolen. We had been traveling on cash
and were running low. I asked if I could send the
money after returning since we had no credit cards
to pay the extra charges. She refused, hinting that
most Americans are untrustworthy, and threatened to
call the police. I showed her the Spanish police
report to verify my story but to no avail. End
result, my wife and I turned our wallets and
pocketbooks upside down and shook out enough cash to
pay the amount and still make it back to the Munich
airport with literally pennies in our pockets. A
very bad ending to an otherwise great vacation.
Bottom line: IdeaMerge = Good Detleff's RV = Good
Wierschak McRent Dealer = Very bad If you can avoid
using them, you will have a better vacation.

Graham Gill Muir - Perth Western Australia., 19 june 2011
Having read a number of reviews, we are in agreement with most points noted thus far.
Pick up great,.. but a little tedious and painstaking, service people fantastic, and the run down on the vehicle great.
It was a little daunting for me, however,being an automatic, left hand drive vehicle driver for 35 years, to have to alter to a manual, right hand side driver for this trip!!
A few trips around the block though soon sorted this problem out!!
The trip around Norway was brilliant, but remember to account for the numerous ferry tolls you will have to pay, as well as the road tolls!!
The basic inclusions were OK in the home, but as others have stated, tables & chairs, chocks, and a taoster would be a valuable addition to your vehicles, at no cost.
As the items are basically non destructible, (!!), you will be getting your dollars back for them 100 times over by making your clients pay for them, (hmmm).

Finally the hand over we had was not too bad, but others at the depot at the same time were being hit with fault notices on their vehicles, which in fairness seemed excessive, and expensive, so watch out!!

Overall a very pleasant experience, and rest assured that if the Norwegian ecomony ever crumbles, we'll be back in a flash!!! Happy driving!!

Carol Slade, 19 june 2011
My 2 adult family had a great time in our 25 foot RV from Roadbear. Their customer service was excellent at both pick up & return at the LA depot.
We travelled all over Caifornia for a month with no problems - practically new van (only 5000 miles on the clock), probably ony had done one trip before us. One tip - we found the cushions in bed mode too hard and bought cheap air mattresses for extra comfort. The entire process of booking through Ideamerge was straightforward and I liked knowing all costs upfront.

The Braunmiller's, 19 june 2011
Overall good experience however we are new to motorhomes
and we were not informed that the side door does not lock with
the keylss entry and this resulted in the theft of about $3000.00
worth of electronics/money!
Still we would use ideamerge again but just lock the door:)

sack ha , 19 june 2011
I so sorry to you that misunderstood.
Last time I have very happy because satisfy survice for my family. I was misunderstood this time rental car through your company.
And I want to appoint two problem.
First, I don't informed change car type before arrived pick-up office. Just I handover new car and we can't decide over there.
Second, we arrived a office before 2 hours when return to car. But I wait long time in your office around so you provide car Taxi was over speed until train station because my train time.
But I got impress your car company policy and want to use your company again. So I try to rental a sadan car from your company. But I was mistoken this time. Because Your corporate rental company was not honest.
So I approciate to you and forgive to me.
And I hope use your car if have chance next time and I will advertise your company to my around family.
'Kam sa heam mi da' this mean is 'Thank you'.

Jim Shelley Shepherd, 18 june 2011
What can I say about Idea Merge and Road Bear RV? Outstanding and outstanding.
We are from Canada and had never rented a motorhome before; Doug at IdeaMerge took all the time needed to answer my many questions.
From the pickup at the airport to the drop-off on our return, the staff at Road Bear RV in Las Vegas couldn’t have been more courteous or helpful. They made pick-up and return of the RV a pleasure. The unit was spotlessly clean on our arrival.
The true test came when the microwave didn’t work. I called the assistance number and the problem was resolved the next morning, to my complete satisfaction. It was a new motorhome and things like this will happen, but the fact that they corrected the issue so quickly and with a minimum of inconvenience to us impressed me. The microwave was the only glitch on our 2,000 mile trip around the Grand Canyon. The vehicle performed flawlessly otherwise. I would highly recommend anyone rent using these two companies because of the excellent service I received.
Thanks for making our trip a memory to cherish for a lifetime!

Rodrigo Abarca, 18 june 2011
The service was to our satisfaction, and getting more
than I expected. Camper equipment was requested, and
extras meet the requirements. This allowed us 21 days
touring Italy with great security and peace, reaching
places where we had not contemplated going.

Gail Gagné, 18 june 2011
Hi Doug

It's the second time that we rent with your company.
The first time was for Italy last year and the
second time was for British Columbia May 2011
The pickup and drop at the airport is fantastic.
The service at Fraserway and reception is very good.
Your service at IdeaMerge is very efficiency (very
very good!!!)
We are happy about are trip!!!Will be back to rent
a RV with you.
Kind regards,
Gail Gagné
Joel Emond
St-Romuald
Québec

the Noll's, 18 june 2011
This is the second trip to Europe, and the second
time using Idea Merge.

Let me say, that the website and the communication
between Idea Merge and myself is top notch in my
opinion.

The camper I rented was in Munich (the previous time
it was in Holland). The depot was a distance away,
but was still somewhat easy to get there. About 45
minutes or so. Taxi cost us 90 Euro from the airport
to the depot. The way back, we decided to use the
bus and train, and it was 30 Euro.

We felt partially rushed when we received the
camper.... In fact, we did not go over inventory
inside the camper. Unfortunately that was a mistake.
It was missing a coffee maker, and I ended up having
to buy one for the trip :(

Second, the pans and pots that were supplied to cook
on had to have been the WORST pans I have ever had
to use in my entire life. If you wanted to cook
anything but water, it stuck on the pan. Seriously,
after 3 meals cooked in it, and considerable time
cleaning every time due to ANYTHING sticking in it,
I purchased a pan for 10 Euro and it worked wonders
compared to this thing. I asked to simply be
reimbursed and the pan stay on the camper for the
next person to use, but instead the manager smirked
and told me I could take it home with me if I
wished. Even though I do not speak fluent German, I
get the jist of what is spoken to me, or in that
case about me with who she was speaking to on the
phone.

Gee, let me take a pan home from Europe to the
United States. That seems really logical. I was told
by the manager that the pan was new with very little
use, and no one had complained about this before. I
could have got eggs to flip easier off the pavement
then the cookware in my camper.

I wanted a somewhat smaller camper (purposely) for
the area we were visiting. We were "upgraded" to the
next size up. I'm sure most people would be
delighted to be put in a larger camper, but this
thing was HUGE. After renting a Dethleffs sunlight
58 for three men, this smaller one for just my wife
and I would have worked. We ended up getting a
larger camper than the last time! It made things
"interesting" to say the least on a few occasions
with it's size.

All in all, the overall experience was good. I feel
that the first camper rental I used (Booji rentals,
Henk was the owner) in Amsterdam put out superior
service and personal concern towards their
customers, where the munich depot seemed either
understaffed or too rushed. We were here during
World Cup finals last year, and even though the
entire depot was closed due to a Holland soccer
game, one of the men came after the game to return
our camper. That is service!

Will I use Idea Merge again? Possibly. We found out
that with two people we could have rented a car and
used the camping services throughout Europe
(bungalow and tent) and I think would have had a
more pleasant vacation- strictly on the fact that we
could not park anywhere in the city, in any country.
The camper is just too large, and the height of the
camper (3,0m... most parking lots were limited to
1,8- 2,0m!) severely limited access. Having a car
would have saved on fuel (we averaged approx.
13l/100km) and we could have snuck into parking
spots and parking lots.

Steve Fennell, 18 june 2011
Thanks once again to ideamerge and their hire partner Mcrent.We rented through the Frankfurt office,where Susanne once again was extremely helpful ( and jealous as she is a keen motorcyclist herself)and we proceeded to follow the motogp and superbikes through italy and france.The camper performed excellently and I will be using the same company again when I go back to europe.If anyone is travelling from the south of France towards Paris I highly recommend to travel via the Millau Viaduct,the highest bridge in the world,amazing experience.

Ken Scouten, 18 june 2011
Thanks for the follow up email. We were all very
pleased with both the service and the vehicle
supplied by Fraserway RV. It was a much superior
vehicle to the one we received (currently driving)
from A&M Motorhomes in Anchorage (A&M is not
represented by IdeaMerge). The current vehicle is
older and has very worn out seats and matress and we
had to ask them to clean the inside before we would
accept it.

I would happily recommend your company and
definitely not the current company (A&M Motorhomes).

Thanks again for providing a quality product

Ken

Thomas van den Berg, 18 june 2011
We would like to thank El Monte and Ideamerge for the excellent
service we experienced during our holidays!

As we went to pickup the RV, we got a warm welcome. Of course
there were all the regulations and safety instructions, but beside
that there was room for easy conversations and great customer
service. We (my fellow Dutch companions and I) didn't quite expect
such comfy and easy service, since renting an RV can mean a lot of
paperwork. But it all went supersmooth and we got an excellent
almost-new RV and went on our trip with a big smile on our faces.

By the way, little funfact, we even learned an american expression
at El Monte. As we heared 'Oh my God, I almost creamed your face
with my elbow', we must have used that expression a thousand
times during our stay in the US.

The RV really was in great shape and we managed to keep it that
way (phew! ;)). Upon returning the RV we met the same friendly
people again at El Monte Las Vegas. Always room for a laugh, even
during the busy hours.

When we will (and we will!) rent an RV again, we will certainly head
back to El Monte again, as their price and service absolutely beat
every single competitor in the market.

Take care guys and see you again!

- Bart, Maarten and Thomas, NL

Mark Partridge, 17 june 2011
We had 3 x Aussie blokes in an RV from San Fran to Vegas...awesome trip...heaps of room, wouldn't have done it any other way. Had never done it before, but would definitely do it again.

Thanks for all your help guys...very easy to deal with! Hopefully I'll use you again some day.

Caroline Schlieper, 17 june 2011
We had an absolutely fantastic time. My husband had been
trying to get me to try a campervan for a while and I was so
apprehensive about doing this part of our trip. We picked up the
van and the process was straightforward. The van we got was
nearly new and wow I was impressed by it. The only thing I
didn't feel entirely comfortable with was the child sear provided it
appeared to be more for a toddler and our son was only 5
months at the time. Other than that the services of the van met
my expectations and more. The drop off process was also
straightforward and as we were staying in new York city we just
caught a bus straight there after drop off. We had a ball and
thanks for the experience. We are from australia so we are keen
to do a longer trip the next time around.

Ben Smith, 17 june 2011
Hey, we were very happy with the whole experience.
The booking, pick up and drop off all went really
well. The RV itself was flawless, mind you it was a
brand new vehicle, but it was reliable throughout
the trip. On dropping off i was concerned that they
would find any excuse to charge us for any slight
scratch, but they were very reasonable and provided
us with free transfers to our hotel! I would
certainly recommend IdeaMerge and El Monte RV in the
future. My experience was so great in intend on
doing another trip in the near future.

Thanks all for your assistance

The Griffin Family, 17 june 2011
We had a great experience on our RV trip. We did a
one way hire and so it took a bit of organisation
but Ideamerge helped us enormously and we are very grateful as we had a fantastic time. I had read
horror stories about RV trips so was a little unsure
of what to expect. Most of the negative feed back
was about hidden extras so our advice is just book
everything up front and avoid the pain!The RV itself
wasn't shiny new nor was it old and tatty, we found
that as it was a few years old we weren't to worried
about the kids "taking advantage of the space"
All in all a great trip and looking forward to our
next adventure.

Doug, 17 june 2011
This was our first RV rental, and the process went very well. Ideamerge and Road Bear were both great to work with - quickly dealing with one minor issue we had pre-trip and being easy to contact when we had a concern during the trip. Pick up at Roadbear in Las Vegas was fine, our unit was a 2012 with 2000kms on it, and in like new condition. It worked flawlessly for us on our trip. Drop off at the end went perfectly as well. All in all, very enjoyable, and I would recommend both Roadbear and Ideamerge as honest vendors to deal with.

Bill and Lana, 25 may 2011
Hired a McRent Globescout last year (2010) thru
IdeaMerge and spent 12 weeks touring thru Germany
France Italy Spain and Belgium.We had a thoroughly
enjoyable time.High praise for staff at McRent
especially Susanne who was most helpful.This was our
second hire thru IdeaMerge in three years and we thank
them for their great service. Would certainly use them
again.

Dennis Becky, May 21, 2011, 21 may 2011
We rented a caravan in Frnakfurt for 30 days to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and it was an amazing "memory-maker". We were totally impressed with Susanne, who spoke very good English and went out of her way to be sure we had a good experience. Ideamerge was professional in dealing with us and we would definitely re-do the trip.

DAVID, 12 may 2011
It was a wonderful vacation for me and my family,we had a nice welcomming in the Airport in Roma and they picked up us to Freedom Holiday company and within half and hour we took our Camper with a good explanation about details of Camper and contract,this was first time for us to drive with a camper and we were surprised that within a small space in sideof Camper we had all needs facility in hand,also there was a very good services and facilities for Campers in Italy so we enjoyed a lot.
The only thing which was not so good was the way of packaging Kitchen instruments and also Pic Nik Table and Chairs which were made lots of noise at the time of movement,which I think it is possible to do it in a better way.
Any way it was a great expirience for us.
Kind Regards.David.

guy and micheline, 11 may 2011
We had such a terrific vacation driving around Europe in our rented camper van which became our "home away from home" - we would do it all over again in a heartbeat. THANKS!

Eduardo Hirsch, 08 may 2011
We are very very satisficed with Idea Merge and with
Road Bear. The RV, the pickup and droppof, your
asistance to us, everything was perfect,
comfortable, and warmly. Think that we were in a
strange country for us (we are Argentines), with
another language (spanish), another customs... But
you made us everything so easy that we are very
thankful and pleased with you. Certainly, I will
always recomend Idea Merge, because everything you
had promise, you gave us.
This was our first rental of an RV. It is more, it
was our first time in the United States. So I had to
drive with a great great vehicle in places that I
never see before, with rules and customs that was no
familiar to me. I drived by routes, highways,
mountain roads, small roads to an RV as in Rodeo
Drive in Bevery Hills. But I have no problem in any
case, I enjoy it so much. The vehicle Road Bear gave
us was alredy new, it had no problem at all,
everything function well. Only one little thing I
can tell you about the vehicle: When we start the
oven, of course we put on the extractor of gas, but
the alarm of gas began to sound and sound. It was
funny, but is something you have to arrange.

And about he trip, our experience through the States
was very good. The landscapes, the people
everywhere, the services, everything had been
delightfull. You have a great Country, you have done
things very good. You have living in your Country
people of all the planet, with different cultures
and histories, but all of them feels American people
and are proud of being Americans, and all of them
wants to respect the laws. I saw your fly
everywhere, in houses, gas stations, etc. etc. I
think this is very important. And I repeat you, you
have made a great Country.

In other order of things, I congratulate you for put
things in your place about the attempt to the
towers. I think that we must do what we must do,
without thinking about the consecuences. I hope we
could do the same in our Country about the attempts
to de AMIA and to the Israel Embassy.

Our regards to you and to Road Bear people.
Eduardo Hirsch

Sandie, 28 april 2011
Had a great time. Rental process was relatively easy, the whole
experience was a memory of a lifetime, we had a family holiday
that everyone was happy with. Would highly recommend
ideamerge and will definately use you guys again to book our
next holiday. Thank you.

John Povlsen, 28 april 2011
We had a Apollo Hiace Camper for the period 20.01.2011 to 20.02.2011. We went from Sidney to Alice Springs where we dropted the car. We drived 8000 km. The car was perfect for 2 persons and we had no problem with the car at all. We can recommend Apollo and Ideamerge. We have used Ideamerge twice with very good results.

Nick, 26 april 2011
Ideamerge definitely helped reduce costs. Booking
process was relatively easy, and El Monte RV was well
versed in the process. Would recommend Ideamerge to
friends.

Tony Porras, 25 april 2011
Motorhome was nice. Employees where great. Only problem was I was wrecked into and they did not help in the collection from the european insurance company. Make sure and buy the additional insurance or you may get stuck even if it is not your fault.

Tsui February 2011, 24 april 2011
We rented a motorhome in Madrid from McRent. We took a taxi from the airport and it took at least 20 minutes for the taxi driver to find the company. The pick up process was fast with no problem. Although the car and the GPS were brand new, the GPS didn?t work for couple times. The power cable broke two days before our scheduled return time. We have no choice but to return the car one day earlier. The staff at the McRent fixed the power cable and suggested us to continue with the rental for the last day. It was not the issue of one day rental charge, but the issue of time. We did not want to go through all the cleaning and packing process just for another day because it was a waste of time during holidays. Anyway, we did not get the one day rental refund. Apart from these, it was a great experience.

Even Larsen April 2011, 17 april 2011
Thank you for a great rental deal. We have had two
great weeks driving in California. There were some
problems with correspondence betweek Ideamerge and
Apollo, but here Ideamerge was by far the most
cooperative company. You really were helpsome and
answered e-mails and phones calls streight away. I
will deffentrly use Ideamerge again.

Elisa Ortega, 25 january 2011
We went a motorhome at Berlin the last week of October 2010. The motorhome was really new (very few kilometers) and nice with all the things we needed. We stayed a week travelling from Berlin to the south of Germany, visiting Munich, Fussen, Constanz and the black forest. It is very comfortable in order to sleep and also for cooking. The only thing we did not like was the depot at Berlin is a bit far from the city center. You have to take the underground, then the train and finally a bus. So it takes an hour to reach the depot. But, once arrived there, they explained us all the things required when travelling with a motorhome. I recommend you to rent a GPS, because it is not easy to find the depot whern returning the motorhome!! It has been a really nice experience. Reting with IDEAMERGE is really easy and they help you a lot!! We hope we can rent another motorhome with them next year!

The Rook Family, 19 january 2011
What a fantastic experience with this company!
From the initial contact on the website, quick email
confirmation, through to the collection and return
of the motor-home, the service was excellent.
Our trip was our honeymoon, (even though we did take
our 2 year old daughter!) so we expected 5* service
and received it. We collected the motor-home (which
our daughter named - Ebe!) in Frankfurt and the lady
was extremely helpful and spoke superb English, then
drove and explored through Germany, Austria, Italy
and France, returning to Germany 3 weeks later. The
van was comfortable, warm (we travelled at the
beginning of winter) clean and spacious for the 3 of
us. Our daughter loved it and every morning we woke
up singing "On the Road again, just can't wait to
get on the road again".

Doug Correa Jr, 12 january 2011
We recently rented a 29 foot RV from motoris/camping world.We have previously rented from a company in Reno,this was our first time with this company.Every single person from the email reservation to check in/check out was amazing,the rv was top notch couldnt have asked for a better operation.will definitly rent from them again.10 stars plus ck them out you WONT be dissappointed.

Stephen Wray, 10 january 2011
We found the people at Freedom Holiday to be very helpful explaining thoroughly all aspects of the camper.
All our holiday was spent in Italy and we had a truly wonderful experience. Initially driving in Italy was daunting however we soon discovered that although traffic appears chaotic drivers were, in general, considerate to other road users. The same cannot be said of roadside buildings which as the road narrows can suddenly leap out to hit the wing mirror of an over-wide camper. First piece of advice always use a sat nav. Second piece of advice never trust your sat nav, it will always try to take you by the route involving the narrowest alley in the centre of the nearest town. Parking can be a problem with campers wherever you are but we knew that.
Minor gripes. Kitchen accessories were a bit light on and there was no proper storage facilities for same. Information on campsites from supplied books was not always reliable. Some campsites did not exist. Then others appeared from nowhere in the most beautiful locations.
Overall our experiences were positive and we had a great time.

Michal, 28 december 2010

This is good site for every one because this site are good matter and best information.
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Denis Stringer, 26 december 2010
We used Idea Merge to rent a 25 foot Camping World RV for 12 weeks. We gave it a 7000 mile thrash over the US and Canada.
A couple of screws and nuts came loose but the only thing of concern was the drivers side wing mirror coming loose. We found a Ford dealer to fix it.

We were very pleased but I think the following additions to the rental package would help a lot.

1/ A basic tool kit. We had to buy them but Camping World did reimburse us.

2/ A decent manual for the specific RV rented.

A deposit could be held for each of these items.

Baden Monger, 24 december 2010
We rented an RV for 16 days to see the West Coast of the
USA. Our experience with IdeaMerge was great, it was a hassle
free booking process and the staff responded to our queries
timely and efficiently, we will definitely use IdeaMerge again in
the future.
However, on the other hand, we would not deal with Motoris
again. We showed up at their Seattle depot on the 1st Nov only
to be told that they did not have an RV for us.......even though
this was booked in July! So after waiting for over an hour, the
Motoris rep "found" one we could use but we found out soon
after that this was just the beginning of the poor service we
were about to exoerience.
An hour into our trip the SRS airbag light came on and stayed
on. We called Motoris to inform them and was advised that we
could either keep driving and risk it in case of an accident or
take it to a Service Centre and get it repaired. We chose to
have it repaired but little did we know that we were going to
have to wait over four hours to get this fix. We only had a day to
see Portland before we had to head to our next destination as
all our RV parks had been pre booked so obviously we did not
get to see much of Portland.
So we got back on the road and not long after that, the dining
table collapses.....luckily our little girl was sitting on he seat
behind the passenger seat otherwise her little legs could have
been hurt......
The other things we were not very impressed with was the Dvd
player and oven that did not work, the bathroom door that did
not shut, the fan that did not work and the stained sheets www
were given.
Upon returning the RV at the LA depot and after speaking to
another Motoris staff, we had a sinking feeling that we were
given an RV that was suppose to be retired. Of course we could
never prove this but after this experience we certainly would not
be renting let alone recommending Motoris again.

Kaye Bowles, 17 november 2010
Thanks for the experience, 3 weeks in northeastern US during fall,beautiful. All connections were made smoothly and on time. Information on the van was a little lacking however plenty of written explaination on board.The only dissappointment was the size of the van ( the smallest available on the east coast 25ft).At first difficult to park in the small coastal towns of Maine.Understand that Camping World is getting new vans next year hopefully some smaller ones for two people.Leaving Boston rather than New York City worked out well the train connections being excellent.Creditcard problems occurred because Camping World held the deposit however did not give any credit notice to show full billing amount ,however everything worked out in the long run. Thanks again for an amazing trip.

Don and Toni Dooley, 14 november 2010
Yes, we just returned to the US after a wonderful travel experience using Idea Merge services to hire our camper. Went directly to Freedom Holiday from our arrival at the airport expecting to wait there, but were quickly set up with our camper, equipment and borrowed road maps and camp books for our trip through northern Italy and southern France - all the way to Lourdes, France and back.
We cooked great meals with the equipment and sampled great wines all along the way. We quickly got used to the road signs and driving and were off the next morning on this marvelous adventure - one we took for our 50th anniversary! I highly recommend this way to travel and see Europe. Our camper had some mileage on it, but was in excellent shape with not a problem. Returning it to Freedom Holiday was a snap as well because we returned it so clean!
We plan to tour through Germany, Sweden and Norway next year! Thanks Idea Merge for making this one dream come true. We had no problems and all our early questions were answered quickly and handled with our desires in mind. Toni Dooley

Caryl Bergeron, 13 november 2010
Everything went well. We arrived about 1/2 hour early. So the lady at DRM took us on the tour of another vehicle along with another couple. That way we could get going earlier than expected. The location of DRM at Frankfurt couldn't be better. It's within walking distance of both the IBIS and Mercure hotels. In addition there are several stores just around the block including a Rewe, Penny market and Textil discount. We were able to stock up and get on the road quickly.

Working with Ideamerge was easy and convenient. We were able to keep in contact all summer making sure everything was ready to go. No problems or issues at all.

Great job

mark brockenshire, 12 november 2010
we spent a month in germany an denmark and the van we hired from the berlin depot was excellent.this is the only way to see and get about europe.being from australia driving on the other side of the road takes a bit of getting used to but you sort it out soon enough.again this being our 3rd time dealing with ideamerge, the guys were great help and the service and comunication was excellent.
the berlin depot was helpful and very understanding.would have no problem dealing with all these guys once again.

David Odgaard Australia, 08 november 2010
Let me start by saying the service from IDEAMERGE was fantastic. Right from first contact with the web page, through to the booking process and then with some help I needed when I queried some additional charges.
I booked a campervan for 10 days, and cars on 2 different occasions, when I was in Europe during Sept, Oct and Nov 2010.
Campervan: I picked this up at the McRent depot in Munich. Not exactly in Munich though, and quite difficult to get to. I caught a train to Maisach station, then rode by bike to the depot. It rained. Still not an issue. Unfortunately I left my passport with my partner back at Maisach, and they needed that before handing over the keys. So she jumped in a taxi which the McRent people organised, and quoted as 20euro. Turned out to be 29euro. Still not an issue, my fault for leaving the passport behind. Then the specific camper I purposely chose was not available. We specifically wanted a double bed at the back so we didn't have to climb a ladder. I did not want the additional height associated with an over cabin bed either. The girl, although friendly, made out she was doing us a favour by 'upgrading' us to a bigger camper! I didn't want a camper which slept 6 - higher, bed issue, more fuel consumption. This really spoilt the 10 day campervan component of my holiday.
Also, even though I was expecting the 1000euro security deposit, so no problem with that being put onto my credit card. However I can't see why they can't process this as a pre-authorisation just like hotels do. By actually charging the card, and then reversing it after the return of the camper, you lose out on conversion fees. This effectively cost me another $50.
Finally, McRent organised the same Taxi driver to take us back to Maisach station. He turned up with 10euro already on the meter, and then halfway through the trip changed the meter from Tariff 1 to Tarriff 2. Trip still only cost us 21euro though. I think I will compain to the Munich Taxi Authority if I can find their details.
The 2 cars: Both picked up from Munich Station. Very smooth process. Except the charges did not match the quote from IdeaMerge and what I was expecting. Of course I read the fine print about additional charges may apply associated with things like taking the car to a different company. However the EuropCar agent did not mention these at all. So I did not see the difference until I looked at my credit card statement. I then queried the amounts with IDEAMERGE. They were absolutely excellent with the follow up and all was explained.

In summary, I would definitely use and recommend IDEAMERGE again. The issues I had were with the actual companies supplying the vehicles. They were friendly and helpful, but I, like most customers, don't like surprises, especially if its additional unexpected costs, and especially when you're on holidays and you think you have everything budgeted for and covered.

David and Marilyn Webb, Albany, WesternAustralia, 03 november 2010
We hired a globus 1 from1st sept till 1st oct 2010 the pick up and drop off was quite drawn out but very well done both at Sintra.We Did 6000 kms in Portugal Spain and afew days in southern France.As we free camped all but 3 nights never had any problems with battery power or gas for the stove and water heater.The camper powdered by Fiat went very well and trouble Free ,fuell consumption for total trip was 9.7 litres per 100 kms. As we drive in Australia on the other side of the road to Europe I think we did very well returning the motorhome back to base without a scratch mind you we had a few moments in the first couple of days until we got used to driving on the wrong side ha ha ...cheers for now keep up the good work ...............

Paul Ireland, 03 november 2010
This year's trip to Europe was another excellent experience working with IdeaMerge. In preparation for the trip, we had to make a number of modifications and Doug Bredesen was always quick to accommodate our needs.

We had a great trip to Europe, and working with the folks at the Frankfurt DRM location was excellent. It was again a real pleasure working with Mike and Claudia. They are very helpful and truly friendly. So both the pick-up and return went exceedingly smooth. This was very much a repeat of the first time we rented from DRM at the Frankfurt location.

Our only real problem there has nothing to with DRM or Ideamerge. It is at the Airport. The DRM vehicle pick-up site is so close to the airport that the taxi drivers do not want to take us there after their long wait in the queue for a fare. It is illegal of course, but they come up with all sorts of excuses not to take us. But we are learning who to talk to (for lack of a better term - the Taxi Meister) and what actions to take to ensure we can get a lift.

So if folks run into this little glitch at the Airport, here is what you do. First, get the Registration number from the back of the cab of the cabbie who turned you down. Without this number it is difficult for the Taxi Operations to take corrective measures. Then seek out the "Taxi Meister." He is normally somewhere where he can oversee the Taxi Stand Operation, but you may need to ask someone who works at the Airport to point him out. Then go to him and explain the problem and give him the registration number. He will correct the problem.

This is not a problem when we return to Frankfurt. We come in the evening before, and stay at the Frankfurt Airport Ibis. We turn our vehicle in the next morning, walk the short walk back to the Ibis, and take advantage of their excellent shuttle service to the Airport.

Our deposit was refunded in total very shortly after our return.

Again, I want to express our appreciation working with Mike and Claudia, and hope this can be conveyed to them through DRM. They are a credit to the organization. We will be back.

Seong Oh Kim, 02 november 2010
My rental process went very smoothly from A to Z. It was my very first time renting a mobile home. I did my share of researching for better terms. I liked what I got thru IdeaMerge.

All the information on the web site and the e-mails I received from IdeaMerge regarding my reservation was easy to follow. I was promised there were no hidden fees and there was none.

Picking up was easy. Originally our pick up time was 3:00PM but when I made a phone call and they let me come in at 10:00AM. We started earlier than expected.

The pickup and return location was near the airport, a short train ride from the terminal. The representative spoke perfect English. Our mobile home was new and clean. We finished our pre-rental check up quickly. I was well informed of the terms of returning our vehicle. I drove out of their parking lot within 20 min.

The mobile home was not as hard as I expected in terms of driving and parking. Although the trip computer on the vehicle was in Germany only, they did provide an English manual in the car. The inside was spacious enough for our family of 6, three adults, one teenager, one six year old, and a 17 month old baby. All the equipment and the compartments worked as they were supposed to. For six nights and seven days our family did not have any complaints.

Returning the vehicle went without any problem. I was ten minutes late but they said it wasn¡¯t a problem. I returned the vehicle with less amount of fuel than I drove off with but they said it was not much of a difference. I was not charged for the gas. The same representative came out of the office right away and we checked the vehicle thoroughly. I was informed that I need to pay for a torn window screen. I agreed and signed the paper. I checked with my credit card company and found out they deducted $50 for the broken window screen and returned the rest of my deposit within three days of the return. The whole returning process took less than 15 min. It felt like every process was clear and straightforward.

I would definitely use IdeaMerge to make my next reservation.

Josef turgeman, 31 october 2010
We had a very good time with the camper van. Pickup and drop off was quick an eficiant.
The vichle was excelent and very comfortable.
A. we suggest to add speakers in the rare too so
everybody can hear the radio/music.
B. there is not enough space to put a baby chair
without taking out the table.
c. concider the option of pickup/dropup the vichle
from the airport.Not always the flights
scheduale are suitable to the opening hours of
your office

Once again thanks oue family enjoyed it very much

Josef

trevor temple, 30 october 2010
Our experiance with Idealmerge was very helpful right from the start as there was initially a problem with the credit card payment. Their understanding and co-operation over the matter was excellent and between us the issue was quickly resolved. We started our adventure by boarding the stuttlebus in Los Angeles, although we were told to be at the pick up point at 7 o'clock the shuttle did not arrive until 7-30, but this was not, I hasten to add, down to Caravan World but a misunderstanding of instruction given to us by Idealmerge.
On arrival at Caravan World's premisses the proffessionalism of all the staff was outstanding. We were treated very courteously from the start. Everything was explained to us in great detail and in a way that could be clearly followed, this really help to put us all at ease because this was a new experiance for us and up until that moment we were rather nervous. The care and treatment we received led to us being able to have a wonderful trip.
The RV itself was in an excellant condition, clean and tidy inside and out and was everything we hoped it would be, that includes comfortable and easy to handle.
The hand over on our return was handled as proffesionally by Brian as our first meeting with him.
A very pleasant, and totally unexpected event happened right at the end of our dealings with Brian and the rest of the staff at Caravan World, this was as we were about to get onto the shuttle bus to take us to the airport the staff came out of the office, shook our hands and wished us a good flight home before thanking us for our custom. This sort of thing goes a long way in our books and ensures that we will most certainly recomend all concerned in our trip to any of our friends here in UK.

Bo Nilsson, 26 october 2010
Thanks for your mail,

We had a very good time with the camper van. Pickup
and drop off was no problem at all. Fast and
friendly. All went very well and we did not have a
mishap.

We did 6350 km all the way to Tromso in Norway and
then back via Finland to Sweden and then to Germany.

The only small problem we had was to get LP gas for
the van. Sweden did not have the German fitting
so we had to look around to get the bottles filled.
If there is a possibility there should be some kind
of a guide to mention were to find gas or the van
should have a universal adapter that you can fit
should you be in some countries that do not fit to
the German one.

Once again thanks and I have already given your
company name to three people who were
very interested to do the same as we done.

Thanks
Bo Nilsson

Phil and Trudy Thumath, 25 october 2010
This was the second time we had hired a van from the Frankfurt
office. Once again we were very impressed by the service ( thanks
Susanne) and the condition of the van (very clean).
Just a suggestion for the future, another couple of power sockets
would be useful (for laptops, phones, i-pods etc) and the position of
the sockets just outside the bathroom door is a bit awkward!
Also a grill or microwave would be useful.
Thanks for a great holiday! We strongly recommend your company .

Darcy and Sue Victoria B.C. Canada, 25 october 2010
we picked up our motorhome in frankfurt which is very close to the airport as well as to a couple of hotels. claudia was very good to deal with.the pick up and drop off went smoothly and we found lots of supplies and books and maps that we were able to take with us on the trip.the motorhome was only 6 months old and perfect for the two of us.i strongly recomend taking a gps with you as the driving through europe can get a bit overwhelming without it. the only thing that we had a problem with was that the propane bottles ran out and nobody over there could help us or tell us where we could get them filled.we finally found someone in italy that could help us.the german bottles are not compatable with the italian bottles so we had to get a fitting and purchase a bottle in italy to get us through the rest of our trip. claudia and drm were great about it and reimbursed us for the bottle as well as a refund on our bill for our lost time chasing down propane.i would suggest to drm to take this into account and maybe supply fittings with the motorhomes for future travelers.all in all it was a great experience renting the motorhome from drm and traveling through europe.cant wait to do it again real soon

Edward Ann Scott, 25 october 2010
We originally arranged to hire an RV through IdeaMerge and El Monte RV in April 2010, but our flight to the US was delayed by the Iceland volcano eruption. IdeaMerge gave a first class service to us, and very prompt responses to our requests for changes to our schedule. We rearranged our 9 days RV hire for October, and everything went very smoothly.

Our "C25" RV was collected from El Monte in Las Vegas, where "Jack" gave us superb and friendly service during the collection and return of the RV.
Although we are experienced caravanners in Europe, all this was new to us, but it was a wonderful experience. Our stays were maily on basic campgrounds operated by the National Parks Service or the BLM, and we found no need for more sophisticated facilities.

Visits were made to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon, all in 9 days. We wished we had more time available.

We did a lot of forward planning for our trip, the campgrounds where we might stay, and about the operation of the RV, and all that was very helpful.

My wife adds one comment - she would have liked a chopping board in the habitation pack!

We have already recommended IdeaMerge and El Monte RV to our friends, and we will certainly do it again...

Neville Growden, 25 october 2010
First trip to America, my son (13yrs), my best mate of (40yrs),rented 35ft RV, which made our USA trip extra special. Service from pickup point to our personal assistant at depot, where we were shown every aspect of setting up RV was first class.
Only winge would be better mops and brooms to use, for easier cleaning.
Looking forward to renting when next in USA.
Cheers!

Paul, 24 october 2010
This is the second time we have used Ideamerge and McRent Frankfurt and would recommend them both. The service from Ideamerge is very good and hassle free, the van from McRent exactly what we wanted, well serviced, clean and ready to go on arrival. All staff are pleasant and helpful. We were picked up from Frankfurt airport and dropped back at the end of the trip. Would recommend this option as the depot is in the north. Travelled through Western Europe with no problems. Camping ground books were in short supply when we rented the van so an option would be to take your own and don't travel without a navigational device (Tomtom). So much easier than reading maps.

Graeme Arthur - Melbourne - Australia, 21 october 2010
Picked up our RV from Dacau (Munchen) on time and exactly what we ordered. Staff were very friendly and helpful with precise instructions which was terrific as this was our first experience in a van in Europe. The vehicle was clean adn relatively new. Had a great trip via the Romantic Road and throroughly recommend this trip. Munich was also fantastic and well worth a visit. Overall germany was an outstanding place to visit - the camper parks were first rate, roads sensational and very easy to navigate - we will defintely return one day. Although ytou probably book your van by yourself by going through Idea Merge it took a lot of the hassle out of it and the last thing you need is problems when you are all set to go and time is limited.

Suzanne, 19 october 2010
My friends and I rented an RV in Dusseldorf, Germany. All of my
interactions with Ideamerge beforehand were very clear, prompt
and helpful. I flew into Amsterdam and took the train to
Dusseldorf. I had seen that the RV place was a short taxi ride
from the train station, which was definitely not true. The taxi
ride cost nearly $100 euro! It's far from downtown and very, very
challenging to get to. We had a google map print out, but that
was no help. The other unpleasant surprise was the $1000 euro
deposit that was required before we could drive away. We had not
budgeted for that, and they didn't take Discover card, so it
ended up being a very stressful and unplanned expense. My only
critique of Ideamerge was that they did not state that anywhere
that I saw.

The RV itself was very nice. We were only the 2nd drivers so it
was brand new. It was consistently the nicest RV of the countless
we saw on the road. It was comfortable and easy to drive. The
blinds broke frequently and our rear view mirror came unscrewed
in a wind storm, but other than that, the RV was great.

We had a very challenging time finding the RV place on the way
back, but once we found it, the check-in was quick and painless.
We were not charged anything for the blind issue or a few small
scratches, but many other people were getting charged for damage,
so be careful out there!

It took the RV place a long time to return my deposit, which,
once again, cramped my budget in a big way. If I had known I
could have planned better and not been broke in Amsterdam on the
way home!

[General note from IdeaMerge: As described on our relevant Payment & Policies pages, and twice during the online reservation process, and also in a similar note from IdeaMerge further down in these customer reviews, the Germany vendors do indeed charge the security deposit to the client's card upon the pick-up occasion and they do credit that amount back to the card in whole or part (i.e. minus the cost, if any, that happens to be due from the client for damages and such) after the return occasion. In light of this customer's comments, however, IdeaMerge has today modified our McRent and DRM Payment & Policies pages by emphasizing with the color red the already bolded and italicized text regarding the security deposit; and we have likewise today emphasized with bolding and underlining the already reddened and italicized text in this regard which is presented twice during the online reservation process, this under the already red and bolded and underlined heading, "Valid credit card required upon pick-up occasion".]

Alex Soloviev, 18 october 2010
We rented motorhome at the end of September in Barcelona in McRent. It was fourth time when we rented the auto in McRent. The motorhome is almost new, the big refrigerator, is a lot of lockers. With rent and return has not any problems , all was fast and precise. Unfortunately the company is located very far from city and the airport

Dave Robinson, 18 october 2010
The service from Ideamerge when we booked our Spanish motorhome experience was excellent. We have a few doubts however about some of the service provided by the vendor, Euromotorhome, even though the van itself was excellent. Firstly the person showing us the van's features spoke very little English. Then we discovered that we had rented a "bare" van (apparently this is in the small print somewhere, but I still can't find it. This is very confusing for someone from Australia or New Zealand, where even the cheapest "backpacker" vans come fully equipped. You can rent the essential gear for an extra 100 Euros - whether you need it for a week or a month! What's worse, NO MAPS! It is even hard to buy maps in Spain. What's more, we couldn't rent a GPS from them as we hadn't booked it at the same time as the van!

Lee Bateman, 18 october 2010
Rental Company: Apollo
RV Type: 27ft with 2x slide outs
Duration: 3 weeks

This was the second time I had been to the states and rented a motorhome and we certainly were not diappointed. We had a little bit of a wait when we picked up the RV but this was most likely our fault as we arrived at the rental centre 20 minutes late but once going the service was great and we got away quickly in our 27ft RV.

We took the RV on a 3700 mile round trip taking us from LA to San Francisco, Yellowstone Park, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Las vegas... to name a few! During this time the RV never missed a beat apart from the air con being a bit overloaded when we were in hot areas such as vegas!

Retruning the RV was just as easy too! No hanging around while every inch of the RV was inspected for damages.

Overall we were all very happy with the service and the RV itself and would happily choose ideamerge and Apollo for our next trip to the US!

Yumi SIN, 17 october 2010
Great honeymoon with Camping car~
In September,we had wonderful wedding and great honeymoon.
We went Munich,interaken and austria with Camping car.
It was my 1st trip by camping car,But my husband has been about 10experiences with camping car travel thru Idea merge from 2003.
He said that he always choose the Idea merge.
I know the reason!!!
The staff was kind and nice~He provide us blaket by free for our wedding gift :)
The car was good. When i arrived several camping place i realized that our camping car is nicer than other cars.
I can say,we had wonderful honeymoon with Idea merge.I can't forget the fabulous memory~

A.Dagan, 17 october 2010
The service provided by the rental company was very good. Pick up and drop off was on time. We got a bit lost on the way back to Madrid, the map given to us was not so useful, and many locals didn't know how to read the map aswell. We ended up getting directions on the phone, which was helpful, but turned to be very expensive..
The camper was clean, comfortable and easy to drive. I would add an updated road map to the campers, to ease the process of driving (when GPS is not working...) Thank you.

Konstantinos family from Greece (Ptolemaida), 17 october 2010
We picked up the RV in Oslo. Everything was arranged
fine. The pick up procedure was done really good by
a very polite stuff member. We traveled to Trondheim
(to watch our favorite football team, ARIS, playing
againts Rosenborg) and drove back to Oslo via
Bergen. It took us a week. It was an excellent
experience. Norway is a beautyfull country and I
think the best way to travel is with a camper. There
are a lot, and most of them really nice places to
park either for a break or for nightstaying.
I have to express my conserns about the drop off
procedure. A big dent was found on the top of the RV
that I can not imagine what caused it but since I
had signed that everything was fine when we picked
up the RV I did not really argue about it since I
thought it is meaningless. But it will cost me a lot
(a still do not know the exact amount) the stuff at
drop off told me. I did not ready the review board
before. If I had i would have been more carefull at
pick up.

Richard Hanson, 17 october 2010
My wife and I picked up the van in Almere about 45
km north of central Amsterdam. We phoned Henk (the
owner of the depot) on arrival at the train station
and he picked us up in our van minutes later.
Henk was vey helpful and showed us around the van
and demonstrated how everything worked. The van was
a Fiat Ducato 3 berth 2.5 lt diesel with 48000 klms
on the clock and two years old. I was slightly
suprised at the high mileage but it made no
difference in the end as the van was great and ran
faultlessly for the two week 3000 klm vacation (we
ended up in Italy). On return Henk was just as
helpful and quicky ran through the checks signed the
van back in and ran us to the train station. We have
hired through McRent twice now and both times it has
been easy to order, pick up and drop off. I would
recommend.

Janice Woodley, 12 october 2010
Rented an Apollo Eclipse Camper for 10 days in September and travelled from San Francisco to Las Vegas via Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion Canyon and Grand Canyon, over 1400 miles. Booked a 27ft but was upgraded to 31ft so had plenty of space as there was only 2 of us! Water heater did not work but Apollo got someone out to fix when we finally managed to find a pay phone that worked as we had no cell signal for a number of days in remote locations. Overall very happy with entire process from booking right through to refund of deposit.

christopher arsenault, 12 october 2010
Germany – Czech Republic – Germany

Recently some friends and I rented a mobile home to see the sites of Germany and the Czech Republic on our time and not that of a train schedule.

The pick & drop off teams was cordial and spoke English (important as none of us spoke German). The transition from office to road and back again were smooth and provided us the confidence that our decision to rent was the correct one.

Driving and maintaining our motel on wheels was fun and easy. I would not have wanted to experience Oktober Feast any other way!

Thanks for enhancing the memories!

Traci, 11 october 2010
We rented a camper with Ideamerge/DRM in Germany for a week. The camper was extremely nice and clean. Alex at DRM was VERY helpful upon pick up, and provided us with a Mapsco and Camp Ground book, which was very helpful when deciding where to go. The GPS was a life saver! Neither me nor my boyfriend know the language and the first couple of days trying to navigate were a bit sketchy, but with the GPS and the books Alex gave us, we finally got the hang of it and wish we would have had more time to travel. All and all...a great experience with Ideamerge and DRM! We will definitely do it agian!

John Povlsen, 11 october 2010
Dear IdeaMerge!
We hired a VW California mobilhome from you for the period 07-09-10 to 28-09-10. You were very effectiv in finding a firm having the wanted car. This firma happened to be DRM - actually the Hamburg section.
The car was ready and in perfect shape, as we arrived on the 07. sept. one hour earlier than expected. The instruction was perfect and the paperwork was easy. The car was nearly new (20.500 km) and clean.
Our travel Hamburg, Bremen, Paris, Bourdoux, Nodern Spain to the nordeast of Portugal, three crossings of Portugal with end in Algarve southwest in Sagres, the outest point of Portugal. Our homeway was by Sevilla, Valencia, Barcelona, Lyon, Trier, Bernkastel, Hanover and Hamburg.
We had no troubles with the car at all.
The only problem we had was, that my vifes very old mother was hospitalized for a serius operation, so we had to go home earlier. We had the information Friday evening and had to arrive to Denmark Sunday. It was impossibel for us to reach DRM by our telefone, so we could have permission to place the motohome earlier (Sunday afternoon instead of Tuesday morning). We came through at DRM's 'nottelefone' and had the answer, that we could ring Monday morning, which was absolut no help.
We solved the problem ourselves by going to the station, where we found our own car as expected. We chanced it with the motorcar and placed the key in there locked box for this. We spoke with DRM Monday morning. They had already found their VW and all where perfect. Our 1200 euro was perfectly send by VISA.
We have been very pleased with your firm and our nearly 8.500 km in DRM's VW California.
We would be interrested in having an auto of same standard and sice for a trip in Australia. We hope, we can be in Australia for a period of nealy to month from around 20-01-11.

The best regards
John Povlsen

Lyndon Benke, 11 october 2010
We picked up a Globe 4 from McRent in Dusseldorf. We had booked a smaller van which we would have preferred (the roads are small enough in a normal-width van), but it was very roomy inside. We would recommend a smaller van after the problems we had parking.
The quality of the van was incredible, it was less than a year old and fully-optioned so it was a big change from the vans we'd used in the past. Everything inside and out was top notch and we did not have a single problem from that point of view. Definitely raised the bar in terms of interior finishing and the overall performance.

Russell Simmons, 09 october 2010
We rented a spacious, comfortable, and stylish motorhome in Italy. All in all we had a great trip. However, the motorhome broke an axle and whereas we are still negotiating for lost days with the vendor McRent, during the breakdown Ideamerge was very helpful. Ideamerge responded promptly to our calls and emails to expedite the repairs. We would highly recommend Ideamerge and their services.

John Carolyn from Australia, 05 october 2010
We hired a Globus 4 RV from McRent through Ideamerge from mid August to mid Sept- travelling for 30 days around Europe. Ideamerge made it easy for our booking online and we picked up our van from Frankfurt. Klaus & his staff were extremely helpful & made it all so easy. We watched a video on aspects of the van, which is very necessary!! We borrowed some maps and books that other travellers had left, (which came in quite handy) put our gear in the RV & off we went.

We left around 3.30pm in the afternoon, pouring with rain & peak hour traffic all of which made it a scary ride with a huge van in narrow lanes on the wrong side of the road and wipers & blinkers reversed etc, Then we got onto the highway & the lanes were very narrow due to roadworks in some sections. Traffic was horrendous and we found it a very stressful & a scary beginning to our trip, especially when we hit a roadwork lane marker which was too close, and damaged the casing to the passenger side mirror. Yes, the lane marker was that high & large!!

We got out of the city & picked the first camping ground we could find - which happened to be in a field right next to a swollen river & it was still pouring with rain, hence a sleepless night worried about being flooded. Day 2 was not much better getting used to driving on narrow roads & Day 3 we found even worse when our GPS sent us down extremely narrow roads right into the city of Budapest, telling us we had arrived at our destination & we hadn't. We had a scary drive through the city with lots of traffic, narrow roads,traffic lights, trams, buses, trucks, pedestrians & bike riders & all on the wrong side of the road!! We had to find our own way out of the city & evenutally reset the GPS & then found our camp ground up in the Buda hills via laneways and through a small village. By that time, we were feeling that we wanted to quit this whole episode & post the keys back to McRent and just go home.

However, after 4 lovely days in Budapest we ventured on for the rest of our month in the Euroturtle (as we affectionately named the RV) and we learnt a few lessons along the way. We enjoyed the rest of our trip, sometimes ignoring the GPS & following our own maps & streetsigns. The standard of drivers in Europe is great & very courteous & traffic flowed very well. The Autobahns are terrific where we have never seen so many trucks, but they adhere to the roadrules very well & they all travel in the far right lane unless they are overtaking, and then they get back into their lane quickly, allowing traffic to keep flowing well.

Hint: yes you definitely need a good GPS as well as good, detailed, reliable paper maps as well. We had a Tom Tom 950 which we had purchased in Australia & used it often there, where it worked well. It came with European maps, but, it is great for a car however, there was NO option to avoid unsuitable roads for a motorhome. Hence we were often sent the quickest route - which took us through narrow roads in the middle of fields, little villages, down one way streets or dead end roads, where the GPS would promptly tell you to turn around where possible (yeah, we would if we had room to - trying to turn a 22foot van in a narrow street isn't easy) Another time we were sent to turn left and there we discovered a covered bridge too low for our van!!
There is a motorhome/truck option you can buy - but only from UK (not available in Australia) which we would recommend to anyone going to hire an RV for Europe. Tomtom website was not user friendly & tech support wasn't any help at all.

the van itself was extremely comfortable & the majority of camping grounds are well set up. We had not prebooked any camp grounds (which is recommended in peak summer), but in chosing a site - we always ensured they could take Motorhomes and had public transport close to the camp ground and were either 2 tent or 3 tent standard or above.
To find campsites - you need to have a couple of books as not all campsites are listed in one book. We took our laptop computer & had downloaded the ACSI camp site guide, latest version, which was a great help. You can get the books as well. Plus we had 2 other campsite books to check.
Not all campsites had internet access, but when they did, it was great with the laptop to plan our route, check google maps, Via Michelin road routes & campsites as well as keeping in touch with home. We didn't have all of our RV route preplanned or booked before leaving home, as we wanted to have flexibility as we travelled. We enjoyed being able to stay an extra day or 2 at our own discretion when we found a city or village that warranted more time.

Each camp ground was different - some supplied hot showers & toilet paper free & others did not! always check out the facilities when you arrive so you don't get caught in the loo with no paper!! Most have washing machines & dryers for a fee.

we used our shower in the RV only a few times for quick showers, as it was rather small but quite adequate. the Toilet onboard was very handy when travelling & in the middle of the night, however, we mainly used camp ground toilets & service centres. We only used the onboard loo for little jobs, as the toilet can get quite odorous & fills quickly (and you have to carry it to the chemical toilet outlet & empty it yourself).

Tolls - you need to buy vignettes at borders to some countries- you will see the signs & you must stop and purchase them & put them on your windscreen, otherwise you can incur fines. They are good for 10 days travel. France doesn't have vignettes, but you pay for road tolls at toll stations - quite often & VERY EXPENSIVE. One highway toll cost us 35 euros alone. So, make sure you have coins & money with you when you are travelling on the highways & we tried to drive into a toll with an operator - to help us pay. - otherwise you hold up traffic trying to sort out a machine all written in another language.

Groceries - Audi or Super U outlets are great, have big carparks & everything is available. You can get emergency supplies at most camp ground stores, but they are convenient stores at higher prices with limited stock. Oh, and you need to weigh your own Fruit & Veges in the store before going to the checkout.(there are scales & stickers available to do this).

Arrange for international driving licence before you leave Australia from your auto club (eg.NRMA) & while you are there, take your passport & arrange an international camping card. That was invaluable - you receive discounts from some camp grounds, but above all they often hold your card until you check out instead of your passport. If you accidentally leave it behind, better the card than your passport!!

Returning the van was quite quick & easy. McRent had moved premises while we were away & are now at Friedburg, which is quite a long way out of Frankfurt Main city. Cheapest way to get there and back is by suburban train from Frankfurt Hauptbanhoff (main train station). cost is only 7euros one way each. (don't hop on the country train by mistake - it is more expensive) Taxi to and from McRent is then only about 5euros. (Taxi from main airport up to McRent is about 55 euros)

You must clean out your van before return - empty toilet, fill diesel & gas tanks & ensure waste water is empty, but it wasn't too much of a hassle to do that. We put our left over groceries & maps, books etc into a shopping bag & left them at McRent for others to use.
Klaus was extremely helpful when we returned the van & we lost some money for excess for the mirror damage, but the paperwork was all completed very quickly & we were on our way.

Altogether, it was a great trip, covering 5,000kms & seeing a lot of different areas, even if stressful at times.

Mom-daughter adventure, 02 october 2010
My daughter and I had a terrific time driving our camper from Paris South through Germany down to Venice, then Switzerland and back to Paris South. Sadly the only disappointment was the Paris South Depot. Ideamerge, however, was convenient, excellent at answering my questions and helpful. Once they handed me over to the depot though, things fell apart.

-- We arrived early. We were booked for 1:30pm pick up. At 1:45 someone finally arrived to the empty depot. I walked over and said in my best French if he was there to help....he waved me off and said he was going to finish his lunch. I was appalled, and he laughed at me to his buddy and made me wait until 2pm. I shook it off as he then tried to explain, only in French, how the camper worker. I absorbed about half of it, and hoped for the best. I just wanted to get out of there.

-- I paid a prep-fee so assumed (like a rental car) that they would clean it upon my return -- I paid 100 dollars for the prep-fee. I did empty the chemical toilet of course, but the floors and counters were not spotless inside (no brooms provided). When we went to drop it off the woman actually scolded me for it being dirty. Seriously! They redeemed themselves by driving us to the train station when I asked but everyone in Europe was so wonderful, except the people I paid to rent from....I wouldn't go back to them. It was like they were doing me some kind of favour...for 1200 Euro.

-- I left my ipod in the glove box, and wrote them when I got back to Canada a month ago. They haven't written back at all. I guess my ipod is gone.

So again, loved Ideamerge....did not enjoy Paris South pick up...

Doug Padla, 01 october 2010
We rented a Moturis from Ideamerge for a 2 week trip from San Francisco to Seattle. Overall we were very satisfied with the process except for a few things. When we picked up our RV in San Francisco it took us 3-1/2 hours to secure and 1 hr to return in Seattle. The pickup was very frustrating since the (first)vehicle had a broken sofa and several worn area (They were going to give us this vehicle and we might have been later responsible for the sofa damage). The carpet hadn't been cleaned and after 2 hours they final decided to give us a different one. That vehicle, which had 10,500 miles had a badly torn sofa (unacceptable) and the carpet were again filthy (what's that all about). The new RV served us well but our overall opinion would have been much better if they had a small hand held vacuum and spray carpet cleaner included. A quick note to all those who are not use to driving a truck or large vehicle- You are responsible for any damages, even a chip in the windshield, so beware; the back swings out and tree limbs on side streets can easily damage the RV. And that is your responsibility and you will pay. On the positive side Ideamerge was easy to deal with and the people were very nice and responsive. We had a great trip and no RV damages.

Bill Linnie Kamphuis, 01 october 2010
We picked up the Motor Home in East Amsterdam, and we were greeted by a very friednly staff. Henk (the owner) took us out to go over the motor home and was very pleasent. The camper had about 13,000 km on it and it was very clean. It go great fuel milage on it. It cost 300 euro for 21 days of travel over 3800 km. The only problem we had with the camper was that the engine light was on (however Henk told us about it at the start of our trip and not to worry about it being on)

This is a first time using Ideamerge and McRent, and I would surely used them again on our next visit to Europe. The only thing that I would suggest that they have in the Camper is a bigger rug for outside the camper. Otherwise it was great. Thank you for your great service and say heloo to Henk and staff.

The Pflocksch/Butterworth-Families-from Cape Town/RSA, 29 september 2010
This was the first time, we were holidaying in a
motorhome; what a great way to travel !! 24 days
sightseeing through Europe; what an experience !!
Although at times somewhat cramped with 4 adults and 2 kids the option to livbe indoors/outdoors made things really quite easy. The quality of the
vehicle was tops, so were pick-up & drof-off, friendly, quick and efficient. A big Thank You to McRent in Munich !!
We'll see you next year again !!
Just a littl'tip for those who hire for the first time: Pull in your right mirror, when you travel
narrow mountain-passes in Switzerland; it could
become costly otherwise.
Have fun !!
Regards from Cape Town

Daniel, 28 september 2010
Our trip was excellent. It was no problem to get to McRent, get the paperwork done and then we were off. The vehicle gave us no trouble, and was easy to drive even thought many European roads can get quite narrow. Dropping off the vehicle was also very simple, after a simple walk-through we got our deposit back. I would recommend this to anyone.

Daniel

Le Mare's August 2010, 28 september 2010
Very nice holiday,everything in the motor home explained well and thoroughly, would rent the same again if we had another holiday in the Rockies

Paul Dobie, 28 september 2010
We booked an Apollo RV by internet for our 3 week holiday in California. We were a bit worried about paying such a large sum of money in advance to an overseas company, but all went well. The RV was ready for us on the day & was in immaculate condition. There are quite a number of things you need to know before setting off, but these were all well explained before we left. Align your mirrors well before setting off! I had to call the help desk a couple of times - once because the aircon had tripped & once for a flat tyre. I had difficulty with one of the women I spoke to because she had very poor English, but once that was sorted, the support I got was first class. Handing back of the vehicle went without incident and I received my deposit back without issue. Watch the credit card charges for this - I had to phone up the credit card company to complain - but they then refunded the charges. All in all, it went very well - & yes I would use IdeaMerge again & I would recommend them.

Suzanne Hofstee, 28 september 2010
We booked a Cheapa Camper via Idea Merge & Apollo in Las Vegas and are very content. Everything was like promised and the van was even newer dan promised: we had a van from 2010! Thank you very much for your help, we are sure we will once come back.

Cees Rinske Wouda, The Netherlands, 28 september 2010
We booked a Road Bear motorhome through IdeaMerge for a five week tour through eastern US and (mainly) Canada in June/July of this year. The booking process went very fluent. Road Bear delivered exactly the motorhome as expected, the engine-mechanics were in excellent shape (brandnew), we drove over 4000 miles and had no problem whatsoever. The kitchen-ware was ok, but not very clean, and one of the pans had a broken handle. Of course you find these things out when you are already on the road, so we lived with it after some extra cleaning by ourselves and there were enough pans, so we did not need to use the broken one.
The temperature was generally ok, so we did not use the airco very much, but when we did it sometimes mad a terrible noise. For these kitchen-ware and the airco I had expected better quality renting at Road Bear.
By experience renting motorhomes before, we take our own sleeping bags, and we can recommend this to anyone. Duvets supplied with motorhomes are often sub-standard and may not be warm enough at cold nights. Since we had our own, we did not test the stuff supplied by Road Bear, but again the seemed be very minimal.
Overall we had an excellent vacation, we will certainly rent again through IdeaMerge but still the essence is to get good quality from the motorhome company itself, and even renting through IdeaMerge is no guarantee that everything is 100 % perfect.

Helen Ross ,Manchester, England, 27 september 2010
We booked our campervan with ideamerge and from the booking process through to the dropping off the van after our holiday they were faultless. The staff at the depots were very helpfull and freindly and the van its self was fantastic. All of us ranging from 15-50 loved the holiday in the campervan. Will do it again as soon as we can.

Mordue family (Aug/ Sept 2010), 27 september 2010
We picked up our RV in Vancouver & dropped it off in Calgary. The staff were helpful & the vehicle was very clean. A small measuring jug would have been useful, but otherwise everything necessary was provided. The biggest problem we had was that the oven didn't work, because of a manufacturing fault with all the vehicles of that age. Although we managed without, it was rather a nuisance! We also had a problem with a warning light on the dashboard coming on, & the gauge for the holding tank didn't work properly- even after emptying it showed partly full.
We were very happy with the service received from IdeaMerge & particularly liked the all inclusive price which meant there were no extras to pay.

Haffey Family from Hampshire, England, 27 september 2010
The booking system through Ideamerge was simple and efficient and also cheaper than bookng with Touring cars directly? All communications with Ideamerge were again efficient although I initially missed the request within the e-mail to contact Touring cars directly for payment. (this could be perhaps more prominent in email) Both the pickup and drop-off at Arlanta airport, Stockholm were very good, however I agree with other reviewers that a vehicle "log-book" that included all scratchs, would significantly reduce the stress of painstakingly checking the vehicle at checkout and waiting for that decision at the end that the vehicle is returned undamaged. I also found that the design of X-large vehicle, although great for space is getting very dated. The rental price was expensive and the extra prices for everything was irksome, however the GPS was essential. Next time would consider renting in Germany and taking the ferry up to Sweden.
Wonderfull people and beautiful country to tour around and we throughly enjoyed the holiday, We will be back!

Nigel Griffiths, 27 september 2010
Our Motorhome was ready ahead of time despite arriving early and we found the staff both helpful in getting us 'processed' and on the road quickly. The levels of service and standards of the vehicle was second to none. This was our first time hiring a motorhome and although we jumped in at the deep end, changing sites every day for just over two weeks we were grateful we had hired such a new and complete package from Ideamerge. We will definitely be back and would again like to thank the Munich staff for their wonderful service and courtesy

Team tour the france, 27 september 2010
We rented the motorhome form Stuttgart. We got a totaly new motorhome and we had a perfect week with the tour the france and the high alps. Thanx again to the Stuttgart crew that did not over charge the small damages we got on the car.

TM

Gjesdal, Norway, 26 september 2010
We was very pleased with the car, and the people in Frankfurt where we picked up the car.
When we found out, on our first night, that we missed a electrisity cable - we were told to go buy one and deliver the bill to McRent. We were refunded the money when we delivered the vehicle.
Also we forgot som clothes in the car, they were sent to us when we asked if they had found this... Very good.

However, what we think was not so good... When we delivered the car, they found a small bumt - problably from a stone that hit us while driving. We had to pay 150 € for this. Naturally we agree that we should pay, if we had been wreckless. But bumps made from stones while driving is not what I would call wreckless.

Other than that we had a very nice holiday, and are very sure that we would do this again. And next time we would problably choose McRent again :)

Family Gjesdal

Amy H, 26 september 2010
High praise for ideamerge/mcrent. We rented a VW California
Camper from the Munich office for about two weeks and travelled
in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic with two adults and
two children, ages 8 and 10.
The van was almost brand new (only about 16,000 miles) and
extremely clean. It was a pleasure to drive.
Our experiences working with the staff in Munich were wonderful.
We're Americans with travelers German, but the staff all spoke
perfect English, which made the intricacies of renting a vehicle
abroad very easy. They were pleasant, prompt and extremely
helpful.
There were only two downsides with the whole trip. First, the
Munich depot is NOT easy to get to. It is very far from the center of
Munich and requires a train ride and bus ride to arrive at a bus stop
nowhere near the rental center. We didn't realize how far from the
city center it was and took a cab and paid a fortune.
After we returned the van, the staff drove us to the bus stop to get
public transportation back to Munich which helped, but it was not
easy.
Secondly, the staff knew we were traveling through Austria and the
Czech Republic. They did not mention that we were responsible for
getting the Autobahn permit in Austria. The borders were not open
the last time we traveled in Europe and we assumed that since the
rental company knew we were traveling outside of Germany. We
got pulled over and fined 120 euro by the Austrian autobahn
police. We felt we should have been made aware that we were
responsible for getting the Autobahn permit on a rental car.
Otherwise, it was an amazing trip.
I would give Ideamerge, mcrent my highest possible
recommendation.

Don Adele, 26 september 2010
We picked up our McRent Fiat Ducato 6 berth from Manheim in Germany. The unit was almost new and very well presented. Both pick up and return were trouble free.

While parked in broad daylight (9:00 am)in a public carpark in Pisa, Italy we were broken into. This event was unsettling but also pointed out a significant security issue with the motorhome.

Entry was gained by the thieves through the locked side window above the kitchen sink. They simply pulled on the protruding glazing unit snapping off the flimsy plastic window locks. Once in they had all the time needed to find and remove all our valuables.

That brings us to the second security point, a vehicle such as this should be fitted with a small security safe like allmost all hotel rooms now have. The safe needs to be big enough to hold say a laptop computer and travel documents like passports etc. and maybe a camera.

Cheryl Rossiter, 26 september 2010
My husband and I rented a motorhome from Frankfurt for 5 weeks in June/July 2010. We were very happy with the service from IdeaMerge and McRent. The motorhome was very comfortable for two people, it was a fiat ducato with permanent bed at the rear. Most of the equipment was provided although we did have to purchase our own teatowels etc which we hadnt thought to take. We have rented through Kea Campers in New Zealand twice in the past and all equpment was provided including towels etc so we were taken a bit unawares in this regard. The only real problem we had was with the passenger door which would not lock and we didnt discover this until we were in Prague so was difficult not speaking the language to try to have it repaired. but with the help of the caravan park owner all was fixed. All in all we had a fantastic time and were very satisfied with IdeaMerge and McRent. We would hightly recommend either company to others.

Joe Birner, 26 september 2010
Four of us were a bit reluctant to rent a camper in Spain, but when I called the toll-free number, found to be talking to very helpful and experienced Americans! Late decision to take vacation, but they still arranged for a clean, larger camper, complete with kitchen utensils,chairs and table. (I suggest you bring your own sleeping bags).Everything on trip was good, didn't drive too far from Barcelona.-along the Costa Brava and stayed on the beaches for ten days. Excelente!

Upon arriving back home in Canada, realized we had left a favorite Jacket in the taxi shuttle.

Idea Merge found it and mailed it N/C!
Oh Yeah!~ we'll use them again. --thanx!

Alessandra Steve Fabrizio Barbara - Italy, 26 september 2010
We hired two Apollo motorhomes with Ideamerge and the service we received was excellent. Fast in replying any questions, precise, professional.
We toured round the southwest of USA (Las Vegas, Gran Canyon, Grand Circle) and up to San Francisco passing Sequoia and Yosemite N.P. We had no problems with the vehicles and the Apollo staff were very friendly and helpful both at pick-up and at return of the vehicles.
Two points need to be definitely improved by Apollo:
- cleanliness of the vehicle at pick-up
- administrative organization: the security deposits of 1,000 USD per vehicle were put back on our credit cards 37 days after return. This is unacceptable. The money at pick-up is debited after three days and so has to be for the return. WE were travelling from abroad and we were expecting to have our money back on the credit cards during the journey, but this did not happen and fortunately we had enouch cash with us to finish the holiday. If it is not possible to give the security deposits back in a short time (I don't understand why) it has to be specified in the contract.

I believe Ideamerge has nothing to do with this.
When I inquired about the problem, I received the usual professional assistance.

Kon family from Australia, 25 september 2010
We picked up the van from Frankfurt & travelled 7,000km through Europe. The van was fantastic & very comfortable for 4 adults. It was a wonderful experience - will use this company again.

Rob and Fiona, 25 september 2010
Highly recommend IDEAMERGE - very helpful with booking our rental. We rented VW California from McRent/Frankfurt. Van was almost new and very comfortable and the awning was a bonus (definitely need an awning to protect from rain and sun), but next time we will get a bigger van with bathroom and permanent bed. Things to be aware of: rented linen OK (better to BYO if possible); kitchen equipment very basic - no fry pan, no kettle, no wash-up basin; gas bottle was EMPTY and difficult to get refilled - this is a big problem with this vehicle if you are travelling outside of germany - we even had trouble and wasted a lot of time eventually trying to get a refil in berlin (although McRent refunded the cost 25euro, so keep your receipt); McRent charged us 150Euro for tiny marks on front bumper so make sure YOU check the vehicle thoroughly before you leave the yard; must pay 1000Euro deposit before you leave, so you will lose out on foreign exchange fees; pick-up and drop-off times are not convenient so we had to pay for 2 extra days so we could have early pick-up and late drop-off. These issues only relate to our experience with McRent. We were very satisfied with the booking through IdeaMerge - they were always very helpful and answered questions quickly.

Mike and Helena (UK), 17 september 2010
We wanted to have a one-way hire but struggled to get one through normal channels so IdeaMerge came to our rescue there. 26 foot RV was just right size for 5 with 'push out' big help. Thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend to others but key point is to take time and enjoy surroundings. We hired for 10 days and tried to do a bit too much resulting in some long days in the van - should have made it 12 and stopped halfway on a couple of nights. Slight problem with RV caused half day delay but everybody should be aware that RVs often half slight problems.

SUEESS family from Switzerland, 17 september 2010
We picked our camper in Helsinki after having spent the first night in an airport hotel. The instructions were really veeeerrryyy long. However, we knew pretty much all about the camper thereafter.

Had absolutely no problem with the large vehicle. Within two weeks, we drove to the Nordkapp and back to Helsinki again. Easy to drive camper, and our two kids (aged 3 & 5) had a good time in the spacious camper, too.

Eventhough the process until you finally get on the road takes time, it is worth the hassle. Rather spend some time there and have no issues afterwards.

We will definitely come back!

Simon, 16 september 2010
We rented a Rv from DRM in Munich in August 2010 through
Ideamerge. This was our first time of hiring and travelling in a RV. The
booking process was easy and the collection of the the vehicle ok. We
did arrive early due to an early flight so had to wait for sometime until
our vehicle was ready. There was a fault with the exterior lights which
we did not find out until we were in Italy. This should be checked
before we had left. The RV was nearly new and very clean and
comfortable. Easy to drive and we would defiantly do tis again and hire
from DRM. They were also very flexible about the return time and so
we had a full whole extra day as we had a late flight home.

klaus from austria, 16 september 2010
campercars are strong (model ford, mid size camper), interieur not quite so good. check the wooden base board in the rear seats (it ist quite a weak board to begin with and wears off fast) we had to improvise and support it, unused toilet chemicals are not taken back which was a bit weird, service was good, value for money ? Hey if you want and can afford to go to Norway, thats a good way to remain flexible!

jenni and paul varrone -australia, 16 september 2010
we returned our campervan through ideamerge and picked up in munich on 27/4/2010 and returned to munich on 31/7/2010, from DRM. they were fantastic, had the vehicle ready earlier in the day than anticipated, so efficient the vehicle was brand new and we had such a good time driving through germany, austria, slovenia and then up and down the italian coast on both sides from top to bottom and total of around 9000 kms, the van was extremely comfortable, well equipped and a joy to ride, we promptly got back our holding deposit we returned the van on friday and on monday we arrived back in australia and the money was already back in my account, it was a great way to travel around as we had all the facilities, hot shower, toilet, cooking, fridge it was so good, we would highly recommend this way to travel and would recommend DRM booking through IdeaMerge, we would do this again and again and again.

Maurice Verbakel, 16 september 2010
Rented the Motorhome from Barcelona with four friends. Had an extra upgrade without expenses and the best was that for an small extra fee we would be able to leave the Motorhome in Gijon (north spain) from which we would end our holiday. A friendly collector from ideamerge collected our motorhome and drove it back to Barcelona. Thanks to that we have saved ourselves a trip back to Barcelona or Madrid and could enjoy our trip longer. Ideamerge, thanks for the great work!!!

Bravo Family, 14 september 2010
Very good experience. The camper was brand new and very confortable. Too long the time spent for checking the camper at the drop off. The cost per week is quite expensive, but overall we received a good service.

Tony and Nicola (UK), 14 september 2010
Absolutely A1 faultless service from Ideamerge. Would definitely use again and will/have already recommended to friends and family. Far and away the cheapest and best value deal around!
Our trip was from San Frncisco to Yosemite and back, then down the amazing highway 1 to LA. A fantastic 10 days but would recommend more time or a shorter route. An amazing time but would have liked longer in each of our stops.
Ideamerge rock!!! At first I thought they were too good to be true... but trust me there is no catch!!
Looking forward to booking again soon!

Lopez family , 14 september 2010
August 2010: We absolutely loved our camping experience and would do it again in a flash. One suggestion: Better return directions to the Oslo site, as we did get lost.

Jenni and Chris, 14 september 2010
Rented an RV with Roadbear from Denver for 11 nights. No problems whatsoever, pick up and dropoff were very smooth, and customer service at roadbear was very good. Would highly recommend this company. The RV was in excellent condition, looked almost brand new (Roadbear only use Rvs up to two years old) and well worth paying a bit extra for. We got about 10mpg at best for a 25 foot RV. I accidentally broke a plastic hook in the bathroom that held the bathroom door open when driving; worried that they might charge for this on dropoff but when I informed them they didn't seem worried at all! Would also highly recommend booking through ideamerge as we recieved very good service. The only downfall was not having the option to pay for the RV in full at the time of booking, as by the time full payment was due the exchange rates had changed dramatically which meant we paid quite alot more in £GBP as we originally budgeted for!

Family Pillonel, 14 september 2010
We toured south Finland for one week beginning august with the
camper and loved our holiday, the beautiful landscapes and the
freedom that camper gave us.
With the camper, everything went well except a few small things
that have been also noted from other customers:
- we reserved a family camper and finally had a bigger one as no
family camper was free (they surely knew that in advanced). As we
took our proper bedlinens to reduce the cost, they were not
matching the bed sizes anymore. We would have appreciated to
know that in advance even just 2 days before.
- the pick up was too long (2,5 hrs), we just wanted to get on the
road.
- as Touring cars are very regarding about every small scratch, it
would be much easier if a report would be kept for every camper
and any new damage would only be added to this report.
- the cost of the camper and all the extra you really need (table and
chairs, chemical bottle for the toilet, the wedges: all this should be
included!!!) is very expensive. If the cost would be lower, maybe
more tourists would come and visit Scandinavia!
Having said all this, the van was very confortable and we had a real
great time in Finland. We will surely come back, north of Finland
next time.

D Cyr, 13 september 2010
First time Rv renter. My wife and I with our three children 10, 13, 14. Working with Ideamerge and specifically Mark and Doug made renting very smooth.In a very short frame of time they were able to find a one way rental from Chicago to San Francisco(RT66 plus)Pricing is like they say on the site truthful and market or below many others.
We received a New 2011(200miles) 31ft Moturis in Chicago. Service at Camperworld was "hurried" Friday July 3 and we were told understaffed. As a first time renter I expected a more intense "training" yet, we were advised to view the CD and refer to if we had concerns. We were able to leave within 2 hours.
Brand new does not mean "good", we lost a molding strip while traveling the second day, a board above the bed out back started to drop leaving particle board on the covers, and the fifth day the faucet seal broke leaving us without a usable sink. Fortunate for us,the Camperworld in Flagstaff,AZ was only 30 mnutes away and they took us in and repaired the "damages".
Overall very satisfied with IDEAMERGE yet, we are not impressed with the quality of the rental vehicles offered by Moturis. If the quality of a new vehicle is that of which we experienced I pity the renter who gets a used vehicle for hire.

Marek Ryfka (Poland), 13 september 2010
It was our first time renting a RV. Over 3 weeks we visited LA, Grand Canyon, Zion, LV, Yosemite, SF.
Our contact with Ideamerge was through the Internet and it was great. What I find important they were always fast to answer any of our questions.

The Camper (31ft from Moturis) was good. No issues on the road, comfortable inside. Really enjoyed the trip in this camper.

The only negative was during the return - during the check-out it turned out there are some small dents on the side of the car. The Moturis team in LA asked me to pay >800 USD for the cost of repair. I did refuse it and we agreed I will pay the cost as per invoice. To my delight I found a pictures I taken during check-it where the dents were visible.
As a results the charges were cancelled.

What I appreciated about the Ideamerge is that they did help me with the discussion with Moturis and followed up on the case. Highly appreciated.

In short I highly recommend Ideamerge to any one.
Myself I will not rent with Moturis in the future.

Jacinthe, 13 september 2010
It was our first time renting a RV. Our contacts with Ideamerge were through the Internet as well as on the phone. The service and support we got from Ideamerge was great.

Our RV was a 2011 28 feet group 4 from Road Bear. It was immaculate however; the air conditioning had difficulty keeping up in the extreme heat.

We also had difficulty with the doorsteps that would not always slide back in. This may seem like a detail, but it was something we always had to think about, especially in town where the space to manoeuvre was more limited.

Another detail was that the wipers were set up too low: we had to look through a “rain-covered” windshield. Since we had a few days of rain, it made the driving less comfortable.

The pick-up from the hotel in Las Vegas was on time but the RV had to be fixed before we could leave with it. To save us some time, they drove us to and from the shopping center while they were working on the RV.

There were three of us on this trip, two adults and an adolescent, and we were very comfortable in this RV.

We drove from Las Vegas to Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches (Moab), Monument Valley, Grand Canyon and back to Las Vegas drop off the RV.

Although we were in high season (July 20th to August 7th) we never had trouble finding a RV park. We planned the night before where we estimated we would be on the next day and as we were leaving in the morning, we called to make our reservation.

During our trip the windshield was chipped by a flying rock on the road. We were concerned about how it would be dealt with on our return so we had an estimation made of the work to be done. When we returned the RV, they inspected the vehicle and we told them about the chip: they told us we had to pay a fixed rate which, although a bit higher than our estimate, was reasonable.

Returning the RV was efficient and quick. They took us back to downtown Las Vegas where we spent our last day.

We would recommend Ideamerge to anyone who considers such a trip.

giacomo spina, 13 september 2010
pick up in oslo 10.8.10 drop off in stockholm 18.8.10. mr & mrs g spina

WE left our comments on the camper itself with your stockholm people. generally speaking, a very good camper especially the night set-up. during daytime, we expected some more room. Yr rental is quite expensive if compared to prices in other parts on the world.
Your staff was quite helpful, but you could notice that they are not real experts specially re: the technical specifications. campers vary according to make and country.
We feel you should provide road maps
Regards g spina

A.B, 12 september 2010
Great experience again with Idea Merge, the camper we got was excellent quality and the service provided by the depot people in Lyon was good as well. The only thing that was not brought to our attention in advance was that the depot is not working between 12.00 and 14.00 which put us under time pressure when returning the camper....

Robert Tromp - NL, Augus 2010, 12 september 2010
It was our first time renting a RV with Ideamerge. At first we where cautious, but there was nothing to worry about. Everything was handled perfect. The costs where specified clearly and the email response was outstanding. We rented a 29-feet RV at Moturis Las Vegas. 2 years ago we rented a RV at Cruise America and compared to that this was heaven. No hassle, pick-up from the hotel was on time and the RV was great. At 0700 we were picked up from the hotel and at 0915 we drove off to the wall-mart. We have booked our entire trip, mainly because of the high season in the national park campsites. All in all I would rent again with Ideamerge.

Best regard Robert

Julio, 12 september 2010
We had an amazing time in France following the Tour de France, and riding the epic climbs of the Alps & Pyreenes. IdeaMerge helped make everything simple and well supported. We were able to find numerous RV parks along our impromptu route, and the RV was perfect. I highly recommend this mode of travel especially when you want a more versatile itinerary.

JOSE M. OLIVER - BARCELONA/SPAIN, 12 september 2010
Our personal experience was very positive; everything was fine,
from rental service to travelling and camping.

Camper rental is very good idea for travelling around Iceland,
except if you are planning going deeply inland. Campsites are
correct and well placed. For Reykjavik, the boy scout's camp is the
best.

We get no troubles when picking up or dropping off the car.
Information obtained with the car was correct. The car was 1 year
old, so no problems with hardware.

We're wondering about our next travel on a motorhome...

Peter Went, 12 september 2010
We rented a camper through IdeaMerge. That process was quite simpel and straightforward. They supplied lots of information. The only (negative) surprise was that we agreed on a price and because they charge my credit card in two phases and the exchange rate changed in the meantime, I ended up paying more. Ideamerge blamed this on the exchange rate fluctuation, which I think is unfair because we agreed on a EURO price. Anyhow, it was less than 100 EURO.

Collecting the vehicle was a good experience. Only the camper made available to us was one size smaller than we had contracted. The contracted camper would allow my wife and I to sleep together in one double bed. The camper we got had two beds above each other. Not nice of course. It is not about the money (smaller camper supposedly being cheaper, but we deliberately ordered the bigger one).

The camper itself was good and was easy to drive. There was a camera mounted in the rear, so you could see the space behind the camper at the dashboard. It was suffiently equipped. Silly we had to rent table and chairs seperately. One would expect this to be standard equipment. But that's not a complaint, we knew about that upfront.

Returning the camper was less an experience. They claimed there were scratches on the camper. Maybe so, but they were not at all deep. You cannot expect such a rental camper to remain flawless. That costed us another 130 EURO to have them polish those claimed scratches. Although my wife cleaned the camper. the found it not clean enough. We could either pay for them to clean it, or clean there and then on the spot. We did the latter.

Anyhow, the experience was ok'ish. The holiday was great. So we decided not to make a huge fuzz out of the above negatives.

Paul - UK, 12 september 2010
My wife, two children and I hired a 27ft RV from Los Angeles through Ideamerge - The price and service obtained and provided by Ideamerge was second to none.

Our RV was provided by El Monte and all in all, they gave a pretty good service. We had the RV 35 days and dropped it off in New Jersey, having driven 5800 miles.

One problem we encountered was the generator, when we used it (mainly in wilderness campsites without hook ups) the carbon monoxide detector repeatedly went off - The helpline told me this was normal as the generator is situated right under the slide out and I should just take the battery out of the Carbon Monoxide detector and open the doors and windows! Not advice I considered very sensible, but in fairness, they refunded some of the unlimited use fee I had paid.

All in all, I'd hire an RV from El Monte again and it will be brockered through Ideamerge.

Mike, 11 september 2010
We had a great, no hassle experience with Ideamerge and our vehicle which was from Roadbear. Our friends who booked with another company had a more difficult experience. The RV was immaculate and I would only every use Roadbear if I did this again, a Swiss company with the expected high standards.The booking and change of booking experience with Ideamerge was outstanding.
Tips. Plan your trip just before or just after the summer peak. There are way too many people in the US now and we found we couldn't get into many campsites.
Book 500 more miles than you expect to do!
Dont bring your kids....

Albert Farha, 11 september 2010
We have rented campers in Europe 7 times. The last 4 through Idea Merge. Doug Bredesen and his staff are the best to work with. And from a cost stanpoint compared to the other rental companies they are very competitive.

We stared our trip June 16 2010 and had the camper until Aug 2nd.

We have always tried to rent the camper out of Germany instead of Paris.This time we decided to try Paris again. The pickup was as we rembered the people where very nice at the Avis pickup station.
How ever as we also remebered the Campers from France can not hold a candle to those in France. Mecanical they are the same FIAT Diesels great on fuel and plenty of power. We got a brand new one but the entieror quality is nothing compared to the German Camper(in 2007 we got a brand new one in Frankfurt).

At pickup (we paid extra to have someone from the camper rental pick us up) we encountered the first problem we were supose to have a camper that slept 3 adults hovever they tried to give us one that only slept two adults. We said no and showed them the one we were supose to get. They were nice about changing to the right camper but it delayed our pickup until 2 pm instead of 11am.

After we got on our way we found that the provided cooking pans, dishs, silverware to be less then desirable. (the german campers have everything perfect typical german) Anyway because of our past experience we bought some of are own equipment(wine glasses, knifes etc) We allways bring our own linnens etc.

Once on the road we enjoyed are camper. The main problem was that when you put the refegerator on 12 volt it would only work when the ignition was on. So we put it on butane when not hooked up to 220. That worked fine.

As always we enjoyed this way of traveling because europe has the best campsites in the world.

Also they do not have all these ughe motor homes with generators running all the time.

We put more 6000km and we toured Italy, France and Spain. ITALY is still the most resoneable.

Any way all and all we loved are triped. We are very sad to say that europe is beginning to cater to fast and cheaper foods. ITALY is still the best but all and all you see things like bigger motor homes, less tents, and English influence food. To bad Europe is loosing its different way fo eatin and enjoying good food and wine.

Again thanks to Idea Merge

Dutch (Albert) Farha

Chris and Debbie Smiles, 11 september 2010
We toured Norway for two weeks from 26th June 2010. The pick up
in Oslo was trouble free but the collection of the van was lengthy -
we just wanted to get on the road!
As others have said, TouringCars are very picky about every little
scratch so it is worth examining every inch of the van. It would
make things much simpler if a log were kept for each vehicle and
any new damage added and carried forward. We suspect that they
hope you will miss scratches etc and so you can be charged for
them later. This was a worry for us and cast a bit of a cloud over
our holiday.
Also be aware that you may not need the recommended amount of
chemical for the toilet. We asked to be supplied with 2 bottles ( 1
per week ) but as we used toilets on site where possible we only
used 2/3 of a bottle. We asked to return the unopened bottle for a
refund but were refused. If we'd known we'd have given it to one of
the many nice families we met. Extra bottles are easily available at
garages etc and cheaper than Touring Cars too.
I also think it's a bit mean to have to pay for every little extra - I
would consider the wedges to level the van are a necessity and
should be included in the rental. And it surely wouldn't hurt to
supply a table and chairs!
Having said all that, the van was clean and comfortable and had no
trouble coping with the steep hills. We had a small van which was
fine for two of us, and though storage space was limited that was
to be expected.
We had a great time in Norway but wouldn't recommend Touring
Cars.

Dan F, 11 september 2010
Had a great trip! The camper was exactly what we expected and was nearly new. No problems during the whole trip (about 10 days) despite several thousand kilometers of driving. The welcome at the rental center was superb; pickup and dropoff both went off without a hitch!

Sonia Cyr, 10 september 2010
We tried the camper experience in New Zealand for the first time. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to rent one for our next vacation in Spain. Renting through IdeaMerge was a breeze and I found the service excellent. We had to arrange special pick up to accommodate our bike transportation and IdeaMerge helped us.

At the pick up location in Barcelona, we were upgraded w/o extra fees - again to accommodate our bikes. The camper was great and brand-new (only 9km)! One thing I'd suggest is to play a DVD for the camper instructions. Tourists could pick the language of their choice. When we picked the camper up, there was only one person and he was Spanish-speaking only. He was nice but we had hard time to understand. Besides that everything was fine. I'd use IdeaMerge services again in a next trip.

andres, 10 september 2010
We rented the car in Barcelona in August. The car we
received was very low level of finish in relation to
vehicles we rented in the past but brand new.
The seats behind the driver's seat are dangerous.
Company representative who received me was polite
and very nice.
The company's location is far from city and aeroport

IDEAMERGE service was excellent and I'd like to
continue using their service

clodisgege ginesta april 29 to june 29/2010, 12 august 2010
We rented a VW camper with ideamerge this was not the first time trveling in europe we wanted a small camper so we could travel on the small road off the intersate and driving into city and village to park just like a car the VW california diesel 6 speeds standard was just wonderful we traveled 9.000 miles going around Germany Bavaria austria switzerland Italy France Spain Portugal
one tip: Mc.rent should give at least an european map included with all the rented camper Rv's
we loved our camper the rental "kitchen set" was pretty good we did not use the range for any cooking because we did not want to stain the shade and seat cover
other than brewing coffee we ate cold cuts who were delicious and ready meals ,french bread
Ideamerge was helpful we were pleased with the entire process we brought our own sleeping back and other camping equipment that we left over there before leaving for the state
We recommend Ideamerge : Thanks Doug for your assistance in making that trip possible
clodis & gege

Colin from New Zealand, 05 august 2010
We picked up our Camper Van from McRent Frankfurt. Although it was just my partner and myself with our 4 year old son we a 6berth and it worked out really well as we could keep the table up and put our bags on the 2nd bunk. Ideamerge were great: we made 2 or 3 changes prior to pick up and they responded promptly and resolved all of our issues with ease. The pick-up was easy although it can be a little rushed as they walk you through so make sure you take all the time to get the answers you need. Unless you want to pay extra the pick-up and drop off times are fairly short so it can take a bit of managing. You also need to be aware that McRent charge your security deposit direct to your credit card i.e it is charged straight away rather than hold, so when you get it refunded you may possibly lose out on exchange rates and will definitely lose on the conversion rates and credit card bank fees - i was out about $100USD even though we were refunded the full deposit.

Greg and Maria Bryant, 03 august 2010
We rented a Dethleffs Globebus T1 through Ideamerge to be picked up and drop off in Mcrent Frankfurt, Germany. We able to get a reservation and confirmation from Ideamerge overnight when our travel agent said it is not available. The motorhome was excellent. Plenty of room for two of us although my husband is 181cm tall. Only downside was the bed. It is positioned 145cm off the floor so for big person it is quite a struggle to get in and off. But the actual bed was excellent(firm mattress)and everything else. Pick up and drop off was excellent. McRent staff was so friendly and informative. Before you go through with the paperworks, they will show you a video about the vehicle which includes instructions and information to go about your trip around Europe. Also given, if any left, was maps, camping sites book and other books that can be helpful to your trip. My husband and I never done camping before so it is a bit nerve racking but everything went so smoothly. We travelled from 5th May to 5th July 2010. I recommend to travel this time of the year or even a few weeks earlier as the weather was just perfect not cold not hot. Although we travelled for 2 months I don't think it is enough to see all Europe. We have done 7 countries but some places we wish we could stayed longer that 3 days maximum we set up. All campsites are excellent. We didn't even use our shower in the caravan (option that you may not need). We choose to stay closer to the city because of the transportation time table. Some sites will have 24 hrs transportation but others only up to 5 - 6pm. Public transportation in Europe was excellent and also cheap. Campsites normally have information about transport and some even sells the ticket. Important factor when travelling in Europe was never to go without GPS. If you have time in your hand, try to set your GPS to a road without toll as we experienced it can be costly (sometimes up to 80 euro a day - Italy and France). Overall, the trip was excellent. If we have a chance to do it again, we will and with Ideamerge again. Highly recommended.

Bill and Vogue - Australia, 02 august 2010
Picked up our camper in Dusseldorf. The guys there were great and
really helpful. We were a little anxious about booking and paying
for everything on line but the staff at McRent were wonderful
answering every email enquiry we had. Everything went like
clockwork. No hidden extras we got just what we expected.
We hired a Fiat Ducato and there was plenty of room for the two of
us. We did a lot of driving in our 6 weeks in Europe, approx.
8000km the van didn't miss a beat. We looked after "the caravan of
courage" and it looked after us.
Check out was great and the bond was in the bank before we got
home. Thanks McRent I hope we can do it again sometime.

Claudia Alan, 01 august 2010
We rented a Fiat Karmann (DRM Group G) through Ideamerge with
pick up and return in Hamburg.
The vehicle was in excellent/new condition. Linens were fine.
Kitchen gear worked fine - we did no cooking - there is lots of
good cold food available in the grocery stores. Fridge was great at
keeping cheeses and meats and beverages cool. We traveled July
12 -14th during northern Europe's heat wave and while we often
came home very hot and sweaty...we got in the habit of taking a
cool shower and laying in bed with all of the windows open and we
had a lovely sleep every night. We traveled in northern Germany,
Brussels and Holland. Driving in the big cities is a bit of challenge -
street names change often. Highway driving was OK although there
were lots of construction projects underway which made even
highways narrower than usual.

Our GPS died as we were returning the vehicle and it was very
difficult to find the DRM office...it was just off the map on the
Hamburg city map that we had with us. We tried repeatedly to
contact the office by phone - they had told us that they would be
there but apparently they don't answer the phone on Saturdays. We
paid a $75. surcharge for a drop off - I think answering the phone
should be part of that. We tried all of the DRM phone numbers -
no one answered any o f them. Our search for the DRM office was
stressful although once we found our way back, vehicle check in
went smoothly.
We ended up using official RV campgrounds in only 2 locations -
Amsterdam & Bremerhaven. Mostly we parked in the driveways at
friends houses, on the street or in parking lots (paying the 6 Euros
per day fee). While you can't set up grills, tables and chairs in these
public areas, they were often much better located for some of the
urban touring that we were doing. Only the Netherlands has a
clear prohibition on what they call "wild camping". It's just as well
to stay at the campground outside of Amsterdam since apparently
Amsterdam has the highest rate of camper van break-ins of any
country in Europe.
We loved touring Europe this way although next time we might
even choose a smaller vehicle to make city driving less of a strain.
Claudia

M.Bouwman (The Netherlands), 01 august 2010
Last May we booked a Kea 4 berth RV. As this was our 4th trip to Australia we knew pretty much what to expect there, Kea is a well know company with good service. Good to know for all of you reading this, the price you will get here with Ideamerge is better than when book it yourself. We found that out earlier in 2007 when we booked here for our tour at the US westcoast. Everything was perfectly arranged and we had a wonderful vacation Down Under. This was our 2nd experience with Ideamerge and it went smoothly both times!

Thank you very much and we will probably come back for a 3th time!

M.Bouwman from Holland

Andrew, 25 july 2010
The McRent pickup at Hamburg went well. Instructions were clear and the booking via IdeaMerge was excellent.
Ideally the campervan should also be equipped with a washing bowl for the dishes and some bowels for cereals and/or soup. And a groundsheet for outside the van for when it is wet.
Damage deposit, 1000 euros, procedure is not good for foreigners. Unlike in Australia where they just take an imprint of your credit card as deposit, in Hamburg they actually debit the card and then refund on return. This means you get hit twice for foreign exchange fees on your card! And they are not cheap.

Shane Fowler, 24 july 2010
Thanks to Idamerge for an easy booking and great
price($1200 cheaper than our travel agent)for our
motorhome.
The pickup in Paris is a little difficult to get to
from the Centre of Paris (2 trains and a cab) and
took us a little longer than expected meaning we
didin't get to the depot until 11am and they were a
little un-organised so we started our pick up but
had to wait for them to get back from there lunch
(12-1.30pm) to continue our collection.
We picked up a brand new Fiat Ducato which was very
well laid out and easy to use. The only thing with
the van was it had no stabilisers so it was a bit
rocky when stopped at night.
The utensils were very basic with only one very
small sharp knife and the lids did't match the
saucepans.
The sheets didn't fit the matresses properly and
the the blankets were not very warm.
The van performed faultlessly for the 4000km we did
across Europe. A couple of close calls on some
narrow streets, but we returned the van without a
mark on it. I would highly recommend driving a
campervan across Europe. The tolls a fairly high in
France, but most other countries the prices were
reasonable. Finding parking in large cities is a bit
of an issue with the van, but with some planning you
can usually find somewhere near public transport not
too far from the city if you want to go sight
seeing.
It is time to start saving so we do another
mtorohome trip and will be booking again with
Ideamerge.

Hatch, 23 july 2010
We picked up our RV from Tacoma (Fife) on June 13th and returned it on 28 June to the same depot. The rv was 6 months old and was in good condition.Everything worked well with the exception of the sewer hose which had a few leaks and one of the indictor lights which never showed 'full' but these were minor niggles which did not deter from the good condition of the van. Less immpressive were the 4 bikes we also hired - they were in need of servicing - on one the gears were not working properly. Checkng in and out was straight forward although checking out the van took nearly 3 hours due to the fact that there was only one person on duty.We should have checked the bed linen provided as we ended up with an odd assortment of sheets and pillowcases although it was all clean and in good condition. Over all it was a great holiday. the RV exceeded our expectations, and we would certainly use Moturis again. One thing that we should have done however was to book the campsite for the last night in advance - it was quite a scramble to find a site near enough to Seattle - a list of sites within an hours drive of the drop off point would have been useful!!

Sharon and Hans Schmid - June 2010, 23 july 2010
The booking via internet was easy and all the information necessary was supplied up front. Directions to the pick up were clear and various transport options were listed as well as the costs of these options. The staff at McRent Frankfurt were very helpful/professional and explained the procedures for disposing of waste water and refilling tanks in the van clearly. The van was spotless and in very good condition which we really appreciated. (In fact, we hired a motorhome from another company in Scotland directly after our German holiday, and the Scottish van was dirty, we had to have the rear brakes relined, the exhaust broke on the second day, the engine often did not turn off when the key was removed and the vehicle used an excessive amount of fuel. Other campers also had complaints about the maintenance and cleanliness of their Scottish hired vans.)
Friends had recommended the Bord Atlas camping ground guide and McRent lent us a copy although this is not the guide that they normally issue. We found it far better than the other guides as it lists motorhome camping spots as opposed to mixed camping grounds. Because this allowed us more options, we did not have to book ahead and stayed in some beautiful spots in tiny villages, stopping or moving on at whim. GPS co-ordinates for the camping grounds are listed in the guide.
We had a wonderful holiday and would definitely recommend McRent. We will hire from them in future even when traveling in other European countries.

Cottinghams, 22 july 2010
Ideamerge were very efficient in arrangements. Collection at Rouen was also very good. We hired a 4 berth camper which was brand new and we were very pleased with its performance and comfort. Only critism would be that the hired kitchen set was very basic with no lids for pans, no strainer, no wine bottle opener, no frying pan, no washing up bowl, no dust pan and a number of other little extras that we had to purchase.

Radek Maly, 20 july 2010
Very happy with our 1 week rental. Almost new vehicle, clean. No problems at all. The only thing was that for some reason there was no radio. But at least we spend more time talking that way.
The rental office near Bordeaux airport was very helpful and friendly, givings us a ride twice to the airport.

Norm, 19 july 2010
Got a truck camper through IdeaMerge which we picked up and returned at Fraserway in Vancouver. Had a great week driving and camping through Yoho, Glacier, Banff and Jasper National Parks. Camper was very clean. Though we did expect dishes etc. to be supplied we were pleased that camping chairs and a small axe were included. We were satisfied and would definitely do this again.

David Reverdito, 19 july 2010
We rented a campervan from DRM in Munich. The booking process through the Ideamerge website was painless, as was picking up the van. The van was was almost new and spotless. The guys there were very helpful and flexible in the return time which they had no problem in changing from 10am to 5pm!

When we handed the van back after 6 great weeks without a hitch they were very quick in checking it over, and no issues whatsoever. Overall a great experience and warmly recommend both Ideamerge and DRM.

Michael V, 19 july 2010
It was the first time and the experience was amazing. Everything was good from the beginning until the end. Ideamerge was an excellent support to prepare our trip and each time was reactive to solve our problems. Definitively I will recommand Ideamerge.

Euan Smith, 19 july 2010
We picked up our motorhome, having driven from England through France in our car, north of Barcelona and spent our first night in their car-park during a spectacular thunderstorm. It seemed a better idea to manouvere it's 21 foot length in the cold light of day being a couple of novices. Issac, who was our English speaking contact at McRent, was kind and gentle in his induction, but forgot to tell us of the stabilisers we should have lowered on the van when taking up residence in campsites. A very kind german gentleman pointed out the error of our ways later.
We had a splendid experience not without its challenges and travelled from Barcelona almost to Malaga and inland through the Sierra Nevada and Granada - the Alahambra is a must do. We travelled about 2,500km.

Manuel Slipek, 19 july 2010
Our trip through Skandinavia (June 5-26th 2010; mainly Norway) started in Rovaniemi/Finland. The pick up process was perfectly organized, as well as the administrative part of the trip with Ideamerge and Touringcars in advance.
The tour through Scandinavia was very impressive, when visiting Norway again, we would travel not before beginning of August, because weather in the northern part should be warmer and there should be less snow in the upper parts of the nationalparks.
The return process in Stockholm/Sweden was organized well again (although it was at 4 am.), people were again friendly and helpful.
Only negative situation was the discussion about some scratches on one surface in the RV, which were not noted on the pickup report.
We recommend everybody to really take time and look on everything and note down everything on the report when picking up the RV because Touringcars is in comparison with other rentalcompanies very picky on scratches and the amounts they want to charge are replacement costs not just loss in value.
Beside this situation we had a good time and can especially recommend Ideamerge.

Robyn Swanepoel, 19 july 2010
IdeaMerge were highly organised efficient company and would definitely use them again. The vehicle was amazing and brand new, and everything worked perfectly. Very comfortable for 4 of us (5 berth) and not cramped at all. The vehicle was fairly wide, so we kept to High-Ways where possible to avoid the stress of little streets. This was costly in tolls, but much quicker as more relaxing to drive on. The collection was much longer than we anticipated as the linen and petrol were not already prepared. Took 2 hours to get it together as they were low on staff, so did not manage to drive very far on the first day. The linen that we paid for was not great at all and mismatched with awful blankets and pillows. The crockery and cuttlery and mugs and glasses were old and not great, especially for a brand new van. Basics such as a little basin to wash up in was not provided, so we bought that and left it with the van. Other than that, it is the perfect way to travel through Europe with a 10 and 14 year old. Great experiences. 5 Countries in 19 days. 3900km. The little blue booklet that was provided was a life-saver. A fantastic holiday!!!

Ron Nicholl, 18 july 2010
Most enjoyable holiday. whilst we had one or two initial problems with the vehicle, these were not the fault of the rental company Roadbear.

Pick up breifing was lengthy but necessary for us a we were new to this kind of holiday. Being from overseas, we do feel that a little more flexibility in pick up time on the following day after arrival could be extended where the vehicle is available. Drop off was good as was the overall experience with Roadbear.

After enquiries with other companies which were a little offputting, we were encouraged from the start of our dialogue with Ideamerge which was straight forward and where everything was explained up front. Thank you. We have no hesitation in recommending both Ideamerge and Roadbear

Steve Nevett, 17 july 2010
Our group of four adults used Ideamerge to rent a 31ft motorhome from Apollo RV in June 2010. Many of the big name companies were unable to accommodate our one way rental, even though we rented well over half a year ahead of time. Ideamerge suggested we look at Apollo. I was reluctant at first to use Apollo, since they are relatively new in the US, but since their prices were very reasonable, and they offered units with awnings (which was very important to us), we went with them. We had the all inclusive package which included the one way fee, all mileage and all other charges. The price was SIGNIFICANTLY lower than what we would have paid with anyone else. We rented one way from San Fran to Las Vegas and when we arrived in San Fran, they had a brand new C class with two slide outs for us. The unit was WONDERFUL...although it did have a few brand new motorhome issues. For example, the closest door bracket was not on right, the shower door was missing a latch, and the most inconvenient was that the generator did not work at high altitudes (wrong jet in the carburator apparently). I don't fault Apollo for any of these things, as long as they fixed them for the next people. They were very apologetic and didn't charge us for the generator hours we were able to use.

The staff at Apollo was wonderful (especially in San Fran), as well as everyone we interacted with at Ideamerge. We would certainly use both of these companies again.

Andrew Steel, 17 july 2010
Camper was brand new and great. Despite the language barrier and
some mis-communication, the service was great. We did miss out on
our outdoor setting which was disappointing, but everything else was
provided.

Magda Tomaszewska, 17 july 2010
We picked up a vehicle from a depot in Oslo. Everything went well at the pick up - the stuff was waiting for us at the airport, they showed us the movie on a motorhome then demonstrated everything.
The trip was awesome - even though the weather was not very good (very rainy and cold - and it was June!). The motorhome was great and we enjoyed it a lot. It turned to be very easy to operate and we didn't have any technical problems.
We experienced some not very nice situation when returning the vehicle.
The stuff member indicated a big scratch on the side of the car which we didn't do.
After some further investigations which took around 30 minutes it turned out that this damage had existed before.
The process of inspecting the vehicle at the pick up is not working well as it's impossible to see evry little scratch. And then you become accountable for all this damage on the car which wasn't your fault - very stressful indeed.

Phil Johnson, 16 july 2010
We rented a Globescout from Mcrent and were very pleased with the camper. It is a good size for 2 people, easy to drive (even on narrow streets), and comfortable to camp in. It gets the same mpg as our volvo wagon at home! Mcrent is easy to deal with but we should have purchased a campground guide before we travelled in Germany & France. A guide listing the Aires de Service in France would have been very helpful and would have saved us a lot of camping fees.

Arden Slotter, 16 july 2010
We had a very successful trip, with no accidents except one scratched bumper, traveling to ten countries as planned. There were no problems
with the van except that the shade-screen assembly on the side sliding door repeatedly fell off because the screw seats were stripped. We solved that with glue. We bought sheets for the bed because the ones provided were not adequate. Also we could have used a lightweight blanket in addition to the eider down comforter provided.

The staff at DRM Frankfurt were most helpful and they were flexible about the exact pickup and return scheduled hours. We were completely satisfied with DRM. We are most grateful to you at IdeaMerge for all your help in booking the van and for answering our many questions about its use.
We will be glad to recommend IdeaMerge to anyone interested in Europe travel. It turned out that in the van (brand new) we rented, we could make a third bed for our son traveling with us the first two weeks, using the bench seat, the table which dropped to bench height and the rotated front seats.It was not perfect but better than setting up a tent in the rain. Again, thank you for all your help.

Arden Slotter

Michele Fanamanu, 16 july 2010
We are a family of 5. We hired a campervan with DRM Frankfurt. The process of uplifting the camper was made easy with clear directions to the site. The staff were friendly and helpful with clear instructions on the do's and don't in using the van and places to be careful while travelling.When we encountered an issue with the fridge in the camper a quick phonecall was all that was needed for the staff at DRM to point us in the right direction to have the problem sorted.

During our 3 months travel,we suffered some minor scrapes and lost a window, again DRM was helpful and had no problems with sorting the matter without inconvieniencing our travel.

For first time user of this mode of travel, the experience was made more enjoyable with the 'no fuss' attitude of DRM staff. Would recommend and use again

Neil Holdsworth and Maria Demkowicz, 16 july 2010
Ideamerge organised for us the rental of a motorhome from Touring Cars from 12-25 June 2010. Touring Cars collected us from Oslo airport and drove us to their depot where we had a full briefing on the use of the vehicle. The staff were very helpful and patient (this was our first experience of motorhome life) and gave us lots of useful information.
We drove from Oslo to Tromso in almost ceaseless rain. Nevertheless the vehicle was cosy and warm and we managed to eat well, despite the limited cooking facilities. We found that the vehicle was nimble enough to cope with city as well as highway driving and we explored several places en route.
The return journey was in slightly better weather and by now we were more confident about "wild" camping away from campsites. This made us completely free to choose the time and place of our overnight stops - very liberating!
We had a fantastic time in Norway and would certainly recommend what we did to friends. It is unlikely that we will rent again, however, as we are now sold on the idea of buying our own motorhome!
What we would suggest to others includes:
1 Don't go for the minimum size. Extra space is great, especially if it means you don't have to assemble the bed every night!
2 Don't feel tied to campsites. Try side roads and lake sides (being careful not to cause damage or leave litter, of course!)
3 Eating out in Norway is hugely expensive. However, supermarket shopping is reasonable and there are are some wonderful things that are new to UK palates. We loved the smoked salmon and are so glad we happened on the cloudberry jam by accident - now addicted! The whale meat got one yes and one no in our family!!
4 We thought that the motorhome kitchen equipment was a bit basic and would have benefited from simple things that we have told Touring Cars about.
5 The road toll system in Norway takes some getting used to. We were led to believe we could pay at Post Offices, which turned out to be incorrect and so we lost the chance to pay. It should have been possible to register and pay up to 14 days after the first charge but for some technical reason this proved difficult. We suggest that overseas visitors register at www.autopass.no - Visitors' Payment before travelling.

In summary, we had a great time and would recommend both Ideamerge and Touring Cars to anyone. Thanks to them both!

Ruth McKenzie, 10 july 2010
We hired a van from McRent near Munich for 9 weeks from Mid April to late June. Instructions to the van pick-up point were easy to follow. However they will pick you up from the bus stop if you call them - that information would have been helpful to have up front as the yard is a 15 minute walk from the bus stop.

We were given a good van orientation and a new van plus supplied with a camping ground book for all of Europe.

We had some difficulty at the border between Bulgaria and Romania, as border control wanted to see original ownership papers - we only had photocopies. There was also a statement on the ownership papers that conflicted with other information we had regarding our insurance cover in Bulgaria and Romania which meant that we were held up at the border for 30 minutes while border control decided whether they would let us enter Romania.

We have some concern about the cost of repairs of damage to the vehicle. A small dent, polishing of some scratches made by trees and the replacement of two flyscreens that were ripped by petty thieves in Prague have resulted in a bill of 1250 euros, which appears excessive.

Apart from the bill for damage, a very positive experience, and we would hire from here again.

Russellbiggs, 08 july 2010
Easy trip out of Frankfurt with professional and courteous staff.
Will definitely be using MCRent again.

A.Noll, 07 july 2010
We picked up the Camper in The Netherlands. My Brother, Father and myself. It was a short walk from the train station, about 2-3 miles. Henk was very nice and accommodating to our travel times.

The camper had only 3,000km and was practically brand new for our 22 day vacation. Functional, economical, and reasonable. It got great fuel milage for its size(avg 12l/100km) good power, and very tight tuning radius. We had no issues the entire trip. Drop off was just as easy. We then trekked back to the train and back to Schiphol airport. Our journey was over 6500km in 22 days. We did a lot of driving, but the camper never complained.

This is the first time using Ideamerge, and McRent. I was originally skeptical about renting a camper over seas, and using internet only corrispondence. It was so simple and secure to make reservations, there is no doubt in my mind I will use them again for our next european trip- I know they will be there, and the camper we get will be in superb shape.

Pavol Claire, 06 july 2010
DRM was Great
1) a surprise pick up at the local train station
outside of Frankfurt was a beautiful surprise and
most cordial (thank you Claudia) - it was a
Saturday. We were met at the train station with our
many bags of luggage which included 2 bicycles -
this was very much appreciated.
2) making a reservation however for a 3 week rental
was complicated - your site implies we can pick up
"easily" from a hub like Frankfurt - but in fact
this took much convincing and a lot of back and
forth communication
3) we were overcharged at booking time (by about
$200) but were well handled by DRM administration
when we brought this to their attention on the
return - thank you
3) an awning on the vehicle would have been a
valuable addition
4) the type of vehicle (a 2010 VW California) was
excellent (++ fuel efficient, handled mountain
climbs) - bed mattresses were maybe a little stiff

Mari, 05 july 2010
My husband and I had a wonderful 3 week trip in Germany with VW T5 Eurovan California camper. May to June is the best season in Germany with warm weather, beautiful flowers blooming and still avoiding summer vacation crowds. As we have VW T4 camper at home, we had no problem driving there. After failing to make reservation at Dusseldorf with other agencies, IdeaMerge found us the same model at DRM Hamburg depot, where we were able to manage to adjust our trip plan to pick up there.
Our camper was waiting at the Hamburg depot and the staff is fluent in English to explain the instruction. However, most amazing thing was booking efficiency; we contacted IdeaMerge at 9pm NY time and the booking was confirmed at 4am the next morning, which was smoothly executed by the teamwork of Oregon and Barcelona office.
As the number of vehicle is limited, we suggest to book as early as possible. DRM Hamburg office said they buy new campers every year in spring and sell most of them in autumn. So if you book in spring, you might be lucky to rent a brand new camper like us! Only negative comment is the rental kitchen set, which was old and not practical (heavy ceramic dinnerware).
We greatly appreciate IdeaMerge’s assistance and arrangement.

bob fogelson, 05 july 2010
This is a totally unsolicited letter of pure praise for IdeaMerge from
a retired local judge who admires competence and doesn't suffer
fools graciously. If someone can please this cynical old coot, they
probably can please anyone.

My wife and I, in our 70's, recently returned from a ten week RV
trip through Europe. Our RV rental was arranged through
IdeaMerge. Prior to this experience we had no prior dealings with or
knowledge of IdeaMerge. At our age we were apprehensive. We
initially contacted IdeaMerge as we liked the comprehensive
informative nature of their website which we found intuitively
detailed and beneficial.

What a great pick we made! Our journey was, in all respects, a
wonderful, experience with much of the credit attributable to
IdeaMerge and their knowledgeable, totally up front way of doing
business. IdeaMerge and the person with whom we dealt, Eric,
were, in our estimation, absolutely first class……reflective,
integrity, caring, knowledgeable, follow-up…everything….there's
no question we would absolutely use them again in a heartbeat.

My time is guarded jealously and what follows is not usual
practice….. however, our experience with IdeaMerge was so
positive and so very refreshing I have no objection should someone
wish to make inquiry of me about our rental experience. I like
competence and want others to know of our incredibly positive
experience with Ideamerge.

bob fogelson
7-5-10

Joseph Szabo, 05 july 2010
The embedded routine of driving on the right side of the road for fifty years has presented me with the greatest challenge when I had to drive our hired campervan on the European roads with traffic moving on the wrong side. ( Well it’s just the way we see it from Australia!) Not just the wrong side, but a greatly wider vehicle than the ones I used to drive. Nevertheless, after a few close shaves in the forever narrowing lanes in Italy me and my daughter adjuster well to the challenge and our motoring experience in the campervan became one of the most cherished memory of our five week tour. Our comfort was well catered for by the well equipped, excellent campervan from Freedom Holiday, and we were driving with confidence, at times travelling at 120k on motorways, through Italy, the Alps, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia. Returning the vehicle to the Freedom Holiday depot in Rome was the smoothest transaction we could expect, and handing back a clean campervan vas certainly in our favour.
Thanks to IdeaMerge for a worry free and courteous arrangement of the rental process and thanks to the people at Freedom Holiday –the visible human face of IdeaMerge as well – for their attention to detail, understanding our needs and for their assistance and guidance verbally and by loan of travel books. Hope to see you again!

B T, 03 july 2010
I surfed the internet and found numerous RV rental sites looking for a 15 day rental, 300+ miles per day trip in June 2010 (prime rental season).

IdeaMerge was one of amongst 8 brokers I found, in addition to every direct vendor servicing my area, such as Cruise America, Road Bear, etc… The Bottom line? If you want a great price, ease of booking and outstanding customer service, book your RV rental with IdeaMerge! They offered the most competitive pricing with a selection of vendors. Although they are a broker/middle man, we were surprised that the price they offered was lower than going through the vendors direct. Their online reservation will make it easy to determine the best inclusive rental cost by automatically calculating whether it’s more cost efficient to buy mileage or get the all-inclusive package which included unlimited miles, “no liability” insurance and a few other “perks”. In our case, the all inclusive package worked out best as we estimated driving at least 3000 miles. Yes, our private auto insurance would have covered the rental but just purchasing the mileage would have equated to the same amount. The cost quoted online is the cost you will pay. No more additional fees from them and we even qualified for additional discounts.
IdeaMerge is a top-notch company as evidenced by their unblemished registration with the BBB and I genuinely recommend them for next RV adventure. You will not be disappointed.

We selected Apollo RV out of Las Vegas, mainly for the price offered. We were booked for 22FT Happy Explorer Model but was “upgraded” upon check-in to a 2008 25 ft coach. If something goes wrong on your trip, they have excellent communication to help you resolve your issues, but keep in mind that YOU will have to get it repaired, purchased, installed, etc… We experienced numerous problems with the coach which I didn’t want to flood this particular website with but have posted in detail on other RV review sites. The Bottom line? I cannot recommend Apollo RV but if you do choose this company, I suggest a thorough walk through and a “working” inspection of the CD player and usb ports, TV and DVD player (have them go through the actual TV menu), heater and dining table bed.
Maybe these issues are petty to you, the potential renter, but, if you RV’d before or a newbie, these are all the comforts of home that you should expect. If you choose to rent with Apollo RV, be aware of these issues and check it thoroughly before loading up.

Wherever your next RV adventure leads you to, have fun on the road and book with IdeaMerge for your next rental. Competitive pricing, excellent service and they helped us resolve our issues. Thanks Doug and Mark! IdeaMerge rocks and I will definitely use you again.

Wendy Scribner, 03 july 2010
Idea-Merge as arranger was terrific and details were spelled out clearly. Overall, experience of traveling in Provence by camper was great except for a few problems that we should have anticipated, I suppose. We would have preferred a smaller type van, but apparently that isn't available (anywhere in France?). Our camper was certainly comfortable, but we are a couple and didn't need facilities to sleep four. It (a Fiat Moo-veo) was too wide to maneuver safely down many narrow roads in Provence, which are really not two full lanes, so we actually had to forgo visiting several of the little towns we had planned to see, such as Lacoste and Menerbes. And going through several towns, looking for a place to park, on street or in a lot, was often quite hair-raising, and in one town, we actually bumped into a building wall when a car passed us, tore a small hole in the side and had to pay the damage at the end, naturally. Supplies we bought (though we hadn't actually expected them to be on camper) were chairs for sitting outside,and coffee cups. One more thing: we left the rental place before fully understanding how all the equipment (ie. heater, which we needed in May, and stove)worked, so had to return the next day (retracing over fifty miles)for a clearer explanation. (Didn't trust our French on phone.)But thanks, Idea-Merge, for arrangements!

Leen, Enna and Olivier, 02 july 2010
For the second time, we opted to rent a motorhome via a broker (Ideamerge this time), for the simple reason you get a much better price than with the original rental company.
Because of our 10 months old daugther joined us during our vacation to the US, we rented a bigger vehicle than the one we rented in NZ: a 25ft Sunrise Escape RV (Ford V10 petrol) from Apollo.
Why Ideamerge? Their website is not really fancy, but they offer you the necessary & clear information and a very good & detailed overview of all costs (no hided costs), which is highly appreciated.
The booking process went smoothly and correct. Good service.

We picked up the RV with Apollo in San-Francisco and left SF to see Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches (Moab), Monument Valley, Grand Canyon and droped off the RV in Las Vegas... a 2400 miles tour... wonderful!
The pick up process took about 2-3 hours (incl the waiting)... you receive a huge amount of information about the RV, which you all have to remember. TIP: take your time to inspect the vehicle very carefully on all kinds of damage inside&outside... or they will finally charge you for it. And take pictures before you drive the RV out.
We were very lucky we took pictures of the RV the first day. A hubcap was missing... nor the Apollo manager in SF, nor myself noticed this, but the manager in Las Vegas did... thanks to the pics we proved it was already missing when leaving Apollo SF.

The Sunrise Escape gives you all the comfort you need: plenty of room (thanks to the slide-out), good waterpump, big fresh/grey/black water tank, sufficient storage possibilities in and out, lots of lights inside, good heating on propane, a generator, microwave (110), freezer, big fridge, airco (although never used), etc...
Some other option where a little bit overkill, like flatscreen+dvd, external radio&speakers, external shower and patio awning (never used because of too windy).

Full consumption over the trip was approx 26L/100km or 10m/gal, which is a lot, but still moving 5200 kg/11500 lbs with 310hp up/down ...

Sadly the awning became loose due to heavy wind. In my opinion something was wrong with the awing (brand new, never used). But, damage is to be paid by ourselves... although we paid extra for the damage waiver. Apollo was not wiling to give us the benifit of the doubt...

Apart from this, Ideamerge is highly recommended.

Michael Davis, 02 july 2010
The service provided by Ideamerge was first class, also the deal they got me was great. Pick up from Vegas with a drop of in LA was just what we wanted. The El Monte shuttle service was good but the RV was old and not very clean. There were also items missing from the personal packs and broken items in the kitchen packs. The RV itself had a faulty electric step and eventually the voltage controller failed. We had to stay for over a week in the same resort until it was fixed. We decided to hire a car to see as much of California as we could. Our trip took us from Vegas to the Canyon and then into southern California. All in all we had a good holiday and will definately use Ideamerge again, I would recommend Ideamerge to any one contemplating hiring RV`s or Motorhomes.

Nic, 01 july 2010
Booking through IdeaMerge was very easy and we got a much better rate than going directly with the RV company. We rented from El Monte and there were no complaints - everything was clean and worked. The pickup and drop off from hotel/airport was very handy. I would definitely consider using IdeaMerge again.

David Champion, 01 july 2010
We rented a VW California campervan through Ideamerge/DRM in Frankfurt. Ideamerge was very helpful and professional. I had a number of quetions before and after we completed the rental agreement and our questions were always answered quickly and completely. I was very pleased with the entire process.

We arrived at DRM in Frankfurt and a brand new van was waiting for us. We had filled out the fast pass prior to arrival at DRM which minimized the time it took to check in. We were given a complete tour of the van and its many features. There were four adults in our group and while it was a snug fit, it worked out well. We spent 3 weeks in the van traveling approximately 5000 Km (Germany, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Scotland, England, Belgium and back to Frankfurt). The van averaged 8.5L / 100Km (approx 28 mpg). The van was very easy to drive. It had plenty of power and was very comfortable. We brought a gps, which made navigation a snap. The only thing I would caution you about, is not to trust the gps to navigate you down the most appropriate roads in western Ireland. It seems that all the roads have the same speed limit regardless of the condition (or width) of the road. Since the speed limits are all the same, the gps will find the shortest path to your destination. We travelled some pretty scenic roads on our way to Doolin (beautiful camping and great music). I'm not complaining mind you, we saw parts of Ireland you don't see on the tour buses.

I did cause some minor damage to the rear bumper of the van when I scraped a stone wall in Ireland (imagine that.... a stone wall in Ireland). When I returned the vehicle to DRM, they provided me with a good faith estimate of the cost to repair the damages and the issue was resolved in a timely manner and the remainder of my deposit was credited back to me. I was a little concerned that I was at their mercy when they determined what the cost of the damage was , but I felt I was dealt with in a very fair manner.

I feel van camping provides an economical means of touring Europe with many additional advantages. Having a vehicle provides the freedom and spontaneity to go where you please and not be limited to where the rail lines run or where the tour bus takes you. There's no need to lug your luggage with you where ever you go. It also means you don't have to be quite so stingy when packing. I enjoyed the diversity of the people we met while camping. We enjoyed getting the makings for our meals at a variety of shops and stores. It was more fun (and certainly cheaper) than eating out at restaurants all the time. The camping facilities ranged from acceptable to fantastic (a special nod to Camp Drusus (http://www.drusus.com/) in Prague. Beautiful facilities, great restaurant and very friendly people and also Nagles in Doolin, Ireland (what a view !!!)

We took 4 ferries while on our trip. The 18 hour trip From Cherbourg, France to Rosslare, Ireland was a welcome rest from our hectic schedule.

I thoroughly enjoyed our trip and look forward to returning and I would recommend Ideamerge and DRM.

Tom Deb Ludwig, 01 july 2010
We rented a VW California for 4 weeks in May and June. Friends of ours had gotten a VW through McRent two years ago, so we put in a request for a VW from McRent-Frankfurt. Unfortunately, McRent had no vehicles available for the dates we needed, but Mark Carr at IdeaMerge arranged a VW for us through DRM-Frankfurt. Mark was very helpful and answered all our questions in the months leading up to our camping trip.

We were very pleased with our experience at DRM-Frankfurt. The vehicle was new -- we were the first renters. The DRM staff demonstrated most of the features of the camper and carefully explained the rental guidelines.

The VW camper worked very well for us. We drove 7000 km with no problems of any kind. We had four adults in the camper (two sleeping on each of the levels), so the living space was tight, but quite manageable. We rented the kitchen set (including plates, bowls, cups, glasses, and tableware), but on the advice of our friends we did not rent the sleep set. Instead, we brought our own sleeping bags in a duffel bag as our checked baggage.

Two suggestions for anyone renting from DRM Frankfurt: 1) bring a printed copy of a local map showing the exact location of the DRM office, because the directions are a bit complicated; 2) ask for instructions about how to purchase a cardboard parking clock ("stunde"), which is not supplied by DRM but is needed on the dashboard when parking in a time-restricted free parking space.

Overall, it was a great experience. Twice in earlier years we made extended camping trips in Europe with VW campers that we purchased on a defined-price repurchase agreement. But renting through IdeaMerge turned out to be a very good choice for a 4-week trip!

Margaret Martin B, 01 july 2010
This was our first experience of hiring a motorhome and we thoroughly enjoyed our 3 weeks travelling around southern Italy. Depot not easy to get to as we travelled by train then bus from central Rome. This would have been a challenge without the helpful member of staff from our hotel who contacted the depot for us and helped organise the arrangement and we were evenually picked up at the bus terminal by staff from the depot. Our only quibble would be the minimal kitchen equipment - we had to buy our own frying pan and believe it or not in Italy - expresso coffee pot! On hindsight we would have picked up the motorhome in the morning as it was quite late by the time we got on the road and we hadn't planned our first campsite. In May it gets dark fairly early and did not give us much time to get used to the whole experience of driving, finding a site and settling down. We hired bikes, which were useful to get from the campsites to the local towns to go shopping, but a scooter would be more useful so you could explore further afield. Not sure if this is possible - but worth looking into. After a few days we were much more confident and by the time we returned to Rome we felt like old hands. Drop off was quick and straight forward. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend this type of holiday with IdeaMerge and would like to explore northern Italy by motorhome another year.

Mike and Suzanne, Peter and Eileen, 01 july 2010
We booked the RV through Ideamerge which we picked up at the Camping World depot in Mesa, Phoenix. We had chosen a 25 foot V10 petrol engine model for the four of us. However we were provided with a Mercedes Diesel automatic which was just great. It was priced about 1000$ more when we first looked and although we took in to account the better mileage, ábout 15mpg, it was still cheaper to book the petrol model. So it was a real bonus to have the diesel PLUS it had a slide out !! which the petrol one didn´t. Great. Now all this went some way to make up for the downside of the trip. We had been caught up in the Volcanic Ash situation from Iceland and our flight out of the UK was delayed 9 days. Although we kept Camping World and Ideamerge advised thoughout we still lost the use of the RV for those nine days. In addition we had to pay nearly 700$ more to extend the rental period to make up some of our lost time. All in all though we had a super time touring around. We syayed at some private sites for our overnite stops but best of all were the state parks and the boondocking locations we came across along the way. Our route took us to: Tortilla Flats, then southwards via Florence, Tucson,Sonoran Desert, towards Nogales then Patagonia state park,Tombstone, then towards Bisbee and a ranch called Silverado. Do check it out if you want a diferent life experience. On then via Douglas, northwards along the Gila Valley to Lake Roosevelt, Payson, Winslow, Holbrook, Canyon de Chelly which is really fantastic, 4 Corners, Arizona meets New Mexico, Colorado and Utah ! , Bluff then southwards to The Goosenecks, Monument Valley then accross to the Grand Canyon. South to Flagstaff, Sedona not to be missed, circled round back to Williams, west to Kingman, south to Oatman on the old rte 66, Laughlin, Lake Havisu City to check on our London bridge then back to Phoenix, Scottsdale and Mesa to return the RV. Both Pick up and return were hassel free and the staff friendly and helpful. Would definately use Ideamerge and Camping World again. Not so sure about Brittish Airways who have not even answered calls, letters emails regarding any any compensation or help during the fiasco over the Icelandic Volcano incident or to Insureandgo who feel that a 9 day delay/cancellation of flights is not covered !!??
However, would I say it was all worth it ? YOU BET !

Janieke van Nugteren, 01 july 2010
We picked our camper up in Madrid- no problems- very efficient- note: take your international and local drivers license with- more apparently for the Gaurdia Civil - we were stopped but showed them the international one and the passport.No problems. Our van had 45 000km - very clean neat and modern.We has heard the rental of the cutlery and crockery was not worth it- so we just hired the table and chairs and bought stuff at Ikea- probably saved about 50 euro. Dropping off the van was also no problem- we cleaned it really well- so it all went swimmingly. Idea merge was excellent- would DEFINATELY use them again.

Paul Anne Freymond, 01 july 2010
We have just returned from a 3 1/2 week trip to Germany. It was our first time renting a camper van in Europe and we were apprehensive about how feasible it was and also making arrangements through the internet. However our experience was most pleasant- Doug answered our questions completely, responded in prompt time and we found nothing amiss in booking. The scenery, the history, the food were all outstanding and being able to enjoy the camper made the trip all that more pleasant. We were impressed with the efficiency and consideration of the staff at the Munich depot -our pick up and drop off went smoothly. They were very accomodating and we would not hesitate to rent from DRM /Ideamerge again. Paul & Anne Freymond

Simon, 01 july 2010
My wife, dog and I hired an RV for a one-way trip
from New York to Seattle. Ideamerge were able to
find an RV of the size we wanted and at a good
price. We were a bit disappointed when we collected
the RV from El Monte. It wasn't particularly clean
and was not in good condition overall. For example,
the table was broken (we had to wait while it was
fixed) and that left one of the beds unusable. The
water heater fuse blew and I couldn't get through to
the El Monte helpline to find out where the fuse box
was located. However, despite the problems we had we
really enjoyed our journey. We stayed at KOA
campgrounds, which were very good and we didn't have
any trouble driving the RV, even though it was on
the wrong side of the road and a much bigger vehicle
than I had driven before.

Sophie Kremer, 01 july 2010
We rented a 28ft RV from El Monte RV near San Francisco. The RV was a few years old but in very good condition. It was very clean (including the personal kits and the kitchen kit that we rented with the RV) and everything worked as it was supposed to. The staff at El Monte was very friendly and helpful. It was our first time renting an RV and they took all the time needed to explain to us clearly how to use it.
We drove about 1500 miles with the RV, and didn't have any problems with it. We went from San Francisco to San Diego and back. We were a little late dropping off the RV because of bad traffic, but the staff at El Monte didn't make a problem of it at all.
We had a great trip and a very good first experience with renting an RV!

Gail Gagné, 01 july 2010
What a wonderful trip in Italy with the van from vanitaly.The pick-up was great and the return was sad because after 30 days traveling across that beautiful country with are home we got use to live in it. It is a very good way to travel every where and discover the beauty and the kindness of Italy.We will return in that country and we will rent a van with you it is easy in secure.Thank you Denis Pasolini, for your kindness.
Gail Gagné & Joel Emond (Québec Canada)

Mustafa Kureli, 01 july 2010
We had a wonderfull days in Italy. We had visited Napoli, Sorrento, Bari, Gargano and Pescara. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They answered us, for all questions. I want to thanks Mrs.Valentina. If you decide to user a camper van in Italy you MUST use this company.
Our Motorhome was very old. But we hadn’t any problem. Equipments was enough. We were very happy with the service and I recommend it to anyone renting an RV in Italy.
I am sure that ; few mounths later, we will rent Motorhome again, for to visit North of Italy by IDEAMERGE. Best regards and arm full Loves from Istanbul/Turkey.

a.govers, 01 july 2010
We rent a camper from Halifax. The Iceland Ash-cloud made delay our trip three days but everyone was sure our trip continued according our plan and was very helpfull. The camper was equiped very complete. better than we ever had seen during earlyer camper-rents. The service also from fraserway was very good and polite. If we have the possibility to rent again we make our choise to Fraserway

Emmy and Nico Visch, 01 july 2010
We hired our 31foot RV through IdeaMerge from RoadBear San Francisco depot voor 25 days (May/June 2010). We were very happy with the service and assistance provided by IdeaMerge (we knew Ideamerge before from 2 trips to New England in 2008 and 2009!)

Pickup and dropoff by RoadBear went smoothly with very friendly and helpful staff. The RV was not new (from 2008!) but was in good condition and was big, clean and comfortable. Only one slight irritation: the carpet in the RV was covered with plastic, also the carpet in de 'master bedroom'. I understand that the RV stays clean, but it is not very nice to see and is not giving a 'cosy feeling'. Technical everything was OK and working. It was very easy to drive this big RV and very comfortable.

We mostly used the KOA campgrounds and were very satisfied about them (a KOA coupon was included with the camper).KOA staff is always very helpfull and its always very easy to make a reservation for the next KOA-campground!

We travelled about 4000 miles in total and explored 4 states: California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona! The national parks and the Grand Canyon were awsome!

We are highly recommending IdeaMerge to everyone who likes to travel in the USA with a RV!
Thank you Doug and Mark for your outstanding service. Wishing the very best to IdeaMerge!

Lex Pierik, 01 july 2010
In may 2010 we cruised through the west part of the USA with our C25 RV. First we search for a great deal on RV’s in our home country The Netherlands, but soon we found that they where to expensive and they didn’t made us feel like a customer. Then we found Idea Merge on the web and send an email with our questions. Even though Idea Merge is on the other side of the ocean, they made us feel like a client again. We got an answer straight away and they made a much better deal for us dollar wise. When we had to change the booking, when our plans changed, Idea Merge helped us in a really good way and didn’t made a fuss out of it (wich, I’m sure, the Dutch guys would have).

When we arrived at the pickup in San Francisco everything was set and ready to go. Nice people and a really nice (big) RV. During the trip we never encountered any problems with our RV, except for its thirst (V10 what did I expect). After the trip we dropped the RV off in Las Vegas without any problems. We even got a trip to the airport. So all and all we are really content with the service of Idea Merge and the product they delivered.

steve fennell, 30 june 2010
Hi all,I have just landed back in Australia after a fantastic trip around europe.I hired a compact motorhome from Mcrent in Frankfurt,and must say that the staff there were very good in their service to me.The van was delivered as a new vehicle,I was the first hirer and it drove and performed excellently.Suzanne at Mcrent was fluent in english which made the delivery process a pleasant experience.I drove 6,500klms following the motogp bike racing and the motorhome made this a great way to camp.I was unfortunate enough to collide with some timber that had fallen off a truck on the autostrada,resulting in a loss of some of my deposit,my advice is to make sure that your travel insurance includes vehicle excess loss,mine did and I should not be out of pocket for long.I would recommend ideamerge and their partner mcrent as an excellent motorhome hire option.

sara, 30 june 2010
We drove 9 days through South Norway, visiting the most beautiful landscapes.
The Ideamerge´s staff were very kind and professional. They explained us everything about our RV, so we had no problem in our fisrt experience with this type of vehicles. The van was comfortable and almost new. We are sure we will repeat experience visiting Finland soon!

Dennis and Deb, 30 june 2010
We used IdeaMerge and the deal you guy's found us was awsesome, Just one word of warning to ALL people hiring motor homes. I specifically asked for a zero deductible insurance policy for any incident that ay occur. we had a small but very expensive problem that occurred. we got caught in a large rain storm outside el paso, and the wind screen cracked, we searchedhigh and low for any previously unseen cracks and could not find any, the crack simply came out from under the seal, when we approached El Monte abbout the problem, they agreed that they could not find any reason as to why the screen would just crack, too bad we will still just charge the $1000.00 deductible and the insurance will pay the rest. i explained that i took out a zero deductible policy and he laughed at me and, Impossible, we do not have such a policy. if that is what you want, you shhould have organised it in your home country. Moral of the story, completely ignore the online insurance and buy your own, it is much cheaper and is totally zero deductible and comprehensive. Thanks to IdeaMerge for all your efforts great job, but I will never use El Monte again.

Aaron Stasi, 26 may 2010
McRent in Duesseldorf were very helpful. I hired the van to drive down to, and then cycle all around, the French Alps and Pyrenees. The van was very suited to the task of highway driving and also in the high mountains. And importantly, it took very good care of my expensive push bike!

Dulip Leda 23 may 2010

Thanks Doug from IdeaMerge for all your assistance and prompt replies to e-mails. Thanks Klaus from McRent - Frankfurt who was very efficient and helpful.

We picked up a brand new the Compact Plus RV with 243kms from McRent Frankfurt and toured Europe for 37days. We travelled from Frankfurt to Berlin, Wroclaw, Prague, Wien, Venice, Rome, Pisa, Zurich, Bern, Geneva, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam then to Copenhagen and then back to Frankfurt.

Klaus from McRent Frankfurt was very helpful. We arrived in Frankfurt Airport around 2.00pm and took a taxi to Mcrent, cost 30Eur. We had filled up all our details in the internet so there were no formalities except to pay the 1,000 Eur deposit, copies of the International Drivers Licence, passports & Australian drivers licence. Klaus asked us to see the video about the RV which in reality was not the model we were given. Klaus then showed us around the RV and we were out of McRent with a brand new the RV in less than an hour.
That night we went straight to a camp site not too far from McRent. Fortunately we did not feel any jetlag, probably because we slept to European time a couple of days before as well as in the plane. Also we did not take any alcohol or carbonated drinks the previous few days.

We really had a fantastic trip. It was our very first RV experience. Saw lots of European country side, small villages. Enjoyed the driving and the scenery very much. The Compact Plus was just like a car and did 120 with ease on the motorways. We will definitely do an RV trip again, may be the US next and we strongly recommend that to anybody who wants to do Europe on a shoe string but with some comfort and flexibility to go where ever you want without fixed time tables. It is far more cheaper than by Euro Rail with no hazels to pack / unpack, carry bags, taxis, hotels. We also bought and cooked what ever we wanted. Stopped at wayside places with beautiful scenery and had a rest. Met heaps of Aussies doing the same thing. We had 5 large Aussie Flag stickers on the back of our RV, to indicate to locals that we were strangers, but it attracted many Aussies to come and talk to us at camp sites, to compare notes etc.

It was very cost effective as we did some free camping as well. The weather was really fine with no heavy rain throughout the trip.

Things to remember, A GPS is a must. Don’t go without one. We picked up a Garmin Nuvi 1490T, duty free from Heathrow Terminal 4 – Dickeys before flying out to Frankfurt.

We had already planned the whole trip in Google Maps and worked out our itinerary as to where we were going to be each day. The 1490T was so good with it’s advance warning, that the few wrong turns we took were because we were not attentive and chatting away.

Take a roll of duct tape, a Swiss knife, Phillips & flat screw drivers, about 30 metres of 5mm thick chord for drying cloths, a few pegs, a few pens, post it pad, torch, fitted king size bed sheet, couple of pillow cases. Plenty of music CDs.

The crockery / cutlery / pots & pans provided were very basic but just enough.

We bought pillows, other necessities, grocery from Aldi & the camping shop close by to McRent in Frankfurt. We purchased from Bauhaus (similar to Bunning’s) some plastic boxes to arrange cloths / food items and a $10 fan heater which came in handy in cold nights when in camp sites. Be careful of the usage of battery power when free camping.
A doona is a must as it gets cold in the nights.

A Camping Card International together with an International Licence is a must before leaving Australia. All camp sites accept the CCI instead of the passports and most give discounts on charges on the CCI. We selected the camping sites from Camping Europe 2009 and used Google Maps to see exact location and the coordinates. We did not need reservations for any of the camp sites as it was the shoulder season but some camp sites do not open till mid April.

As it is not possible to get maps in English in Europe, it is recommended to take some maps from Australia. The Garmin shut down a couple of times, probably due to overheating but fortunately started again. So it is good to have a set of maps as a back up.

Almost all campsites have internet access for about $5 an hour and a laptop will assist to keep in touch with home. Also we copied all our videos & photos into DVD every few days with a back up DVD copy as well just in case one got spoiled.

Do not park the RV in public places anywhere in Europe to go sight seeing or shopping even for a few minutes as there are lots of thieves around who will break into the RV to grab whatever they can. Rome is very bad as there are lots of thieves who target RVs especially those parked in supermarket parking places.

It was a first time experience for us in driving an RV on the other side of the road, but we got used to it in about half an hour. Would have turned on to the wrong lane a couple of times but corrected myself pretty quickly. Driving in Europe was a fantastic experience. We sometimes used roads through smaller towns and villages just to enjoy the scenery. We thought that AutoBahns were very special, they are nothing more than the Gold Coast Motorway. The only difference is that there seemed to be no speed limit. The Garmin indicated the speed limit as 130. While we could only do about 120, most cars passed us at around 160 and the Ferraris, Masseratis, Porches, Benz’s, Audis & BMWs were doing 180 - 200 easily. The leftmost lane is kept solely for faster cars and they always get back to the middle lane after passing the slower vehicles. Most trucks were very disciplined and were doing only about 110 and keeping to the right most lane. We hardly ever saw the Police. However, the smaller roads were different and there are many hidden cameras. We probably got snapped a few times but were informed by our friends to ignore the fines when received.

Remember to pick up vingets from a petrol station just before entering Poland, Czech Republic and Austria as they check you out at the border and the fines are up to $150.

Also you must get your tickets from the toll gates in Italy & France or the fines are exorbitant when exiting the toll road. In Switzerland they sell the vinget for about $65 at the border.

Prior to leaving camp sites, we empted grey water & chemical cassette and filled up water. We also never used the toilet for longer jobs and used service stations / restaurant / campsite toilets. Empting the chemical cassette was a simple job and not as scary as we had thought previously.

We were advised to buy bottled water for dinking and cooking and never to use water from the campervan to cook or drink as it could be contaminated. Better be safe than sorry with health problems. The shower in the campervan was good and can be filled up in service stations. Also the grey water can be discharged at safe places along the way as it really was wash / shower water only, may be not legal.

Always make sure there is someone assisting when reversing as it is pretty difficult to judge. We only went into the cities in the night when there was not much traffic. During the day, when someone is not in the RV, make sure the RV is parked in a camp site or at a friends place. We chose the camp sites close to public transport, so it was easy to get to the cities and then we used hop on / hop off city tours during the day.

The Cruse control in the Fiat was tricky but easy to use once you know how. So ask McRent how to use it as it was very useful in the Autobahns.

We were worried about driving on the other side and only English, but the driving was simple and we were well understood in all the countries.

Before returning the RV, we used a place just around the corner to get the RV washed, cost 29Eur. Dumped all the grey water and cleaned the chemical cassette. Made sure the cook top was scrubbed thoroughly with steel wool from Bauhaus.

Thanks to a number of previous reviews, when contacted they assisted us with our planning. We will be pleased to assist anyone who wants similar information. We can be contacted on “dulip@hostlands.org”.

We had a fantastic tour. We definitely will do other RV trips with IderMerge.

We highly recommend IdeaMerge and Doug.

S Team, 19 may 2010
We hired an El Monte RV (30 foot)through IdeaMerge and got a great deal that was running at the time of booking. I was very impressed by the service and assistance provided by both El Monte and IdeaMerge. It was stress free.

El Monte provided a free pick up and drop off shuttle service in Los Angeles, which helped a lot as the depot is not in close proximity of the airport or downtown Los Angeles.

Nicolas Colliot, 18 may 2010
We had a fantastic trip in Portugal with the children
Very positive points : good vehicle, with 7 beds in total. Very clean inside and well equipped.
The country is gorgeous, especially during Spring season with all the flowers around. We picked-up the camper in the North and were able to visit Porto, drove all the way down to Lisbon (enjoyed very much Praia da Barra and Aveiro)and then came back to Porto in one week. Staid 3 times in campings to take showers(Orbitur campings are very clean, well equipped and safe) The autonomy of the water tank is not enough for 7 people to take a shower per day... You can almost stop anywhere to sleep (staid one night on the parking above Praia da Guincho - a beautiful surf spot).
We liked very much Lisbon and Sintra. Nobody should miss the "Palacio da Regaleira" in Sintra : a totally crazy garden !! The old monastries of Alcobaca, Bathalha and Tomar should really be part of the trip (close to Fatima where Virgin Mary appeared in 1917). Food in Portugal is generally very good and quite cheap(tip : you can easily share plates in the restaurants as the portions are huge... One mixed grill of fish is enough for 2 people)
Could have been better :Campilider agent welcome was ok but could have been warmer. We had one issue with the camper only 10 minutes before the drop-off : while I had stopped in a gasoline station to clean the camper, I hit a big truck while parking (the camper is very long and I did not see the truck in the mirror...) The rear bumper is made of plastic and was a bit damaged. I was so upset as I had no problem driving 1200 kms, sometimes taking small roads in Lisbon and parking in the streets with cars around... This happened just 5 minutes before returning the vehicle ! The Campilider agent charged us the amount for the repair which is normal but I should have looked more carefully at the vendor terms and conditions before taking the vehicle. I wish there were a better insurance to cover these kinds of small issues.
Finally I really recommend IdeaMerge, which was always very professional.

Cate Scanlon, 17 may 2010
I found IdeaMerge via a websearch after I was having some trouble booking a one-way cross country trip (Boston to San Diego) on my own. I hadn't heard of the company but after checking out these reviews and some other web-searched, I decided to use IdeaMerge to book my trip and they were great. I got a much better quote through IdeaMerge than I had been finding on my own and the costs were as they described.

I rented a smaller RV through El Monte and the trip went really well. Having never been in an RV or driven anything that large before, I wasn't sure what to expect. El Monte gave me a very thorough tour and instruction of the vehicle and systems along with an instruction manual.

I have to say I was a bit overwhelmed at first but it really is a just a big truck and the systems were easy to use after I spent some time with the instruction manual. And, when I had to "empty the tanks", the instructions were super-simple and it wasn't at all gross!

IdeaMerge provided very detailed info and I had no problems at all with my booking and/or the info that El Monte had received from them.

The only draw-back of the trip was that the vehicle didn't have cruise-control (and it was supposed to) and I didn't realize this until after I'd already packed up the vehicle and driven 100 miles. So, if you want cruise-control and/or any other systems in particular, just be sure to check before you leave the site!

Overall, highly recommend IdeaMerge and El Monte!

Christopher Matthews, 17 may 2010
5 of us from the UK rented an A24 diesel RV from March - April. We picked it up from the depot just outside of New York (Tappan). The person at the Moturis office was very helpful, gave us loads of information/advice and briefed us on safety and procedures. There were a few small issues with the RV upon pick-up and he was excellent in dealing with them. The vehicle its self was in pristine condition, inside and out - very clean (as if it were new!). From then on in we had no further contact with Moturis until the drop-off day as there were no problems whatsoever.

When we dropped the vehicle off the person at the depot was very efficient and helpful and even arranged a taxi for us. In fact the only problem was that we were sad to see the RV go! I would recommend IdeaMerge & Moturis highly.

David, 16 may 2010
After 2 trips 30 days each, I can say that:
1. For a couple, a Camper van is the best way to tour rural areas.
2. Germany is a wonderful country for driving around, get services, and walk it's routs.
3. France and Italy, although lagging behind Germany with technical infrastructure, more that compensate with their color, charm and beauty to make a perfect holiday.
4. Ideamerge services are GREAT ! (I had made a very thorough comparison on the web with other sites for similar services offered by Ideamerge).

John the Guys April 2010, 16 may 2010
We were 4 guys who hired a RV from Roadbear through IdeaMerge, we found IdeaMerge very helpful with all our pre trip planning, the vehicle was brand new, we travelled from LA to NY in 15 days, following Route 66, we travelled 4009 miles in total. The Route 66 signage or lack off, along the way was hard to follow. We all put money into a travel card, controlled by one individual, this covered fuel & RV park hire, it worked very well. All RV parks were very clean and well run. The pick up at LAX & the drop off in New Jersey worked well, we used their bus transport each time, which was great. Fuel costs in total was $1342.42USD & RV park costs in total was $955.20USD.

Thanks IdeaMerge.

Nicholas S Little, 16 may 2010
Thanks again- your service great as always. Main complaint is that both times (Italy-freedom and Spain –Euromotorhome) we got old, superseded machines. Severe Motorhome envy whenever we went to campground. We may have to go to Germany next time. Both times drove beaten up Motorhome around without ourselves putting scratch on it. Euromotorhome service and pickup fine-always get nervous re deposit- no problemo.

elisa mendonça rohny menezes, 16 may 2010
Ariving in Brazil only now - here is our coments about the time we were your clients:
It was a VERY GOOD way to travel,we were very well impressed by the treatment in Nantes,where we have to tank all the staff but specially to VIRGINIE with
all the profissionalism and simpaty and the young Sandrine taking care of details inside de motohome.
It was quite a trip I can tell you (with all the vulcan's demarches...But iniciating with your staff our 45 days trip had is magic granted!!!!)
TILL NEXT TIME!

Daphnie Tsui, 22 april 2010
This is the first time we rented a campervan and found Ideamerge online. The process was simple and easy. The photos reflected what the real campervan did look like so that was good. What was a bonus was we even got a brand new camper! The reservation was confirmed within days so very pleased with the service. Picking it up was also very straight forward. We called McRent to see if we could pick it up early and they were very friendly and helpful. Will definitely use Ideamerge to book our next camper trip.

John and Elly, 19 april 2010
We hired our 25foot RV through IdeaMerge from El Monte and were highly delighted with both the RV and the service received from El Monte it was so easy. Drove from San Francisco to Las Vegas via Yosemite - amazing trip!!! One slight word of warning though - we were unaware how far away the pick up point is in San Francisco and we declined El Monte's shuttle as they wanted to pick us up at 7am on the other side of the city. We decided to make our own way there in a taxi and it cost us $160.

IdeaMerge - you were great too finding us the best deal on the web - many thanks.

Pedro, 19 april 2010
We booked a 22feet motorhome, but due to availability problems, they gave us a 27 feet motorhome. In principle seemed to big to us for driving, but after one day, it was nice to have a bigger one. The trip was quite nice, and de APOLLO people was so kind.

Alejandro and Florencia from ARGENTINA, 18 april 2010
THIS IS THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW WE RENT WITH MCRENT THRU IDEAMERGE. JUST LIKE LAST YEAR WE HAD NOTHING TO COMPLAINT ABOUT THE WHOLE RENTAL EXPERIENCE. VERY SIMPLE WEB RESERVATION WITH NO SURPRISES. THE GUYS AT MCRENT FRANKFURT WERE THE SAME FROM LAST YEAR AND THEIR KIND AND FRIENDLY ATTENTION REALLY HELPS YOU TO GET STARTED AFTER A VERY LONG FLIGHT. THE MOTORHOME WAS READY AND INSPECTED BY THE TIME WE GOT THERE, A LITTLE PAPERWORK AND THE CREDIT CARD DEPOSIT AND YOU ARE READY TO GO. THIS YEAR WE RENTED A BIGGER MODEL TO HAVE A LITTLE MORE ROOM IN THE KITCHEN AND TABLE AREA, ALL WAS OK WITH IT, ALL WE HAD TO CARE ABOUT IN THE WHOLE VACATION WAS TO FILL THE FUEL TANK. DONT FORGET YOUR GPS AND KEEP THE MAPS UPDATED SINCE SOME ROUTES ARE SLIGHTLY MODIFIED FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT ONE AND THE GPS GETS CONFUSED AND STARTS RECALCULATING THE ROUTES.
IN OUR TWO VACATIONS WE´VE BEEN TO GERMANY, AUSTRIA, ITALY, SWITZERLAND, HOLLAND, BELGIUM AND FRANCE. IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE GERMAN ROUTES ARE THE BEST!!! ALL IN GREAT CONDITION EVEN IN THE MOST REMOTE FARM AREAS. WE LOVE TO VISIT LITTLE TOWNS AND EVEN THERE THE ROUTES WERE IN PERFECT CONDITION. WE HOPE TO VISIT GERMANY AGAIN NEXT YEAR AND WITH NO DOUBTS WE WILL RENT WITH IDEAMERGE AND MCRENT. THANK YOU GUYS!!!

Mario Wolcoff, 05 april 2010
es nuestra 4 ves que rentamos motor home en ideamerger, rentamos en los Angeles, y viajamos hasta san diego, y por arizona hasta las vegas, todos los motor home son muy buenos, excelente calidad su equipamiento, la atencion de la gente
muy recomendable es una muy buena experiencia, gracias por todo
Mario Cordoba Argentina

Adam, 20 march 2010
My girl friend and i flew from Canada to Las Vegas, Picked up our 25 foot motor home and from there drove to LA, San Diego, Calexico, in to Mexico to Mexicali, down to San Felipe Baja Mexico, back to the US and then traveled to the Grand Canyon and back into vegas in our 9 day trip. We put on just over 1700 miles and didnt have one problem from start to finish in both our bookings, and our motor home travel experience. Our Fuel mileage was what we expected and when we mention mexico they pointed us the right direction to go with the proper company. We are already in the planning with Idea Merge for our next trip coming up renting a Funmover 31' motor home this time to travel with our ATV's!

Robert Allan, 14 march 2010
We picked up the large RV from LA in which we hired
it for ten days.
The pick up process was much easier than I expected
as the vehicle was 32 feet in length so I was a
little concerned as to how to handle it correctly.
The pre delivery process was extremely helpful and
the vehicle was clean and well presented.
We travelled over 1200 miles down to the mexican
border, Yuma, Phoenix and back to LA. We enjoyed its
use and saw many things, but above all we met so
many fellow RV people that made our trip ever so
rewarding.
Perhaps the only negative aspect was the very low
mileage consumption where we averaged about 8 mpg.
which impacted heavily on the economics of the trip.

Except for this, highly recommended.

Richard McManus, 06 march 2010
We rented an RV from Campers World in San Marcos(San Diego). The rental pickup and prepickup information was accurate and quickly answered. They even stored our pick up truck for the month cost free! The service representative was quick, knowledgeable and courteous. We drove to El Centro where we set up camp at Rio Bend Golf and RV park. This was our first experience with RVing and the spaciousness of the unit and the comfortableness of the dual inflatable bed was a pleasure. There were a couple of flaws in the sewer connection which were easily remedied and paid for by Camper's World . The return of thet RV was smooth as clockwork and we used our 60 day membership at Camper's World to make some purchases with the Discount.

Jo Reavis, 06 march 2010
I was surfing the web to arrange a motor home vacation with our children and grandsons to the Grand Canyon. The more I read, the more concerned I became about all the possible problems. But I found so many encouraging reviews about IdeaMerge's organization and service, that I gained confidence. Upon submitting an application, I was disappointed to learn that we had to reserve the motor home for at least 7 days, but we could only manage a 4 day trip Sadly, I phoned IdeaMerge to see if they had any recommendations. Doug more than lived up to the company's reputation of going the extra mile....with a smile. He offered to search for dealers who would allow a 4 day trip to suit our needs and quickly emailed me the results. Unfortunately, my husband – grandpa, who was already weak from other ailments, developed further complications to the point that we had to cancel our plans. But I am highly recommending IdeaMerge to all our children and friends for whenever they plan to do a motor home trip for its outstanding service. Wishing the very best to IdeaMerge.

Justin Cho, 03 march 2010
On January 29, we picked up Comfort Standard T 5841 from Mcrent at offebach near Frankfurt. The motorhome was right size and was clean. I drove 3,000 Km in two weeks and it was economical and convenient with cruse control. It was my first experience with motorhome and long drive in Europe but everything went well. Winter trip is cheap and less crowded. I recommend Idea merge to every one. Winter driving tip; Clean wind screen every time you visit gas station. Salt on the road make it difficult to keep good visibility with wiper only. Our motorhome did not have enough fluid so I had to buy one to fill up. It is very expensive in Europe. I paid 8 Euro for 1 liter at gas station.

Sean Merry, 12 february 2010
We recently rented a motor home to drive across the Southern states. We were coming from a trip through South America and our friends were coming from Australia and Carolina. Despite this, the rental was an absolute breeze to organize and all our questions were answered quickly and thoroughly. We picked up our van from the wonderful Barbara at Moturis in Dallas and were fully briefed as this was our first RV experience. The trip was amazing and the service from everyone involved was spot on. Thanks for making it all so easy.

John Booker, 11 february 2010
Using Idea Merge saved a lot of time researching other websites and provided assurance in terms of the additional costs. A really good service.

Through Idea merge I booked an RV with Moturis (part of camping world.) Unfortunately the experience with Moturis was not so good. The RV was great but the charge for the extra miles was extremely expensive and we were fined $75 for having some grey water in tank (it was on the lowest bar) which I thought was excessive. Also the staff at Motouris were less than helpful and gave the impression of going through some sort of exam oppose to wishing me well on my holiday.

Had a great time driving round Vegas, Arizona, and California saw awesome sights and met amazing people. A fantastic place in the world!

Cheers!

Note from IdeaMerge: Our software prompts the user to enter the expected driving distance; it then determines the optimal pre-purchase mileage package for the customer and indicates to the customer the cost that would upon the return occasion be paid by the customer for the expected miles beyond the pre-purchased number of miles.

By the way [this is still IdeaMerge speaking], don't miss Joshua Tree National Park in California. It's like a whole other life bearing planet in there, with its incredible variety of vegetation and rock formations! Otherworldly campgrounds as well! Who needs warp drive when you can jet to LA, rent a motorhome, and drive to Joshua Tree while listening to U2 and The Doors?!?

sandyg, 31 january 2010
We loved the RV we rented. It was our first
trip in RV. It was very easy to drive and very comfortable. The pick up and drop off in La vegas was a piece of cake. We would have liked an instruction book but we did tape the instructions we were given and we were able to easily figure out everything else. It was an extremely postive experience and I would recommend Ideamerge.

Jae Moon (on behalf of SungKwon Baek), 31 january 2010
Ideamerge was very helpful in assisting us
throughout the renting process and in answering
questions that we had. I met up with my family from
Korea in Frankfurt, Germany and due to the major
snow storm, my flight had been delayed for about 6
hrs. When I let Ideamerge about the situation, both
the branch in Barcelona and LA responded to me
immediately to give us assistance.

DRM-Germany was a great company as well. They were
understanding of our situation and agreed to give us
2 days of reduction. Our motorhome was very
comfortable and overall, we had a great winter trip
experience.

Thank you, Ideamerge, once again.

-Jae Moon

Pete Murray, 28 january 2010
My holiday was made special by the peace of mind provided by idea merge

Chris, 19 january 2010
Everything was great. Easy to rent and the RV was in perfect conditions.

Bin, 19 january 2010
The experience throughout was faultless, prompt email responses from Ideamerge and very nice email replies from rental provider. We got the vehicle from northern finland at Rovaniemi rental station with nice people, the temperature was -30 centigrade.. The vehicle was in a great condition and we drove on road covered with ice all the way to Norway and back without any big problems. Regardless of where we were, support was always available via phone from people at Rovaniemi rental station whenever needed... I'll give 10 out 10 to my experience with them..

Vilma Burneikiene, 19 january 2010
Many thanks for your excellent staff and a RV car. We had a 20 days trip with this car and we had no any technical or other problems on our 5000 miles trip. We explored ten states of the USA and enjoyed the trip very much. We love America, its people and nature. I will recommend this company for everybody. The company offered the best prices and excellent assistance plus various discounts for campgrounds. The RV was in excellent condition. Good luck for this company!

Best regards from Lithuania.

I Morrar, USA, 02 january 2010
Value. Guidance. Follow-through! You cannot go wrong booking
your rental through Ideamerge. I cannot emphasize this enough.
Just read the founder, Eric Bredesen's, profile in the 'About Us'
section of the site. He means it. He and his team went waaaay
beyond my expectations to make sure my trip went over well.

First (as you may have noticed) Ideamerge has access to an
extensive network of companies across Europe.. they'll help you
find a great price. I checked around pretty thoroughly.. and I
couldn't beat the price they were able to find, and saved hundreds
of dollars.

At every step Ideamerge coordinated closely with me, answering
questions, offering tons of helpful information, and
accommodating special requests. I was totally satisified by the
time my vacation was complete and the camper was returned and
paid for -- but it was then that Ideamerge completely blew me
away.

Unfortunately I put a sizable dent in our practically new home-on-
wheels. I paid the full deductible (a hefty 1200EUR), filed an
accident report and was on my way. Since I had an accident,
Ideamerge's standard follow-up also included a phone call with
Eric. As we went over all that had happened, he noticed detail
regarding the optional insurance. Based on a mix-up that had
happened, he said I might have been entitled to pay the lower
(500EUR) deductible. He encouraged me to write an email
describing the transaction as it occurred during the pickup -- he
would forward it to the person at DRM capable of researching and
making such exceptions. I dragged my feet, resigning myself to the
fact that the matter still ultimately lay with DRM, and they weren't
going to release the 700EUR difference easily. After a week or so, I
wrote it up and sent it off with low expectations.

The next day Eric wrote and extensive email to his contact at DRM
which included my description AND an unsolicited, generous offer
on behalf of Ideamerge to contribute part of the funds to
straighten out the issue. Incredible. Soon after, DRM conducted a
review, approved the request, and refunded the balance in
question to my Mastercard.

To DRM's credit, they too were incredibly fair and service oriented.
They turned down Eric's offer to share the costs. When the
estimate came for the repair came in (in my opinion) very high, I
began to wonder if I was being bamboozeled. Given their actions, I
believe they too conduct business with high integrity and service.
Every person we encountered on their end was knowledgeable,
helpful, and friendly.

At the garage the staff are youngish, cool and resonable. On the
way out, they go out of their way to counsel and prepare you for
your journey. And, (dare I say it) (tip) they may even offer for-pay
items for-free. Upon returning the RV, they were lax about drop
off rules and mainly interested in making your transition out of the
country easy. Because we were flying the next day, (tip) they even
offered to let us stay in the vehicle our final night in Germany to
defer the cost of a hotel. Keep in mind we rented in off season
(mid-October to mid-November), when the lot was full of vehicles
and all other supplies were abundant. You may have a different
experience during the peak summer months when things turn
around quickly for them.

As for other tips... I have a few good ones.

Take your trip in the off-season as late in the spring or as early in
the fall as possible. Rates on everything (most importantly your RV)
are lower. Less crowds. Maximize daylight (important for this type
of travel) by planning as close to the "peak" season as possible. Oh
and less bugs too.

If your trip is a couple of weeks long or longer, you can buy a GPS
unit for about the same as the cost to rent. And here's the real tip.
Consider doing it without the GPS. At the garage they have a big
stash of stuff people leave upon returning from their RV tour. Extra
foods, cleaning supplies, .. all kinds of helpful things -- including
a huge library of tour guides, maps etc. At minimum the garage
maintains several beautiful European road atlases, and a guide to
all the RV campgrounds (in german with a limited english
translation key in the back) these two books are pretty much all
you need for getting around. Scoop up other local city maps to
places you plan to visit, and when we you find yourself in a city to
which you don't have a map -- signs are usually obvious directing
you to city centers and tourist offices where free maps are
available. Or just pop into a hotel and ask them for a free map.
When traveling by RV, you are usually without addresses to feed
into a GPS device. Also atlases offer a ton of useful info such as
proximity to castles and lookouts and natural curiosities, capitals,
destinations of particular interest, seasonal road closures,
mountain pass gradients, chain requirements, tolls, scenic routes.
We were able to plan and estimate travel time using an atlas, and
we were generally well oriented and felt empowered by using one.

We rented the DRM Group B, Compact Cruiser for two. It's among
the most common RVs rented. It's totally tricked out. The systems
are very reliable, efficient, and advanced. You practically never
need to stop at a campground. ...with one exception. The outlets
do not work unless you're connected to electricity. If you need to
charge laptops, cameras or phones. You may be caught doing it at
dinner. So bring an inverter. They're not costly, and it will enable
you to charge your devices from the cigarette lighter while your
driving around.

If you can get by without a fully functioning bathroom and less
space, you'll trade that for more access (via your shorter clearance)
and flexibility (more places to park, ability to park in cities and
attract less attention), especially on the heavily RV'd (and policed)
costal areas, by renting a smaller vehicle -- such as VW Vanagon.

Buy the optional insurance. This is coming from someone who
generally never buys supplemental insurance or warranties. Think
about it. You're driving a large vehicle on unfamiliar, often small,
roads. During our trip, we saw two other returns besides ourselves.
Both of them (and us) had damages on the way in. And although
they have pretty fair policies for accidents, repairs are generally
VERY expensive, and the deductible is quite high. I'll leave it at
that.

Finally.. there's a ton of information offered on the Ideamerge site.
Read it. We poured through a bunch of material and, found the
information on their site to usually be MORE helpful and thorough
than other books we actually purchased which purport to cover
RV'ing in Europe. It's just another wonderful service Ideamerge
provides its clients, and all others who are interested in seeing
Europe by road.

Massimiliano Tassistro, 23 december 2009
I had the most beautiful holiday in my honey moon with my wife Lucia. We landed in Auckland and spent a couple of days at the hilton. We were so confortable in our sea view suite and we had fantastic breakfast at the hotel and dinner at the Degree restaurant in the harbour.
Than we started our adventure with Kea motorhome. They came and piked us up at the hotel, they were so kind giving us usefull suggestions on how to organize our journey.
We visited the north island (Coromandel, Waitianga, Tauranga and Mt. Maunganui, Rotorua, White Island, Mt Tarawera, Tongariro (crossing the mountain), Wanganui, Wellington) and the south island (Picton, Abel Tasman and Farewell spit, long crossing to the west coast, Franz joseph Glacier, Wanaka, Oamaru, Timaru, Akaroa and Cristchurch). We only missed the fantastic mildford sound and Queenstown because of the bed weather but we will come back to complete our visit for the 10th anniversary for sure.
We are very satisfied of the ideamerge service and Kea, it was our first experience of mootorhome camping holiday and we will repeat again as soon as possible.
Thank you very much

George Castello, 20 december 2009
It was the greatest experience in my travels to Europe. This was the first time I've done it this way. My girlfriend and I picked up our RV in Frankfurt on April 27, '09 expecting a lot a "Red tape", we were pleasantly surprised when at our arrival, everything was ready for us and in less than one hour and out we were in our way to Italy. One word of advise DO-NOT forget your GPS with a european map "SD Card". The RV was extremely clean and everything worked fine, Shower, toilet, kitchen, reefer etc. (Except for the radio which had a bad speaker - thus, NO stereo sound). Camping is so great and efficient in Europe, you see them all along your way while traveling those marvellous highways in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. Fuel efficiency was very good. I'll do it again next spring and I won't hesitate to go thru Ideamerge and McRent. If you have any questions please contact me, I'll be happy to answer whatever detail that I forgot to mention.
Me puede contactar en español si lo desea.

Dave Carol, 17 december 2009
We rented a Cheapa Campa through Ideamerge in Los Angeles and never having driven an RV before it was a bit daunting but we soon got the hang of it. The RV was great just what we wanted not too large but comfortable for the two of us, it made the trip. We visted Joshau Tree National Park were the RV really came into its own with semi wild camping, however it was cold and we did have to buy an extra blanket as the supplied bedding was not sufficient at 3500ft in December. We drove around 2000 miles and the RV being an automatic with cruise control was a pleasure to drive, we became quite attached to it in the short time we had it.
The only problem we had was when the cover on the air conditioning on the roof blew off, on ringing the office they were helpful and seemed more concered about us getting wet than damaging the vehicle if it rained, fortunately it didn't rain.
The pick up and drop off went smoothly with very friendly and helpful staff, though I would allow a couple of hours for this.
It was very refreshing to see a price that was the actual price you pay without all the hidden extras that seem to be all so common these days. Ideamerge were also considerably cheaper than other companys we looked at.
All told it was an excellent trip, I will be using Ideamerge again and would definitely recommend them.

Many thanks

Holly Bolton, 14 december 2009
We were highly pleased with our experience renting through Idea Merge. They were responsive to our requests and promptly provided us with revised camper estimates as our plans changed. The pick-up and drop-off of the camper was seamless and the staff at Freedom Holiday were friendly and knowledgeable. They even provided us with detailed maps and literature on hiking in the Tuscany region -- very helpful! We couldn't have been happier with the experience.

Dan McNamara, 09 december 2009
Everything was great with the RV, it was new and very clean (I thought
it was the first time someone had rented it) and the staff was very
helpful. The water system did have some problems though, and after
the second day there was no water pressure. I tried to get it fixed but
due to the tight schedule of my trip I had to get by with what I could.
One word to the wise would be to make sure the grey water is fully
empty when you leave the station. It was 1/2 full when I rented it and
I was kind of disappointed that it was'nt empty, although it did'nt
create any problems. Overall it was a great experience, and I would
definitely rent again from them.

chris whiteside, Kendal, UK, 09 december 2009
Pick up went smoothly after a relatively easy $25 taxi ride from the airport in Las Vegas. Very friendly, efficient and much quicker than expected although it was mid-week and we were the only ones picking up at the time. Everything we were shown was relevant. Difficult to take it all in at first and the instruction books could have been more user friendly. Camper was in excellent condition and spotless. Went for Cheapa and was expecting it to be a few years old but it was almost new and had less than 20k on clock. Drove well and I had no problem getting used to it. Covered 1000 miles in 6 days with no problem whatsoever.
Dropping off was again friendly and efficient. We had managed to crack the rooflight which we reported and there was a reasonable charge of $22. I expected it to be much more as that clearly didn't include fitting time. Nice not to be ripped off. We also noticed a chip in the windscreen just after we'd set off and I was anticipating a bit of an argument as to whose responsibility that was but they accepted my word for it without question.
Only one slight irritation - the USD1000 deposit from your credit card. A bit naughty for Apollo to charge a $20 admin fee for the privelege of holding on to your money and it took almost 2 weeks for the balance to be credited to my account although this is perhaps more an issue with the card company.
Overall, though, friendly, helpful, efficient, reliable, great value for money. Would use them again without hesitation

Oleg Olshanechky, 29 november 2009
Our trip to Norway was an unforgettable journey! We took 13 days and travelled through south and central of Norway.
Our booking through Ideamerge went very smoothly. I found them very helpful. Touring cars was extremely professional. While pick-up in Oslo we was surprised that our vehicle of Family X-Large type are not equiped by rearview cameras. The staff were explained us, that all vehicles are not equiped by rearview cameras. While our trip our vehicle was required small fixes, which we did by ourselves. We have in the past rented a motorhome in the Germany from McRent and found vehicles provided by them more equiped and more qualitative than with Touring Cars. Now we know that all equpment list shall be checked before booking.

Allan de Kok, 25 november 2009
We were very happy with Mc Rent collection went off very well. When it came to returning there was quit a few people returning their campers so we had to wait for 1hour before we were attended to.
But that also went of well in the end.
It was a pleasant expereience getting at camper from them. I must say I was worried about al the bad plublicity with renting but we had no problems

Andreas and Sigrid, 25 november 2009
The booking with IdeaMerge was great! We booked a trip the year before also with them (to Norwegian, Sweden, Finland), and that was also very pleasant. Fast response and the price was good.

We went to Madrid. The people of euromotorhome picked us up, which was very nice, and at the end of the holiday also brought us back.
The check in was fast, we got a explanation in Spanish about how to use the camper. Too bad that we don't speak Spanish ;) But visualisation, using his hands, you'll understand a lot, and my husband have travelled a lot with a camper, so it wasn't a problem.
The interior was great, a lot of space because of the lifting roof. The kitchenary was minimal: no sharp knives, the plates were made of "stone" even like the cups. Plastic would have been better.
But..... we saw IKEA and there you can buy that stuff for only 3 euro each, so we bought it ourself.

Other than that, we think it was great!!! Like already said: Good service for a reasonable price and we had a great holiday!

Brent and Jeannine Munkres - Sisters, Oregon USA, 25 november 2009
Truly everything was a breeze with DRM. We arrived at the Frankfurt
depot and we were quickly and kindly given an overview of the vehicle
with plenty of laughter and fun. The rig was like new...very clean
inside and out and just the right size! Absolutely no problems on the
road and camping in Europe is a great way to go. I am sure we saved
a bunch of money in comparison to staying in hotels considering we
were touring Europe for 5 weeks. Returning the van was simple and
we received our entire deposit back. Thanks to everyone at DRM for
their kind service and great rigs!

Lynne and Pete Hansen New Zealand September 2009, 24 november 2009
A totally fantastic experience from the booking to completion of a 5 week journey through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland 7500 kms. We selected the bigger 2 berth van with shower and toilet. The van size was ideal, clean and economical. The pickup was efficient at DRM and we would advise if you arrive on an early flight to Frankfurt you may be as fortunate as we were, and be able to pick up your van at 11am no extra charge. Take the train as it is 1 stop from airport 3 minutes away. Definitely buy a GPS before leaving home as it was a godsend. (Thanks Ideamerge for the advice here). We would recommend to hire the camp chairs and table and also bikes. We were given a plastic table by some Kiwis we met in St Tropez and we picked up some chairs in an inorganic throw out day in Paris!! We left both at our last camp in Frankfurt and they were immediately siezed by permanent residents. If you are hiring at Frankfurt get your last diesel fill in Luxembourg. We saved 35 euros to fill the tank and it is just over the border to Frankfurt.
We will definitely be booking our next campervan trip through Ideamerge

Guido J. Baeckelandt, 23 november 2009
I had a very successful trip. The motor coach performed very nice, and sleeping was excellent. I may say no one should ever leave your depot without a GPS. Two hours after leaving I was still in the Frankfurt area, Lord only knows where. Thanks to some very friendly German citizens, I managed to get on the autobahn to Belgium. So I bought my own GPS.
Thank you very much and I hope to see you on our next trip in the spring.

Richard Angela Stober, 22 november 2009
We picked up our RV from Calgary August 25, spent 25 days going through British Columbia, Alaska and Yukon, we have a very wonderful time, seeing the beautiful country, and have a very special experience. This was our 2nd RV trip, also the 2nd time rental from IdeaMerge. The 1st time was last year, we had rented a larger RV(over 30 ft) which was more comfortable and luxury, but was a little difficult for a 1st time RV user to handle. So this time we rented a smaller RV, this 22 ft. Okanagan Ford was just right for the Alaska trip, little packed inside, but had everything we needed for 2 people, and the best of all, we drove it around everywhere without problem, winded around narrow roads on mountains, can even do parellal park on the street in city, but we won't recommand it for family over 2 people, or big people to use this vechicle, it will be too tight. The staffs at the Fraserway RV Rentals (Calgary) were very friendly and helpful, the RV was in excellent condition, we'll sure use IdeaMerge again in our future RV rentals.

Luann Shutley, 21 november 2009
We picked up our camper in Halifax from Fraserway. The unit was in good condition and we had no problems at all. The staff was friendly for the most part - but Ideamerge really shone. We will happily book our rentals thru Ideamerge next year.

Tim Taylor, 20 november 2009
My wife and I rented a Compact Plus campervan in Germany through IdeaMerge in September October 2009. We spent a month travelling around Europe visiting Germany, Holland, Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland. We travelled over 5000 km’s and had a holiday of a lifetime. We are sure that the only way to see Europe is with a campervan. It is the only way to experience the people without the tourist trappings; It gives you complete freedom of choice and being able to see the places that tour group’s drive past or not to go to places that you don't wish to. By the end of the trip we were already talking about the next trip.
The campervan that we rented had less than 2000 km on it when we picked it up. It was spotless (almost, excepting two minor gliches, but it past my wife's examination so this is an event to be heralded). And it proved to be most reliable (except for the cruise control), with resonable fuel milage.

I would recomend this company to anyone based on my personal experience.

Tim Taylor

Jo Yeardley, 20 november 2009
IdeaMerge made our trip easy and hastle free. Being from the UK we had never had an 'RV experience', and when we picked it up we were very daunted about driving such a big vehicle. However, saying that we did manage to negotiate LA and Vegas relitavely trouble free. We would definately do it again given the chance and IdeaMerge would be the first port of call. Thanks for a fabulous memorable holiday

Dave Morgan, 19 november 2009
This was the first time booking thru Ideamerge and
everything went very smoothly. We've used other
companies before but will use Ideamerge in the future.

The Halls, Cyprus, 19 november 2009
We flew from Cyprus to Heathrow and then to Stockholm Arlanda which is where our adventure started. On arrival at the depot we were warmly greeted and given a fantastic brief and overview of the motorhome. Being a family of 5 with 3 small children we were having nightmares about the pickup etc however it was smooth and painless! The motorhome was immaculate, clean and well equipped. It truly was a holiday to remember and one that IdeaMerge helped us to achieve. Thanks to all for our painless experience I would totally recommend this sort of holiday ....

Josh Kaurich, 19 november 2009
We rented an RV for our travels through Germany and have good things to comment about the service and vehicle. First, the staff at agency were very friendly and helpful. The RV was clean and got decent gas mileage. We never had any issues with the RV that are noteworthy. However, I would argue that the RV we rented should only be occupied by two people though it claims four is possible. Also, the RV was cheap and was quite noisy when you drove down the road, which doesn't seem like an issue but after seven days it can be quite frustrating. Overall, I would recommend renting from IDEA MERGE!

Lawrence Johnson, 19 november 2009
We are from Ontario, Canada.

My wife and I rented a VW California camper van in Germany through IdeaMerge in September 2009. We spent a month traveling around Europe visiting Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Czech Republic. We traveled over 4000 km’s.

The camper was practically new with only 17,000 km when we picked it up. Everything was perfect except for one system failure: the camper battery would not charge from the engine. We were not independent as we had hoped. We needed connection to the grid whenever we stopped for the night. Apart from this minor annoyance the trip was everything we had hoped for.

This is our second camper van trip to Europe, some years ago we did one with an older Eurovan camper that was adequate but not nearly as comfortable or economical.

The pick up and drop off went without a hitch. The location in Frankfurt is very convenient to the airport.

Already we have recommended Ideamerge for an acquaintance.

Thanks
Larry

the bredmears, 19 november 2009
We really liked our motor home rental. The pick up and drop off were
easy and efficient and the vehicle itself was just as we expected.
Thanks very much

DC Bursell, 19 november 2009
This was our first experience with an RV rental and IDEAMERGE made it a stress free experience. We planned a cross country trip with a pick up in the west and a drop in the east. I only had a coulple months advance notice to plan the trip. Out of all the renal companies I contacted (which was several), IDEAMERGE was the only one that was able to take care of us. I simply made the request for dates and vehicle type and IDEAMERGE did all the work. We look forward to future vacations and rentals with IDEAMERGE.

Paul Y, 19 november 2009
Had an excellent week with a camper booked through you guys with Apollo in the US - both pick-up and drop-off were hassle-free and the vehicle was in amazing condition, virtually brand new. Support was fab, when we called on the weekend we spoke to someone straight away who sorted our minor issue out immediately. Thanks for a great holiday.

Steff & James M, New Zealand, 12 november 2009
We couldn't be happier with our rental through McRent in Hamburg. Our camper was clean, study, and a pleasure to drive. She saw us through 8 weeks and 10 000 kilometres, three music festivals, a ride over the Swiss Alps, and some hairy back-country Norwegian roads.

We had two friends with us, and chose the four berth with shower as it was the cheapest model with shower/toilet facilities. And at the festivals, boy were we grateful!

A great experience and we would rent again. Thanks ideamerge!

Luke , 17 october 2009
Ideamerge were great to book threw. Quick responses to questions and bookings made the process and big decisions easy. We ended up with a 34ft Road Bear RV. Some advice to those who end up with a massive vichele like this. Avoid going into big cities, invest in good maps or better GPS, prepare to pay big dollars for gas and know that it is not easy to find a place to park it.

A.B., 02 october 2009
Indeed loosing the sunglasses was quite painful (it takes 5 weeks to get the new ones!) but other than that we really enjoyed the holiday in a camper and rental is a good option for us as we have a limited number of holidays per year.

Everything went smooth from our point of view, from reservation, payment, handing over, etc and the few things that we noted as not working properly were reported when we gave back the car. I would say that it was really important to me to have somebody to talk to when doing the reservation and payment as we had some issues with our bank and talking to you colleague settled the matters quicker and easier.

So in case we will plan another camper holiday (very likely to) you we'll be the first we turn to

Mark Ehlers, 28 september 2009
We are from Johannesburg, South Africa.

My wife and I rented a Compact Plus campervan in Germany through IdeaMerge in March 2009. We spent a month travelling around Europe visiting Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and Switzerland. We travelled over 7000 kmÂ’s and had a holiday of a lifetime. We are convinced that the only way to see Europe is with a campervan. It is the most cost effective means to have the best adventure; with the most freedom of choice and being able to see the real country that tour groupÂ’s drive past. At the end of the trip we were already talking about the next trip.

This is our second campervan trip to Europe, we did one with our two daughters in 2005 which our daughters described as life changing.

Both times we did our booking through IdeaMerge and both times their service and attention to detail was great! I would recommend IdeaMerge as the best people to use and have promoted them exclusively to my family and friends.

Thanks
Mark

ted cragg, 28 september 2009
In general our trip was a good one. We had a major disaster however, which might have been prevented by a few words from the staff at pick-up: a gust of wind blew the awning right off. In addition to having to pack and unpack the awning at every campsite, it cost us $1100, i.e.,a third of whole price tag. We were not advised to put away the awning when not present at the campsite, and not shown the spikes to affix support to the ground, which might have prevented the blowdown. Not everyone is a rookie but some of us are.The campers need a manual, not just a brief chat.

Kate, 27 september 2009
We rented our motor home in Annecy and spent a week in Italy.
Nothing bad to say except when we tried to pay the damage
deposit, neither our Amex or Visa credit cards worked. Thank
goodness my hubby had his Mastercard with him or I don't know
what we would have done.

Saul Keshen, 18 september 2009
This was our first time with an RV, and we'll definitely do it again. Except for a problem with the fridge, the vehicle performed very well and was a pleasure to drive. We had a long drive from Las Vegas to Reno and it was nice to have cruise control for those long stretches of highway.

Fahy family New Zealand, 17 september 2009
As a fammily of 5 adults we chose to hire a 5 berth camper from DRM but also had a 2 person tent which was used about 18 days of the 28 hired. We could have all slept in the camper but with 3 tall members of the family some of the beds were a little short and therefore not so comfortable.We chose the 5 berth because it did not require a special licence to drive, was smaller for travelling narrow roads and was less expensive. The temperature at its highest was 43degreesC so the tent option was useful Storage space was great and hiring of table and 5 chairs was a must.
We called at an Ikea store and purchased a wok, coffee plunger, teatowels, plastic bucket for dishes and a couple of plastic containers for storage all of which we left at our last campground, along with leftover food, with a sign saying "PLEASE TAKE" All but one opened jar of food was taken. Much better that these items were able to be used rather than be thrwon out.

As a severe asthmatic with numerous allergies, I checked before booking if they would be prepared to clean the vehicle with white vinegar and water rather than chemicals. I also said that we would not use the toilet as I would not be able to cope with the chemicals used. DRM were very accommodating about this and we were delighted on pick-up to find that they had done exactly as requested. Doug at IDEAMERGE was very helpful in ensuring that this was understood, so a big thanks to him.

We did not have a GPS but as the "oldies" did have the benefit of the company of 3 well travelled young adults. We did very little travelling on motorways because we wanted to see more of the countryside and have the ability to stop at many and varied places. We used the autobahn on our final journey fron Munich to Frankfurt for the drop off. The camper travelled well and could "turn on a sixpence" as my husband said often.

We spent 5 nights in Germany, 3 Switzerland, 5 France, 13 Italy, 1 Austria. The campgrounds varied greatly in amenities and price. We decided not to book as we wanted flexibility. This resulted in being turned away from only 1 camp although we did get the last site on a few occassions.

Great places to travel and a fine mode of travel in a camper. We would all recommend it and would definitely book through IDEAMERGE again.

Safe travels to all.
Bernie Fahy, New Zealand

The Spinellas, 11 september 2009
This is our second year renting from Ideamerge and we would definitely rent with them again. They were very responsive to our questions and always did their best to ensure we were completely satisfied.

We rented a California VW camper Van from McRent in Frankfurt, Germany. The van was clean, new and well equipped. Had a great time traveling throughout France, Switzerland and Germany.

The pop up broke a few days before our trip ended, both Ideamerge and McRent were very responsive and offered to pay to have it fixed. We opted to continue our trip, McRent refunded us two days for the inconvenience.

Thank you again!

Alicia, 08 september 2009
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En el tramite tubimos alguna duda al tratarse de un importe tan elevado y alquilar por internet desde Espa🟮os daba un poco de miedo por lo que nos podiamos encentrar, pero la verdad 豠que ha sido una muy buena experiencia.
Asi que recomiendo viajar en una autocaravana por si lo que se desea es un viaje largo y sin un rumbo muy claro como el nuestro. El objetivo de nuestro viaje fu矣ruzar los EEUU desde San Francisco a Nueva York, siguiendo en parte la famosa Ruta 66 y pasando por Los Angeles, las Vegas,el Ca𮬠del Colorado y Monument Valley, pero con una ruta no muy clara por lo que muchas noches nos quedamos donde oscurecia en la misma calle sin mౠprevisi򬟱ue por la ma𠭡 continuar conduciendo, as럱ue la opci򬟤e la autocaravana fu短ౠque acertada

Ross Blumel, 08 september 2009
My brother, daughter, daughter's partner and I were very happy with our standard family size motor home that we picked up in Munich. I do not hesitate in recommending Ideamerge and McRent to anyone wanting to hire a motor home and travel around Europe. I spent a lot of time searching for the most economical motor home for the main purpose of following the Tour de France. I found Germany to be the cheapest for hiring at the time of the TDF. We travelled from Sulzemoos, Munich to Austria to Switzerland to Italy to Monaco to France to Spain to Andora to France to Switzerland to Austria to Munich. The roads were very narrow and you had to keep your wits about you all the time while driving. We did it without having any accidents. We took a GPS which is a must. Thank you Ideamerge and McRent.

Nathalie Honeysett, 07 september 2009
Really good trip. we loved Madrid but Seville even more. the weather was fantastic. This was the best campervan so far. Very compact but thanks to the extendable roof very spacious when stationary. economical in respect of petrol usage. Droping off the van was a little bit difficult because the company was hard to find. Very happy with the drop at the hotel/airport service. The introduction to the van was short and clear which was excellent because some companies waste so much time in lengthy training sessions which are boring and a waste of time. Please be considerate to the environment and always clear up after your stay.
Nathalie Honeysett

Philip Borrell, 05 september 2009
Jens and Alex at the Munich branch were friendly, helpful and efficient, for both pick up and drop off. I simply cannot recommend them more highly.

Laurie Schulz, 03 september 2009
We rented from the McRent Depot in Dortmund. Both pick-up and
drop-off was very smooth. The staff was friendly and efficient.
Pick-up was relatively fast although explanation of how to use the
vehicle was limited due to language barriers. The motorhome
manual was available in English so any additional questions we had
while on the road were addressed there! The motorhome was in
excellent condition and drove well. We also found that it got better
mileage than expected. Our trip took us on a loop through
Northern Germany, Western Coast of Denmark, Copenhagen, East
German, Berlin/Potsdam and back to Dortmund. It was a great trip
and a great way to see Europe with kids. I highly recommend and
IdeaMerge fulfilled all expectations in facilitating the rental.

Aude and Arnaud, 03 september 2009
We were looking for an RV rental for 10 days in the high season on the West coast of USA. But it was not available or too expensive. Finally we found a very good price with Ideamerge and they help us to find the best way for our round trip.
It was our first RV trip with no experience at all but Ideamerge was so helpful that it was great!

Aanon Clausen, 31 august 2009
We have no previous experience with camper rentals.

Pick- up/drop off was without pain. The vehicle was ready at pick-up time and no times was lost. Advice to fellow travellers is that pick-up may take longer than expected, depending on prevous experience with such equipment. It should be adviced that one "looses" a day for pick-up and drop-off (it is easy to get exited when planning the travels and forget this important aspect and the final day of travelling may also become stressful when one has a flight/noat/other to catch).
Drop off could be more smooth with the possibillity of disposal of chemical toilet contents at drop off point, vacuming, garbage disposal etc. This was supposed to have been done before drop off time, which we did. But it causes some problems, as the vehicle is full at the time off cleaning/preparations for drop off. That mentioned: the dealer let us vacum/dispose garbage and toilet content, helped us out with last preps and so forth and were VERY service minded.
We are satisfied with the services offered, the status of the vehicle and the outcome of the holidays.

Regards
Aanon Clausen

Andrew Wentzel, 31 august 2009
Hi doug, thanks so much for asking. It's little things (like asking how everything went after you got our money) that'll keep me coming back. We had a great time. Pick up and drop off went well, Mcrent is great to deal with and the vehicle was top notch. We did some damage to the passenger side rear view mirror and a little to the awning (damn those skinny italian roads). It cost a few bucks but Mcrent was very fair. Advise for fellow rv renters, PULL IN YOUR MIRRORS, AND LEAVE THE KIDS WITH THE INLAWS!

Thanks again, we'll talk to you next year.

Jorge Ferrari, 30 august 2009
My experience was an excellent one. The people of Freedom Holiday is remarkably kind. It was my first travel by motorhome in Europe, and I enjoyed it very much.
No tengo problema si cualquier persona de Hispanoam豩ca quiere escribirme para pedirme consejos acerca del uso de motorhomes en Europa.

colin elliott, 29 august 2009
We rented a Euramobil motorhome from DRM in Dusseldorf. The staff at DRM were very considerate. When we picked up the motorhome they stayed well past their closing time since our flight was delayed.

We had a great time touring Europe. Traveling by motorhome really fit our needs. The motorhome itself ran perfectly and actually got better miles per gallon than was quoted. The one problem we had was with our own GPS which had trouble with its European City Maps. Without the city map functions, it was often difficult to find our way to and from the campgrounds in the larger cities.

Driving between cities in most of Europe was very easy once you are on the motorways and autobahns. However, it can be a challenge to drive on the smaller roads in the rural areas since they are much narrower.

I would certainly recommend traveling in Europe by motorhome and our experiences with Ideamerge have been great.

Fam. Hoefnagels, 28 august 2009
We were very satisfied with the rented vehicle, all the services and the very friendly and helping people at the pick-up and returningpoint at McRent in Offenbach (Fr am M) The Camper (globevan) was clean, in very good state, powerfull and efficient for us (2p). We enjoied our holiday thanks to the camper and we had to answer loads off questions how and from where we rented it. The only tip we can give others is to purchase a retail card at ADAC or ANWB for instance. In the midseason it will save you a lot of money on your stay at the campings etc listed at those organisations. We love to do buisness with ideamerge again.

Antoinette du Plessis, 27 august 2009
Our trip to Scandinavia was wonderful! We took 14 days and travelled through Norway as well as parts of Sweden and Finland.
Our booking through Ideamerge went very smoothly. I found them very helpful. Touring cars was extremely professional. From pick-up in Oslo to drop-off in Rovaniemi, everything was perfect. The staff were friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about the vehicle. Our vehicle was almost brand new and very well equipped. We have in the past rented a motorhome in the USA and found our experience with all the companies involved much more user friendly than in the USA. The pick-up and drop-off service is great! The best way to see Scandinavia!

Mary and John, 27 august 2009
We booked our Apollo Cheapa Campa through IdeaMerge. It was easier and the same price or cheaper than booking directly through Apollo. I particularly liked the fact that I knew exactly what the total upfront cost was and how much I had to pay on pick up so there were no surprises. I also received prompt replies from IdeaMerge while it took a couple of weeks for Apollo to get back to me about booking. The guys at the San Francisco Apollo depot (which is actually in San Leandro) were great to deal with and both the pick up and drop off were easy. It took a couple of hours when we dropped it off because everything had to be checked and there were lots of other people picking up. Something to factor in if you have other plans the same day. I would be happy to use IdeaMerge and Apollo again.

Keith Watson, 27 august 2009
We collected the camper from the depo outside Amsterdam without any due hardship via train and bus. The camper was first class with all the bells and whistles we had ordered. We used it tour Holland looking for a boat to purchase and it was ideal. Camp sites in Holland are outstanding, well organised, clean and like all the citizens of Holland the personel at the camp sites were helpful and pleasant. We found that in Holland most of the younger folk spoke excellent English. We would use both Ideamerge and McRent again.

Dr Peter Swinyard, 26 august 2009
A reliable and professional service. The van was ready and sparkling clean for our pickup, including a (rather American) label on the loo that it was sanitized for our protection! Van was less than 2 years old and drove faultlessly and had facilities exactly as described. The English-speaking gentleman at the motorhome depot near Rome made sure that we knew exactly how to uise the facilities in the 'van and warned us of the new restriction on driving on the Amalfi coast and in certain town centres. A painless and easy experience all round. I can fully recommend this reliable company.

Josie Sinclair, 26 august 2009
This was the 4th time that we have followed the TOUR de France in a camper, and easily the best way of doing it. The vehicle was reliable and comfortable for 3 people but could not have accommodated a couple and 2 other adults.Altho the blurb stated that you may not get that in the picture this was significantly smaller.
Unfortunately had to purchase quite a few basics which should have come with van -fittings for hose so could get water, enough mugs for3 poeple to have a coffee, board so didn't cut on bench, all cleaning equiptment so could return van clean . However loved the trip.

Dan Hazzard, 26 august 2009
We rented in Lille, France for a two-week sojourn. The beginning
of this adventure was awkward, to say the least - the depot was
hard to find, there was no one who spoke english, some notes
about prepaid services were not accounted for - but once we got
going, things kind of worked out.
Everything seemed to work as it should, with one exception. We
discovered a few days into the trip that the refrigerator would only
work when we were connected to external electricity, but we
learned to adapt to this. And aside from needing to purchase a
broom and dustpan for the interior and a longer extension cord for
the exterior electrical hookups, the vehicle was well equipped.
I'm looking forward to another trip around Europe in a camper.

Julie and Dave Rogers - United States, 26 august 2009
We traveled to France for a month during the Tour de France in late June/all of July 2009. It was the first time we had ever rented a motor home or had driven in France and we were pleasantly surprised by the helpfulness of IdeaMerge, both in the States (Doug!) and out of Barcelona, as we needed English-speaking assistance. We picked up our vehicle in Nice and it was perfect. Laurent spoke English and was extremely helpful. We had a little difficulty getting the refrigerator to work, but figured it out after a few days.

We brought a Garmin GPS from home with a French chip and never would have survived without it. Laurent had maps that he loaned us for the trip, which were also extremely helpful. We also had appropriate dishes (though plastic would have made more sense - and made less noise!), utensils, broom & dustpan, etc. We would have liked to have had foldable chairs to sit outside (good addition?) as the weather was fabulous, but we couldn't enjoy sitting in it.

We did need assistance from IdeaMerge during our trip and they were fantastic in their quick response. We would recommend them in an instant to anyone traveling to Europe!

The Seitz Family's European Vacation, 26 august 2009
Had a great vacation traveling over 3500 miles in the 2 weeks that we toured Europe. (8 countries in all) The RV was as we selected and McRent was good in dealing with at the Offenbach Depot. We decided to take a taxi which I'm glad we did from the Frankfurt Airport. The only 2 items that I would recommend having prior to your trip would be a RV Campground book, we received one from the rental place but found out during the trip that it was in German! The other item that almost cost us dearly plus over an hour wait is that we required an International Driver Permit due to the size of the RV, no problem except that in New York State the relationship is not very clear for the classifications and AAA marked it incorrectly. McRent provided us the RV anyway, perhaps since it was Saturday but were concerned during the entire trip especially if we were stopped by the police and had to try to explain why we didn't have the correct permit class. Other than those items, we had a wonderful trip and would recommend and utilize Ideamerge again.

The Day Family from Ireland, 26 august 2009
Our family of four plus an 'honourary daughter' (the daughter of our friend) flew to Munich and then took public transport to the McRent depot in Suzlmoos as that was the alternative suggestion to getting there if you didn't want to take a taxi. This was a long and somewhat arduous undertaking- first train, then bus then a much too long a walk with all our bags to the not particularly easy to find depot! The taxi option had been deemed too expensive but I'd do that next time without any hesitation - whatever the cost! My husband found the 6 berth RV difficult to get used to due to it's width, and left hand driving. We were to share the driving but he wouldn't let me in the end! If you are going to lake Garda in Italy BEWARE of the western road. It's 80 odd km and at least 50% of that is tunnel- some quite high man-made but a lot of the very narrow, low, hewn-out-of-the-mountain-side type. We hit the high roof of the RV against this and although it didn't break the shell it cost us the Eu1000 deposit!! I'd avoid this road at all costs! Apart from that it was a brilliant holiday, our own 10 day road-trip and no other critisisms at all.

Juraj and Joanna Klepac, Farmington, NM, 26 august 2009
Rented sleeps six model for 28 days in Offenbach. After figuring out
a few things we had a great vacation. Traveled to Slovakia and Italy
being a first time renters we greatly enjoyed flexibility to stay
overnight whenever we needed it. Van was easy to drive, and had a
good gas mileage. Impressive turning radius. we broke insect screen
door what costs us 200 euro. In whole RV is the way to go places and
we will do it again.

Susan Ted Chemey (Indiana, USA), 26 august 2009
We had a wonderful trip in Germany, France, Belgium and Austria in our RV. We have 3 teenage children, and the unit we rented was JUST big enough (Dethleffs GlobeR A 588). However, we would not wanted to try to drive anything larger through some of the very narrow streets we found!
We did not spend as much as we expected to on fuel. Both the price was lower than we anticipated, and the fuel efficiency was a little better.
We had a couple of minor issues with the heat and electricity in the unit, but were able to work around them.
All in all, I'd recommend this method of travel for families who are willing to find their own way and who like to have some freedom to go anywhere they want.
We definitely saved money over taking trains and finding hotels for 5!

carol and jim, 26 august 2009
We rented C22 Jamboree from Los Angeles depot it was the first time we had driven an RV so it was a bit daunting especially as we are from UK and not used to driving on right,everything was explained to us and girls in depot were very helpful,however the actual rental process was very drawn out it took over 2hours to get us mobile we already had filled in the form on line but still had to do it again at the depot so it seems pointless doing it on line.I think on the whole it was great value for money and would not hesitate to use Idea Merge again our RV was immaculate but the radio did not work the TV only picked up spanish channels and the stat nav kept losing the signal very frustating in Los Angeles.We travelled 2200 miles in total through California to Arizona Nevada and back to LA.

Taekwon Kang, 25 august 2009
It was a great time in Europe with my family for 30 nights. I had a terrible thing at the O'hare airport just before leaving US, was stolen my all stuff including passport, money, laptops. But I could leave US at the next day, and get the motorhome at Offenbach. Even though that was a Saturday morning, they were very helpful. I appreciate to Ideamerge and Mcrent offenbach.
Be careful at Italy and south France because of the narrow and tortuous road. Thanks.

Ulli Kruse, 25 august 2009
I did a bit of research on motor homes prior to our departure from Australia. There seem to be 2 mayor companies in Germany so it was good to go through IdeaMerge and receive a good discount and still get the vehicle through McRent. We arrived in Frankfurt at 5:00am as most Aussies do. The vehicle was supposed to be picked up at 2:00pm so at 9:00am I rang McRent in Offenbach and carefully asked if the motor home would be available earlier. Susanne from the depot asked us to come across straight away, we might would have to wait as the mornings are reserved for vehicle returns. What a pleasant surprise we had, a near new Fiat Ducato (Globescout with 2 beds , shower and Toilet) was waiting for us. We left at 11:30 and went on our 46 day trip. Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy,Monaco, Nice, Switzerland and back into Germany. The vehicle was great to drive, had plenty of grunt through the Alps and while overtaking. Fuel consumption was good for a car like that with nearly 3.5t. We did altogether 7127km and everything was the way we expected it. There was plenty of storage room in the van. You were also able to pack your car and leave your bulky cases at the depot. The staff (we dealt with Susanne) was very friendly and helpful, they all talk fantastic English (although I'm a German who lives since 1984 in Down Under).
We can only report positives and on top the weather was great ,so the aircon in the car was
welcomed.

Can only recommend, once we've saved up again we might do a bit more of Europe and won't have any hesitation to contact IdeaMerge again for a good deal.

Best greetings from Australia

Jan & Ulli Kruse

Nicole Cook, 25 august 2009
We had been looking for an RV rental for months when we stumbled upon Idea Merge. We tried private parties, the yellow pages, and several online sites as well. No one was able to beat Idea Merge's prices, and their service was so much better than any other place we had dealt with that it was like winning the jackpot. Super nice people and a great company to do business with. They saved us over $1K and we've since referred them to friends who have saved even more. Thanks, Idea Merge!

Jordan Thomas, 25 august 2009
We needed to rent an RV for a week. When we looked around IDEAMERGE had absolutely the lowest prices. They were even lower than people on craiglist renting their personal rvs out. When we picked up our RV in Oakland the service staff was alittle scattered. Evidently they had only opened that branch a few weeks earlier and so things were a little chaotic. The RV we got was in fantastic condition which made up for the unorganized service. Overall, I would recommend IDEAMERGE.

Val Hywel Thomas, 25 august 2009
Rented a Motorhome for the whole of June 2009 from Roadbear having booked with Ideamerge. The booking arrangements and the rental were all very staright forward and efficient. We picked up the RV at Las Vegas and having visited Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Parks, returned it to Denver.

The only complaint was that only one comforter was included, even though we asked at the Roadbear depot on pick-up, so that there was no choice but to share the fixed bed and that comforter was the very minimum size and lightest one ever made. Given that the majority of the trip was at 8,000 ft or more and that morning temperatures were only just above freezing (Bryce - 33 degrees, Yellowstaon - 37 degrees) this was completely inadequate even given the efficient furnace on board.

Martin Leeuwis, 25 august 2009
We have rented a RV for 16 days out of San Francisco. Upon arrival we received an upgrade to a larger on (31 feet) and reception at Moturus was smooth. No problems during trip, only on last day a car hit the RV while it was parked. Total damage $700 and that means I had to pay it. The car that created the damage left no message....
Nevertheless a very enjoyable holiday.

xavier, Sophie and 3 children, 25 august 2009
We have rented a RV from NY to SF from june 27th till July 18th, 2009. Everyting was Ok except the overmiles to pay at arrival. too expensive. I believe as well that generator should be included in the price and no over-payment should be aske for that (even if it's low it's not normal...) Whay not to charge the use of shower or toilets ?
The rest was great and we had no pb with the RV. America is a beautifull country and we appreciate very much the kindness of all US guys we met, including the Ideamerge team. Pick-up and return of RV was quite and professionnal. Tanks to NY and SF ideamerge team

Samantha, Ioan and Mared, 25 august 2009
We rented a Ford 'Chateau' from Ideamerge back in June 2009. We picked it up in Churchville,NY and dropped it off in Tapan, NY 6night later. All in all we found the service great. Ioan found the vehicle easy to drive and it was very spacious for just the three of us.
The only down side was that the waste pipe was hidden...and we couldent find it, therefore where unable to empty the tank. Lucky for us, each campsite we stayed at had a toilet, shower etc so we did not have to use the facilities much. But it could have been a problem if we were staying in secluded areas. Otherwise everything went to plan,and we would definitley use ideamerge again. Unfortuanetly the weather wasnt very kind to us either but as a plus we did travel more than expected.
Thank you for a great trip, I would recommend you to friends.

Anne and Phil , Bristol, 06 july 2009
We rented a Chepacamper from Apollo through Ideamerge.A Chepacamper means that is over 5 years old so the cost is alot less and we would recommend it as we had no problems with it and it was perfectly clean inside.We got a taxi to the Las Vegas depot which didn't take long from our strip hotel and the hand over was very efficent.We visited Zion, Bryce, Capitol reef, Arches,Monument valley, Grand Canyon and Route 66 and it was fantastic.We did alot more miles than we first thought and they cost more if you pay after ,so our advise would be to over estimate the miles you think you will do and pre pay.Would recommend Ideamerge, great holiday.

Cornelia and Damien, 06 july 2009
The service at Oslo was exellent and the staff friendly. We could drop off the car in Bergen, where it was organised that somebody met us to take back the car to Oslo. The camper was in a good shape and everything was there which was needed to cook and sleep.
Thank you

Jac en Ans Willemen, 29 june 2009
We rented a camper in Spain and picked it up in Benalmadena (campingdelSur) near Malaga. A brand new camper. The pick up didn't work perfect, as the confirmation paper told us to pick it up after 16:00u in the afternoon. When we arrived no one was there. We had to make a phonecall and they told us that they had been waiting for us in the morning. They had been expecting us between 10 and 12 hours in the morning. So we lost precious hours,it was a pity.
But...it was a fantastic camper: a Fiat globebus with a comfortable bed, kitchen, turnable driverchairs, sofa and a table. Enough wardrobe- and other chests, good cooking garniture and refrigerator. We didn't use the toilet and the shower as we were staying on a campside. The only minus were the picknickchairs, they were demaged. The first one was broken within two days and we both are of a normal weight: 62 and 74 kilo's. Unfortunately we didn't check the chairs before driving away! But we got permission to buy a new one for € 15,=. Not a price to buy a chair of good quality. The other item that broke very soon, was the top of the dusthin: also not proof against use in a normal way. Because of that, and a little accident with one of the car-mirrors we didn't yet receive our deposit. So we'are still waiting, but it takes too long!!
Finally: we were very happy with the camper and if we are content with the deposit that we get back, we will recomend our friends,family and colleagues your compagny. Untill then.....we wait....
Greetings from Holland

Note from IdeaMerge: Indeed of the dozens of McRent depots in Europe represented by IdeaMerge, the McRent Malaga depot is the only one at which standard weekday pick-up occurs NOT in the afternoon but in the morning. This singular anomaly either escaped our attention or was not communicated to us. In light of this review above, we have modified our webpages and software accordingly and given our deep apologies to this client.

Eric Yeomans, 29 june 2009
I recently rented an RV through IDEAMERGE in Stockholm. The whole process was excellent, the staff at Touring Cars were superb. I had full knowledge of the KLM charges prior to booking the vehicle & I managed to stay within the limits. I will be returning to Sweden in 2011 & will book book the same company. The only improvement I would reccommend is to place the phone number for the Stockholm office in the advertisement, only the main office in Finalnd is there.

Thanks for a great experience!

Michael Robin, 29 june 2009
We found this service fantastic. The booking systems were easy to use, and the best rates around. We collected a great RV in Los Vegas, we were picked up by an efficient shuttle service that took us to the depot. The RV was ready for us and the hand over and instructions were thorough and extremely useful. The RV performed without fault during our 8 day tour ending in San Francisco. The staff at both ends were helpful and easy to get along with. A great holiday, thank you very much.

Peter Williams Geelong Australia, 28 june 2009
My wife and I were extremely pleased with the deal we were given by ideamerge. The service and camper truck we hired from Fraserway was fabulous and more roomy than we expected. We travelled from Vancouver to Vancouver Island then took the Ferry from Port Hardy up the inside passage to Prince Rupert. We then drove across toward Prince George, Jasper, Banff, Yoho and Revelstoke National Parks camping all the way. Then we haeded down into Okanagan Valley, Whistler then back to Vancouver. We both had a fabulous trip even though our truck broke down 15kms out of Jasper. The tire rod on the left wheel broke which nearly caused us to crash. However with alot of luck and driving skills I was able to hold the truck on the road. Fraserway were very helpful, they had a tow truck to us very quickly, put us up in a motel for the night in Jasper and had another truck to us by the following morning, which was driven all the way from Calgary. We would definetly recommend your service and Fraserway to others.
Thanks for help making our trip memorable.

Jill and Ivan Krolick, 24 june 2009
We rented a C-22 Jamboree rv from Apollo in Las Vegas, and returned it to San Francisco 3 weeks and 1,600 miles later, having visited Zion NP, Red, Bryce, Capitol Reef canyons, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon Route 66, and Yosemite NP. The van performed well, and was very comfortable. We're used to motor caravans, but driving an automatic, left handed, on the wrong side of the road, through some of the most impressive scenery in the world was an adventure we will long remember.

Gary Jonassen, 21 june 2009
We were a family of 4 from Australia. We hired a 6 berth motor home so we ddi not have to make up the beds each night as we were traveling in this for 36 nights. The staff at Offenbach were very helpful. The pots and pans were basic. Bought a plastic bowl for helping with the washing up and another place to leave wet things to drain.
It was hard to get used to driving on the other side of the road and in a much larger vehicle than I was used to. The roads off the autobahns tend to be narrower than we are used to and in constant anxiety not to scratch the vehicle. I ended up doing all the driving as it took 3 days to get used to it initially and my wife would again have to do this. It was helpful that my wife would mention the road signs and speed limits and staying on the right side of the road.
We went as far as Norway where the Roads are even narrower.
We has a GPS which we took a while to decide on but which made a great addition to the strees reduction of the trip, and not wasting too much time in wrong turns. I highly recommend one, however the one we had had non existant campites as POI, but we always knew where we were and could then look for the next closest POI.
I would recommend that people look up the road rules for the countries that they are going in. We went to Denmark where Bicycle riders have right of way even over pedestrians. They seem to have an invisible bike lane (sometimes marked)on every road so need to be very careful when turning as they just assumethay cars and pedestrians will not be in 'their' lane.
WE also visited relatives whilst on the trip and this mode of transport is great as they do not need to find beds, which seems to be the hardest part of a visit. We could just park outside and use it for sleeping.
We averaged about 14L/100KM in teh 6berth Motorhome, about what it had on the website, for the fuels which was about 1.1Euro/L in Germany to 11NKK/L in Norway.
We did a lot of travel on the autobahns which brought up our average. The van could do about 120Km/hr but it was very unstable and hard to control so stayed at about 110Km/hr. At times when the wind was up could only do 80Km/hr.
I would recommend this type of vehilcle for any family of 4 for a longer rental.

Gord Pope, 19 june 2009
Thought IÂ’d give you a report of how our 5 week rental of an RV went.

It was excellent! The staff in Frankfurt were fun and helpful. The vehicle was excellent if a bit intimidating at first. Things went smoothly from start to stop and we had a terrific 5 weeks.

As a possible assist to future renters, I thought IÂ’d put together some of the things we observed and experienced. Use it as you see fit.

First, the cab fare from Frankfurt airport to Mcrent is more like 30+ Euros rather than the 20 suggested on the web site. Also, the Mcrent facility is not obvious because it is actually in behind the building with the given address on. Look for it over in the corner. A bonus, right beside it is a large store that sells all kinds of RV stuff that you might need while traveling and is not normally provided (Be aware that it is not cheap). One thing to get is the special toilet paper that dissolves properly in the onboard toilet. Regular stuff apparently causes no end of cleaning problems.

The kitchen stuff provided is fine for basic plates and cutlery but the pots and frying pan leave something to be desired. See our list of things you might want to bring with you or acquire yourselves while travelling. We rented chairs and tables from Mcrent which were adequate but check them out before you leave as one chair was already broken. Cheapest folding chair we saw (and equivalent to what we rented) was 8 Euro. Cheapest table we saw was 20 Euro. So the 35 Euro rental amount is not a bad deal. Check out what they give you for kitchen stuff and look at what else they have. Anything that they have around the shop you seem to be welcome to take. The checking out process is straightforward but you need to stay focused, especially if you are not familiar with RVÂ’s. (Our situation). Our unit was almost brand new and had almost no scratches on it. But check it! I kind of wish we had a more beat up unit so that anything I did would not show. However, We did no damage. The unit was intimidatingly clean and raised some concerns as to how we would get it looking as good when we brought it back. It took us several hours to clean ours but it was raining like crazy at the time so this created additional problems. And while we passed with flying colors, they do actually give it a thorough clean before it goes out again.

Unless you are a pro at driving RVÂ’s in Europe, the advice to go to a nearby campsite for the first night is good. We went to the Mainkur campsite which was 15 min away and it was fine. BUT! For some reason, difficult for us North Americans to appreciate, many campsites in Europe close after lunch for a siesta. Mainkur is no exception. They are closed from 1 pm to 3pm. And you have to wait outside the gate. So time your arrival if you can. We also used Mainkur for the return trip and if you approach it from the Mcrent location as per their directions (Mainkur website) you pass by a convenient shell gas station where you can fill up. This station also had a vacuum unit where we were able to vacuum out much of the accumulated dirt etc. If Mainkur is your target, I recommend studying the access in some detail before you go. Their map is not a lot of help. We used Google Earth to get a photo of the turnoff and a mapping program to print out a more detailed map. If you just got off a jet plane and are jetlagged and somewhat nervous as we were, that preparation is really worth it. If you miss the campsite turnoff, getting back to it is non trivial.

There is a reasonable grocery store called Aldi just across the street from Mcrent where you can do your initial stock up.

Here is our list of things we either brought with us, bought while we traveled, or simply wish we had thought of:

Outside door mat, plastic flipper (if you can get hold of a Teflon fry pan), rubber spatula, SHARP paring knife, cheese grater, dish sponge, dish soap, dish towel, egg cups, wine glasses, coffee pot unless you want to use their filter system which makes a lot of coffee, rubber gloves, sink stopper, salt and pepper, other spices you like in containers, soap powder, sugar, small cutting board, oven mittlets, twist ties, paper towels, toilet paper, plastic wrap, small hand clamps, clothes pins, small kettle, better fry pan than they provide (small electric one could be ideal (220volts)), bungee cords,

Because we rented bicycles (no small feat for 5 weeks as it turned out and Mcrent does not assist with this), here is what we also took for that or wished we did:

Helmets(Not used everywhere but if you are concerned), lock, pump, gloves, bag that attaches to bike,

The RV is equipped with a very good bike rack. Our cost to rent for 34 days was 110 Euros per bike. Liability if bikes were lost or stolen was 250 Euros per bike. You can also buy a brand new bike for under 200 Euro at many stores in Europe. In act, the Aldi store sold what looked to be reasonable bikes for 179 Euro. You may find someone to sell them to on your return or advertise them in the campsites on your last few nights. The concept of selling you a bike with the understanding of buying it back at say half price at the end of your stay seemed very foreign to all of the bike shops near Frankfurt that I contacted via email. Also, I could find no CraigÂ’s list or eBay equivalent to search for used bikes. The cost of shipping our own bikes from Vancouver to Europe was $200 each way per bike on Lufthansa according to their website.

The cost of diesel fuel we found to average about 1.1 Euro per litre and our mileage (literage) averaged 10.7 L/100 KM. Our trip was mostly in the lowlands of Belgium and Holland so a trip over the Alps would be more consumptive.

On a final note: USE A GPS! This was a big help to us and we did use the one mentioned on the Ideamerge website, the TOMTOM 920 and found it excellent! Practice with it at home before you leave.

Anybody with any questions is welcome to contact me.

Regards and thanks for your help Doug,

Gord Pope

Rob Futter, 15 june 2009
Well, there were six of us Brits riding Harley Davidsons across California and we used a Road Bear RV as our admin vehicle. It was perfect. At a very reasonable hire cost and reasonable fuel costs (compared to the UK anyway!!) we clocked up some 1900 miles and saw some amazing scenery on our adventure. The Roadbear gang in The Agoura Hills were great. Their service was impeccable with a shuttle from our hotel in LA to the Hire location and back again on completion some 18 days later. The RV was immaculate and handover was simple with a full explanation of how everything worked. The vehicle itself was easy to drive with full mod cons and coped with the roads (PCH and the route down through Yosemite particularly) admirably. I would heartily recommend Roadbear RV Company to anyone thinking of touring the States with a view to really seeing a few things of interest and not just staying in crumby hotels/motels. An RV is just different and put a completely unique spin on our trip. Well done Roadbear!!

Filips Lombaert, 13 june 2009
I found it very easy to make the reservations for the mobilhome. The local partner company was very friendly and we where on the road in no time and could start enjoying the nice country-side of South-Portugal. Around Easter, the campings in the Algarve are quite cheap, almost empty and of very high quality. Camping on parkingspots you can find on the internet was also possible, there are quite a few in beautifull spots . We went for a round of golf and arrived there with the camper, no problem, all is foreseen. Returning the camper was fun , all formalities done in less than 20 minutes. Will do this again.

Pim Revet, 11 june 2009
Hello

First time we rent a RV. We did it with internet. Exiting to do and after that we checked double if everything was alright.

When we arrived at L.A. we took a taxi to Apollo (rental company). I know in what knight of street the are located. Near the airport and not whit an entrance as like with big companys. So don't be afraid of that.

We get a good explanation of all de things in en out de RV. Our camper was perhapes 3 a 4 years old and drove about 90.000 miles. For us it was good enough. We used to new en luxery cars en things and with this RV where glad for the 2 weeks we have to stay with it.

Inside the RV it was nice, clean, not new to see (somthing was already damaeged before depart), but good enough. In stat of booking whit sleeping-bags etc., chairs and table for outside, the said to use that it was in the bookingprice we said it was'nt. But we get it for free.

On the way the 22 feet RV drove nice en comfortable. It used 1 liter on 4,6 kilometer (like 1 liter on 3 miles).

The staf by Appolo where very nice. And something what was important for us to make the dessision to book by Appolo (with Ideamerge) was the nice price/pakkage deal. We've done this this year for our sons and we want something to do (back) in time of creditcrisis for USA.

After all, where not dissapointed at all in Appolo, ideamerge and in the idea that we dit it in spring for just 14 days. We've seen a lot between L.A. San Francisco en Las Vegas.

Sory for my Enlish, I'm Dutch and have not much time to write this.

Dannie Cho, 10 june 2009
Booked a RV through Ideamerge from Moturist in Salt Lake City. Initially, we had problems finding where the depot was. We had the address, but were traveling without a GPS, so it was down to atlases and street maps to find our way. It would have been nice if the name was updated correctly as Camping World.

However, once we received found the place, everything else was a breeze. Ideamerge really lived up to its promise of letting us know all the costs upfront, which ws extremely useful for travelers on a budget like us.

I also have to add that with everything already added in and explained to us by Ideamerge, I really felt that the job that the Camping World staff was made so much easier, as compared to his earlier customer.

My wife and I have posted articles on our experience wit the RV on our blog. Feel free to check it out for additional comments and pictures.
Just use the search function and look for 'RV' --> http://danyilin.blogspot.com/

Michael Stockwell, 09 june 2009
I just thought I'd let you know that we had a wonderful family holiday in Italy. All the arrangements went according to plan and we were very happy with the camper rental and the services provided by the local agent. Pickups at the airport were on time, smooth and efficient and the camper was spotlessly clean and well equipped. We would certainly recommend using your company again to any friends thinking of having a similar holiday in the future.

Best regards,
Michael Stockwell

Mal Fox, 08 june 2009
Picked up the vehicle in Lyon, wrong address given
for Camping car 69. but the taxi driver got the
correct address from the 'phone No., which was
correct.
Arrived late due train delays just before closing
time, but apart from saying we should have been
there in the morning, everything was OK.
Adequate linen and duvets supplied (Mar/Apr), full
tanks, water and fuel, 2 gas bottles, full, useful
books on camping, incl. FREE areas on motorways.

On return, very efficient handling of vehicle return
Very satisfactory all round

Note from IdeaMerge: Indeed the McRent Lyon depot had recently moved a couple of blocks down the street, although we weren't informed about this change. Our deepest apologies and thanks go to this client. We've straightaway corrected our McRent France Locations page.

Kolinda Duer, 08 june 2009
My husband and I just took our 3 teenage daughters on a trip to Germany on May 8th - 17th. We arrived in Frankfurt around 10:30 in the morning. We were told in the customer agreement that we could not pick up the RV until after 2 in the afternoon, but after sitting in the Frankfurt airport waiting for an hour, I had my husband just call and see if it would be possible to pick it up by noon instead. We were happy to find out that we could pick it up and proceeded to get a taxi (large one for 5 Americans who like to pack alot!) and made it to McRent. The lady who waited on us was great. The only thing we wished was that she hadn't been in such a hospitable mood, wanting to talk so much because we were tired and just ready to get on the road! She was a great agent.
After getting our RV, we loaded it up and took off! It was a little scarey driving out of the parking lot there. It's a bit tight, but we made it okay. We traveled back to a former Air Force Base where we had lived in 1986, revisited our former landlord and drove to several major cities in the central and southern part of this most beautiful country.
One thing that would be of great help to English-speaking customers would be for McRent to make sure they give the drivers RV instructional manuals that are in ENGLISH and not just German! It was a little bit of work deciphering which hose went where at first! Also, it would be great to have a really good driving map that you don't have to purchase but that McRent could give to the customers. It is very disorienting being in a new country with language barriers and also being tired from a long flight. If McRent could make sure the customer had all materials in their language, that would be helpful.
One more helpful suggestion for weary travelers: Please give customers more than 1 key to the side compartments!!! Yep, you guessed it: my hubby locked the key for the dump in the side compartment. We had to drive back to Mannheim on Monday (he locked it in there on Saturday morning...)and we had to make sure we used public restrooms for those two days because the place wasn't open until Monday morning! Getting to Mannheim was not a problem, though, and we found where we needed to go, unlocked the side door, retrieved the lost key and were back on the road within an hour!
One last thing: On the agreement it says that you have to bring the vehicle back in CLEAN condition. When we got to the rental place, we had the RV really clean, but then the guy who checked us out upon return said he could do it for us for about 30 Euro - which I happily paid! I think it would be FANTASTIC to just include that service to the customer and NOT have them clean out their RV as we were very tired by the end of the 10 days.
Otherwise, we had a PHENOMENAL time in Germany, were very, very happy with the RV which drove beautifully and was very nice and hope to do it again!!
Thanks, IdeaMerge. We have already recommended your company to some friends of ours!

Family Els and Sauer South Africa, 08 june 2009
We just returned from a trip through Europe (Germany, Austria, Italy, Switserland and back to Germany) with a Camper rented through IdeaMerge, what a wonderful experience. No nasty surprises or additional funds to be paid. What IdeaMerge promised was what we got. The staff in Offenbach - Micheal - was very helpful and professional. The only comment I can make is that if you plan to tour three to four countries, it will be wise to buy the campsites book by ADAC "Campsites for touring Europe". This book is available at all big bookstores in Europe. All campsites are rated per star grading with GPS co-ordinates and phone numbers. This helps a lot to ensure maximum time for sight seening and little time spend to look for a campsite. The start grading ensure that no dissapointments waits at the campsite.
The camper was great and we enjoyed every kilometer we travelled. Switserland....fantastic and very very clean. Once again thanks to IdeaMerge for your profesionalism and making the bookings smooth and easy, we look forward to make use of your company again.

Aussie family, 08 june 2009
Booking through Ideamerge was very easy. They responded very quickly to all our queries and the price was definitely the best we could get for the vehicle and itinerary we wanted.

We picked up from the Euromotorhome depot in Madrid (good pick up service) and the owner spoke some English which was very helpful. The person who oriented us to the van spoke no English so we weren't sure how to use some items (e.g., fridge!). We didn't get the 2 gas bottles we were supposed to (only got one) and as per other comments, the 'kitchen kit' left more than a bit to be desired. We froze with our thin sleeping bags until we relented and left the gas heating on all night every night. Kitchen utensils were surprising - no sharp knives or chopping boards etc and crockery plates (plastic would have been better and less breakable when driving around!) but then extras like Italian coffee percolators were included (they almost won me over with that one).

Definitely agree with others re: finding camp grounds in Spain/Portugal. The directory provided by Euromotorhome only listed sites who had paid to advertise in the directory and was spanish/portuguese only (I eventually learned to interpret!). No road maps and the depot didn't sell any so make sure you bring your own good one or you will find it VERY difficult to find anything (our record was 3 hours driving in circles to find a camp ground which it turned out had closed 2 years before).

Campervan was reasonably new though and no mechanical issues. Check inside and out THOROUGHLY before leaving the depot as the check-in inspection is far more thorough than the check-out inspection. We didn't notice scrapes up high on the side of the van (in the dark depot) or the fact that the top of the gas heater was cracked a little bit. Neither did the person who did a cursory inspection as we left. They did however notice it when we returned the camper and it almost cost us a lot of money (hard to negotiate what damage we did and didn't do with someone who doesn't speak English - we dropped off in another country and he met us there). Seriously - check every square inch inside and out as closely as you can!

That all sounds bad - it's not meant to. We had a fantastic time with our 2 and 3 year old and loved the camper. We'd definitely use Ideamerge again.

MS, 08 june 2009
Staff was friendly and helpful. The camper was
pristine and in excellent ordr. Would highly
recommend, and will use Ideamerge again. Best prices
out there, and the online rental was a breeze. Thanks.

Tom Krukow, 04 june 2009
My family and I returned from our trip to Europe where we used the McRent RV. I have to tell you the trip was great, because you booked us with a really fine company. Everything promised came to fruition and then some. Michael and Susanne at the McRent facility in Offenbach were terrific. There were no surprises, no hidden charges, and we can't thank you enough. We look forward to booking with your company again soon.

Hannes and Sonja Pienaar, 24 april 2009
We have just return from a wonderfull holiday in Europe. We picked up and returned our vechile in Frankfurt. We had wonderfull service and help from the staff and enjoyed the motorhome. This is by far the best way of traveling if you have kids. We were on a tour previously with a group, but in furure we will only go with a motorhome. Thank you for your part in our dream holiday.

Nicola Duncan, 22 april 2009
We rented an RV from Road Bear for 5 weeks, picking up in San Francisco and dropping off in Los Angeles. We had to return to San Francisco for repairs when the heating stopped working, but the San Francisco staff were very accommodating and helpful. We were very happy with the RV itself and with the service both from Road Bear and Ideamerge.

Roger and Kelly Anderson, 21 april 2009
We rented for 2 weeks from the Rome depot last November. It was a wonderful experience. It was wonderful way to travel and see the countryside and have a place to sleep every night. It was very convenient for us as we are a family of five and it is very hard to find a room that would accomodate all of us. We found rv supplies hard to find(maybe it was the time of year) we never did find camper gas(propane) luckily we had 2 full bottles to start with. It was problem free as far as pick-up and drop-off went.
the door handle was partially broke when we picked it up and broke about 3 days into the trip but we were not charged. we cleaned the camper upon returning it and were not charged any extra fees except for extra mileage and that we knew about. Thanks to the people at the depot for delivering as promised!

Kevin, Ethan John; April 20, 2009, 20 april 2009
We arrived on a flight from Charlotte NC at 10 AM and caught a the train from the airport to Offenbach where we caught an inexpensive cab ride to McRent. The staff was friendly and processed us quickly with an orientation and all the necessary documents and we were on the road that afternoon. We made our first stop for supplies at REAL just 5 minutes away. This is when I realized I should have studied the German road signs. After a 20 minute lesson on the internet of the road signs I realized the "no parking" sign was not a "do not enter" sign and our lives got much easier. I reccomend learning the raod signs for the countries you are traveling in if you are not familliar with them. First day to Wurzburg and then on to Prague. The Fiat chasis with tandem axles was probably around 25 feet long but easy to manage everywhere we went and could even handle u turns with no problems. The six speed manual transmission enabled us to get decent mileage and travel at respectable speeds. The autobahn rest areas were fine for overnight stays while traveling and had clean facilities and even showers for .50 euro. In Prague the campgrounds in Troja were close in and had bus stops within 100 feet and tram stops within a 7 minute walk and you could be downtown in 10 minutes. The facilites were very clean and we never really needed the shower and toilet in the camper. We returned through Nuremberg and enjoyed a brief visit there. After 10 days we returned the camper to McRent in Offenbach outside of Frankfurt and were processed very quickly. All in all the trip was a great success and we think we enjoyed our vacation more than we would have if taking trains and staying in a hotel. The comfort level we achieved by setting up the trip through Idea Merge was outstanding. It had a tremendous impact on reducing stress and worries. I highly recommend vacationing with a camper and booking through Idea Merge.

mauget, 16 april 2009
I've rented a RV Moturis 25 for 3 weeks in March 2009 and I'm really happy of this choice. We have travelled from San Francisco to LA with all the great national park (Sequoia, death Valley, Zion, Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon and monument Valley)about 3600 miles. This RV is very confortable for 4 people and we had great time with it. The staff in LA is very helpfull and I higly recommend this rental.

Lorne and Sandra Logan, 05 april 2009
We rented a 25 ft. Winnebago from Moturis, Orlando. The pickup and drop-off were seamless. Andy, at the Camper World depot was very helpful and pleasant. However, the personal kit (bedding, kitchen supplies) was skimpy - one thin blanket for freezing temps; can opener also broke on first use, etc. Did not compare well to the Las Vegas personal kit.

Another problem: We found out the hard way that Florida law requires a screw-in sewer connection. Eventually bought one, but try doing that on a Sunday on Big Pine Key. If Moturis will not supply same, it should at least alert people at pick-up.

The Rv worked just fine and was quite comfortable.

Overall, we had a great trip at a very reasonable cost. We will not hesitate to rent from Moturis again.

Lorne and Sandra, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Paula, 31 march 2009
We just got back from a 2 week RV vacation in the Netherlands. We rented from the Amsterdam location and the people there were wonderful. Very helpful and friendly. We had a little problem with the engine light, we called them and they took care of it immediately. Otherwise it ran like new. We camped in Brugge, Belgium and took the bus and rail to other cities and sites in the area, we found this to be the easiest. This is the 3rd time we rented from McRent, once in France and once in Germany and every time we very extremely happy and pleased with the RV and people we dealt with. Thank you McRent for making it possible for us to see the world.

Damon Emma Amess, 08 march 2009
We travelled West coast usa in a 30ft rig,The guy giving us the walk around was good and informative and the rv itself was adequate for the 6 of us.It was surpisingly good on fuel too if we drove it at 55mph ..No real waiting time at pick up or drop off either -which was good.I would recommend this company to anyone and would definetely use them again

Fiona Grantham, 08 march 2009
my partner and I are RV novices so it was daunting to be stepping onto a 29 foot rig! The staff we encountered at the start and end of the trip were really lovely and helpful, no problems at all. the free shuttle to the airport was also a bonus as we're on a tight budget. The instructional video we watched was ok but didn't really prepare us as much as a personal walk around tour of the rig would have done. the video was pretty old and wasn't specific to our rental anyway so thats our only complaint. Once on the road the vehicle itself was extremely comfortable, reliable and fun to spend 2 weeks in. Good impression all round and we would certainly recommend to a friend.

Petr, 08 march 2009
Well I had borrowed an RV at the Moturis in the NYC and returned three weeks later in LA. Everything was fine with the car and the service, just one thing. An enormous consumption of fuel. On the moturis page they say that it does about 10-12 mpg but the best we could get out of it was 8.5 mpg at a very low pace. So the expences for the trip got much higher because of that.
Note from IdeaMerge: The prevailing winds in the USA blow from the West Coast to the East Coast. As such, a one-way intinerary in the opposite direction entails a lower than average fuel economy. Moreover, winter travel (as was the case with this rental) entails lower than average fuel economy. To learn precisely why, please see About.com.

Jorge Crudele, Argentina (January'09), 10 february 2009
We booked the Motorhome easily with Internet, and got fast and accurate response to our several questions. The vehicle was exactly as promised, the service very friendly, and the return of the Motorhome was done with no fuss at all. VERY recomendable vendor.

Inge de Beer and Rikus Botha, 25 january 2009
We picked up our motorhome in Frankfurt. We had a very pleasant experience at the depot. The service was prompt and they gave us detailed instructions on how to use the motorhome. We rented for 20days and travelled through Germany and Italy to Rome and back again to Frankfurt. I must say that this was by far the best holiday we've ever had. We really enjoyed using the motorhome as we could stop where ever we wanted and didn't need to follow a schedule. It was one of the few holidays where we came back completely relaxed and refreshed.Thanks also to Ideamerge for making our booking easy and hassle free! We got everything we expected and then some!

Stephen Hawkins, 24 january 2009
We rented a 25ft class C RV for almost 4 weeks to take us up and down the golden state. We found the RV to have ample space for the three of us(all over 6ft!). Driving the RV was a breeze, dealing well with the tricky roads of the north and comfortably cruising through the south. The service at both depots(san fran & las vegas) was excellent. The RV came with a bbq, enough toilet chemicals for the whole trip, flashlight, maps and a directory. All the facilities worked easily and there was plenty of storage space. I recommend this type of travel to everyone - a unique experience to travel quickly with oodles of comfort.

Shelley and Craig Christie, 13 december 2008
We hired our RV for 10days and drove around Arizona and New Mexico and it was great. The RV company Road Bear were very helpful and friendly. The RV itself was great for us. We had no mechanical issues and no other issues. It drove really well and it was clean. I would recommend using this company if you would like to hire a campervan. They also provided maps and books for us which we thought was a great help for us as it was our first time in the states. As we are Australians who love to travel we think this is a great way to travel.

Gary Christine Foreman, 13 december 2008
We rented a 31ft Moturis RV for 3 months for our family of 7. We booked through IDEAMERGE and they were absolutely excellent. Their effeciency and communication made us confident to book and pay upfront for 3 months.

We picked up the RV from Moturis in LA. They went over everything quite thoroughly but we were missing a couple of things (which we didn't realise until the first night), and the toilet door was a dodgy and our 9yr old son got 'locked' in the toilet, ie: toilet locked had jammed up. When we phoned Moturis,to try and arrange a locksmith, or some sort of help, the number they had printed on their documentation was incorrect. Needless to say after 1.5 hrs we just had to force the door open, and return the next day.

When we did return they were very good about replacing the lock, and providing us with some extra sheets, fixing blinds etc. So although we'd wasted half a day, on our first day, it wasn't too much of a problem. However, the lock they put in was a 'push-button' lock from the inside and it didn't take long for it to have been accidentally locked with no-one in it, and no key to unlock it! So, day 2 we're back again, except this time it was a Sunday, and they weren't open. To their credit, they did have their hours written down and I hadn't read it. So let's just say, they are a 9-5, 6 day a week company, and as fate would have it, you never have a problem during these hours. So, back again on day 3 to try and obtain a key - not an easy task. The employee their was off-handish on the brink of rude, firstly never even acknowledged my presence, argued with me, that a toilet door would not have a key etc etc. We just wanted to get on with our holiday! Of course, they had a key, and after waiting almost an hour from the time we arrived, we were finally on our way.

After that initial 3 day dilemma, our problems were very little. Certainly the motorhomes are made a bit on the 'cheap side', but mechanically there wasn't an issue at all, even in the cold weather. The only thing to watch for, is, that even though it was a v10, when you got a strong head wind it struggled to do 60miles an hr, and of course you use a lot more gas. Nothing you can do about it, but it's just info to take into account in your planning. On the positive side, when you don't have those winds, it can really motor along.

Just some thoughts:
*to save on the gas (and electricity is included in campsite fees), use an electric non-stick frypan, and electric heater in the winter months.
*unless your 'fee camping' don't travel with a tank full of water, it's heavy, and will cost you more in gas
*gps is a must! Don't rent it, cheap enough to buy
*we found buying necessities like crockery, cutlery, duvets (from Walmart) was cheaper than renting because there's 7 of us and the 'kits' are always rented on a per person basis
*check reviews on www.rvparkreviews.com, they are worth their weight in gold (KOA parks not what they make out to be)
*cheap $20 mobile phone to book ahead if you need to

In summary: we would absolutely recommend to anyone a holiday in a RV. It was value for money, a great experience, and generally the campsites were fully equipped and very pleasant.
IDEAMERGE were excellent, and always answered my questions, and certainly were the most competitive.
Although we had an inital hiccup with Moturis, I would use them again. The pick was great, the drop off was easy, and they even provided a free shuttle back to the hotel.
Don't regret it a bit!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us.

Gary & Christine Foreman
Auckland, New Zealand

steve, 13 december 2008
Camper van great. Issues were with service - I had to pay for satnav twice once to ideamerge and once to the pick up location. No body has addressed this issue which is disappointing.

Vans are a great way to see the US and I would recommend.

Note from IdeaMerge: All IdeaMerge quotes include not only the costs to be paid upfront to IdeaMerge but also the portions, if any, which must per the vendor's policy be paid directly to the vendor upon the pick-up occasion. In other words, all IdeaMerge quotes communicate the true total cost. Hence the total quoted by IdeaMerge to this client included the cost of the GPS rental but noted clearly that the cost of that particular line item would not be charged by IdeaMerge (i.e. up front) but rather would be charged directly by the vendor upon the pick-up occasion.

Phil Houweling, 13 december 2008
We rented a 29 foot RV from L.A and spent 3 months driving through the US and Canada. It really was ideal for our family and it became our little home on wheels by the time we dropped it off in New York. We had clocked up a total of 7686 miles, just 14 miles short of our allowance before we needed to pay extra (we thought this was quite amazing because we didn’t calculate our miles beforehand). The trip was fantastic. We spent a good amount of time in the National parks (Grand Canyon, Zion and Yosemite). This was the only R.V parks that we booked before we left. We then drove up along the Oregon coastline, past all the giant redwoods. From there we made it up to Vancouver and then across the Rockies. We then drove across to Ontario (Niagara falls) before heading south to Washington D.C and New York. We really enjoyed the flexibility of the R.V. The service of Motouris was very good. We only had one problem – a flat tyre. The repairman was out within 30 minutes and while he fixed it, my wife fixed dinner. Motouris happily refunded the expenses incurred for replacing the tyre. We were very happy with Matt (manager from New York). Nothing was too much for him and he happily covered some of the extra costs that we would have incurred. The motorhome was very clean when we picked it up and apart from a few maintenance issues it was fantastic. Overall we were very happy with the company and will most certainly recommend them to other potential customers.

Steve, Debbie, Chris, Harry Ben, 11 december 2008
We picked up our campervan the end of September, a Family Plus (6 berth) from Frankfurt, for a 28 days, heading south through the Black Forest, heading to Italy. Rome was as far south as we travelled, before heading back around the coast, stopping in the beautiful Cinque Terre, before heading into South of France. Then up to Paris and north into the 'Somme', before heading east back into Germany along the Moselle and Rhine Rivers. We dropped the campervan back at Frankfurt. We had an absolutely brilliant time, and although it took a few days to get used to the small space for 5 people (3 boys, age 10/12/14)it was the best way for us, as a family, to travel. We could stop and see what we wanted, when we wanted, but keeping to a rough itinerary that we'd prepared. The campervan was a good size for driving and manouvering through traffic, would not have wanted it any bigger as in some villages roads are very narrow. Wouldn't leave home without our TomTom navigation, I'm sure it saved us from a lot of stress, it was an amazing little gadget. The people at McRent Frankfurt were great and we had no hold ups, they were very helpful and would difinately use them again if we were to do another trip. Thanks to Ideamerge. Travelling outside of summer season was good, it was not too busy anywhere, and the autumn colours were amazing. I definately recommend travelling in Autumn.

Felicity, caleb + james Moore, 25 november 2008
Excellent allround service + camper ( VW California manual )

I sent the pre booking form to organise a faster pick-up. This worked and we were away quickly.

The lady at the pick up point for DRM was excellent, explained car well and had a sense of humour.

She added extras for no cost- annex, and had the choice of a number of car seats for our son 3 years old. They also added a net to keep our son safe up the top, a map book and Camping guide

Car drove well, excellent vision and small enough to get to some of the smaller more attractive villages in Europe and also able to park in normal car spaces. Large enough for 2 adults and 1 small child. More than 2 adults and 1 small child not really recommended as room was limited. Diesel was a good option, probably the only one, car managed to keep up with the best of them on the autobahn. Not bad for a family Camper, then again it is a German car

Annex was handy when it rained and or was hot + sunny.

Car lasted well without plug in power if you didn't have the option or didn't want to pay. Lasted up to 3 days.

The Camper was modern and comfortable, diesel heater kept us warm even in colder conditions eg st moritz. The camper is not recommended for pure winter conditions and probably best to keep it this way, as the top sleeper could get very cold, pop up canvas with hard roof.

Our son slept in the small area at back of car and we slept up top. Couple of nights and all was good. A little difficult to get up top after a few drinks, but alot better than finding and paying for a hotel everynight and the camp grounds suited our small family and child for fun and convienience.

Cooking and eating fine, very basic foods and stopped of at supermarkets ect. Even purchased 2 bikes + childs seat and used most days. More expensive than home for dodgy supermarket mountain bikes approx $100 euro ( as apposed to $100 aussie) each and child seat $35 euro. This almost made Our holiday the access to towns from campgrounds was always a short ride and the exercise was a bonus.

6 speed easy to drive, a few issues originaly deciding on 2nd or 3rd due to power issues, once you adjusted from driving a car to a heaver camper I forgot all about this.

Would highly recommed DRM, and the California to a couple or small family for 3 max, or 4 very, very good friends.

Had a small scratch at back of car after reversing into something or another car bumping us. Original deposit of $1200 Euros ( still not sure why they deduct this from credit card before you leave and with flucuating exchange rates can loose or gain a little )looked goneski however lady at DRM charged us $150 euro for repair. Insurance covered this when we got home.

Will look at hiring in Germany again and the key if possible, to lower cost, is to hire and return to the same town, Frankfurt to Frankfurt ect.

Best tip: Save your marriage, invest in a Sat NAV for Europe, buy at home hiring is way to expensive at last look for 21 days

Great time, thanks to Doug as well for organising over the NET and the tips included ect.

Cheers,

Felicity, Caleb and James
Australia

Allyson Hatherill, 24 november 2008
I did loads of research before deciding on Idea Merge. We booked a 6 berth Britz RV for a two week trip around the north island with husband and 13 year old boy/girl twins. We rushed to get to the office in Auckland before they closed as our flight from Chile had been delayed for 12 hours. Got there in time and had the run through as to what to do. Didn't take everything in and would have liked a demonstration on how the tables collapsed and the beds were made. At the end of a very long and stressful day, trying to figue it all out caused a few cross words. I was disappointed in the RV itself. It was a 2003 5 speed manual with 108,000km. It was showing its age and was like driving a tank. The stick had a tendency to pop out of gear if we went over a bumpy surface. We had initially paid for both of us to be drivers, but after hearing the words coming out of my husbands mouth, I decided it was too scary! I'm glad we took out the full insurance, we got a damaged windscreen from a flying rock. Anyone coming to New Zealand for a driving holiday should seriously consider taking out the full insurance to cover the windshield at least. NZ roads are paved with volcanic rock as it is cheaper and longer lasting however it plays havoc with windshields. We were told our windshield would have cost us at least $700 to replace if we weren't covered. A tip for those coming to NZ and not used to driving on the left side of the road. Just remember that as the driver, the middle line is always beside you! The drop off was easy, I just told him where it was, left the keys in the ignition and off we went. We stayed at Top 10 Holiday Parks which often had huge differences between them not to mention prices. We paid anything from $40 to $65 a night. We thought this was expensive for less than 15 hours of use of the electicity and bathrooms. In the end, my husband and daughter would not RV again whereas my son and I would.

Petr Brezina, 21 november 2008
I have to admit that Portugal is gorgeous country and we were lucky that we used your company to discover all this beauty. The people who took care about us in Portugal were simply just the best from our experience. They were very nice and friendly.

The car was ok too we would just prefer maybe car with gas heating instead of electric ones. We were not always connected to electricity and the batteries couldn't be used for whole night. Also it could be smaller car but as I said everything was nice and perfect.

Thanks a lot,

Petr

Ed Middleton, 20 november 2008
We picked up a campervan for 2 persons in Frankfurt at the beginning of September. The pick up was smooth and easy with everything waiting for us. We travelled 8000km in 56 days and had a fantastic time. We would highly recommend Ideamerge for camper rentals and the staff at McRent Offenbach were brilliant! Thanks again.

Gwen Fairbrother, 18 november 2008
We were very pleased with the vehicle and had no problems with the pick up and drop off of the vehicle, in fact we hired it for an extra night without any problems. The staff at DRM were very friendly and helpful. I would recommend IdeaMerge, in fact we gave your name to some other Aussie travelers we met up with. We have never rented a Motorhome before as we have our own Caravan here in Australia, but if we are fortunate enough to travel overseas again I would certainly use IdeaMerge.

We had a great trip and visited Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Holland and the Czeck Republic.

Kind Regards,
Gwen Fairbrother.

Marco Mueller, 12 november 2008
We rented a Chalet 25 foot RV from Moturis in Los Angeles for 16 days and dropped it off there. Ew booked the deal through IdeaMerge which offered the best price/service ratio.
At Moturis L.A. the people were very nice and handling of the paperwork quick and easy. The Vehicle was in very good condition. Blankets, dishes Camping Chairs were in good condition too but cost additional.
Traveling through Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Monument Valley, San Diego, Ensenada-Mexico, San Felipe-Mexico and back to LA. No problems at all with the Vehicle and drop off in LA was easy and hassle free.
What bothered us were the prices that the RV Parks charged us. We expected not to pay more than $25 per day but ended up to pay between $36 and $55 per day. In Las Vegas we preferred to stay 3 days in a 4-Star Hotel, which was cheaper than the RV-Park. In San Felipe-Mexico an RV is definitely better than stay in a Hotel, just because of cleanlyness, however it's not cheap there either, we paid $80 bucks for 3 days. The gas consumption is remarkable with 30 Liters per 100km

Tue S�g, 12 november 2008
Friendly and helpful staff at the Malaga depot. The VW California is absolutely recommendable. It drives well, it fits in underground parking lots and it sleeps 4. We stayed in it for three weeks and had a great holiday. I would be nice though to have a copy of the manual in English.

Marc Kuhberg, 07 november 2008
We are back in Germany now and very happy about our time in Portugal! Especially our time with the caravan was the most exciting one! The pick up and drop off of the vehicle was very uncomplicated. The atmosphere of the Parracho Company is very familial and warm-hearted. In the first day of rental we had a big unexpected problem with the door of the fridge but Mr. Parracho himself came down over 150km to change the door immediately, this was a unbelievable service for us and helped us to make a save and awesome trip around this perfect country for caravaning:) We never did a caravan trip before but we gone do one again for sure!
Thanks a lot
Marc Kuhberg

Ron, Hermine, Mike, and Livia, 03 november 2008
We rented our camper in Munich, Germany in October knowing that we would not encounter the crush of the main tourist season, and that rental rates would be less. We were four adults sharing the camper. We toured four countries in eleven days and enjoyed good weather. After the first day we worked out an arrangement so we would not be in each others way inside the camper. Everything that was advertised about the camper was found to be accurate. The station personnel at DRM were very helpful and patient. We would highly reccommend Ideamerge and DRM.

Todd and Heather Robertson, 03 november 2008
We rented the motorhome in Dusseldorf from Oct.10-Oct.17 to visit our son in Germany who is stationed with the Canadian Air Force and to see the Alps with him. The motorhome was an incredible way of traveling through the marvelous countryside and was effortless to drive and maintain. The 4-cyl diesel engine had no problems with the hilly terrain and was surprisingly stingy on fuel.
Everything was in tip-top shape when we picked it up and dropped it off and the experience was a positive one. We will rent from McRent again in the future should the opportunity arise.
Thanks again to McRent for making our vacation to Germany a memorable one.

Woongmin Kim, 02 november 2008
It was a vacation like a dream, 40 days in Europe, in Fiat Tribute(standard compact) rented from DRM, arranged by Idea Merge. I recommend these companies highly. Their services were up to their promises, prompt and accommodating, and the price was very reasonable. I had never driven an RV, and had been away from stick shift cars for more than 20 years, but after first 10 minutes, I was on autoban. Easy to operate and simple to use. Camping in Europe was fun and I would recommend travel in camping-car whoever wants to see the beauty of Europe first hand.

Sally Edwards, 29 october 2008
We hired our camper truck for three weeks and travelled throughout Alberta and British Columbia. Both I and my now fiancee (we got engaged whilst in Banff!) had the most fabulous time. The camper truck was clean and practical, though when we return next year we shall hire a camper with a shower unit and a little more leg room. Good job we are a close couple as three weeks of having to visit the washroom with the door open could be uncomfortable for many couples/friends travelling together. We look forward to returning next year on our honeymoon. I wonder if there is a honeymoon special camper - shall have to ask the question!

Carl Egetter, 27 october 2008
When planning a European vacation for my son and me, I started researching trains and buses, as I'm sure many travelers do. There was a lot of territory to cover ... we wanted to visit several cities, roughly in a circle: Munich, Strasbourg, Bern, Milan, Venice and Salzburg.

When I began calculating the time it would take, traveling from city to city ... waiting for trains ... checking in and out of hotels ... I began to realize that we would never make it in the short time we had (just two weeks).

And the cost! ... The trains passes were so expensive, and the hotels even more so. I had rented motorhomes in the U.S. before, but they were very costly, and I thought they would be even moreso in Europe.

But I couldn't have been more wrong! The prices at McRent were quite reasonable ... and when you figure in the savings in hotel expense ... and preparing meals in the motorhome ... and most of all the CONVENIENCE of being able to go where you want, when you want, and not have to pack up your bags every night ... Well in short it was what we call a "no-brainer" ... an obvious choice.

In selecting a vehicle, we originally chose the Compact Standard model ... but with the help of Mr. Doug Bredesen, upgraded to the Compact Plus when no standard models were available ... and the fee was quite reasonable.

My fellow travelers, if you come to this same conclusion, and are fortunate enough to pick up your McRent motorhome in Sulzemoos (near Munich), you will be delighted with the attention and service provided by Mr. Peter Sch�. who made everything easy and simple.

The unit that we had rented was not up to Peter's standards, so he upgraded us to the positively HUGE Dethleffs 5881 ... at no extra cost. And it was a dream to drive. Well, not so much in city traffic ... but we rented bicycles and would park our motorhome in a convenient location, and travel about town on our bikes. Most cities were very bike-friendly.

The Dethleffs motorhome was also surprisingly stingy with diesel, which saved us even more money.

It was an unforgettable vacation ... We'll be talking about our experiences for years to come. And it just wouldn't have been as pleasant and practical had we not rented the motorhome.

If you're considering a trip to Europe, I recommend McRent highly. I know I can't wait for my next adventure.

Carl Egetter
Marietta, Georgia

Tina and Scotty Herbert, 23 october 2008
We've just got back from 2 weeks in a campervan from DRM in Frankfurt. Organised thru Ideamerge, this has got to have been the easiest holiday I've ever booked over the internet. Ideamerge were excellent, prompt and accurate. Everything they said, happened. So very very easy. They folk at DRM in Frankfurt were just as good. Friendly, English speakers and organised - van was exactly what we ordered (in fact it was almost brand new!) and the van and all the equipment was ready when we got there.
I've nothing but praise for both DRM (Frankfurt) and Ideamerge. Very professional and super easy to deal with. We will certainly use both companies next year when we discover Scandanavia - Can't wait!!! Thanks heaps to both group of folk.

Witold Babinski, 22 october 2008
The camper was perfect and very economic. It was nearly new-with only 1500 km. Is is pitty that we spent 3 hours douring picking up. The staff was very kind.I recomend

sophie from Paris, 22 october 2008
we rented a 28" RV El MOnte for 18 days last august to visit the west national parks in USA.
We are a family of 6 people and we recomend to rent an RV which is very usefull, but not an "El Monte RV".
The vehicule was dirty(we found used underwear...), the shower was broken,always gaz smelling inside, the kitchen set & sheets & blankets not included, no sun canopy...The worst thing was we had a breakdown on the highway on second day: the emergency center did not reply and we could not use the RV for 1 whole day!Drop off in San Francisco was better than pick up in Las Vegas.
We travelled with 2 other families so we could compare!I really recommend you to rent a "roadbear rv" from IdeaMerge, a very good value for money!

polly schonfeld and hermann platschka, 21 october 2008
This is our third consecutive september with idea merge. The first two times we rented the VW van and this year we "upgraded" to the fiat Decato. We are never going back to the VW. With the Decato the bed is already down so no shifting around. There is also a lot more room. The totally computerized controls for everything was a bit daunting at first but we had a brief run through and learned as we went along. By the time we returned in a month we were experts on the computer controls. My husband drove on small roads and small tight city streets. The fiat performed great. The check in time and check out time with Ideamerge could not be better. Total time in and out was tops ten minutes. The staff is friendly, knowledgable and professional. We are already planning for next year, of course, with the fiat ducato.

Tobias Ebert, 21 october 2008
Hi, overall we were very satisfied with the whole process. Staff was very friendly and the Camper was ok. (Battery was very weak and the toilet/sink was a bit smelly)
The rest was perfect, thx & all the best

Meia Bink, 20 october 2008
It was not easy to find caravanhirecompany but when we came there everything was allright! Beautiful new camper and it was a clean one. We got a good explenation and had a great holliday in Andalusia. When we had a flat tire they came quick to help us, perfect!!

Richard Harms, 14 october 2008
We're not long back from a lovely couple of weeks in Italy travelling with our two children. Very delighted with our experiences with Freedom Holidays. The kids esepcially loved the van. The team at FH are very helpful, our van was immaculate and well-equipped - and everything went without a hitch. The pick-up and drop-off at Rome was a smooth and uncomplicated process. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them wholeheartedly. Thanks to both Doug and FH - great stuff! We hope to come back again soon.

C. Overdiek, 14 october 2008
Google helped me to find a company for camper rental in Portugal. Fortunately I met with IdeaMerge and McRent (Parracho Automoveis in Sintra). For three weeks we rented a Dethleff Globebus 1; almost new with only 20.000 kilometers. It was a pleasure to drive in this camper. The pick up at McRent and the drop off was very well organised. The staff was very friendly; we could start with our trip 4 hours in advance of the normal pick up time. We drove 2200 kilometers through the northern part of Portugal, only on local roads. We only spent 3 nights on official campings, three times on marked camperstands and the other times where ever we liked. We used the necessary guides to find the places to stay over night. This was the first time we spent our holidays with a camper. We certainly will do this again and, if possible through Ideamerge, with a preference for the Globebus, type II with a lower bed in the rear.

Patricia Lambert and Nick Scanlon-Hill, 07 october 2008
My son and I rented a camper for two weeks to tour Sweden and Norway. It was very good for us as we went to some very remote places, especially in Norway. It had plaenty of power to tackle those rugged moutain passes and winding roads. The beds were comfortable, and cooking on the little stove was fun and challenging. We found the camping grounds to be very clean, but some were also very rustic. The large windows and being higher than the cars made it great for seeing the spectacular scenery. We did not have trouble finding diesel anywhere, so that was good. We parked overnight in a friend's driveway in Sweden, and no one complained, so I guess that was OK. We had a wonderful trip.

I would like to suggest that you have a little kit that could be sold for a few kroner that had salt, pepper, some sugar, coffee filters and maybe some onion or garlic salt. We had to buy 50 filters, and used only 12, we bought a kilo of suger and used less than half a cup, the same was true of salt and pepper. There might be some other little items that you could include in the kit that I have not mentioned. If we lived in Sweden we could have taken the unused portions home, but as it was we just gave them away, and it was a couple of days where we had none, and the food was pretty bland. It was great fun shopping in the stores there, as we tried things we usually do not eat at home. We found it strange that everything was prepackaged. Here in the states we are used to buying six lemons or three bananas, in other words bulk foods, but did not find any there except in the farmers' markets. They were fun. too, because they have some berries and melons that we do not find here.

We found all of the roads well marked, so we only got lost once, and that was in a larger town. The roads are narrow, too, which could be a problem for some pwople, but we live out on the remote north coast of California, so were used to that kind of roads.

Thank you, and we will recommend you to our friends.

I want to thank IdeaMerge for being such a wonderful help to us when we were planning our trip. I got so carried away with telling about the trip that I forgot to mention this fact in my summary. All of the information you gave us helped us to feel good about the whole transaction. The person with the shuttle was there waiting for us, and when we brought it back they took us to the train in the shuttle as well, so we could get back to Stockholm without difficulty. We called my cousin from their office, and she was there in the station when we arrived. We will certainly recommend you to any of our friends who plan to travel by motorhome in the future.

K Cox, 06 october 2008
We rented an RV from McRent (Hamburg, Germany) through Idea
Merge. Idea Merge did a great job; I would rent through them again.
They were very helpful when McRent did not want to supply the
camping table/chairs that I had already paid for (when we returned
McRent did include the table and chairs). We had an excellent trip --
we travelled to Denmark also -- and I would recommend renting an
RV in Europe to anyone with a bit of an adventurous spirit. Thanks!

Andrew Henderson, 30 september 2008
We picked up a camper truck at Halifax for a tour of Nova Scotia for 3 weeks. This size of RV is ideal for 2 people and was in good order inside and out. Very good service from Fraserway Rentals and generally good campsites throughtout the Province. the Provincial parks are more spacious than the private ones and in our view better value all round.
Holiday spoiled by collapse of Zoom Airline!
Only complaint was the information on some of the tourist maps regarding projected times for journeys, which were often greatly underestimated.

Andrew (Scotland)

steve W, 28 september 2008
We rented a HUGE RV from "EL MONTE" through Ideamerge starting near Vancouver and heading south to San Francisco. Washington, Portland and California werew all quite magnificent, as was the RV itself and the people and places met along the way. We did it easily in one week but having 3 weeks would have been better!

We are Europeans and were happy paying a lost of cash for such the luxury of driving such a big RV and the resulting experience. Our only critisism (and a big opportunity for the owners) is we were willing to pay more for a fully kitted out RV - with the sort of gear I'd expect anyone would want to take on a camping trip and use - such as better utensil, a table, a lamp etc not to mention fishing rod, canoe, bike, inflatable etc. The lack of "toys" was not critical but could make a big difference to a longer trip. As it was we bought a whole lot of stuff in WALMART...

Other than that - just great!

David McDonnell, 23 september 2008
Me and my friends decided to do a tour from chicago to LA. A total of 3400miles. We rented our RV from motouris as they offered a combination of excellent service and excellent price. The RV itself was spot on, no problems at all. Very comfortable and it had no problems with demanding roads in colorado or high temperatures in vegas. An excellent machine. The pickup and drop off locations were placed well and each station boasted a team of extremely professional and friendly staff.
Motouris was an excellent company to deal with and I look forward to many more years of RV rental.

Michal Gabrialowicz, 17 september 2008
Thank You very much for an excellent vehicle. We spent perfect holidays. The car was just fine, fuel consumption was regular, the engine could have been stronger, but anyway we weren't rushing anywhere. All the equipment worked just fine. Camping sites all around Europe were very comfortable. I can't imagine next summer (or maybe even spring) holidays without camper. The person in Duesseldorf responsible for running the rental station was very competent, helpful, and nice. He spoke fluent English, which was very important. Thanks again. We will remember about IdeaMerge for sure.
With regards
Michal Gabrialowicz

David Davies, 17 september 2008
We recently rented a McRent Premium Plus, sleeps up to 6, (Dethleffs 7871-2), and had a great holiday in Austria and Italy (near Venice). The vehicle was excellent. On pick-up in Munich the Venice wasn't ready at the agreed time and we had to wait the best part of 2 hours however apart from that the pick-up of the vehicle was fine. We had communicated that we were dropping the vehicle back a day early but this weasn't communicated to the Sulzemoos dealer so agin some delay. As as said the vehilce was excellent, it drove and handled really well, and it's facilites were very good. We had an excellent holiday. The only thing we were surprised at was that given the excellent storage (which we were pleasantly surprised at) that a few more basic weren't provided or offered, eg. brush, mop, bucket, bikes for hire, more kitchen utensils, etc. Also the video had suggested that the toilet chemical was provided we had none so had to buy at extortionate cost! However these are minor complaints about an excellent vehicle.

Joanne Robb Des Gray , 13 september 2008
We hired a camper for 49 days around France & Italy (6000 kms) and overall had a fabulous trip and now that we are back home just realize how much we actually saw and did.

Idea Merge was an efficient way to book this over the net and we commend them on their prompt service with all required information in detail. That was great, thank you.
.
Only having motorhomed in US and no experience we Europe we chose Avis Caraway thinking they would be good with a name like Avis, however we have to say we were disappointed with quite a lot of things about the camper and reading other reviews seems we all have the same issues, seems Avis could do a lot better. The other thing that annoyed us when I commented about certain things in the camper, the guy at Avis kept shrugging and saying “This is France”.

1) Camper was old and shabby – 47,000km on the clock
2) Some of the seat’s upholstery was ripped
3) Kitchen kit shocking – china and glass are very impractical in a camper
4) Blankets – horrid – pleased we bought our own sheets and towels
5) Van was not very clean, in yet we paid a prep fee!
6) The blinds were old and hard to bring up and down
7) The fridge had a faulty lock
8) Maps and Campsite information was inadequate
9) Directions to depot – useless

For the money we spent, versus the service and camper we got from Avis did not represent value - we would not hire again from them. Despite all that we had no breakdowns and no mechanical trouble and very much enjoyed France and Italy.
In the USA we hire from Road Bear who are exceptional in every way – and our 10m camper there is like our own “private mobile hotel” brand new every year – we highly recommend them, and for the record it is not hard to park a 10m in the US – there is space everywhere!

Hints for others:

1) Take own linen
2) GPS a definite must for easy travelling
3) Keep off the freeways for better sightseeing
4) Get own maps and campground info

A great way to travel, will be back – and will be in contact with Idea Merge.

Kind Regards
Joanne Robb & Des Gray
Queenstown – New Zealand

Bill Sargent, 11 september 2008
We, my wife and I, recently returned from a 7 week drive in a McRent Citroen van. I was very happy with the vehicle which was near new, clean and very reliable. It was fuel efficient and really did suit our needs. The pick up and drop off were fine and McRent Munich explained well the ins and outs of the vehicle before we left. Bike racks were included on the vehicle. We planned to buy bikes on our trip but could never find where to get them. They would have been a welcome addition as the size of the vehicle meant we parked outside main centres. If they could be included as a part of future rentals or a scheme could be arranged with a bike hire company as a part of the rental, I would definitely hire them in future.

Thank you. Our trip was great and would be confident to rent again from you.

Bill Sargent

Lekah Frenkel families, Israel, 11 september 2008
Hello all!
In August we had a terrific two weeks' Europe trip with great help from IdeaMerge (special thanks to Mark Carr, Doug and Eric Bredesen - excellent job).
We rented Compact Luxury and Family Standard vehicles, both in practically new conditions.For family of four we would suggest Compact Luxury,wich have a big useful laggage container, easier to drive as it lower and narrower and no need to assemble/disassemble a double bed at the center of a saloon.
There were no problems at all recieving/returning vehicles at Mannheim's McRent station - very kind personell. The only difficulty was to get to the station itself from the railway station - althought its not a long distance, but to get there with 4 children and a lot of laggage is a real challenge.McRent people did not agree to pick us from and to the railway station.
At return it was possible to clean up the vehicle at the station itself, wich is very convinient.
Another advice for non-european travellers is to rent a vendor's GPS device. It includes all McRent stations around Europe,vehicle (Fiat) repair shops, tourist information points etc'.
Finally, we want to thank again IdeaMerge stuff for helping us to transform our dream into reality.

Marco Sciuto, 09 september 2008
the motorhome was really great and all well organized. we were a little bit disappointed about the total milage because the rental fares don't include unlimited milage fare and so, in most of the cases, you have to pay additional fare for every kilometer you drive.
byb the way, the sign to the rental office in stockholm are not clear ( we had a GPS navigator but it was hard the same).

Don Bobert, Vancouver Canada, 08 september 2008
We rented a Dethleffs GlobeR 5881 Family Plus unit from McRent in Hamburg for 2 weeks in August 2008.The unit was almost new, with 6500 km on the odometer, and we put 4300 km on it travelling in Northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

If you have three kids this unit is excellent as it has 2 rear bunk beds, an almost king size over-cab bed, and the kitchen table conversion-bed. Our smallest child, who is 5, slept with my wife and I in the over-cab bed, which meant we never had to take the kitchen table bed up and down.

We had rented the same vehicle from McRent in Frankfurt for 3 weeks in 2005. There have been some good updates, including a more sturdy fridge door closure mechanism, a deeper and wider sink, a back-up camera with sound, and an increase in horsepower from 110 to 130. We got about 21 mpg US (11.2 litres/100 km Canadian)which we think is excellent for a vehicle of this weight.

The McRent people in Hamburg were a little more relaxed about the cleamliness of the vehicle when we returned it than those in Frankfurt in 2005. It's hard to clean a vehicle like this before you return it when you are not given any equipment and therefore have to buy it all. We spent 5 hours cleaning it in 2005 and 3 hours this year. In 2005 we barely "passed" so that we could get all of our 1000 euro deposit back. This time we passed with flying colors.

One caution I would have for North Americans is that the roads in Norway north of Oslo can be very narrow, especially if you are not on a main road beginning with an "E" such as the E6 (the main north-south road). Roads such as the 55 which go east-west over the glaciers to the fjords are one lane total (not one lane each way) and a number of times this meant backing up for hundreds of feet when you met a semi coming the other way. This is not for everyone, especially on an incline.

All in all I would highly recommend this way of travelling in Europe. It is much cheaper than renting a car and staying in hotels, and way more fun!

John Weel, 07 september 2008
Found IdeaMerge/McRent [Frankfurt/Offenbach Am Main, Germany] on the internet in April 2008 and booked for my wife and I a two-week European camping adventure in August 2008 for travelling through Germany @ Campsite Wolfsground/1 night, Schluchsee; Camping Lago Maggiore @ Tenero Switzerland/1 night(bought the pass for driving in Switzerland); Italy we took a B&B 2 nights for safe parking and then train/boat from LaSpecia to Cinque Terra; Antibes, France, for lunch and Camping Bagatelle 2 nights @ Avignon, France [Pont du Gard ... magnificent); Camping Nautic Almata 2 nights @ Sant Pere Pescadoor, Spain; quick lunch vist to Carcassonne, France, and then 2 nights in Dordogne area, Camping Le Capeyrou @ Beynac, France; then drove long day Beaune for lunch and arrive at Campsite ClairVacancies 2 nights in Herrlisheim-pres-Colmar to tour Colmar and Equisheim. Last day visited Heidelberg, Germany, for lunch.
The Compact Standard Globecar Globescout Fiat Ducati suited our needs perfectly re size for 2 people and mileage/diesel . Pickup and dropoff experience was excellent. We read reviews and appreciated all comments as we had no past experience other than our own trailering RV trips from home in British Columbia, Canada. I had purchased maps but reviews said to buy a GPS and so glad I purchased the TomTom.
Tips: I rented bedding but bring your own duvet and pillows or buy en route as rental pillows not comfortable and extra duvet needed in mountain camping areas; towels adequate but be prepared to add a few items to kitchen supplies. My wife and I enjoyed grocery shopping and she made good meals on the 2-burner stove. We brought our own fold-up chairs/table but would rent them next trip instead of bedding.
I did a lot of internet searches before we left for camp sites(nothing provided) and reserved some; others not. I booked the Etap Hotel in Offenbach am Main first night and last night (walk to McRent easily). Grocery store just down the street was excellent.
I would definitely recommend IdeaMerge/McRent. My wife and I are already researching another European camping adventure.

Mikel Larrea, 05 september 2008
It was our first experience renting a motorhome. Everything was fine. In particular, the pick up was excellent. Many thanks to Andy for all his explanations!!! The information you provided as (maps, camping directory...) was very helpful.

I can for sure recommend IdeaMerge to anybody.

Best regards,
Mikel Larrea

The Holgate's, 05 september 2008
We have rented twice from Frankfurt, completing some 12,000km and on both occasions we have received nothing but first class service. The staff are extremely friendly and only too eager to please, nothing is too much trouble.

The vehicles are all in really good condition with the kit that is supplied with the vehicles being sufficient to allow us to enjoy our holidays. Accepting and returning the vehicles is painless and completed with a professional approach

We would not hesitate to rent another vehicle from Frankfurt. Thanks to all for making our holidays hassle free and memorable

Raffi Balmanoukian, 03 september 2008
I picked up the McRent in Dusseldorf (Mulheim); it was no problem being a bit early and, on return, was also able to camp overnight in the lot (there is a public dump site just down the road to fill/empty tanks for the final time). There was no language barrier and the review was thorough.

I had broken a glass range cover from a speed bump, and was treated very fairly on this damage.

All accessories were in good shape and clean.

The motor home itself was in good shape - with a few scratches that were noted on the inspection - but could have been better designed and laid out (I rented a similar sized one in Belgium the year before on the same chassis and it was much better thought out); no reflection on the rental company. It was very efficient on fuel and easy to handle. The tires were excellent, and the fact propane and exterior cleaning were included in the price helped defray the operating costs considerably.

I would have no difficulty renting from these folk again, and in fact hope to do so.

Pam Symons, 31 august 2008
We collected our van from Nantes, we had a bit of trouble at the depot, as they had prepared the wrong van for us but when mistake realised van was changed over, but the process was very long, took over 3 1/2 hours, even though we had sent all our information through previously. Van was in immaculate condition, beigh that it was almost new. Had no problems on our two weeks travelling in France, which was an amzing holiday, would recommend to anyone and will probable do again in the near future. When we returned van we were again kept for a long period again whilst they went over everything, we had cleaned the van inside and out, but they insisted that it wasn't clean enough as they found dust in a storage box, that we didn't even know existed, so we were charged for cleaning, which was disappointing as we had gone out of our way to keep van clean, and seeing as no cleaning equipment supplied, not even a broom, or a dust cloth, that wasn't easy. Staff were quite friendly and did help us with other issues. We would most probably hire through them again, but take a broom next time.

Avis Family, Ontario, Canada, 27 august 2008
Executive Summary - Had a great time. Camper was an ideal way to travel for our family. Would do it again.

Our family of 5 (parents and 3 teenage sons) had a fantastic 2 week camping excursion around northern France starting the last week of July 2008. We arrived in Paris on a Wednesday and spent two nights in a wonder hotel just one block away from Notre Dame Cathedral (Hotel Europe St. Severin). We returned to the same hotel of our last night before heading home. Our camper pick up was at the Rennes depot. We took the high speed TVG train to Rennes and luckily found a taxi van to carry our group plus a mountain of luggage. The depot is about 20 minutes from the train station.

Faxing in the rental information prior to leaving Canada really helped to streamline the process for signing out the camper. The staff at the rental shop were courteous and helpful. We had a reasonably detailed briefing of the ins and outs of the camper and were on the road in about 1.25 hours. We had the Family Luxury unit that has a huge storage bunker below the rear bed and we put that storage to use for the bulk of our luggage. The camper was brand new with only 200 km on the odometer.

When planning for the trip we purchased an SD card for our TomTom GPS with maps for all of Western Europe. We don’t know how we navigated around Europe on previous driving trips without this unit - we certainly wouldn’t attempt another trip without a GPS. It took most of the stress out of driving. Our preference - stay off of toll roads - they are typically built in never-ending ditches with no views. Go for the smaller 4-lane and 2-lane roads to see more of the country. (Set your GPS to avoid toll roads).

We brought $10 Canadian Tire summer sleeping bags with us to reduce housekeeping (as well, reviews were not very positive for the bedding package that was available). The sleeping bags worked great, and we would not have had guilty minds if we had to leave them behind to free up space in our luggage for our return flight. We also brought our own old pillows (some of those remain in France). Use the stabilizer legs under the rear carriage to reduce rocking of the vehicle when parked overnight.

The utensils, cooking equipment, dishes, etc. were adequate for our needs. Hint: pack towels or sheets around the dishes and cups when travelling to eliminate shifting of the load.

We purposely avoided using the on-board toilet. We did not realize that emptying of the dirty sink water should have been done at every possible opportunity. After about 5 days of warm summer weather an unpleasant odour was noticed and it intensified as days past. We finally figured out it was the fermenting dirty water vessel that was back gassing.

To our surprise, there was a strong-box (safe) under one of the seats for storing valuables.

We were amazed that there were essentially no bugs during our entire trip which included coastline and inland travel. The campground book provided was on little use. We had pre-purchased a Alan Rogers guide book which was of more use. Unfortunately, we were unable to purchase the interactive CD from ACSI - I think it would have been very helpful since we did bring along laptop computer to allow for email access and cataloguing of digital photographs.

We eventually discovered that campers are allowed to set up overnight at certain parking areas throughout France. One Dutch camper said there is a book that identified all of these free campsites. District information centres can point out the free campsites in their area. We utilized three of these free sites and also set up camp on residential streets on two occasions.

We wish that we would have had a few fold up chairs to use once we settled in for the night. We did not arrange for rental of the chair/table set due to comments from other reviews.

Our travels took us from Carnac, all along the D-Day Beaches, through Flanders Field (including parts of Belgium) and down the Lore Valley. A total of 2,700 km of travel was accumulated. A typical fill of diesel fuel was just of 100Euro. We had to fill up about 6 times in total.

We spent a few hours on a last night in the camper to do a thorough cleaning. No problems upon return, even though the upper corner panel had a couple of dings from encountering a tree limb. No additional charges or penalties, only the cost as per original booking arrangements.

Sharon Rumba, 27 august 2008
We had a very good experience with everyone at IdeaMerge as well as the pick up depot, McRent in Frankfurt. The pick-up and drop-off went well and the motorhome was clean and gave us no serious problems . The only problem was the fridge not locking when we were parked. It was roomy with a great layout for travelling, and still small enough for parking and doing quick U-Turns when needed. Thanks so much, I will definately recommend IdeaMerge.

Heidi, 26 august 2008
Thank you ideamerge, your service was excellent. We had a great time in the truck camper we rented from Fraserway. The staff at Fraserway was friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, a pleasure to do business with. Banff and Jasper National parks are exquisite and the campg