Ali SHOROSH, 11 may 2013
Everything was great. New cars, clean and everything is working.
But the Only thing missing is the full insurance that covers all
damages .you pay it once while renting and it's done.

Liliane e Marcelo , 31 march 2013
Nós pegamos o Motorhome em Main Frankfurt, no mês de janeiro. Viajamos pela Alemanha, Holanda, Bélgica, França e Suiça. Fomos muito bem recebidos, tanto pela locadora do motorhome quanto pelas pessoas das cidades por onde passamos. Foi uma viagem/aventura muito interessante. Vimos belas paisagens, muuuuuuita neve (inclusive um dia ficamos atolados com o motorhome num camping e precisamos de um trator para nos desatolar) e hábitos diferentes.
O Motohome facilita muito o deslocamento entre as cidades. No entanto nessa estação do ano a maioria dos campings estão fechados e é muito difícil estacionar nos grandes centros.
Para os que quiserem mais detalhes da viajem podem me enviar mail: marcelo.k.souza@gmail.com.

Carol and Dan Canada, March 2012, 23 march 2013
After 10 camping trips to Europe and the last two through
IdeaMerge, I highly recommend them. My experiences renting
with them have been simple, professional and reasonably priced.
Our 5 week trip to Germany, France and Italy last Aug. / Sept.
was wonderful. The Fiat Dethleffs Globebus T11 was problem
free, powerfull and easy to drive. Wish we had these in Canada.
We had an issue with the prepaid EU 60 camper table and chairs
from McRent Friedburg, but this was redressed satisfactorily by
Doug at IdeaMrge when we returned. All in all we are thinking of
booking camping trip no. 11 very soon with IdeaMrge.
From our experience, a few tips:
1. Have the camper and all its working parts thoroughly explained
to you.
2. Make sure everything works, especially stove, fridge, water
taps, etc.
3. Make a thorough visual check for scratches and dents. Take
photos.
4. Test awning if you have one.
5. Get a good camping guide in your language.
6. GPS is fine, but small scale maps are indispensable.
7. Bedding and kitchen kits are usually poor quality and
inadequate, so take what you can or buy quite reasonably at
larger supermarkets.
8. Dive safe and enjoy your trip.

Kathie, Bayern-West Austria, September 2013, 22 march 2013
It was our second trip with campervan (the first was in Holland). Both the times we rented in IdeaMerge, and loved it very much. The vehicle was clean, comfortable and well equipped. The service was excellent.
The only problem renting in Germany (near Munich) was difficult accessibility of the depot location, especially with all luggage on you. In Holland it was easier, as there was shuttle service to nearest train station.
Moreover, we recommend to make full vehicle insurance that the company advise.

Jim Sack, 22 march 2013
We loved the vehicle, except we were not told about the heater so
most of our evenings were cold indeed. The water heater was
simply slow, so we took out showers not in the tiny bathroom, but
at campsites which in Germany are usually very nice. Memmingen
was remarkable and beautiful, Berlin was right in the center only a
few meters from two U-Bahn stations, Rudesheim was about as
charming as life can get, so a useless shower was not much of a
hinderance. We were first-timers who picked up in Mannheim.
People there were simply excellent to work with, especially
Wolfram. Great guy with a fine sense of humor in two languages.
The drop off, however, was not as easy. They wanted to charge
many Euro because there were a few, and only a few crumbs on the
stove. A second cleaning and they refunded our full deposit. That
came after we discovered a new storage space that was filthy...from
the previous renter. Otherwise, the vehicle was simply wonderful
and I would not hesitate to take it out for another month on the
road.

Julie Australia March 2013, 22 march 2013
Renting through Ideamerge was a good experience great communication and information provided.
Hired a motorhome from McRent Friedburg for 3 weeks in September - October 2012. First time motorhome vacationers and absolutely loved it and will definitely do it again.
We arrived Frankfurt spent first day and night in Bad Nauheim 3 kilometres from Friedburg in a small family hotel, great lttle town where Elvis lived and where he met Priscilla.
Collection of van went smoothly and Susanne from McRent very professional, pleasure dealing with her, unfortunately she was on leave when we returned our van.
We brought with us a set of old linen, pillows towels and bits and pieces and left them all behind when we left. Used our own GPS and bought BordAtlas 2012 which was excellent for locating sites to stay. We bought a German Vodafone Data Only SIM for internet access and had great reception all over Germany.
Next time we would:
- hire or buy bicycles, Germany so easy to get around on bikes
- Hire a van with bed that you didn't have to climb up ladder
- Find out if there were vans with solar panels adds to the independence, or if all the power points are occupied at sites.
Experience when returning the van:
- told that we had incurred a speeding fine, we initially paid for it but when we asked to have a look at the fine it turned out that it was before we had even arrived in Germany and thus not our fine. No oops sorry about that the staff member was more concerned about who had made the error than apologising to us for their mistake. So check the fine documents if it happens to you.
- They went over the van inside and out with virtually a magnifying glass and found a small shallow dent about 2-3cm in diameter, they asked us if we had insurance our excess being 400euro so thats what they charged us for what they claimed was the damage. We were flying out a few hours later and so accepted, I am not a panel beater but I suspect we were overcharged.
- The refund that was processed for our deposit when we returned the vehicle did go through and it wasn't until we followed up with them 2 weeks later that they processed it.
Other than these minor things, it was a fabulous experience, and we would do it all again in a flash.

John Povlsen, 22 march 2013
We have been using Ideamerge several times. We had a trip in
2010 from Denmark to Portugal, to Australia in 2011 and from
Demark to South Italy in the late part of the year using small
campers from Ideamerge.
Campers are very expensive to hire in Denmark. You will have
much more for your money if you hire the camper in Hamburg.
We hired a VW California camper twice in Hamburg. The
campers were nearly new and in excellent condition. The firms
have been perfect and quick and kindly personal.
I think, that We have travelled about 25.000 km. during the 3 trips
each lasting about 5 weeks and have been very satisfied.
Your
John Povlsen Denmark

Virginia, de Buenos Aires, enero 2013, 21 march 2013
Rentamos una motorhome con Mac Rent en enero. Muy
profesionales los empleados, muy eficientes. La autocaravana
en excelentes condiciones. Recorrimos Alemania, Francia,
Suiza, Belgica, Italia y Austria, ciudades fronterizas. La
autocaravana da una gran sensación de libertad e intimidad, no
hay que lidiar con las valijas, ni con personas en particular como
puede ocurrir en un tour. La desventaja de enero es que muchos
campings están cerrados y en general es difícil estacionar en las
ciudades. Pero definitivamente lo repetiría.

Jason Marlene, 21 march 2013
We hired a caravan from McRent in Frankfurt last October. Although the rental depot is a fair way outside Frankfurt, we had no trouble catching a few trains from the airport, and a short taxi to the depot. Our caravan was in very good condition, clean inside and out. However, it does not come with linens, or cookware so make sure you order that before if necessary. The size we rented is capable of sleeping 4, but I wouldn't recommend any more than two adults, and maybe one small child. It's funtional, but cozy. The caravan was a 6 speed manual, so make sure you're comfortable driving that in a foreign country. Overall our experience was great, we put 1500km's on the caravan, had no troubles, and really enjoyed the freedom. Would do it again, a great way to travel!

Grant and Glenda, 21 march 2013
We rented a campervan for 4 weeks in September. Ideamerge were
brilliant to deal with, as were McRent in Freidberg, Frankfurt where
we collected the van. We travelled 5500kms through France, Italy,
Switzerland and Germany staying in camp grounds. It is a great way
to travel, you unpack once and that's it. You can change your
itinerary as you please. It took us 90 seconds to set up at a
campsite, all you need to do is plug the power in and turn the gas
on. We found the Europeans very friendly and their road manners
much better than the locals here in New Zealand. Drop off was an
absolute breeze. We ensured the van was immaculate, so it got
checked out quickly, our deposit was refunded and we were on our
way.
A couple of points ( which are covered on Ideamerge's website) but
I'll repeat them.
1. You will be shown a vehicle manual at pick up time which lists
several languages on the cover. Do not assume that the contents
are also in several languages. Our's was totally in German. Not a big
problem but worth checking.
2. It really is worthwhile bringing a camping guide with you. GPS's
do show campsites but of course, not their standard or when they
close for the season. WiFi can be very slow in a lot of areas.
3. The pillows may not be too comfortable.
Our van was a 3 month old Fiat Ducato Globescout which ran really
well, was very comfortable and was quite fuel frugal. About
10l/100km or maybe slightly less.
We would use Ideamerge and McRent again without hesitation.

Eric and Annie Hew, 21 march 2013
We hired a campervan from McRent at Friedberg through
Ideamerge last October and November for 2 months. We found
the booking process to be seamless and not at all painful.
Emails to Ideamerge were answered promptly, questions
answered well and accurately. Delivery from McRent at
Friedberg was with typical Teutonic efficiency. If only the rest of
Europe was like that! The campervan was clean and everything
worked, so we have no complaints about that.
In future, we would hire the campervan earlier in the year as
towards the end of our holiday, most camping grounds were shut
and it was difficult to find water and dispose of grey and black
waste! The upside is that there were less tourists and the locals
were a lot friendlier!
All in all, we will definitely go with Ideamerge and McRent
again and definitely from Friedberg!
Eric and Annie

Gary and Ev Boynton, 14 february 2013
We heard about Ideamerge on RV.Net from a traveler that spent time in Europe with a motorhome. They recommended Ideamerge for information on motorhome rental. Their website was extremly helpful in our planning. We ended up renting from McRent in Friedberg, Germany. My wife and I rented a small class c motorhome for 5 weeks. We have been motorhoming for over 40 years now in the USA, and this was one of the best motorhome experiences we have ever had. We used Imagemerge to book our motorhome and everything went as planned. Not one issue with the rental. I would have no problem with using this business again. They responded, (promply I must add) to each e-mail I sent them on any concerns I had.

John and Elsie Fisher, 26 october 2012
We recently had a DRM van from Berlin for period of 3 weeks and it was very good. It performed well and we had a great
time. Just a couple of points.
1 Do a good inspection of the van at pickup, particularly any small chips in the windscreen
2 Make sure the inside is impecable on return otherwise it will cost you for additional cleaning. I thought we had
done an excellent job but it still cost me 20E for them to bring it up to their satisfaction
3 Check the bedding kits if ordered. We had to buy some sheets after discovering they were not supplied. Sleeping
directly on the seat cushions did not feel quite right.

I would also strongly recommend using a GPS for Europe. We had one from DRM and it was only 60E for the 3 weeks and
it was great. We had an IPAD as well but as we took in 5 countries it was just not feasible to get a local SIM card.
Also the camps are good and most have Wifi but its limited to within 50m of the reception building, hence downloading
maps etc was not the best way to navigate unless you wanted to stand in the dark near the reception while pottering on
the internet. In our case it was essential as we did not plan the overall trip before going so we had to plan each day
ahead, hence searching for the next camp site required the internet.
If your in one country, get a local SIM and you can use the Ipad or Iphone to navigate and search the net for sites,
otherwise make sure you get a GPS and plan well ahead, particularly late in the season (after 30 Sept) when a lot of
camp sites are closed.
Overall experience 9/10
John

Gordon Vicki, 17 october 2012
We hired a motorhome for 6 weeks and travelled through Europe nearly 7000km. We live in New Zealand and travelled a long way so we were apprehensive about any problems. Suzanne at the Friedburg depot was really friendly and helpful. She made sure we had all the kitchen utensils etc we would need and gave us some good advice. We stayed at camp grounds exclusively and would absolutely do it again although I would get a smaller van next time as narrow roads can be a problematic. The van was in great condition and went perfectly. Some things you do need to buy or bring with you are bikes,outdoor gas cooker (if you like cooking outside) and a camping mat so you can keep the inside clean. We found the beds really comfortable and it was a breeze being in the van this long a period. Drop off went well and no damage. again Suzanne was very helpful. Recomend this type of holiday without hesitation.

Maiken Andersen, 13 october 2012
We rented a motor home in May 2012 for 2 weeks(in Frankfurt.) The motorhome and the service were both great and staff was very helpful and friendly. The only issue we had was with the pick-up at the airport. We waited for 1 hour past scheduled pick-up time and then after we called we had to wait for another hour (which was hard after a long plane trip). In addition, the driver(from a local taxi company) was continously talking on his cell phone in a non-german language, which we found rather rude.

Michal Wypych, 11 october 2012
We rented motor home for the second time in the same place. No problems at all with checking in and out. Good service from staff in Berlin. Would definitely recommend to others to rent a camper in this way

mary pearson, 09 october 2012
Thank you staff. We loved our motor home. Communication lines were open all the time. We travelled from Frankfurt through Switzerland, Italy, France and back to Germany. The van was so comfortable. The water pump packed up in Italy but the staff gave us instructions to get it fixed. Will certainly rent again next time. It is certainly the way to get around

Michael Majewski, 08 october 2012
We rented a motor home in Dusseldorf for six weeks in June. Depo. is a long way from the airport, but public transport is quite good.
RV itself was excellent; almost new. We traveled to Norway and had wonderful time. Pick up and drop off was very smooth. Staff were very kind and helpful.
We would definitely recommend DRM motor-home rental to anybody. The prices of motor-homes through Ideamerge are very good. We could not get beter price anywhere even directly. Booking was straight forward with no hidden costs.

Vijay Swaminathan, 06 october 2012
We had a great trip across Europe in a Profila 580 that's worth a few pages in our Memoirs. The special features we enjoyed and appreciate are the 'cruise control, the propane connection to the heating and water system and the well-maintained engine'.
The areas that could be improved are: 1. There ought to be free airport/railway station pick-up and drop that would go a long way in customer delight. 2. There were no outdoor table and chairs along with the camper renting contract, which renders the awning redundant.
We hope that this is not one of the formal feedback input that's accumulated by the company, but would be taken in earnest. We had a good time and will surely spread the goodwill to friends who are interested in renting campers in Europe.
Vijay

Susan Morse and Kenneth Murray, Marysville,WA USA , 05 october 2012
My husband and I (mid sixties) rented through Ideamerge and McRent for 29 nights March and April 2012. We traveled through Germany, France and Luxembourg to get to the Normandy D Day Beaches and back to Frankfurt.

Working through Ideamerge went wonderfully. All of our questions were promptly answered and when there was some change with the insurance company we were notified quickly.

The pickup in Frankfurt (Friedberg) went well when we finally got to Friedberg after taking the train going the wrong direction from Frankfurt airport. My German travel phrases didn't help me much.

Suzanne at McRent was great to work with. Since we have a motorhome of our own we knew what questions to ask and what to look for in the turnover. Our Dethleffs Globebus T4 was just right for our needs and behaved nicely even for us who are not used to manual transmission vehicles. That diesel engine was great. We got 27 mpg compared to the 8 mpg we get with our own Winnebago.

Unfortunately we had a run in with a bridge in France, literally. Our Garmin GPS unit did not know that we were a motorhome and so sent us on some routes that were not really suitable for a vehicle of our size. Suffice it to say that the bridge overhead structure was too narrow for us and we were on it without warning coming out of a roundabout. The passenger side mirror glass was shattered and in moving over further we sheared off the awning in the middle of rush hour traffic near Tours. Apparently this happens frequently on this bridge. We had the adventure of car repair in France (traveler's French not much help) and spent the rest of the trip without an awning. Not sure we would have used it anyway.

We met wonderfully nice people who ran campgrounds. Check out La Esplanade in Cromary, France if you are near. Everyone was helpful and understanding and impressed that Americans had come all the way to their campground.

The return of the motorhome went off without a hitch. Suzanne even asked if I might want a job detailing rentals for her. Luckily the insurance we had purchased returned a good portion of the damage deposit. We knew replacing an awning system would be expensive and we had paid for the mirror while on the road.

Despite some tense driving situations we had a wonderful time and saw all those World War Two sights that my husband had read about and seen in movies. We truly had an adventure to remember.

Would we do it again? Yes, we are leaning in that direction with the idea of going East from Frankfurt and making a circle through Germany and possibly to Prague. Perhaps considering our bridge adventure we will look at a smaller rig to rent next time. We would definitely rent through Ideamerge again.

Ray Jenny 5 October 2012, 05 october 2012
My husband and I have rented many motorhomes over
the years and dealing with Doug at Ideamerge would
rate as our best experience. Nothing was too much
trouble,accommodating our changes half-way through
the booking process which was much appreciated. I
would recommend Ideamerge for anyone planning a
motorhome holiday.

However, Ideamerge has no control over the
experience of their clients at the hands of the
rental companies and we were not happy with our
choice of McRent in Sulzemoos, Munich. We arrived
early at the company as we were required to check
out of our motel by 10.00am and notified McRent of
our arrival. Pick up time officially was 3.00pm.
Without even checking the status of our vehicle for
a possible earlier pick-up time, we were told to
come back at 3.00pm and not before. At about 3.30, a
gentleman, who I think was Peter, began the hand-
over process. My husband is very fussy about noting
all marks, scratches and dents but Peter continually
waved us away saying, 'Don't worry so much about it.
We don't check the motorhomes closely when you drop
them back' But my husband was persistent over every
mark. Because it was so late in the day and we were
anxious to get on the road, I didn't check the
contents of the van that Doug at Ideamerge had
indicated would be provided. No camping guide, no
dustpan, no broom, no glasses, no bucket, no can
opener, no corkscrew, no tools and to my husband's
horror, no spare tyre. And these are just a few of
the things not provided. We travelled through
Germany and up to Norway for 5 weeks before
returning to McRent to drop off the motorhome. When
we arrived for the drop-off we waited some time to
have someone do the return check and I was confused
because Peter was there and I could not work out why
he was not doing the check as he had done the pick-
up for us. Then another motorhome arrived for drop-
off and lo and behold, he promptly went over to that
motorhome and did the hand-back with us still
waiting. Standing back and watching the whole
process unfold, we realised why. Peter had handled
pick-up and told us not to worry about the scratches
and marks, when in reality, 3 men went over our
motorhome in extreme detail. They opened and shut
every opening, crawled on their backs to inspect the
underside of the motorhome, did everything but get
out a magnifying glass to find any added marks. Of
course Peter could not handle our drop-off. What he
had told us was in direct contrast to reality. And
then the inspection proceeded to the inside of the
motorhome. We were told to hand the motorhome back
clean and this we did. However, they found 2 hairs
on the bathroom floor near the vanity mirror and
proceeded to inform my husband that they would now
have to charge us the cleaning fee. My husband was
most agitated by this and after a firey discussion
the cleaning fee was waived. It was very obvious to
us that the company was just out to extract as much
money as possible from their clients. We overheard
office staff say to another client who was being
billed for a tiny dent high up on the door of their
motorhome 'You shouldn't worry. You don't have to
pay for it. Your insurance will". Is this how they
make their money, fleecing clients because their
insurance will pay?

Never again will I deal with McRent at Sulzemoos and
would pay more to avoid them in the future. Not our
most pleasant experience.

Daniel and Johanne, 05 october 2012
Picked up the camper in Frankfurt, Germany. Staff were very kind and helpful, we even arrived very early for pick up and van was ready, all was very well explained and the van was very nice and clean. Fun that there was leftover stuff from other campers such as dishsoap, matches, bug repelant, etc. Saved us buying these items, which we also left when we returned the van. Both of us are fluent in both french and english languages, but trying to read a german camping guide was a bit difficult, would suggest having a couple of the camping guides in english. Another thing would be that there be sufficient GPSs for all to rent. We ended up buying our own for the trip. Overall the experience was wonderful, thank you.

Paul Macey, 05 october 2012
We can recommend Ideamerge for the campervan hire.
The pickup and dropoff details were clearly
explained. The motorhome was brand new and all its
features where explained really well.

The bad side was that there was no kettle and no
frying pan. There was no basic cleaning equipment
like a sponge, dishwashing liquid and we had to pay
for the utensils such as knives, bowls and spoons
where other companies offered these for free. The
number of utensils did not match the number of
people the motorhome could carry.

Kjetil Stokkeland Norway, 04 october 2012
We rented motor home for the second time in the same place. No problems at all with checking in and out. Good service from staff in Frankfurt. Would definitely recommend to others to rent a camper in this way

Graham Smith, 04 october 2012
Booked and paid thru Ideamerge, and had no troubles. We picked up the van in Munich, it was almost brand new, and we spent the next 3 months touring Eastern Europe in comfort. MCRent were extremely courteous and check in & out were no hassles.
I would recommend this process to anyone.

TS, 04 october 2012
Had a great time with motorhome. Found Doug to be very helpful. He dealt with a few last minute issues very efficiently. Would definetly rent from them again.

Rob, Karen and Sarah Stewart, September 2012, 03 october 2012
This was our first trip to Europe and also our first camper rental.
We only had eight days to travel in Europe, and our trip included delivering our daughter to school in Schladming, Austria. A camping trip en route seemed very appealing.
We found Ideamerge through an Internet search, and through them, we were connected with DRM.
From our first correspondence with Mark Carr of Ideamerge, we found them to be both most helpful and prompt in answering our questions. The quote provided us was both accurate and comprehensive, and even included bedding. We chose DRM because of their proximity to the Frankfurt airport, and upon arrival, found them to be most helpful and thorough in their orientation to the vehicle and service.
As our itinerary included travelling south through the Black Forest of Germany to Bern Switzerland and on to Salzburg and finally Schaldming with overnights in campsiutes along the way, we found the VW California Camper ideal for our purposes. We are avid VW owners and have owned several VW Westfalias, so the VW Camper was both somewhat familiar and cosy for the three of us.
The vehicle performed flawlessly, was well equipped and was a delight to drive. I only wish we could have purchased it and taken it home to Canada.
I would be glad to rent through Ideamerge and DRM again, and have already recommended them to friends travelling to Europe next spring.
P.S. The TomTom GPS rental from DRM was worth every Euro in assisting us navigate through highways, cities and villages along our way.

Grant Prunster, Canberra - Australia - 10 Sep 12, 04 october 2012
Booking a large camper van through IdeaMerge and McRent was a great choice. Dealing with Doug at IdeaMerge was easy and very rewarding for us. No issue was too big for Doug to handle and he went the extra mile to ensure that we got the best deal possible. Even when we request an extra 2 days at the end of our request, proved to be challenging and agreed to.

The pickup point was in Dusseldorf and Ollie was all smile and very pleasant to deal with. English was his second language but he mastered it very well. A complete inspection of the vehicle was required and Ollie was very meticulous, noting every scratch and dent.

During our time with the vehicle, we found that the pillows were a little sub standard and lumpy. The kitchen was very basic, to the point that there was not even a kettle so the billy had to be boiled in a small saucepan for a cup of coffee. The tables and chairs were adequate and almost like new. The built in Satellite Television would have been brilliant, if there was at least one speaking channel on it. We used DVDs to entertain us during the nights. The operating manuals for the operation of the vehicle and appliances were in both English and German, so we had no problem there.

After 2 weeks of driving through the UK, Amsterdam and Germany, we were very happy not to have acquired any scratches to an almost brand new vehicle. We ended up getting a stone chip, just 3 hours from the end of our hire and it cost us 500 Euro for the excess on insurance. Hopefully, our travel insurance will pick that tab up. After handing the keys back, Ollie arranged to have a taxi take us back to the airport for our flight out and onto Singapore.

If we had our time over, I think we may have opted for a slightly smaller RV, just for the convenience of driving through the smaller villages and allowing a second driver to take a turn at the wheel. Overall, it was a fantastic experience.

As it has been mentioned in other comments, do some prior planning on where you want to go and get a GPS.

Janeve Haskins Australia, 03 october 2012
McRent from Sulzemoos. 18thJuly/24th August 2012.
Pickup went OK
Peter had bad English and was seemingly careless about marks on the Van, rushing past."Oh, we not worry about that."
The van was new,clean and comfortable. Kitchen equipement very ordinary.
Much to our horror, Es1200 were removed from our Cred Card account.
On return the treatment could not have been more different. A man who spoke excellent English, went over the Van with a fine toothcomb.
He found a tiny dint in the top panel of the Van entry door. Told us," Your fault, you pay. Aussies always have insurance." Es250.00!!!!!!!!!!!
We felt it may have been there all the time. Not noticed at pickup.
So, if you choose to pick up a Van from Sulzemoos,in Germany, double check everything.We, of course, shall not return to this spot.

Ideamerge, you assistance with this rental was great. We appreciated this. Our holiday was also successful. Just a sad ending. No insurance payout as yet.

Philip Anderson, from UK, 22 august 2012
Dear IdeaMerge & McRent,

I am writing with reference to our summer motorhome rental from which we have recently returned.

I have to begin by saying how thankful we are to our friends who recommended both IdeaMerge and McRent. The entire process from start to finish has been nothing but wonderful! Our actual holiday was amazing and indescribably rewarding for all of us, especially our 9 year old son. We never imagined how sad he would be handing back the motorhome after 4 weeks and no television!

The booking process was amazingly straightforward and efficient, aided by the excellent service and advice provided by IdeaMerge. As for McRent Dortmund, the lady who checked us in and out could not have been more helpful or efficient. Such a smooth process, it actually took us by surprise!

Both companies have helped us have a wonderful summer holiday, during which we have already planned our next 2-3 summer holidays using you both again! I pray that your other McRent branches have such wonderful staff, as we may have to use an alternative branch depending on where our next trip takes us.

I will be in touch shortly to pick your brains concerning summer 2013, which we are already extremely excited about! As a family, we can't thank you both enough and look forward to dealing with you both again soon.

Many, many thanks and congratulations on making such a daunting trip so easy and unforgettable!

kind regards,

Ron Kumiko - Sydney, Australia, 29 june 2012
We have just returned to Sydney after a 10 week camper van rental in Europe mid April to end of June 2012. I did a lot of research prior to actually booking the camper van. Ideamerge was the best of all the rental companies and worked out cheaper then booking direct with the camper van company. The guys at Ideamerge were fantastic in getting me exactly what I needed in terms of van size and sleeping arrangements. I needed a long bed as I am quite tall and ended up with a McRent Fiat Globus 5 camper with a queen sized bed cross-ways at the back of the van. To get this van it meant we had to pick up from McRent near Lorrach in southern Germany. This meant taking a fast train from Frankfurt to Freiburg then a local traim to Bad Belingen about 3 kms from the McRent pickup site. This is also a camping site called Luginsland, very big and very good quality in terms of showers, toilets etc. We had an ACSI Camping Card for low season camping and it saved us about 300 euros over the 10 week period. On arrival at Bad Belingen station we had arranged to be picked up by McRent's Douglas Klotz but it was siesta time so we took a taxi. On Arrival the camper van was ready and Douglas did a great job of showing us the ropes. I had previously watched all the McRent videos at home on Youtube so was pretty much familiar with everything. The van was brand new, we were the first to rent it and it was great. Plenty of power and easy to drive. We did not rent bedding after reading reviews. We rented a table and two chairs (one chair collapsed in the last few days but Douglas didn't charge for it). The cooking utensils were adequate. We bought a small one burner gas stove and mainly cooked outside under the roll-out awning almost all the time. We didn't use the shower at all as all camping sites had facilities. We did not free camp except for one night in a Stelplatz in Germany. (Tip - at Stelplatz you should check for remaining electricity from previous campers before putting any money in - there are sometimes as many as 4 plug-in points per stand and you can use up remaining time free - we only had to top up for 50 cents). If in Italy avoid taking your van to Lake Como - the roads are horrendously narrow and it is a huge challenge to get around the lakeside road in the van. Suggest you stay south end of the lake and use ferries. We traveled through Germany, Italy (including via Ferry into eastern Sicily and then from Palermo to Naples via a huge ferry, comfortable nice cabin for the overnight trip) France,Switzerland, Netherlands. We covered 7,500 km in the van and 1500km in rental cars for day trips from camp sites. Don't buy fuel on the motorways, use supermarket stations at big supermarket chains - Carrefour, L.Eclerc etc but make sure there is a person in the booth at the manual pay point after filling up. The prices are much, much better than the motorways. Also, we found fuel much cheaper at suburban fuel stations. As others have suggested - take a GPS with you. A Microsoft program called Autoroute is also a good investment and runs on a laptop computer - costs about AU$90 with a GPS unit included but can still be used effectively for planning ahead and finding all sorts of points of interest, gas stations etc without a GPS attached to your computer. You can do this sitting at your table in the van and even do a lot of planning before you even leave home. It also has turn-by-turn driving instructions.
In a nutshell - we thoroughly enjoyed the first-time camper van trip. Ideamerge are the best for service and price - thanks guys. Douglas at McRent, Lorrach is a very friendly and helpful guy, speaks excellent English and was more than reasonable at return time. (We had some minor damage to a rear plastic bumper panel). Our deposit was refunded same day as hand-over of the van on return. If you are a bit nervous about driving on the right side, unfamiliar places or operating the van in general then don't be, it is a great experience and European drivers are courteous and generally obey road rules. When in doubt, stop. Always keep to the right on the motorways. Would do it all again and highly recommend Ideadmerge.

John ASHBY (Australia), 17 June 2012, 16 june 2012
We hired motorhome from McRent in Maslch (near Karlsruhe, Germany). On arrival after 24 hour flight from Australia and two short train trips from Frankfurt the staff at McRent were most helpful. All was ready to go after explanation of paperwork and motorhome operation which was organised and thorough. We stowed cases at the McRent depot for the duration of motorhome hire.

We travelled through Italy, Croatia and Germany. the Dethleffs T11 hired offered the perfect balance of size and performance with comfort and room including a garage under rear bed.

Bike hire would improve motorhome experience for small local rides from campsites. ACSI card membership offered great saving at campsites and Archies campsite directory both available with GPS interface allowed for very easy locating of campsites.

Overall a great experience that reinforces the flexibility and freedom offered by motorhome travel and especially outside the larger European cities.

Juan Manuel Ayala (Argentina), 14 june 2012
Es mi segundo viaje a por Europa utilizando este
sistema de transporte, y es mi intención hacer otro
posiblemente el año próximo. Obviamente estoy
satisfecho y feliz por ambas experiencias. Es el
mejor modo de vivir íntimamente los lugares que
nosotros conocimos y también recorrer lugares que de
otro modo sería imposible percibiendo la vida
simple de las pequeñas ciudades, sin mucho turismo y
que se muestran muy genuinamente.
Nuestras camper rentadas fueron muy confortables y
casi nuevas, sin embargo en ambas ocasiones tuvimos
pequeños problemas de carácter técnico. El primero
se soluciono fácilmente en una sucursal McRent de
Dusseldorf, pero perdimos medio día de nuestras
vacaciones. El segundo, fue algo más complicado,
perdimos un día y medio y debí pagar 150 Euros por
la reparación. Debe considerarse que, en nuestro
caso, que venimos de Argentina, el costo diario de
nuestras vacaciones ronda los 450 Euros diarios.
Hicimos los reclamos al entregar la camper,
(teóricamente eso figura en el contrato), ese mismo
día nosotros debíamos viajar de regreso, entonces
quedo a consideración de la empresa si correspondía
un reintegro. Nunca tuve respuesta y no me parece
justo. Igualmente nuestras vacaciones fueron
encantadoras, pero creo que es algo que
Ideamerge/Macrent debería rever si le interesa la
excelencia. Respecto de la atención del personal de
Freiburg, me resultaron de una amabilidad
sobresaliente. Muchas gracias por permitirme el
comentario.

Rudi and Cheryl Riksman, 10 june 2012
We hired a McRent Compact motorhome out of Hamburg for an 18 day tour through Denmark, Norway and Sweden. We were delighted with the whole exercise. Yes the bed sets could have been better as could the kitchen items but given that McRent only hire out their vans for one season it makes sense to keep costs down. We found prices in Germany very low to purchase the additional items we needed. I would have liked to see a manual specific to the model we were hiring but this was a minor irritation. The service was pleasant and we were on our way with a minimum of fuss. I can recommend the Globe Cub Scout as an ideal size to tour the narrow roads in Norway and the Scandinavian relaxed attitude to free camping made it a very economical holiday. The return was equally efficient with my deposit being returned within a week. Overall a very pleasant experience.

Megan and rob van Selm, 07 june 2012
We hired a campervan from Munich in April 2012 for 2 weeks.

The booking process was straightforward and clearly defined
what was and wasn't included.

The campervan itself was great. It was very new, we were the
second people to use it. It had low mileage and was spotless.
The handover was thorough.

The bed linen we hired was not great though. The pillows were
very lumpy and the pillow cases didn't match the size of the
pillows. It was clean, but old!

We hired a table and chairs but didn't use these at all as it was
cold and wet, so don't bother hiring these unless you are forecast
to have warm, dry conditions.

The pick up depot is quite difficult to get to using public transport,
so I would suggest using a taxi, even though this is quite
expensive.

We would definitely recommend using idea merge for hiring a
campervan and we really had the holiday of a lifetime!

Brad Potter from Victoria Australia 7 June 2012, 06 june 2012
We hired a motorhome for 21 days from DRM Frankfurt. In the lead up to our holiday I found the customer service and website information from Ideamerge very helpful and informative.

The location of DRM, just 15 minutes from airport via taxi made it a lot more accesible than Mcrent. The taxi fare was only 16 euro.

We picked up the motorhome and were given a good orientation in english before heading out. The staff member at DRM was helpful. The motorhome was clean and well laid out. The kitchen supplies were a bit limited and so we purchased a fry pan. The bedding and towels that were supplied were a little worn but did the job.

We drove through a number of countries, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France and the motorohome didn't miss a beat. It handled well on the roads and once I got confident in driving on the other side of the road I was able to relax a little more. The good thing about motorhoming is the ability to pull over literally anywhere and have a cuppa or prepare a meal and the quick setup time once you arrive at your destination. This also makes it more affordable for a family.

We stayed in camping grounds close to the major cities which during the time we went, provided no problems in getting sites. We didn't book ahead.

We were able to return the motorhome without sustaining much damage except for a chip in the windscreen caused by a truck along the way. This became a little expensive $700 as the windscreen needed replacing due to the chip being in the drivers eyesight. Would recommend travel insurance as these things are covered.

Overall we had a wonderful holiday which driectly related to our positive experience with both Ideamerge and DRM. I would recommend both of these operators to those seeking a motorhoming holiday picking up in Frankfurt.

David christie, 06 june 2012
Picked up 5 berth campervan from Friedberg germany in early april 2012,van had only travelled 1900klms,walked next door to a electrical store and purchased a garmin gps for $100 euros with all europe maps(absolute essential to travel with otherwise a divorce with your navigator wife is garanteed)!Idea merge were great,they offered a hire gps but it was the same $ to buy new,we went thru all crockery at the site and brought a few things at the camping shop next door that the van was lacking(then left in van for next customers,kettle etc)One thing you need is a larger non stick fry pan if travelling with 3-6 people!We did our trip down thru germany,austria,italy,french riviera,switzerland and back to friedberg!The only issue on our return was when we collected the van 1 of two gas bottles were nearly empty,that ran ouy on the 4th night due to use with the heater,so in st tropez(france) i swapped it for another,the guy at the servo gave me a french bottle that still works but the germans dont use,it was still full on our return but they wanted to charge me 75EURO on top of already paying 40 for it,we went halfs after a discussion,all in all no probs with the van,economical,powerfuletc, germany (bavaria) was the pick for us (rothenbergETC)and the cheapest by far for food,accom at van parks,fuel etc!!!!!!!!

Yvonne Gysbertse, 04 june 2012
I had arranged to pick up mobile home 2 April 2012 through IdeaMerge to be returned 26 April. IdeaMerge were at all times previous to collecting the mobile and during a few problems extremely professional and helpful - Mark Carr specially went beyond customer service and it was greatly appreciated.
We, my daughter and I, picked up our Mobile Home from Munich, traveling by train and then bus to Zulsemoos where we found that there were no taxis in the area and walked about 1.5ks to find McRent. Definitely take a taxi there as it is quite out of the way. We arrived at 3.55 (because of the unexpected walk) and were hurried through the inspection of the vehicle with Peter who admitted that his English was not too good - this was probably an understatement and it became hard to understand all the facets of the mobile home, plus the fact that it was nearing 5pm and they were closing. Would suggest full instructions in English.
The mobile home was very comfortable and clean however the bedding (pillows, doonas etc) were very low standard as was the kitchen equipment. The frypan was scratched and only two pots with only one with a lid. No knives at all to speak of for cutting bread or vegies etc. Towels were also very worn, though clean.
We had a problem with lights coming on when we got to Rome there was a loud noise as well (it was a Saturday). We checked the manual - not a lot in English to go by. We were given a number to call when we first picked up the Mobile at Zulsemoos and if we had a problem these people would assist us 24/7. After speaking to them they advised that the car was under warranty and it was not their problem and perhaps if the light is not red just carry on. We advised that we were here for 4 days, we really need someone to sort this out. However apparently the 24/7 does not cover the weekend and we were told to ring back on the Monday.
To cut a long story short, after more phone calls on Monday a tow truck came to take the mobile home (they don't do repairs on site) after we had packed all our stuff. The chap didn't take the mobile, he described (no English) it was an electrical problem and left it at that. When he left the noise was gone but the light was still on and we decided to carry on as suggested previously.
Throughout all of this emails were sent to McRent Zulsemoos and also to Mark Carr at IdeaMerge. Never heard a word from McRent but Mark Carr phoned me immediately and kept in touch trying to sort it out for us. Only word from McRent was sent through to IdeaMerge advising that we should call Fiat as it is an insurance matter. "The clients need to go to a garage". Customer service was hugely lacking at this time from McRent as it was when we returned the car.
There was damage to the vehicle which we were of course aware of - were originally advised that it would cost a further $3,000 (on top of the $1200 deposit) that had to be paid there and then. The total ended up being $1,900 (including the $1200) but the attitude of the person also left a lot to be desired in relation to customer service.
All in all we had a fantastic holiday except for the hiccup - thanks again to Mark Carr. Would definitely deal with IdeaMerge again but not with McRent sorry.

Noel Playford, 03 june 2012
We hired our motorhome from McRent Frankfurt for the month of April 2012. We travelled 5,000 kilometres through Switzerland, northern Italy to Tuscany, and south east France. Organising the rental with Ideamerge was simple and efficient.
Pickup was no problem, but inexperienced renters should be supplied with instructions in a language they understand. Some hints that might help:
Do not go without a car GPS. We bought one online with Europe maps before we left Australia for $95.
Arrive early for pickup rather than late.
Take a list of promised kitchen gear, and check before leaving, and ask if anything is missing.
We took addresses of nearest Aldi and IKEA with us, bought food, pillows and bedding after pickup.
We were very pleased we rented a small vehicle, many narrow roads and villages can be a problem.
Only hire table and chairs in warm weather.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 experienced 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
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.]

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.

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)

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.

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.]

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

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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..

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!

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.

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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".

Motorhome Rental , 28 december 2010

This is good site for every one because this site are good matter and best information.
this forums are good and very best information so consults to evry one

emma appleby, 10 december 2010
Our experience in our WV california van was great!! We travelled in
Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia and czech republic. The Van
was almost brand new and in great condition. It was easy to drive
and had heaps of space inside to eat, sleep and relax in. Because we
travelled in october it was starting to get a bit colder so we spent a
lot of time in the van, so it helped a lot that it was nice and also
spacious.
We would recommend the california VW van to any travelling
couple. We have never travelled in a van before but after our
experience in the california we would definitely do it again, it was
fantastic always having our luggage with us and so easy not having
to pack and unpack every time we moved to a new motel.
Pick up and drop off was also fairly easy and the depot is near to
the train station.

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.

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

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

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".]

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~

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

clodisgege ginesta, 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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!!!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Steff and 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!

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 km’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 group’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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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 I’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 I’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 RV’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 RV’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 Craig’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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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 Schütz ... 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.

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.

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!

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 [to McRent] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Margaret Messner, 25 august 2008
We picked up our McRent Globus on July 14 in Frankfurt. The customer service was very efficient and checked everything thoroughly. We rented the table and chairs but took old linens, towels, pillows and a sleeping bag (duvet) which we didn't bring back with us. Then we immediately went shopping at Bauhaus and IKEA to get cleaning supplies, paper towels, toilet brush, etc. IKEA definitely has the best prices, where we saw a folding table and chairs for less than the rental fee!
We loved driving the Globus. We traveled in southern Germany, the Dolomites, Venice, Switzerland and southwestern Germany for a month. In Cortina d'Ampezzo after dinner, the engine wouldn't start. Unfortunately it was Friday evening and no garages were open, plus no Fiat garage was listed in the book until Belluno (which wasn't open because it was Saturday by the time we got there). We were able to get the camper started again and made it to Venice without turning off the engine (once we got it started). We enjoyed our weekend in Venice, managed with some help to get the camper started again on Monday, got to a Fiat garage in Venice but they were too busy to fix it, got to Vicenza (the next Fiat garage) where they were out to lunch and finally almost made it to Verona when the engine died at the autostrada tollgate just four kilometers from the garage. We were towed to the garage where it was fixed within an hour (new battery had to be put in -- unusual for a new camper -- 2008!). We lost only a few hours from our trip, but had a lot of anguish trying to figure out what was wrong.
We had to fix the bathroom door handle and a button on the cupboard which was caused by a loose hinge, faults which were present at pickup but not noticed. But no big deal!
We took our Tom-Tom with us and it worked just great -- took us to the address every time. We also picked up an ADAC travel atlas, camping guides and roadside park places guides and maps and they were super useful (but one might need to know German). We left them with friends at the end of the trip along with cleaning supplies, etc.
The return of the camper went smoothly too. We unfortunately were hit with a hailstorm on the autobahn in the Allgau and had to pay the 300 Euro deductible for hail damage to the top of the camper. Our son, who had also rented a camper, was with us and he had to pay the deductible, also. But we were reimbursed for the towing at the tollgate in Italy. All in all, none of this put a damper on our trip and we had a wonderful time. We would do it again in a heartbeat!

Lindsey and Keven Grogan, 25 august 2008
My husband and I have just returned to Queensland after renting 20ft Dethleffs Motorhome from Frankfurt,Germany Depot. Our collection was held up for a couple of hours as they awaited the delivery of a brand new vehicle.. This was great and we found it all to excellent. We choose to have the configuration East West which meant we had a small ladder to climb each night... next time we would choose the model with the bed down. but apart from that we loved the vehicle.. We found the Gas Cylinder refilling to be quite a drama as we hired on March 13 and struck snow in Geneva. We had been told that we could exchange the cylinder anywhere in Europe except France... We finally sorted the problem in Portugal but upon returning to Frankfurt we were then informed that they also realized the problem and equip the vehicles with universal fittings that enable the bottles to be filled. We would suggest that this is estential if renting long term and in the cooler months. Otherwise we loved the vehicle, we travelled. Germany, Spain,Portugal,France, Belguim,Netherlands,Luxemburg,Switzerland,Italy,Croatia,Slovenia,Czech Repulic,Austria and Bavarian Region and back into Germany. We travelled 18000klms over the 4 1/2 months hire... We found the staff wonderful in Frankfurt and Doug Bredesen just wonderful and always available to help with any questions. I would highly recommend dealing with Doug as we will again, and also the staff at Frankfurt. A great trip, with fantastic memories and experiences. Just sad that it is all over. Thanks Doug and Suzzane for all the wonderful service. We will recommend you to everyone. Lindsey and Keven Grogan Queensland Australia.

Arno, 19 august 2008
The check-in and check out process was easy and quick. Deposit was promptly returned. The camper had a strong engine and was comfortable. The only minor I would say was the fact we could not leave our car on the premises when we picked up the camper. We had to park in a residential area on the street in front of somebody's house, which turned out to be no problem but still. I would also suggest to upgrade the kitchen utensils they were very basic and not adequate. All in all a good experience.

David, 19 august 2008
My wife Jocelyn posted below. I'll just add a few items from a “first timer’s” perspective:

The Fiat-Globus drives great and is remarkably easy to handle. You are up high and get great views out the front. It took a day or so to get comfortable with the width, especially in the mountains. Using the levelers (plastic wedges) is important to master – a level RV makes for a comfortable night’s sleep. Also, be aware that tolls on motorways and mountain tunnels are VERY high by US standards.

The dishes/kitchen supplies are just the basics - plan on buying or bringing a few things based on your camping style. One or two stops at a hypermarket, a few dozen euros, and you will be happily outfitted. For us, it was a coffee pot, cereal bowls and pillows. Bring good, detailed maps or a GPS and bring your own camping guides. I brought a good pocket knife and a cork screw. If you plan to go to mountains, even in summer, bring/buy a blanket. The bedding provided was not adequate. An outside doormat would have helped keep the interior clean.

We are gadget freaks. Know that the RVs electric outlets work only if you are externally plugged in. Charging things like cameras can be a problem if you are off the grid for a few days. The cigarette lighter on the dash (no smoking!) works when the engine is running for cell phone charging but next time I would bring a 12v cigarette to 110v plug inverter (cost ~$10).

Other than as noted by Jocelyn, McRent was great. We cleaned the night before and our full deposit was returned promptly. Two suggestions:

1. It would be REALLY nice if McR or a third party would rent bicycles. Most camp sites are on the edge of town or further and a bike would really add to the overall enjoyment of the trip.

2. Tell us the height and weight of the rented vehicle! You need this for underpasses and speed limits and it is not listed in the van’s instruction booklet which is generic for Dethleffs vehicles.

All in all – we loved our caravan trip and strongly recommend IdeaMerge/McRent.

joel and emma, 19 august 2008
We had a great experience in our motorhome driving for 4 weeks around France and Northern Italy during July 2008. The van was great, we drove 4,500km and had no hiccups at all. The pick up and drop off in Frankfurt was very smooth and easy. We did need to mention the complimentary dish set as it wasn’t in the van, but that was no problem and quickly supplied once we reminded them about it. A thorough check of everything before we set off ensured we had listed all the problems (eg. We noticed and documented that a pin was missing which secured the electricity cap, therefore when the cap came off completely in transit there were no questions asked upon our return). Our deposit was promptly refunded upon our return with a small deduction for a dint in one of the tables which we were responsible for.

Cleaning wasn’t an issue – we spent a couple of hours thoroughly cleaning the interior the night before we returned the van – If you’re not willing to buy some wet wipes or sponges and spray cleaner from a supermarket and spare a couple of hours I think you shouldn’t complain about the cleaning fee. We took along some non-slip matting (used with rugs/carpets and you can buy it from Ikea) and cut it up to fit the cupboards, and that was great to prevent the dishes & pots from sliding around. We took our own TomTom (cheaper for us to buy than rent) which was a life saver, we wouldn’t have done the trip without one. We took along our own linen & towels and bought a cheap blanket, but on reflection bringing a few less clothes and adding a goose down sleeping bag instead (to use as a duvet) would have been better.

We utilised the France Passions book to stay at vineyards along the way and found the ‘Aire De Services’ book excellent to find the nearest chemical toilet drop and drinking water fill-up places. We rented the camping table and chairs with the van and used them almost every day. We also took our bikes which was fantastic. We agree with a previous comment that the rental company MUST put a sticker somewhere prominent on the dashboard showing the height of the vehicle. We looked through all the booklets, and not remembering which ‘category’ of vehicle we were in meant we had no way of knowing the height. This meant one of us getting out of the van to judge while driving very slowly under some low bridges – quite inconvenient when it’s something that could easily be fixed with a sticker.

Overall we had a wonderful trip, so many great memories and would really recommend the rental companies (Idea Merge and McRent).

Jocelyn, 18 august 2008
We picked up our rental in Frankfurt on July 9; it was clean and ready even though we got there early. We watched the movie and then went out give it the once-over with the clerk from the rental place; she didn't know much AT ALL. For example, she couldn't tell us the height of the vehicle ("Just make sure the bridge says 3 metres and you'll probably be OK." Probably?????????????) and when I asked her how to make the front seats swivel around, she said that they didn't swivel (they did - we figured it out the next day). The bathroon door lock was broken, but they noted it at the time. It was functional but touchy for most of the trip, and when it wasn't touchy, the lock was actually non-functional. No matter - everything else in the Globebus worked just perfectly, and we drove that thing over, among other Alpine passes, the Col de la Bonnet, which is the highest paved pass in Europe. Gas mileage was pretty good; the bed was comfortable; the gas power worked fine when we were "off grid", the shower worked well - I was even able to wash my hair, and I have thick, long hair. We used our Globebus to follow the Tour de France, and had an absolute blast. We did not rent tables and chairs from the rental place, but we bought some at the first hypermarket we found; ditto with towels, decent coffee mugs, decent cereal bowls, decent pillows, a decent tea kettle and a decent coffee pot. I carried 2 pounds of ground coffee from Starbucks with me from the States, so we were in good shape.

Here is a helpful tip for first timers: Buy a large pack of paper towels and use the rolls as padding for the dishes when you store them in the cabinets for the drive. Day-old bread also works well as "packing material." I had a lot of handiwipes with me (what my mom used to call Wash-n-Dries). Every time we used one to clean off our hands, I would clean dust, dried mud, and crumbs out of the crevices in the vehicle. I also used them to clean the floor frequently. We had NO PROBLEMS upon our return - we passed the inspection with flying colors and got our entire deposit back (I think it helped that the couple who returned their vehicle just before we did had scraped the top off of theirs trying to go through a too-low tunnel. Ours looked pretty good in comparison!)

I'm ready to go again!

Iddo Riemersma, 18 august 2008
Dear Doug,

Thanks for your mail and your interest in our trip. Yes, we made a very nice trip, all the way up to the North Cape (most northern part of European mainland, next stop is the North Pole). We have driven for 3,5 weeks, every day, on average 300 km per day, 6800 km in total. The camper itself proved to be a very good travel mate, and made it possible to travel so far. You can see some of the pictures in a slideshow on my personal page http://iddo-r.hyves.nl/

The pick up and the drop off were just fine. The guy at the Hannover rental shop was very kind and friendly. Only strange thing was the the 'speed pass for pick up' that we filled in and e-mailed never arrived at Hannover, while we got confirmation that it was received in Germany in good order. Concerning the trip, I must say that we had quite a number of incidents, some of them due to the fact that we are not experienced camper users. They were the following:

- a punctured tire, which we luckily discovered before it was flat. It was repaired at a tire shop with a plug
- the north of Sweden is known to have millions of mosquitos. They kept coming into the camper, while everything was closed. Thorough investigations learned that the roof window was not closing good enouth. The mosquitos managed to enter it, passing also a mosquito net(!) and a curtain. Once we found the problem, we bought some mosquito netting in the local hardware store, and taped it in front of the roof window. That solved the problem.
- the dishes that were delivered with the camper were stored in a cabinet up in the kitchen. At a very steep and bumpy downward slope, all of them fell out of the cabinet, despite the fact it was properly locked. The problem was that they were made of porcelein, which applied such a heavy weight on the cabinet door that it gave way. And as a result, all of the dishes were broken. We would recommend to put proper camping dishes in the camper, that are much lighter, and will not easily brake as well.
- Driving through a village, we missed a (not so good visible) speed hump. In an open compartment over the stove we had a coffee pot which was launched in the air and landed on the glasplate over the stove. This broke into thousand pieces and was obviously charged. We would recommend to warn people not to put heavy stuff in places where they can fall out of.
- The most serious incident was when we drove through a -not even so deep- ditch. There is still quite some distance between the rear wheels and the back of the camper, which we did not properly realised. When we drove through that ditch, the front wheels went up at the back of the ditch, the rear wheels were in the middle, while the back of the camper was not in there yet. As a result, the bumper dug into the ground and was badly damaged. We were never aware that this could happen, and the event seriously ruined our day. At the drop off, the damage was estimated at some 500 euro's, a serious amount of money. We would recommend that with this particular type of camper people will be made aware of this. By the way, after that event it happened another 2 times, one time even at the entrance of a gas station on a near flat road!

Despite these troubles we enjoyed staying in the camper very much. We are already considering to rent another one next year, or maybe even to buy one.

We hope you can use this feedback to better inform future customers on the do's and don'ts about camper handling.

Best regards,
Iddo Riemersma

Theo Berden, 18 august 2008
We picked up our van on the 8th of July and it was practically brand new. We were treated very courtiously by McRent in Dusseldorf and had no problems with the van. We drove 5500Km's in 3 weeks through Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. We had no problems with the van and returned it after 3 weeks. The return proces was quickly completed and our Euro 1000.- deposit was returned to us within 2 days. We cannot fault the rental and will be using them again if we plan another holiday in that area.

Heinz Kraehenbuehl, 14 august 2008
We picked up a Family camper van in Berlin and went for 22 days on the 9th of July 2008 touring Danemark, Sweden and Norway. Great car with everything working well, we made almost 5'000 KM Pick and drop has been well handled with no delays and professionaly done. The only remark was that my credit card was deducted with a deposit of Euro 1'000 which is not right. I understand, that you block the money on the credit card as a deposit, but if the client is bringing back the car back and everything is fine the amount should not have been deducted. Please in the future pay more attention to the payments.

[General note from IdeaMerge: As described on our relevant Payments & Policies pages, the Germany vendors do indeed charge the security deposit to the client's card upon the pick-up occasion and 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. IdeaMerge has suggested to these vendors that for such purpose they merely make an imprint and authorization upon the pick-up occasion and actually charge the card only if necessary and only on or after the return occasion. To that request those vendors responded that they would generally be at too great a risk if they didn't actually make that charge upon on the pick-up occasion.]

michael frantum, 13 august 2008
What a great trip.

We picked up our GlobeR camper car in Frankfurt and the process was easy and efficient. Klaus was very helpful and the RV was in great condition with few miles.

In the the next 3 weeks, we drove nearly 4,000 kilometers and explored 5 countries. We especially liked France, Austria and Germany. We were suprised and pleased to find that nearly every small town had a camping area. We ended up exploring many of the small communities and got to meet real people rather than the big city rat race atmosphere. We would use the McRent/Ideamerge approach again and are looking forward to our next vacation already.

Betsy Bingler and Family, 11 august 2008
What a great experience! The Ideamerge RV people were
wonderful, they answered back very quickly every silly question I
e-mailed mailed them.
We picked up our RV in Sulzmoos after flying into Munich. We tried
to take the public transportation to the rental place using the
directions provide. We got as far as the train station at Passing and
couldn't find the bus needed, we were told that bus no longer runs
the route we needed. We then took a taxi the remainder of the
way. The people at Sulzmoos were wonderful the instructions were
easy to follow. We are campers but never did the RV thing.
We rented for 3 weeks and went through 7 countries with no
problems. We loved having all out stuff in one place , not having to
pack up every night,and if it was raining we didn't have to pitch a
tent. We brought our own folding chairs which we used a lot. We
also sent over food, pancake mixes, tuna, chicken packages,
oatmeal etc. Next time I'd just pay the airlines for the extra
baggage and bring it with us. It was great to have until we got use
to the stores, it was also cheaper.
We also had a GPS which we couldn't of lived without it was
invaluable. The Church's Book Camping In Europe has coordinates
that were a big help in finding a campsite. The information in their
book was also helpful for the public transportation.
I was really pretty worried that every thing wouldn't go smoothly,
but it did.
We are already saving for our next big RV trip and we'll use
Ideamerge again.
JUST DO IT!

Colin Ross Valarie McDonald, 07 august 2008
This was the 1rst time we ever rented an RV. Happily, it was a very good experience. Picking up the camper was relatively easy and we were pleased that it was very new and clean inside. The Fiat camper was very practical & made good use of every available inch of space. Likewise, the drop off went smoothly as well.
The staff at McRent in Frankfurt, Germany were very helpful & we were pleased that they spoke good English as we don't speak a word of German ourselves. I would recommend travelers take way fewer items of clothing than they think they will need as there isn't a lot of wardrobe/storage room in a camper. Also, having a GPS was invaluable & I would highly recommend the Tomtom.Having a copy a Rick Steeves Travel Guide is also very useful.
Although traveling by RV in Europe is not as easy as hoteling it, it certainly makes the trip more affordable and gives you the opportunity to customize your holiday. We're happy we chose the Camper Route!

Valarie McDonald

John and Lisa Bauer, 24 july 2008
We rented a motorhome out of Frankfurt June 17th - July 5th. Doug at IdeaMerge was very helpful and quick to completely answer all our questions.

McRent in Frankfurt was absolutely terrific. The motorhome was immaculate and almost new. We were on our way in less than an hour. Once we reacquinted ourselves with a manual transmission everything went smooth. Two notes about the Dethleff - one don't fill the clean water tank all the way full or it will leak and two - ask them before you leave McRents how to put it in reverse!

We rented a Dethleff 5881. In addition to two adults we have two teenagers. The bunk beds in the back were well worth the little bit of extra money and added length.

We are a camping family and came prepared. Because of the weak US dollar we wanted to buy as little as possible in Europe. We brought an extra bag that had bedding, kitchen and bath towels, toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, laundry soap, clothsline and clips, shower supplies etc. Worked great and we were ready to camp as soon as we arrived. However, we should have rented the camping tables and chairs from McRents!

Turning the RV in was a snap. We spent a couple hours cleaning it and received our deposit back immediately. The turn in process at McRents took only about 20 minutes. Those folks are fabulous.

Another note - we brought a GPS and it was fantastic, I wouldn't go without it. Mike and Terry Church's book on camping in Europe was wonderful. GPS coordinates were included.

Can't wait to go again.

Kirk Lalwani, 24 july 2008
We rented a Dethleffs FamilyPlus campervan from McRent in Mulheim/Dusseldorf in June for 3 weeks. There are 4 in our family, including 2 children and our plan was to go through the Black Forest, Switzerland, Provence, Riviera into Italy, loop back up to Austria and then back into Bavaria en route back to Dusseldorf.
Everything worked out perfectly. Gregory at McRent was very thorough and very helpful, giving us an excellent checkout. The van was very new, only 6K kms and virtually spotless. We rented a 6 bedder despite us being only 4 so we would not have to re/de construct the table and bench into a bed twice a day, as we had to do in New Zealand, and this made things a lot easier.
The only instruction that I forgot was not to fill the water tank full; on day 2 after I did, we had a trickling leak on the floor. When I called McRent, they assured me it would go away if I filled the tank to 3/4 (a Dethleffs design fault), and it did. Everything worked perfectly during our 4200km trip and the engine was peppy despite the size of the vehicle; it also gave us approximately 20miles/gallon, which was very nice given that diesel was about $9.50/gallon. All in all we spent less on gas than expected.
We really enjoyed the camping experience in Europe. The sites (use Mike and Terry Church's book for the best sites close to public transport) were stunning and well equipped, and very easy to access the city center. You can drive through most European cities and towns with the vehicle, but just beware of the old parts of the city (Vieux Carre, Altstadt etc) which tend to have narrow streets and height restrictions. The only unanticipated adventure was trying to get to a campsite near Moneghlia/Cinque Terre; the tunnels to access it say 3m height limit, but in fact are OK up to 3.5m, as we found out the next day after staying in a hotel. What we also discovered was that the site we were trying to get to through the tunnels had its own 3.2m restriction when I called them. We decided to stay at a different campsite the next night when we discovered the railway tunnels would be OK to drive through despite the incorrect 3.0m restriction. As it turns out, we had a spectacular oceanfront site (Camping La Secca) with panoramic views and steps to the beach. So, all may not be what it seems in Italy, but do ask before driving through!
Return check-in was uneventful. We had cleaned the van thoroughly and had no problems. Gregory was quite happy with the vehicle's condition, which was more or less immaculate, and we got our full refund in a couple of days. I presented him with a little German flag we got in a Toblerone as part of the UEFA soccer championship celebrations and he promised to display it in his office !
All in all, I would highly recommend Ideamerge, McRent Mulheim/Dusseldorf, and campervan vacations in Europe. An ideal way to travel, and it will save you a lot of packing/unpacking hassle, and money both from hotel costs as well as being able to eat 1-2 meals/day in the van. Only caveat....when it gets really hot (as in Italy) and muggy, with mosquitoes, it does get quite stifling in the van despite all the windows being open with the bugscreens active. We had enough after 5 days in Italy, so we headed back into the mountains without going to Rome.
We are planning another trip to Northern Germany and Scandinavia in a couple of years, and Ideamerge it will be!
Thanks Doug and Gregory for making it all so easy!

Patrick Eustace friends, 21 july 2008
Me and 4 friends booked a 5 seater RV near the end of May after finishing college and we toured Europe for 6 weeks taking in 9 countries along the way. Everything worked out great. The RV was a great way to travel as it allowed us to dictate the pace of our travels. I'd highly recommend this form of a holiday to anyone. It was a great experience and if anybody asks I'll point them in the direction of IdeaMerge!!

Thanks again!

Terry and Janet Davis, 19 july 2008
For our recent trip to Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria, we rented a 19 ft. Davis motorhome from IdeaMerge. The process was easy to do, no problems or hassles. Everything went as stated on pick up and return. The directions to the pick up was good and we had no issues getting there. The personnel were curteous and went to great lengths to show us how everything worked. We felt completely comfortable when we pulled out of the lot.

It was a perfect choice for 2 people with a bathroom, small kitchen and bed. We really enjoyed the smaller size of it, as it was easier to get around the small streets of Europe. We did still have a few issues with the height and parking spots, but nothing that hindered us from doing everything we wanted to do.

Camping through Europe was one of the best experiences of our lives and we definitely plan to do it again. We will also definitely rent a motorhome again!

Tim and Carla Yaworski, 14 july 2008
We are a family of four, with 2 teenage girls, and just returned from a 3 week vacation of Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. We rented the McRent Family Standard (Dethleffs 5831) flying into Munich and picking it up at Sulzmoos. McRent was excellent having the vehicle ready early and the drop off went smooth. The vehicle was practically new with under 4000 km and worked perfectly. We averaged about 11.5 liters/100 km going 4000 km on our trip. A note about taxi fares, I think they have gone up considerably compared to the rates mentioned on the Ideamerge site, as has everything. Expect to pay 80-90 euro each way.
Our observations about driving the motorhome are with the model we had was the height as this is something to be aware of when driving along tree lined streets due to potential trees scratching. Also the width could be a concern on some of the smaller roads in Italy and some city streets. All of these were mentioned by McRent at pickup.
Camping in Europe exceeded our expectations immensely. Compared to Canada and USA the campgrounds were like small resorts – extremely clean with very good and reasonable restaurants.
A suggestion we would offer that helped us immensely in selecting campgrounds that were convenient to both the driving and using public transportation, to get into the major cities to see the sights, was Mike and Terri Church’s book Traveler’s Guide to European Camping – it is excellent.
Overall we had a great experience, always comfortable, campgrounds were great, no security concerns and Ideamerge delivered with no surprises or problems. We highly recommend Ideamerge and McRent and plan to use them on the next trip.

Erik Robin Wilensky, 14 july 2008
We came to Europe for a tour of Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Northern Italy. If it wasn't for renting a camper, the declining US dollar would have put Europe out of our budget.
The renting process:
I received ample information regarding the terms and conditions of the rental and found the customer service to efficient and understanding through the process of the deposit and wire transfer of the remaining balance. We were to pick op the van in Regensburg since Munich was all out.
Arriving in Munich we used a transport service from the airport on the way to pick up and after drop off we took the train back to Munich which was cheaper.
Picking up the Camper:
The branch manager was very friendly and did give us thorough instructions regarding the camper and its use. He offered us all sorts of rental equipment however we decided before travelling to carry our own equipment in our luggage. Once converting the rental costs to dollars it just wasn’t as cost effective.
The van was almost new and had no issues except the air conditioner did not function. This was not a big deal and I looked at it as saving extra fuel. We were very pleased with the quality of the rental.
Drop off was much easier than expected and just like that we were heading back home.
Everything was up front, no surprises.
Everything was easy, no catches or hidden charges.
We had a great trip, no mechanical problems.

If I could come up with any suggestions, I would ask that English language camping guides be available with the camper or for purchase. I would also reduce the prices of the equipment rentals. I would also have liked the piece of mind of a second or backup propane tank. As it turns out we did not finish the original one but I would have hated to run out in the middle of a cold night in the Alps.

Thanks for the wonderful service and rental!

Curt Mathisen, 10 july 2008
We rented a Fiat Compact Cruiser Motorhome for our 30th Anniv.
trip to the Alps through DRM's Munich branch, The MH was brand
new and performed very nicely. Was good on fuel mileage, which
was good since fuel prices are way up there in Europe.

The unit was very comfortable for two. I would have preferred an
automatic transmission in the vehicle, but a manual was all that
was available. Handled the curvy roads in Austria and Switzerland
nicely.

DRM's branch managers were friendly and efficient. Spoke
reasonably good English.l

Overall very satisfied with our experience and would rent with them
again.

William Pulles, 07 july 2008
We rented a camper from McRent and needed to collect it in Isny - a 2.5 - 3 hour train and bus ride from Munich. We arrived at around 17h00 on a Friday afternoon (late because of transport glitches) and our new 2008 model vehicle was there but with the following problems:

- empty gas cylinders
- no crockery or tables/chairs loaded despite confirming the need for this on booking
- cupboard door that would not stay closed and eventually broke during our trip

I was also dissappointed to discover that the Camping Guide was 3 years out of date and only available in German - nothing in English. The quality of crockery and cutlery provided is also very poor and even buttering a slice of bread runs the risk of bending the knife.

While the owner of the Isny depot does not speak any English at all, he was friendly and fortunately able to contact Lucas, a very helpful young man who took us through the vehicle, showed us how everything works and rectified the problems mentioned above. He also kindly arranged a free camping at a small site next to the enormous Dethleffs factory located in Isny and also offered a guided tour through the factory (which we declined for time reasons).

The van was great - handled very well and had great power on uphills. Diesel consumption was not too bad, provided there was limited open highway driving at 130 km/h when consumption climbs through the roof. It was definitely a challenge and test of nerves maneouvering the vehicle along the very narrow country roads of Croatia and its islands but we got through it without adding a single scrape to the vehicle.

We enjoyed the trip immensely, enjoyed the vehicle and would certainly recommend McRent, provided they can get hold of some English documentation for English customers.

Craig Palmer, 03 july 2008
We booked a 5-birth for a week, collected from Hamburg and travelled throughout Denmark. There was only two of us and our dog so we had plenty of room. Anyway, collection was no problem. Staff were friendly, helpful and spoke English which was a bonus. When we set off we didn't realise the radio aerial was missing at first, however when we informed them when we handed it back there wasn't an issue. Everything went smoothly. The van was surprisingly easy to drive and not too expensive to fuel. Denmark was expensive, but the idea of packing up every morning and going someplace new made the holiday great. One day we would stay on a site by the beach, then the following day stay on a site in the country. We soon got into our routine of emptying the waste and filling the water etc. Great week and we will definately do it again next year.

Patsie Otto Bletzer, 03 july 2008
Just returned from a very successful motorhome trip through Germany,Austria,Switzerland and Italy. We hired a 6 berth Dethleffs Motorhome from the Offenbach/Frankfurt McRent office. The chap at McRent was extremely helpful, explained all the ins and outs of the vehicle, inspected it with us thoroughly and within 45 minutes we were on our way.We had prebooked all our stops and of these can thoroughly recommend Camping Bella Italia on Lake Garda , Il Pogetto outside Florence, and La Riva on Lake Como. We had no problems at all with the motorhome despite doing 4000 kms in it. We would certainly go through Idea Merge again but the next time would go for a larger version. Although we were only 3 adults in a 6 berth van you do have to be "friendly". Also the next time we would consider towing a SmartCar behind to avoid squeezing through narrow town roads. McRent refunded our 1000 euro deposit within a matter of days. Our only small complaint is that we arrived back at McRent to hand the vehicle in during a "staff meeting" and a very bumped up executive type told us very rudely not to interrupt him ! Keep clear of German staff meetings !!!

Karlene Dawson, 02 july 2008
My husband, 6 month old and I decided it would be a great experience to travel around Europe, visit family and experience life on the road with a little one. We thought that having a camper van would allow for us to create a stable environment for the little one, have flexibility and avoid the hassel of packing and unpacking every few days. Having the van definitely allowed for this however it was a little too restricting in other ways. We had orinally requested a VW California; however at time of contact their were none available in the location we had wanted to start in (or so we were told). So we got something a little bigger but definitely not more convenient for our purposes. I did find this a little frustrating as when I spoke to the representative at the dealership where we picked up the van apparently there were plenty VWs to be had. Irregardless we still had a fantastic time touring around Europe and camping along the way. A lot of people ask if I would do it again and I say yes but differently. Having the van proved to be more expensive in the long run as the size of it prohibited us from going into cities (parking) which meant that we pretty much just used it to travel from one location to the next, park at the campsite and then take transit in the various areas that we were staying at.
Working with Ideamerge was very helpful and they were quite helpful with most things, I just wished I had investigated the options around getting the VW van a little more. Hind sight is always 20/20 I suppose.

[General note from IdeaMerge: We never steer clients away from available, less expensive models which they prefer to larger, more expensive models. At the time of booking we exhaust all possible avenues to locate the vehicle which best suits the client's needs and wants.]

Stephen Tangney, 02 july 2008
Steve, Darryl, Eoin & Gregg -Ireland
The original plan was for us to fly to austria to watch the European soccer championships - Euro 2008 - in Salzburg, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt. HOwever the lack of accommodation available and the price of flights proved too high an obstacle to overcome. a bit of lateral thought, and google searching and our new and improved plan rolled out with unexpected ease. We flew dublin-munich, spent 2nights in munich's beerhalls before making a short train ride from the hauptsbahnhof (central train station) to Markt-Schwaben, a 3euro 30min journey of german efficiency and engineering.
Within minutes of arriving, all the necessary paper work was signed and we loaded up for a trip of a lifetime. The ease at which this is done is a credit to IdeaMerge's thoroughness - especially the detailed e mails in simple english without the legal mumbo jumbo. The camper itself was again a hallmark of german efficiency. It was the VW "california" - a VW caravelle converted. less than 3,500kg's so we could drive it on our normal licences. We travelled 997km in week and it cost €140 in diesel, pretty good considering the fuel costs these days (and the fact that we were burning up the autobahns). An example of how cool this camper was would be that a table folded out and you could turn the front seats right around to face back into the camper, open the fridge and crack open a few cans and enjoy a wee game of cards before hitting the party mad Euro 2008 festival.
Our journey took us from Munich to Salzburg for the Greece Sweden game... nice swedish women abounding... then onto Germany Croatia in Klagenfurt... then thru the Alps (and i mean literally thru them, the longest tunnel we went thru was 6.8km... a long tunnel) to Innsbruck for Sweden Spain. The scenary was gorgeous everywhere and these small cities are hugely picturesque against the backdrop of the gargantuan mountains that surround you, always to the background of rushing icy waters that trundled through the hearts of these mainly pedestrianised cities.
We didn't have a hitch our entire holiday. we typically parked up our van in residential areas about ten minutes walk from the city centre, but i should add that everywhere we went there thousands of supporters so there were vans everywhere. I can't reccommend you to follow suit as these cities will never see their streets as vibrant ever again.
And we did it like true men, no map, didn't ask for directions and always landed on our feet.
Thank you IdeaMerge for making it possible, and with such ease of effort too.

"You are a product of your experiences".

Noel and Mary Poe, 26 june 2008
We just returned from a 3 week vacation using a Compact Cruiser Fiat motorcaravan that was rented from Ideamerge and picked up at DRM Rental Office in Frankfurt. The van was perfect for the two of us as we traveled through southern Germany and most of Austria. The staff at the Frankfurt/Kelsterbach office was exceptional and gave us a good orientation taking the time that was necessary. The vehicle was ready when we arrived and within an hour we were out of the lot. Turning back in was also simple. We rented the kitchen set and it had everything that we needed. The van was basically new and we had no problems with the vehicle. We averaged a little over 26 miles per gallon, as advertised. One word of caution for the United States renters and maybe for people from other countries. In the United States the diesel pumps have green hoses and nozzles. In Europe the unleaded pumps have green hoses and nozzles. Be careful and get the right pumps for the vehicle. If the American government gets our act together and the value of the dollar increases aganist the Euro, I would not hesitate to rent from IdeaMerge and DRM again. Noel Poe, Utah.

Jason Scarborough, NSW, Australia, 21 june 2008
My family of 5 had an absolute ball travelling around Europe for 9 weeks in the McRent motorhome we organised through IdeaMerge.

Doug is the man! We had several questions to assist in our planning (which for two adults and three children is compariable to a military logistics exercise!) Doug could even tell us if the CD player in the model we reserved could play MP3 files or not! Try asking Avis, Budget, etc this question and getting anything other than a shrug of the shoulders.

He also helped us resolve a SNAFU that our local motoring organisation made in issuing our International Driving Permit. All this made the pickup process at Frankfurt, quick, easy and uncomplicated.

The vehicle itself was clean, in good condition, mechanically A1 and surprisingly fuel efficient. Probably a little on the large side for some of the narrow european roads we encountered, however, we needed the internal size to stay sane.

On minor bone of contention - don't bank on getting your deposit back, and don't think that the 1,000 EUR is all you will have to pay if there is damage to the vehicle. We had 2 incidents on our trip:

1. where I mistakenly trusted a grease monkey at an Itallian filling station to direct us to an appropriate fuel pump. Minor damage to the rear of the vehicle resulted.

2. a car on the worng side of the road clipped our wing mirror in the UK and then failed to stop to exchange details.

Because there was 2 occurances, we lost the 1,000 Eur on the first and got hit for 400 on the second. Thankfully, our travel insurance should cover the shortfall (minus an excess).

This is the ONLY way to see Europe. We plan on writing a book about our experiences and can't praise Doug and Ideamerge enough for their efficiency, assistance and professionalism.

"Don't be jealeous - do it!"

Pat Freeman and Erin Fleming, MD USA, 10 june 2008
We flew to Frankfurt, rode the S-bahn to Offenbach and then took a cab from there to the McRent terminal. Cabs were plentiful at the train stop. McRent in Frankfurt is in a garage but it has plenty of room to drop your bags. Klaus greeted us and asked to sit and watch the video while our paperwork was completed. The video was in English and made perfect sense to me. While waiting for them to finish prep on the RV (we were a few hours early), we took a nap on the couch. Then, Klaus showed us to our Globecar (Compact Standard) rental. It was practically brand new with about 7000km on the odometer. He showed us how to work everything and I had no questions. He asked me to follow him as he looked over the entire vehicle, including the roof, including up and down the ladder, to show the condition of the exterior. I'm glad for this as car rental places never do that and it leaves room for dispute. We had a perfect vehicle!

The rentals are parked behind the McRent building, and there was a narrow road that we needed to use to get out. Other businesses use this as well so we had to share the road. It helps to have some knowledge on operating an oversize vehicle to get in and out of this spot, in my opinion. But, it was no problem. GPS worked great to get everywhere from NW France to SE Germany. I highly recommend the "AA Caravan and Camping Europe" book as this gives excellent information about rates, facilities, locations and dates of operation. I found that just driving until we were tired, then showing up after camping reception was closed, someone was always willing to help and we could pay in the morning. The International Camping Card makes checking-in easy and is a great alternative to leaving a passport with the campsite reception overnight.

The RV engine was peppy and the 6 speed transmission was perfect for downshifting and getting enough power for a quick (as possible) pass for the autobahn/autoroute. They have many grades of Diesel in Europe and this RV took the most inexpensive grade, which was nice. The small size of this RV attracted a lot of attention from locals because it was small, blue (instead of the default white RV color) and had McRent's stickers on it. I loved how this attracted a lot of attention because it gave us a chance to try the language and meet the locals.

We had no problems with the vehicle except that the water level didn't like to go over 75% and I think that was a design issue. The cap for the water fill was not perfectly sealed and you'd get some leakage there when driving or parking on a hill. We got used to that as I'm sure it happens with most RVs. However, one day we ran the tank dry. After filling it, I ran some water later that day, which primed the system and also enabled the drain valve for the heater. I was a little embarrassed as the locals probably thought I was dumping waste on the street but the panic of me trying to find out how to get this stopped must have entertained them as I thumbed through the German manual. Good thing I could make out some words. The picture also help as I got a revelation moment and climbed into the back in time to save 50% of our water. My advice to others is to never run the water tank dry. Oh, there was also an intermittent buzzer that would sound when a door wasn't shut if you attempted to start the RV. It took a few minutes to realize what that meant as there were no warning lights on the dash. I say that's just the fun of experiencing a new culture.

This was the first time for me to be out of the country and I was impressed by the helpfulness of everyone. But, everywhere we went it was a relaxed atmosphere. US renters should understand that this culture is different. Customer service is not "the customer is always right," stores operate at strange hours and drivers are considerate.

Before returning the RV, dumped and washed out the toilet cartridge at our last campground, then we stayed in a local hotel a block away from McRent. We used the vacuum right down the street at a local car wash and some all-purpose cleaner from a grocery store to clean the entire inside. By cleaning everything so it looked like new, the McRent staff was extremely surprised. I think an hour of work detailing the inside is easy and makes your departure quite quick. We received an immediate refund of our deposit. I recommend this RV and McRent. I hope that others enjoy their European experience as much as we did!

Rex 2008, 09 june 2008
Hi Doug: McRent in Frankfurt is just marginal, may be it is only me, but I have a few things that I want to point out from my personal experience.
1. On pick-up day, customer can opt out viewing the McRent video, boring, especially if you have rented before. Besides, McRent won't let you off the hook with or without the video knowledge anyway.
2. The staff would climb up a ladder to inspect the roof, while the sides, front and back, and the interior of the vehicle are all ignored. This opens room for dispute when the vehicle is returned.
3. When a leak from the fresh water tank was pointed out to the staff, the reply was 'just over-filling', but we had to put up with a leaky tank all our way. At the best, we could only use half tank and the other half wasted.
4. There has never been enough water pressure in the piping systems. We needed to start the pump for a few minutes before we get a trickle of water coming out from the taps.
5. The bed cannot be held in place because of broken hardware underneath the dinning table. We end up with a wobbling bed and faced the possibility of a broken back from the thrill to sleep on bed.
6. The fresh water outlet valve was stuck closed making flushing the fresh water tank an impossible task.
7. When the staff accompanied us inside the vehicle for verbal instructions, we were told just to listen and don't even ask.
8. No tools were provided to change the propane bottles. In the ideal world, I think that can be done by bare hands, but obviously our world was not ideal.
9. The instruction books (manuel) were not English friendly, and obvious not for us.
10. When finished, we returned the vehicle reasonably clean, but we were forced laboured to do a detailed clean-up. The reply was "we are too busy to do this kind of work". My question was "What do you expect if we don't even have a vacumn cleaner and cleaning equipment? Is it just another way to squeeze more money out of their customers.Besides, where is that 125 Euro prep fee, how it was spent?
11. What is basically happened was poor maintenance and maintenance was only performed on complaints. But this can only create unhappy customers and loss of expected service.

Dave and Aileen Peel, 06 june 2008
Doug
Just wanted to let you know our two weeks with the Hamburg rental (Peels May 15-selected vehicle: McRent Family Plus, sleeps 5, e.g.
Dethleffs 5881 HG, to May 29) went very well and the unit and the manager at the rental location were EXCELLENT. NO problems Thanks, worked out well and would certainly book with you again.

Thanks again Dave and Aileen Peel

James & Celia Cliff, 29 may 2008
We hired a five berth campervan from the Frankfurt depot, for the period April 2nd to May 10th. This was a Detleffs vehicle on a Fiat chassis.
After getting used to six forward gears, it turned out to be easy to drive and performed faultlessly for 5500 km.
However I do not think that it was entirely suitable for an extended trip outside Germany / Austria so early in the season. The cabin heater would only run on gas, and we rapidly became very economical in its use. It had snowed in England and the nights and mornings were pretty chilly. We augmented the bedding with coats and anoraks, but the draught from the cab in the early morning was something to be treated with caution.
THe adaptors which we had bought in Germany, and which were claimed to make refilling the gas bottles easy in foreign parts,turned out to be of no use. The French just shrugged and pointed to their own, incompatible, brand of exchange bottles. In England they even offered to change the gas terminations on the vehicle so that we could use their bottles.

There is a version of this Truma heater that also runs on mains electicity 230vac, as well as gas.

Otherwise all went well.

colin and Julie Westgate UK, 29 may 2008
The collection and return of the Motorhome was seamless. Very quick, no fuss and no extra's to pay at all. The Motorhome itself was exactly how it was described, nearly new and performed perfectly throughout the 3000km trip. We would definately use Ideamerge again and would recommend them to anyone!

Denise Cordeiro-Bennett, 22 may 2008
What a great experience!!! We were motorhome first timers and still found it amazingly easy to book the motorhome online through IdeaMerge. We flew to Frankfurt and took the short taxi ride to McRent to pick up our motorhome. The staff was great; very helpful and they took the time to explain everything about the motorhome. It was in perfect condition, easy to operate, and was equipped with everything we expected. We brought our GPS with us, so after a quick stop at a nearby grocery store we were on our way. We scheduled the trip for 18 days in late April and availability of motorhomes and campsites was no problem. We did find that some of the attractions/campsites/parks were not yet open for the season, but this was a minor inconvenience since we still got to see so much while travelling around. We ended up driving 6,000 kilometers, visiting 8 countries and 23 cities in 18 days. About 50% of the time we stayed in formal campsites. The rest of the time we took advantage of roadside stops. Both options worked out perfectly. The motorhome was ideal for our trip...unpacking only once, eating in the most beautiful locations, lots of relaxed together time, no planes, trains, or tours to worry about. The only disadvantage was any kind of travel in or through the biggest cities. Definitely should be avoided if possible. We saw so and experienced so much more than we would ever have been able to without the motorhome. This was a once in a lifetime vacation that we now know we can repeat over and over again!

Elvin Magri - MALTA, 21 may 2008
I would like to thank the staff for their co-operation in booking process. Very Well Done!..What was to our surprise was that cutlery, pillows, kitchen ware for cooking and few other items were so called extras..This waste us some time prior to start up to settle!!..No other kitchen consumables were included such as cloths and washing liquid etc!..It's no big deal but if travelling in night it is hard to purchase from anywhere!!..However, on our return we had a light scratch along the side and were to be charged a 1,000 Euros for damages. We believed that by using some polish it would be gone and the staff and management refused to let us do it ourselves. Being in the spray painting industry, I insisted on not affecting such payment and then they handed us some polish and let us do it...IT SAVED US 1.000 Euros!!!...Against all, we will consider renting again as we do such adventures yearly, with the difference of hoping that management will be more fair and flexible!!..

Thks & Rgds

Freeda, 20 may 2008
We booked through McRent, Sulzemoos (Münich). Pick up and return was quick and easy. Plus, they spoke English. Everything was as promised. The result was a great vacation in Europe. GPS (now that we own one and know how useful they are) would have been handy. On the good side, the rv was extremely good on gas and compact enough to handle the city roads. Definitely recommend!

Robert Schwabenbauer, 24 february 2008
We picked up our RV just outside of Munich in a place called Sulzemoos. It was easy to get to and the place we rented from was called McREnt. The staff were very helpful and friendly and all the RV's are 1 year old or newer. We were given a brand new Fiat and were the first in this RV and it was awesome. It slept five and had a shower and toilett and the kitchen was great. We had a wonderful trip and managed to put on just shy of 3000 km's. I would recommend renting bikes and perhaps getting GPS for anyone doing this trip. Also make sure you budget for the Autobahn and Autostrasse. It was free in Germany, 8EU in Austria, and 32EU in Switzerland. Italy and France have tolls and we paid about 50EU for France and about 100EU for Italy and the roads in Italy are in bad condition!!! All the campsites were fantastic and I would recommend this trip to anyone. A real great way to see Europe!
"No one's interested in something you didn't do"

Happy travells.

Feel free to email me with any questions.

Rob and Annie, 21 january 2008
Pick up and return from McRent in Frankfurt (Nov 07 - Compact Luxury) went smoothly and staff were very helpful. We suffered two breakdowns in the five week hire - one an injector problem (in a heavy snowstorm) and the other when we discovered we had no rear brakes. We had to pay for the brake repair ourselves and it was then reimbursed on return. The fuel economy in the van was around 11.6l/100km which I was told was high for the van, although it drove very well. The crockery/cutlery/pans were adequate however we did miss a kettle.

The van itself was clean and tidy and a good size for our family (2 adults and 2 kids under 4). We chose this van for its size (it was our first hire) although next time we will go a bit bigger. As first timers we were only concerned once and that was the drive between Pompeii and Sorrento (I would recommend staying in Pompeii and getting the train!). All in all a great trip and we cant wait to do it again!

Humberto Costa, 18 october 2007
Hilda & Humberto, May 16,2007
We rented your new motor-home in Frankfurt and travelled 10.000 km around 9 European countries without any problems.Fiat and McRent were very helpful would like the motor-homes to be equipped with GPS, TV, propane oven and air condition inside the motorhome.Also we think the deposit of 1.000 euros is too high and CDW insurance should be available.
Thank you, our best regards
Hilda and Humberto

Marc Family (Texas), 26 september 2007
We picked up our RV in Frankfurt in July. The only plans we had were the pick up and drop off dates. WE were scheduled to have the RV for 2 weeks. We purchased a map in Paris before arriving and started reading up on all the places to visit in Germany. The location was easy to find with a hotel just on the other side of the street which was convenient for our arrival the day before picking up the RV. The staff was very nice and all spoke good english. This was great because I didn't speak any German at all. The RV was great, less than 2 years old and hardly any miles on it. It was very easy to drive, I just wiush it would have had cruise control.

With our maps in hand and no plans at all we set out for our vacation and had the best two weeks of vacation we've ever had. Germany was a wonderful to see and tour. We wish we could have stayed longer and will definitely come back again, this time with bicycles as well.

Drop off was just as easy as pick up and we would strongly recommend IdeaMerge to anyone (and we already have).

Cheers, Marc

The Gypsy Sues , 24 september 2007
We are two ladies who hired a 5-6 berth motorhome from the Hamburg depot in May 2007. Most of our travel (3 weeks) was through Scandanavia -which was just wonderful to explore in the motorhome.

We had prior experience with a motorhome (5 months) which helped us get through the introduction session. The staff member did not speak English and one of us had limited German, however, we did take a german speaker with us and this helped immensely with the technical side of things. Suggest that if you do not speak German, make sure that there is someone who speaks your language when you go to collect/drop off the vehicle. They also have videos there which show you the main functions of the motorhome etc. I agree with some other comments re the deduction of the 1000 euro at the time of collection - it should be adequate enough to hold your details should a deduction be required at the time of return. This is usual practice for most vehicle hire arrangements that we have used in the past.

The service was great, the vehicle less than 2 years old and just as we ordered. We needed to complete all our transactions via the internet and there was no problems at all - we were expected and all deposit payments were OK. I would have no hesitation in using the service again.

Chris, 18 september 2007
We did this having no experience at all and found the booking system via Doug in the states was seamless. Everything stated in the paperwork was spot on.
We flew to Frankfurt from Heathrow and collected our motorhome from McRent in Offenbach, Frankfurt and found the process fairly straightforward thanks to Suzanne and staff who were all most helpful. The handover was a bit rushed with a lot of info to take in, especially as first timers, but in the end you just have to put your head down and go.
The only initial problem we faced was that I didn't precisely check the electrical connections and on our first night discovered that we were missing one particular connection that we needed. This did lead to us having to drive around the following day trying to find a place to buy the missing item. We had informed McRent and they were fine about it promising to repay on return but imagine the hassle in a foreign country trying to find a particular item that is fairly specialist. So be warned and make sure you understand and try everything before you leave !
We were lucky that the van was very new and had no issues but I did see others that were well marked so a thorough inspection is well worth taking your time over as you will be liable for any damage. I felt that the insurance should offer a CDW option as driving in a different country and a vehicle that I wasn't used to was a recipe for at least one minor incident, especially as we intended to travel through a number of foreign countries. Even if you came back from a visit and found damage done to your parked vehicle you would still be liable. In the end I accepted that the 1000.00 euro deposit for excess should be part of your budget when first costing the whole holiday, then at least if you get it back it's a bonus !
The vehicle proved to be exactly what we'd hoped for, very comfortable and reliable and a dream to drive. We decided to do this as my eldest daughter was off to University and it really was the last time we would be a family of 4 together on holiday. Seeing parts of Europe, in this case, was far more enticing than lying on a beach for 2 weeks. That has it's place of course but I would recommend this as a way to see a lot of things at your own pace and spend some quality time together. We ended up going through Germany to Switzerland, Italy, France, back through Italy to Austria and back to Germany.
On our return we were again dealt with very quickly and 'luckily' had had no incidents to report or damage to show and we did get our full refund so personally I have no complaints. I've read some people had a bad deal when the vehicle was checked for cleanliness on return. True, there wasn't much in the way of cleaning stuff but we kept it fairly clean and tidy during the trip and on the last night gave it a good going over. All I can say is that the staff were very pleased with it and even gave us a voucher for discount on any future hire because it was so clean !!!
My only other beef is having to pay extra for things like the table and chairs - I feel things like that should be included. I understand for bedding as there is laundry required but not for items that you are obviously going to need.
Final advice - get a book on motorhome sites where you can park overnight as this saves a lot of money rather than payng for campsites and they have all the services you need. Some sites are basic but others are really lovely and well sited.
Sat Nav is a must !!
Last word - JUST DO IT !!!

Marc (Australia), 13 september 2007
We rented our campervan from McRent in Frankfurt (via Ideamerge) in July -August 07. The booking process and pick up proved to be very easy and painless. Both comanies were easy to deal with. Our van provided us with no problems at all and I recomend dealing with Ideamerge and McRent.Additional recommendations : 1) On arrival take as much time as you need to list every possible fault or scratch (internal or external)do not assume anything, as the same will happen on return. 2)Make sure you buy or rent a GPS for your journey, 3) have fun and expect some minor hiccups along the way it's all part of the experience.

P Ireland, 12 september 2007
We picked up a VW Californian in the middle of July in Frankfurt, Germany from DRM, and took it on a 3000 mile jaunt through England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and back to Frankfurt. We were impressed from the moment Claudia introduced us to the vehicle and its capabilities, and equally impressed with her attitude and helpfullness. One drawback, minor at best, we added an awning at the last minute and it just did not want to stay in its track.

The mileage was excellant, and at those prices we were gratefull. The vehicle ran beautifully, and was excellant for maneuvering in the city and on those narrow roads.

Doug Bredesen, from IdeaMerge, was great to work with and had helpful suggestions and answers from the very beginning.

The 1000 EU deposit and paying the exchange rate on it coming and going is something that needs to be fixed. It seems pretty simple - run the card and hold the slip until the vehicle is returned and cleared.

We will be back, probably next year.

Sincerely,

Paul

Al Puskaric, 10 september 2007
We rented a 2-person motor home in Mannheim, Germany. It was beautiful. We named it Snoopy for its cool look and off we went on a trip through most of Western Europe. The machine performed flawlessly and was a pleasure to drive. The 6 speeds really came in handy in the small mountain roads of Italy. We own a motor home here in America and really appreciated the forward thinking German design. It got great gas mileage and the vehicle required no maintenance during our 5,000 Km trip. I found Simone to be an outstanding, friendly, and understanding person that truly worked hard to insure that we were comfortable with the operation of the vehicle. When we returned it in perfect condition, we were immediately given our deposit back. This is unlike our last experience with a different rental company. They did not return our deposit for several months even though it passed their inspection. I would rent from them again!

Michael Flanagan, 10 september 2007
Picked up a 6 berth camper van at Stuggart, drove down to Bordeaux picked up the family and drove around spain over 14 days. The van was fine and pickup formalities fairly painless. The van was broken into in Seville and on return I lost some of my deposit. However they were fair about the whole process and I knew what I was letting myself in for, being my second year hiring. I would agree with some of the previous comments that super CDW insurnace should be available. Certainly the definition of an incident is not that clear in the T&C's. On balance an enjoyable holiday that I would repeat as you can get right into city centres. However its not cheap if you consider petrol etc and sensible people should assume that the deposit will be lost.

m brockenshire, 10 september 2007
picked up van at berlin very easily.was a bit different driving on the other side of the car and the road.spent 2 weeks in berlin and around hamburg.i would not do it any other way.i would recommend to anybody to spend time in germany in an rv.The only problem i have is the cleaning of the van should be included in the price.we had 4 people in the van an spend quite a bit of time cleaning floors,bathroom,kitchen etc....down on our hands an knees with a cloth and hot soapy water washing the floor and still they charged us the cleaning cost.i was not happy with that. all in all though van ran very well and it was very easy to drive place to place and set up. An A++ to doug at ideamerge for doing things very quickly and making it so easy. I just think the cleaning part of it is stupid. mcrent berlin expect such high quality cleaning with only a small brush and pan suplied.No vaccumn cleaner....no dishwashing liquid....no cleanig equiptment at all.makes it impossible. But an awsome time had....

Alan Stafford, 10 september 2007
Picked up the Camper in Frankfurt, directions on Ideamegre paper work were great.After pick up when we stopped for the first night and got a good look at the camper we were un happy with the level of cleaning. We cleaned the camper fully, (bathroom, kitchen area, seats musty and dusty). Only a small brush and pan provided no other cleaning products supplied.

The trip itself was magnificent, the freedom it offers is excellent you can be in the Alps one day and at the Med the next, my two children 7 & 6 had a ball. In all we were on holiday for a month and I would recommend the experience.

The part IdeaMerge played was excellent, however I was un happy with McRent the actual rental company.

Unfortunately we scrapped the side of the camper van, I was told the repair would cost more than the 1000Euro deposit and it was all lost. Like another contributor on the review forum I questioned this, their explanation was their years of experience told them the cost, no break down of the actual cost would be provided. Again why such a high deposit, I can rent a brand new hire car of any value and have maybe 100 - 200 Euro deposit, why is full insurance not supplied.

The camper we rented had a number of scrapes and the awing body was damaged but worked fine. Again McRent stated they collect all the deposits for damage over the season and use that towards repair at the end of the season before sale, this van would be rented out again the next week.
This particular Van had 50K + on the closck and performed ok

After receiving the camper in a poor state we cleaned the camper before return, no portable hoover supplied, on return a different rep pulled the fridge apart opened every press and pulled up all the seats and said she didn't think the camper was cleaned to a high enough standard.

I complained and disagreed, I find it hard to understand how you clean a camper van to such a high level in a camp site, All cleaning products, have to be provided by the renter, If we rented and apartment or Hotel room no cleaning is expected at the end. Just a level of tidyness to live in for your stay.

In summary excellent holiday and Ideamerge were excellent to deal with but I would not rent again based on the Deposit and would not use McRent in Germany.

John Brackenridge, 09 september 2007
Pick up at Falkensee - booking great and staff very helpful - Motohome was very good and we had a totally fabulous holiday. I had read the reviews prior to holiday and so requsted that my deposit was returned when we did the drop off ( less one breakage @7.50 euros!). This was done on the spot. Would book a bigger motohome next time. Sorting the '1000 euro ' issue would seriouly help build customer confidence.

Peter Watts, 09 september 2007
My wife, two young children (4 and 7) and I flew into Munich early in July and collected a Dethleffs 5881 conversion (6-berth) from the depot there.

Pick-up - this was easy - the camper was ready early and well-presented (although some niggles we had - a bathroom door that wouldn't shut for example - were brushed aside).

Driving - the power unit of the vehicle was excellent coping well with a range of speeds and gradients including some of the higher passes in the Alps. Visibility was good as was fuel economy

Interior - the seats for driving were very comfortable but those for passengers had a habit of slipping forward (the cushions) when adults sat on them but this is a minor detail. Very comfortable accomodation for four for the three weeks that we were on the road.

Route - Southern Germany - Austria - North Italy - South of France - Provence - Bernese Oberland -Southern Germany - all on four fill-ups
Highlights - Venice for the fireworks at the end of the Biennale (sp?) - the Schilthorn in Switzerland - Gorges de Verdon in Provence.

Drop-off - after a fantastic holiday only two things marred the trip. Poor signs and bad planning on our part meant we did not have a carnet for driving on Austrian motorways - we were fined 120Euros for this. On return a small scratch was detected on the side of the camper - probably caused by running along a tree at a campsite - I felt that I had no means of questioning the 300Euros we were charged for its repair. I would have more confidence in the company if I had subsequently received the repair invoice and any funds owing to me. Why do the company not offer CDW?

Still - a great adventure - a great holiday and we will certainly be exploring by camper again.

J.Rudolf, 09 september 2007
Rented VW California camper from DRM in Frankfurt in August for three weeks. Excellent service by Lars who had the vehicle readied ahead of schedule and sent me on my way early, including a thorough demonstration of the vehicle and its features. The van was immaculate (17k) and the TDI engine drove beautifully, taking 8 liters of diesel per 100 km (30 miles to a gallon), 1000 km on a tank. Speeds of 170 km/hr on the Autobahn felt comfortable. Did 2000 km through Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and took gas once on the road. The camper conversion is not as good as the older Westfalias as it is now built more like a car than a boat, but it has many more features. Returning from the trip, I had a scratch on the front bumper, which DRM assessed at 50 euro, very reasonable. Overall, the experience was first class and I would highly recommend the IdeaMerge-DRM route for renting a camper in Germany.

Nancy Sullivan, 06 september 2007
Thanks for your help, Eric at IdeaMerge. You are one of the most AWESOME customer service people I have ever dealt with. THANKS and I look forward to talking again even though we ended up not booking an RV rental this time! – Nancy

Peter Wilson, 03 september 2007
We hired a campervan for 3 weeks from Frankfurt, and had a great holiday, covering about 4000 km and 5 countries with comfort and 100% reliability. Doug and the Ideamerge booking went very smoothly, with excellent communication and attention to detail.

The pickup from McRent in Frankfurt was not so smooth however. We arrived with all of our luggage at about 3:30 (the allocated pickup time is from 3:00 onwards). After a long wait, there was a very slow check-in procedure where we just reiterated all of the info that had already been provided twice (including in the "fast pickup form" which didn't seem to make any difference).

After all of that, the camper was not ready and did not have the crockery and bedding that we had requested. The water tank wasn't even full...

We eventually got going at 7:00pm after a very frustrating three and a half hours.

The vehicle itself (a Fiat Ducato with Dethleffs fit-out) was very good. It was good to drive, comfortable for a family of 4 and gave good economy. It was about 2 years old and many of the small fittings were broken or showing their age, so hopefully it was about to be retired from service.

One suggestion for McRent is that they should put a big sign on the dashboard warning drivers of the height of the vehicle. This was nowhere to be found (not even in the manuals), and we ended up measuring it ourselves to avoid an incident with the many low bridges and tunnels in Europe.

Despite this, we did put a dent in the top of the van due to an overhanging tree branch. This was dealt with very pleasantly by the McRent people on return, and we forfeited our EU1000 deposit. Unfortunately, they have not been so helpful with providing an invoice for the repairs, which is required by our insurance company in Australia.

Overall, it was a fantastic holiday, and the campervan was an ideal way to tour Europe with great flexibility and independence.

Adrian Prince, 18 august 2007
We hired a Fiat campervan from McRent in Berlin. Ideamerge were excellent and the service from McRent was good but we did have a few issues.

The Berlin depot is actually in the Havel See area, far enough outside Berlin that it's not on the extensive suburban rail system. It's in an industrial area half way between two regional rail stations. With our luggage, we had to get a taxi from the station. Also, while it's in the same area as Tegel airport, it's difficult to get there from the airport by public transport. Some advice on getting there and, possibly, a shuttle to/from the local town would be useful. Actual pickup of the van was efficient.

A road map of the greater Berlin area would have been helpful, especially showing the location of camp sites.

The European camp site book that was included was just one American couple's description of the camp sites they had used. There were just two campsites included in the four countries we went to - neither anywhere near our route. There are good camp site directories available and one of these should be provided.

Like another reviewer, our credit card company hit us with considerable credit card charges for the deposit. Hotels put a claim on a deposit without actually charging it - why can't McRent do that?

George Ulicny, 16 august 2007
We rented an RV in Dusseldorf, May 15 to June 15. The vehicle was new, with many extras: bike rack, roof racks, awning, door deadbolts, & safe. Excellent fuel mileage w/ diesel engine at 2000 rpm. I hated to give it back, and wanted to keep it. If you are to rent an RV in Germany, I'd suggest Dusseldorf, even if it's a bit out of your way. The countryside just north of the vendor is pretty, also. Doug is wonderful, and hopefully is available for adoption.

Ruffolo Family, 14 august 2007
We had an excellent experience with both IdeaMerge Reservations and DRM Rental in Munich. Doug was very helpful at IdeaMerge and answered all our major and trivial questions as this was the first time we rented a campervan and wanted to be sure this would work well in Europe. His recommendations were right on and helpful.

DRM in Markt Schwaben just outside Munich worked very well. We took the train and walked to the rental place. They were waiting for us and were very laid back, yet thorough and helpful. The van itself was in great shape, clean and everything worked well including the raised roof, fridge, stove, etc. Although the 6 speed diesel took a little getting used to, the mileage was much better than a standard engine. The DRM staff was pretty clear on the expectations of the van upon the return, so we were prepared to do some cleaning in and out of the vehicle.

We had no issues during our 2 week travels, so I cannot comment on roadside assistance or any help during the trip.

Upon our return, the DRM center was very busy - however we were taken care of with very little delay and passed our inspection with little delay. I think all renters should consider the old adage - leave in better shape than you got it and you avoid alot of close scrutiny and hassle. We had brought some old beach towels for use during the trip and I was happy to rip up a couple and toss them after cleaning!

We have returned home and told many of our friends about the great experience and highly recommended this option for extended trips, particularly to Europe. We will definitely consider for future trips and other parts of the world.

One more tip, we used Mike & Terry Church's book European Camping as a guide and enjoyed every one of the places they recommended.

Ben, 14 august 2007
We booked our rental through Doug who was very thorough. I’d highly recommend IdeaMerge.

Unfortunately, McRent in Frankfurt were not so good - they were disorganized and many customers were exceedingly frustrated. Having faxed the paperwork to McRent a few days before arrival, we arrived at our scheduled slot (3pm) but had to wait an hour to be served. When we were finally shown our van, it didn’t have a bike rack – we’d booked one, and had mentioned the importance of the bike rack several times, even emailing a week before arrival to reemphasize its importance. It took McRent four hours to source then fit a bike rack and we didn’t leave until 7:45pm! What was more frustrating was that even if the van did have a bike rack, the van would not have been ready, as it didn’t have a radio / CD player fitted. We then had to redo the paperwork – not sure what happened to our fax. Having booked four months in advance and arrived after a 32 hours in transit, this was all very frustrating. Other points: the kitchen set was old and missing many important utensils and the table we were provided with had a broken leg. The cupboards didn’t have any no-slip matting – we had to buy some cheap rags to ‘wrap’ the plates and glasses in whenever we were in transit.

The van itself, however, was excellent. Almost new, and very clean it went well – a Possl Transit ~5.50m long. It was a bit tight inside, but really pinged along the autobahn at 140kph+ and was very easy to drive - Highly recommended for couples who don’t need much space – we’ve used a 6.5m in Europe before, but the for 3-4 weeks, having a smaller van gave us much more freedom and confidence in the small villages and alpine roads. The 5.5m doesn’t come with an awning, which is a shame.

I’d highly recommend IdeaMerge and Doug. But if you pick up from McRent in Frankfurt, be prepared for a long wait and check all the things they provide (tables / chairs / kitchen gear) as most of their stuff is old and broken. There’s a Lidl supermarket over the road which is great for picking up supplies and extra household items.

One other minor concern – the €1000 deposit. I understand the reason for it, but as we were from Australia, our bank charged us a foreign currency transfer fee for the deposit and again for the refund. We then lost more money on the exchange rate moving (just bad luck). So even though McRent gave us the full €1000 back, we lost ~A$150 on the transaction. It’s a problem for customers and their card companies / banks, rather than the rental company, but perhaps something for IdeaMerge (and renters) to keep in mind.

It would also be great if McRent were to provide simple A4 maps of the 2-3 main ways to get to and from the depot. This would be a great to help get you on the road and then to help find your way back to the depot at the end of the trip.

Razia H., 10 august 2007
After posting the review the other day, I realized I could mention a few things to prepare the 'first timers' a bit more.
1) Take a GPS system ..life is much better with GPS if you are driving off the beaten path.
2) Do your research, look for campsites in advance the campsite book given at the depot is ok but not comprehensive. It does list star rating and 4 star is recommended for families.
3) Always purchase 'unlimited day tickets' for any city transportation. This takes the hassle of finding fares and purchasing them and gives you freedom to choose your destinations within the city more often.
4) Listen to "Rush-Hour" series of Berlitz for the language of the country you are visiting. It is very rude to not even know how to say hello, thanks and sorry to a person on the street. If you expect others to know enough English to explain the way to you, they probably expect you to know how to say 'thanks' in their language.
5) Do not bother taking travellers check or cash with you. Most credit cards will work and VISA cash card charges only 1% fees overseas. Also ATM machines are available. However remember to call your credit card and cash card and cell phone companies to expect your transactions from the countries you are visiting.
6) Most economical way to keep in touch with your family back home is to take your current GPS enable cell phone (unlocked) and text message back home. You can also take a phone card from your local service company (MCI for example) and use the plenty of available phone booths to call home.
7) Do not throw away any subway, or local transportation ticket until you are back to your RV. We had thrown our one way subway tickets after using it on the turnstile, and were 'caught' at the exit station and were fined for not having the ticket to travel on the subway!!

We had a very ENJOYABLE trip in Europe and hope to make another one in near future.

The Wheating family, 09 august 2007
This was our second RV rental in Europe and the first time that we used Ideamerge. We chose them because of good reviews, an informative website(motoeuropa)and because their cancellation fees were most favourable. We also appreciated that they did not charge extra for a kitchen set, though this proved to be less valuable than we anticipated (see comments below.)

Our month-long trip in June 2007 was outstanding, though certain aspects of our moterhome disappointed. We arrived at the depot in Frankfurt after a very long (delayed) flight from Vancouver but fortunately still in our agreed pick-up slot. The depot was busy. We were ignored for an hour. Once they turned their attention to us, there were still repeated delays and interruptions. The vehicle they had prepared for us had been gored by tree branches both fore and aft, with large dark putty patches crudely applied to plug the holes. There were also numerous small dings and scratches. An identical unit in much better condition was stored near by, but as my kids, aged 10 and 12, were exhausted, I felt I hesitated to delay further hours by insisting McRent prepare a better condition vehicle for us.

The vehicle also showed wear inside: veneer was peeling from some of the cabinets, chunks of double backed tape remained on the walls where hooks had been removed. Over time we discovered a glove, a gameboy and game, dvds and pencil drawings in our vehicle, leading me to question the quality of McRents cleaning. Clearly the previous renter lost all of his deposit and didn't much care how he left it. The grey water tank was not fully drained and was noxious when we did it a few days later.

My other complaint is that the kitchen set was next to useless: No colander, no spatula; bowls were flat glass soup plates. The frying pan was not non-stick and the pots shared one handle which let go if you tried to tip the pot to drain it. We ended up buying all of these items and more. The table and two of the four chairs we rented collapsed frequently. Just go buy some when you arrive.

So thats all the bad stuff. On the good side, the RV was mechanically reliable and a very economical way for a family of four to have a great month in Europe. The diesel engine got great mileage.We always had a fridge full of good food and cold drinks and a familiar place to sleep. We free-camped a few times with no problems.

The campground book supplied by McRent was very limited, profiling one campground in each of a few dozen major centres. No maps were available at McRent for the countries we planned to visit (Germany, Switz. Italy, France) We did a lot of internet research in advance and it really paid off. We didn't pre-book anything and were never turned away. Our kids liked the 4 star campgrounds with pools, slides and pizzerias, and we generally indulged their preferences, to the tune of 30 or 40 Euros/night. If it was just the two of us, we would have free camped and used municipal campsites more often.

My husband found the driving and parking quite manageable, with the exception of one hairy section between Lugano and Mennagio on Lake Como. We didn't get the GPS system but probably would another time though we managed with only minor navigational errors over 4000km. Another time I would also buy bikes for everyone on the first day. Once you get your vehicle parked in a campsite -- leveled and awning out, laundry flapping - you are loath to move it for local trips. We rented bikes often and for the money spent on rental, could have bought bikes for both kids, and probably sold them quite easily in the end - or found a way to donate them where they could do some good.

Return of the vehicle at Frankfurt was much smoother. My husband and I spent a few hours the night prior cleaning the RV from top to bottom and had no difficulty getting our full deposit back without cleaning charges. Just opposite the McRent depot in Offenbach (Frankfurt) there is a McDonalds, two budget hotels, a gas station, and car detailing center with coin-op vaccums that you can access round the clock. We got a room for the kids, then cleaned the RV in the parking lot. We all profited from showers at the hotel in the morning before driving the clean RV across the road and heading for the airport. Doing it this way was well worth the 60E hotel fee, as it alleviated the complexities of sleeping in the RV while simultaneously packing and cleaning.

Doug gave us prompt and courteous assistance and for that reason I wouldn't hesitate to use Ideamerge again. I am disappointed that we ended up with a vehicle in need of significant cosmetic repair -m our reservation was made 8 months ahead - not last minute. We always felt like people were looking at our patched vehicle in wonder at our poor driving skills. Another time, I would insist that McRent prep a better vehicle and very quickly too.

If you are thinking of taking your family on an RV tour of Europe, just do it. We had a wonderful time and only hope we can do it once more before our kids are too old.

Tomas Petersen, 09 august 2007
We decided with relatively short notice to go on a two week campervan holiday. After a search of the internet, it quickly became clear that IDEAMERGE was offering what was amongst the best prices. So we booked a compact. Within 8 hours, Doug from IDEAMERGE wrote back that there was no vans of this category available for our dates, but offered us the next best option. We picked that and ideamerge arranged all the booking and payment swiftly and efficiently.

The van was ready when we got to Hamburg. It was in excellent condition, and we had two wonderful weeks touring in it.

The German company had problems with their IT systems so offered to email us the final paperwork instead of us having to wait around. We gladly accepted. The email didn't arrive. A quick note to IDEAMERGE got this resolved within 8 hours as well. It is particularly this after-the-event service, long after the money has changed hand that impressed us. Doug could have ignored our note, but he got right onto the case and got it resolved.

I have been very impressed by the service received and have no hesitation in recommending IDEAMERGE to anyone looking for a trouble free campervan holiday.

Razia H., 07 august 2007
Our European vacation started with airline reservation and IdeaMerge. we really appreciated the details on the website and after careful thought went with ideamerge as opposed to other options. Our rental was in Frankfurt. Everything was exactly as the website had prepared us for. No surprises except that we expected to get a VW but the six sleepers were all FIAT. Since our van had EXCELLENT fuel economy and did not give us any problems it was alright in the end.
The construction of the bed and tables inside the vehicle was a bit flimsy but bearable for two weeks! The plumbing and heating system worked great and all the guages for water and fuel for the living area worked as they should. The space was tight but we were expecting that. Bed sizes were not bad but walk around space was minimum. The stove and refrigerator were efficient and adequate for normal use.
We relied heavily on our Tom-Tom and had a great time. Without the Tom-Tom, it would have been impossible to find the depot in Frankfurt, as it is well hidden.
We did not purchase any extras because I didn't think they were worth the cost.
The checkout process was smooth, there were no "hidden" costs, no unreasonable penalties (we had minor fender benders and were charged around Eruo 500 more).
Overall it was an extremely painless process to rent and return and we will definitely do it again in the near future. Specially now that we know there is a train from Frankfurt airport to the depot and to the Frankfut Hauptbahnhof etc.
THANK YOU IDEA MERGE!

Kathi Ralph Battles, 07 august 2007
Thoroughly enjoyed our rental experience with Ideamerge/DRM in Frankfurt, Germany. This was our 5th European vacation and we've always either purchased or rented a VW camper van. This was our van's only second trip out, so it was like brand new and worked great, was very comfortable and easy to maneuver on those skinny European city streets. We visited 7 countries in five weeks and camped every night and met all kinds of friedly people. We really appreciated having the huge German map and camping book--they came in very handy. Also, having the bike rack included was a plus--we formed an international partnership with our German friends and purchased mountain bikes which we rode in three different alps and then left with our friends when we departed Germany. Too much fun!

Our recommendation is to have at least a sheet of van operation instructions in English which would have helped with blood pressure when trying to figure out the electronics. Also, there shouldn't be an extra charge for the table and chairs which were already part of the van.

What we want to know is how Mike (in Frankfurt) did with his extreme mountain bike race? We were rooting for him and his partner!

Laaksonen Family, 07 august 2007
We booked our vehicle from Mr. Doug Bredesen and picked it up at Sulzemoos (Münich). The service was excellent, vehicle was practically brand new and we had fantastic three weeks in Germany, Switzerland and France.

We recommend!

Laaksonen Family (Finland)

Brian Templeton, 28 july 2007
We collected our Fiat Dethtleffs RV from McRent in Mannheim. Our 7 week holiday was trouble free and highly enjoyable in part due to the excellent quality of the vehicle which was both economical and very well presented.
I would recommend this kind of holiday to anyone.
The only matter which did bother us was that they did not supply a spare wheel in case of punctures - fortunately it was not needed!
My wife are looking towards doing this again in a few years time so we will no doubt be in touch with you again.

Bruce, 25 july 2007
Ideamerge and McRent in Hamburg provided excellent service. Check in and checkout were very quick and trouble free. We were surprise at the very good fuel economy with the Fiat van. We enjoyed our five week trip through Scandinavia driving almost 5000 miles.
We are ready to do it again.

Tommie Kenny, 25 july 2007
Having settled back after completing a wonderful holiday in Europe I would like to complement Doug Bredesen for his help and courtsey at all times during our communications to each other while I tried to organise our holiday to suit our family situation .Thankfully everything worked out perfectly.I would like to extend my thanks also to McRent in Mannheim who provided the vehicle in excellent condition and it's facilities were demonstrated by Simeone in a corteous and knowledgeble manner and in perfect English,the pick up and return were without problems..many thanks to all concerned .We were very happy with the vehicle choice, well equipped,comfortable,economical,safe and with low mileage .Also the A/C was appreciated when the weather got very warm. Just one little minor quibble, it would help if the manuals provided with vehicle could be in English covering basic information on warning lights in vehicle/eqpt operation etc. Verdict overall...very satisfied...would use IDEAMerge/McRent again and would also recommend to others

David Stafki, 08 july 2007
Picked up the RV in Dusseldorf in early April. Met or exceeded all expectations. Staff was friendly and knowledgable and we were on the road quickly. We had a great time touring several countries and had no real problems with the RV. Euorpeans are great campers and the campgrounds were wonderful. We loved our experiences there. We originally reserved the unit for almost 3 months but had to cut it short by about 3 weeks. It would have been nice if they would have even some small measure of refund for unused days. Also, when renting for that long it would also have been good to have a couple of chairs thrown in for nothing.
Overall though, no regrets and would do it again.
Dave

Laura from Florida , 07 july 2007
Our family had camped before in the States, but the campgrounds in Germany & Italy were better in some respects. Most had small markets, bars, and the restrooms were clean, and we never had to wait for a shower like you do in the States in the mornings. Great locations...but finding some of them! Yuk. The campground book given to us by McRent had terrible directions in it. I'd get the GPS next time.

Driving an RV on the autobahn was not a problem (of course I drive in South Fla), and the gas mileage was great.

We did not get the motorhome we had reserved in November. We were supposed to get a Group D6B vehicle, like the Dethleffs 7871-2. When we got to the pick-up they would not rent it to us because our US licenses (all 3 said something different) gave our weight class as less than sufficient to drive the motorhome. This was news to us because our reservation had said "though standard US domestic licenses suffice with respect to the Group D6 and Group D7 motorhomes, which have a gross weight greater than 3500 kg, standard European licenses limit their holders to vehicles less than this weight." We figured we had no problem. But someone at the AAA office where we got our Int'l driver licenses had incorrectly market we couldn't drive more than 5,000 lb vehicle. We had already rented and driven a larger motorhome in Alaska years earlier. Also my 15-yr old son's driver's permit said his license was sufficient to drive the motorhome. Too bad he was too young. We went to a website to show we had the correct licenses, they wouldn't budge. It's not like we were going to have obtained CDL licenses in the states just for driving a vacation vehicle! The Frankfurt staff had a smaller motorhome that they quickly cleaned and outfitted for us (over 3 hr check=in), but it was not as new or large and we were a party of six. I was dissappointed that we did not get the vehicle we had reserved so many months earlier.

But if you get the GPS, people from the US should not be hesitant at all about camping in Europe or using McRent. It was much more of an experience than staying in hotel rooms.

Godleman family, 06 july 2007
We have just recently returned from a 4 week holiday in Europe. This was to (most likely) be our last family holiday with our 17yo son before he heads off to Uni & holidays with friends rather than parents. It was particularly important to me that it be a memorable holiday for all the right reasons rather than because it was the holiday from hell! It was all I had hoped for & more!!!! This was in no small part due to the excellent motorhome (Fiat Globebus from McRent in Munich) we had for our 3 week stint on the continent. We picked up from Sulzemoos (about 45 mins out of Munich)& did a loop through Austria (Salzburg), Slovenia (Bled,Ljubljiana & Potorosa), briefly into Croatia (Umag), Italy (Venice & Cinque Terre)across the Mediterranean coast to Nice, up through Frances Provence region (Orange) to Lyon, to Switzerland (Geneva, Rolle, Visp,Lauterbrunnen), Austria (Bregenz, Germany (Fussen, St.Alban on Amersee, and returning to Munich. I had travelled Europe as a single back in the 80's using Eurail which was great but this trip was absolutely awesome. My husband adapted really quickly to the left-hand drive & we did some 4500 Kms without feeling pushed or rushed.
The Munich McRent depot staff (Peter & Michael - who both spoke English thankfully as our German was non-existant) were extremely helpful & the vehicle check-in was both quick & thorough. Our motorhome only had about 1500Kms on the clock so was virtually brand new! Its economy was great fuel-wise. It came map-less though & we hadn't been expecting that so I'd advise that you organise a GPS before you go & take away the need for chasing up maps. I'd also agree with others that some of the Tolls are highway robbery - literally!! We found it to be worst across the Cote D'Azure region so would in hindsight suggest more minor roads if time permits. We could have spent much more time exploring & we would highly recommend both Ideamerge & McRent as very professional teams to deal with. I have read that some folks were not sure what standard of cleanliness was needed to receive their deposit - we had absolutely no problem in this regard. I suggest that as a guide, you return the vehicle in the same clean state in which it was when you picked it up - no hassles!!
If like us you are hesitating about going....DON'T hesitate....JUST GO!!!! Thanks McRent & Ideamerge, we have made incredible memories we will all carry with us forever!

Daniel Fraser, 03 july 2007
I found the IdeaMerge site very helpful and had all the information we needed. Factoring in the discounts the prices it was better than going to McRent direct. One negative point is that we thought we were geting A/C in the cab for our model - but in reality it didn't come with that.

We had a great holiday and traveled 4500km. Some advice is not to be too complacent with your valubles we had our cameras and bags stolen from within the main campervan (out of sight behind curtain, behind passenger seat) during the night while we were in the campervan sleeping! We were parked in a small Motorest just inside the eastern Czech boarder. The lock was forced and we heard nothing. We would now keep our valubles in a cupboard or up on the bed... Don't be put off though, we had a great time, just be careful with passports, cash and cameras, it will save you a lot of trouble.
Dan

Jeff Kauk, 25 june 2007
WOW...what can we say. Before I go any further if you are planning on renting book the motorhome first then find a flight.
We are from Canada and rented a motorhome for the month of May out of Stuttgart, Germany. Since we had booked our flight into Frankfurt already and couldn't get a motorhome rental in Frankfurt we had to take the train to Stuttgart...not a big deal. The rental place was great, our motorhome (Jerry..we gave it a nickname) was perfect for us. A bed, a kitchen, a toilet...what else do you need. If you are thinking of renting a motorhome....DO IT! We loved it...way better then a tent and much better then a hostel...for us atleast. To see pictures go here http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/canadianmade/awayin07/tpod.html
We can't wait to do it again. Some tips to make the trip easier.
1. Don't worry about getting lost...you will...just keep driving in one direction and you will find your way out of the city!
2. Get the ACSI guide on DVD and take a laptop..the book in the motorhome isn't very good. The ACSI guide it much more detailed. They have a online map here. http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/
3. Our motorhome had a safe so we were not worried about valuables..anyways all the parks were VERY safe. It's all older people except Amsterdam!
4. If you are from Canada then trust me when I say everything is MUCH closer to each other than it is in Canada or the States for that matter.
5. If you like to drive you will LOVE to drive in Europe. Some of the roads in Italy I thought were one lane were actually 2! It was great!
6. Campgrounds are amazing...bars, restaurants, no toilet paper or seats in France...it's a learning experience.
If you are on the fence about going.......just please go! It will be the experience of a life time!

Bob McLaren, 25 june 2007

My wife and I recently returned from 5 weeks in Europe. This was the 2nd time we have used Ideamerge to rent a VW California from DRM in Germany. Using Ideamerge is a no brainer; their website, the booking process and customer service is seamless. (Even easier than 2003) We picked up our VW in Frankfurt. Our plane arrived at 11am, by 1:30pm we were driving away in a brand new (1600km) camper. We drove 5200km to southern Italy and returned to Germany via Paris. The current VW camper is very refined and easy to drive and setup. It's perfect for 2 people, gets about 9l/100km fuel economy and is very comfortable. This time we slept upstairs in the "penthouse". which was very comfy and the views out the little windows were great. We brought our own lightweight cooking gear and sleeping bags etc. which simplified things for us. We particularly like the freedom the VW provides, in terms of size and convenience, to go anywhere we like. For instance, we drove the Amalfi coast road on a busy Sunday without any problems. Also, the switchbacks in and out of the Gargano peninsula (Vieste, Italy) are not to be missed. Also, this time we brought along a Garmin NUVI GPS unit which was very helpful.

The return of the vehicle was easy and we our deposit was returned promptly.

Some suggestions: Bring a tire gauge and check your pressure regularly. One of our tires was quite underinflated upon pick-up and it can affect your handling. Also, the VW manuals are all written in German, so any problems you might have can be hard to decipher.

Another great experience and highly recommended. Happy travelling.

Steve, 20 june 2007
We rented a Motorhome for a 4 week trip around Europe in April/May 2007. We picked up our motorhome from McRent in Frankfurt and had a bit of a slow start as there were some delays in getting our motorhome ready. Once on the road we had an excellent family adventure (5 of us). We traveled almost 7000 Km and toured 7 countries. I was very impressed with the motorhome and the fuel consumption was a pleasant surprise compared to the big North American units. We found the camping guide book, provided with the motorhome, to be an excellent resource (But bring a GPS or really good maps !). Never once had a problem finding a nice camp site (pays to go in the off season !) Ideamerge, especially Doug was excellent for answering our questions and getting our booking established. If you are reading these reviews trying to decide if a motorhome is the way to visit Europe, I can certainly recommend it as a fantastic way to travel!(and I would not hesitate to recommend you book through Ideamerge). Our family had a wonderful time. Thanks

Tim, 20 june 2007
We had the trip of a lifetime thanks to Ideamerge. After living in Africa the past 3 years we decided to tour Europe on our way back to the U.S. I had never rented a RV camper before so had no idea how to get started. So, I just "googled" "RV Camper Rentals in Europe" and fortunately came across Ideamerge. It had the best information and the best rates.

The camper was awesome and we traveled throughout Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. The only surprise we had were the toll road costs in Europe. More information on the website would have been helpful for budgeting.

Also, understanding the insurance would have been better. Unbeknownst to us, a tree limb made a small dent on top. When we turned in our camper after our trip, the guys at McRent went crazy with everything. Not only did they keep our deposit, they charged us 150 Euros for not "cleaning" the inside (we had washed all dishes, swept the floors, and wiped down the counters, but apparently forgot to wipe out the burners). Not knowing what was expected on cleaning cost a lot.

All in all, we would do it all over again. We will soon forget the dent, the loss of deposit, and the cleaning fee, and remember all the great things that happened during our trip!

Alan Morris, 18 june 2007
We have just returned from Europe and a 7 week hire from DRM. Whilst we were in Germany (Berlin) a large branch fell off a tree (we were in a camp site) and wrecked the camper, it happened around 10am, before the end of the day we were "back on the road" with a new vehicle.
Fortunately no one was hurt but I think DRM should be commended for the excellent way they handled the situation, unlike the campsite who had insisted we park where we had and then charged us for our overnight stay and the tea and coffee (offered to calm us down, two people were in the van at the time but escaped unhurt). We were unable to shower as most of our towels were wet due to the large hole in the roof.
We were also delighted to be told that due to the circumstances we would receive our deposit back, so all in all DRM were delightful and the campers were on the whole "first class"

Regards

Alan Morris
AustraliaAlan

Jennifer Brian from Oregon, U.S., 10 june 2007
We booked a VW van for two for just over one month. We found the
service and information provided from the time of our initial inquiry,
to reservation, to actually picking up and returning the vehicle to be
superb. The van had very few miles on it, lots of great features and
they even lent us several detailed map books and a europe-wide
campground directory. When we picked up the vehicle we had a great
lesson on how to work everything, where the grocery store was, the
nearest fuel station and a small map of the area which was of great
use for the return.
We plan to travel in europe again next year and will definitely rent a
VW again from this company. We had a great experience.

David Steele, 04 june 2007
We picked up and dropped off an MC Rent motorhome in Dusseldorf, Germany, with an 11 day rental. We had selected the "Standard" sized motorhome with carseats for our 4yo and 9mo old children. When we arrived we found things all ready for us, with the exception that they had two forward facing childs seats instead of a rear facing infant seat for the baby. We showed them the IdeaMerge paperwork clearly showing the ages and weights of our children. After a few minutes of consultation, they sent a technician out and purchased a new seat for our use. It was a little difficult getting the seats installed but they obviously were interested in doing what it took to keep us happy. The motorhome was 6 months old with 24,000km and in excellent condition. It even came with a backup camera to help us parallel park in the crowded German cities, which we very much appreciated. We'd definitely do it again, although I'm not sure whether we'd bring the kids...

Lindsey and Keven Grogan, 28 may 2007
We would like to post a complimentary review of booking our motorhome to travel Europe... although this will not take place until March 2008 - we have booked early for various reasons and we have found that Doug Bredesen has been unbelievable with his help... seems that nothing was too much trouble and here we are downunder in Australia and he has made the booking of our Motorhome so easy... I wondered if he ever slept - as I would email with a request and would awake to find his reply... nothing was to hard and he made it all so simple for us and so generous... We can highly recommend him to make your bookings so simple... I cant wait to be able to post yet another review after we come back.. We will be making this motor home - "our Home " for 134 days and we just cant wait... thanks again Doug... your the best..Lindsey and Keven Grogan -Beerwah - Australia.

Danny Julie Giesbrecht, 18 october 2006
Thanks very much for the follow up! We picked up our motorhome in Frankfurt on Sept 18th. The staff (Claudia) was extremely helpful and kind. They offered us maps and useful hints which made our vacation trouble free. Speaking of trouble free, the motorhome ran like a clock and was easy to drive, especially in the busy cities. We travelled through Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and back through Germany to Frankfurt. With 4600 km of driving, I can say that i did not feel tired once. The vehicle was very comfortable to drive, eat in, and sleep in. Even when i got stuck going in circles in the roundabout at the "arc de triumph", i felt comfortable driving.
Ideamerge made our honeymoon a trip of a lifetime. Thankyou very much, and thanks again to Claudia in Frankfurt for her assistance and her big smile.
We are already planning for our next trip, 2 years from now. Ideamerge will be our first reservation.

Danny & Julie

Park, Insung, 16 october 2006
The motorhome added to our Europe travel usefully. I was very happy and reduce the travel cost. But I appeal you to change two conditions.

1) The insurance system need to be changed. The consumer's resposiblity is 1,000 Euros. Under 500 Euros, customer will feel safe.

2) The time of picking up and replacing should be changed. I wasted my time for travel to wait the motorhome. Without any extra charge customer can hire it, it would be very comfortable and useful.

Thank you for your kindness and help.

Ian Andrina, 16 october 2006
Great way to see Europe with kids (as long as you stop for a few days in one spot to give them some space)...van pick in Frankfurt was friendly and easy with all paper work in order (except take time to watch the video...we didn't realise you could extend the beds even further!)...drop off was also very easy with a no fuss check of the van and the deposit was put credited back into our account there and then at the office!!!...including cost of some minor repairs to the table that we had to undertake enroute...certainly recommend the ideamerge/mcrent frankfurt team

polly schonfeld hermann platschka, 09 october 2006
We picked up our van after a long flight from new york city. The staff was helpful, personable and friendly and even offered additional brochures for the trip. The van was a great car and performed beyond our expectations. We drove over 7500 kil. and gas milage was unbelievable. We fell in love with the westphalia and the camping experience. We are already planning our trip next summer and plan to rent another vw from Ideal. Polly & Hermann

FRANK SHERI KOENIG, 09 october 2006
WE JUST RECEIVED YOUR EMAIL. THANK YOU FOR WELCOMING US BACK TO THE USA. OUR WHOLE EXPERIENCE WAS "FIRST RATE". WE PUT OVER 2000Km on our RV and we didn't have one bit of trouble. Everything was fantastic with the camper. We got to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary in style! Everyone we know thinks we were crazy to go in a RV, but we put them STRAIGHT! As far as we are concerned this was the only way to see the country's. Our camper was small but compact for us. We loved the bed. You couldn't go to bed mad that was for sure. It was especially nice to have a bathroom. As one gets older we seem to have to make late evening visits and its nice to have that convenience. Driving on the Autobahn was a blast. We never got a ticket, (or got caught). The people at McRent in Munich were very knowledgable and helpful. The RV came fully equipped. We so enjoyed being able to eat outside with our awning and table and chairs. We felt very secure in the RV with all the safety equipment. The only criticism we would like to convey is that they need to make a bigger refrigerator to accommodate all the beer and wurst! Thank you again. We had a WONDERFUL TIME.

Sincerely,

Frank & Sheri Koenig
40+ years

Royce Moncur, 08 october 2006
A great experience! Driving on the right hand side was a challenge at first [us Aussies drive on the correct side!].
We toured for two weeks through six countries.... that much driving would just about get you across Ausralia. Magnificent.
Great service from a company found 'pot luck' in a web search. Also pretty good service from the rental company... BUT!! Surely Europe can catch up with our part of the world. You basically have to wait for 'business hours' to pick up and drop off these motorhomes. Why aren't they set up like hire cars? We had to hire a car for a couple of days before we could get our motor home. The other problem is that they are set up in an industrial estate well away from anything. In Australia I fly into an airport and the van meets me at the airport. Small gripe in the scheme of things though. On the first day I reversed into a small post. Crack through the lightweight rear bumper. $460au cost. Blast! To finish.. great service from Ideamerge and pretty good from Duetsh Riesmobile

Steven Horne, 08 october 2006
Ideamerge were great and the vacation excellent - shame about McRent RV rental of Dusseldorf. Pick-up was shambolic, no guide in english to wagon, no english speaking staff at that time and the chaop we did get didn't really know basics like what the battery indicators meant. very swift look around van - huge mistake!! Took nearly 3 hours to get out of there. Taking back similar pain - this time they really wanted to look at wagon and found a 2-3cm scratch on side - scrape of paint proabably caused by car door or shopping cart. might have even been there when we picked up. Huge fuss and later a 200 euro reduction in deposit supposedly for re-spray. never seen the invoice for this and it took them a month to put rest of deposit back onto card.
Great organisation by ideamerge, great way to see germany, Denmark etc but lousy local rental company.

Damien Byrne, 06 september 2006
just a quick note to thank you for your excellent service through your website. My friends and I used ideamerge last year for our trip around Germany and were so impressed with how smooth everything went there was only one vendor we were going to use when we arranged this year's trip to the USA. - Many Thanks.

Shane and Fiona, 28 august 2006
What can i say except our Motorhome experience in Germany was well.....interesting...
Let me start by saying the company in Germany (Deutsch Riesemobile)were not the most organised lot which is unusual for German people.(This was no fault of Ideamerge) Our pick up time for the MH was 3pm, we did not leave the place till 7pm. They had no capming guides in English, which made finding a place to camp very hard at times.(We hired the MH for 21 nights taking in 9 countries) They had no english speaking staff to show us the motorhome functions on the day of arrival. Once again, made things a bit hard to figure out.
On the day of return to Deutsch Riesemobile things seemed a lot more functional and we had no trouble with the language barrier as there was an English speaking staff member there.
But all that said, the staff at Ideamerge were fantastic in organising our MH given the high demand during the World Cup.
Doug Bredesen in particular was very professional and punctual in all his dealings with us and should be commended for his good work.

Markus and Family, 24 august 2006
I was very happy how smoothly our RV rental went. The vehicle was clean, new and the staff at the pickup depot were very helpful. I would be delighted to recommend using IdeaMerge for renting an RV to anybody travelling in Europe.

Arturo , 23 august 2006
My life time dream was to go to a World Cup in Germany; Ideamerge helped me to make it true. Since I put my application Ideamerge immediately started looking for a motor home for me, They even stay late at night, continuously email me with the latest news related to my reservation, even call me to give me the good news that I had my motorhome reserved. The motorhome was a class D. Small but very comfortable. It looks brand new. I was able to drive and park very close to the city centers (downtown). My wife even cook two blocks from the train's main station at Düsseldorf, because I was very hungry and couldn’t wait to get to the RV parking. I did not see a reason to wait we had beer in the refrigerator (and vegetables) and food on the shelves of the motorhome. Those three and half weeks of traveling, eating, sleeping,.........etc in the motorhome in Germany and during a World Cup, was better than our Honeymoon!!! Thank You Ideamerge. By January I will start planning my next summer vacations. I do not know where I am going, but I know that Ideamerge is going to help me. Thank you again.
Arturo and Nazira

Christina Peak, 02 august 2006
I was very impressed with the service from this company when I was trying to find a campervan for our time in Germany during the World Cup. I felt like a valued customer and all of my queries and problems were sorted out promptly and efficiently via email. The vendor company were also very helpful and our van was top quality and in top condition. I would use this company again without a second thought.

Ruth Haggerty, 16 july 2006
We picked up our Campervan for two at Karlsruhe in Germany and have to say that it was immaculate, almost new. The staff gave us a video to watch initially to help us manage the various aspects of running the vehicle, which was valuable as we had never rented one before. We found it to be very good on fuel and totally reliable, as we followed our team in the World Cup 2006 to Frankfurt, Nuremburg and then Cologne. We found it to be a very convenient and comfortable way of seeing the beautiful country of Germany and thank you for your good service and the service of the staff at Karlsruhe. I would recommend your company to my friends with confidence.

Francisco Iván Herrera González, 14 july 2006
Just one word: perfect. We collected two caravans (5 people vehicles) in Berlin and Hamburg. They were almost brand new and ready to use. We move all over Germany during the Football World Cup, including Berlin, Hamburg, Dortmund, Kaisserlautten, Koln and Hannover. We can't say anything but good things about all the stuff related with the caravans. Super recommendable!!!

Jim Betker, 10 july 2006
Great experience in renting and driving through Germany, Switzerland & Italy. The Fiat was a tough and frugal vehicle that was comfortable and convenient. I expected the size of even a small motorhome would be a problem to drive and maneuvre in Europe, but it wasn't. The small diesel engine was slow on pick-up but cruised easily on the Autobahn and the gas mileage was great. The staff in Frankfurt were also great; very helpful with detailing the vehicle's features and even with some trip planning hints and directions.
The only problem we had was a flat tire. The spare tire release mechanism was unfamiliar to us and, because it had not be used in a year, it was stuck to the bottom of the vehicle and required us to get underneath and pry it from the frame (stuck there by corrosion). Suggest rotating these full size spares every few months to avoid that problem. Otherwise everything went well.
Traveling by motorhome was a delight. With jet lag and tourist overload it was great, early in our trip, just to be able to pull over and have a light lunch and a snooze whenever we felt weary. The facililites and people we encountered everywhere were first class. Highly recommend this method of touring expecially if unfamiliar accomodation in areas you visiting. Cost was not more than if we'd traveled by rail and stayed in modest pensions without the hassle of spending hours looking for accomodation etc. If travelling with a party of 3 to 5, especially with children this would be particularly ideal. (bring a portable dvd player and a power convertor cord for European plug ins - the cigarette/12V plugins do not fit North American power cords)
Would definitely do this again.

Chris and Elize Dreyer, 07 july 2006
We collected our camper (an 8-berth Fiat) at your Frankfurt depot in Nov 2006 and drove 2800 kilometres through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Switzerland in 8 days. What a pleasure! We were 5 adults and there was ample room for all of us and the bedding was wonderfully warm and comfortable. Being from South Africa we thought we would be cold, but the heating system kept us warm all the way. We will definitely make use of your services again, thank you!!

Alessandro Blasi, Sydney, Australia, 07 july 2006
We had a great trip, travelling through Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The campervan (a Fiat Trigano) was almost new, in very good condition and was just the right size for two of us. Overall, we were very happy with our choice and would recommend it to others.

The only points for improvement were:
* At the pick-up point, there was a rush of people trying to get their campers at the start of the afternoon pick-up window. This overwhelmed the staff and as a result it took us about 90 min to get away.
* Due to flight times, we made the decision to return the camper the afternoon before the last day of our rental. We found the depot had closed early and that noone was able to deal with us till the next day.
* The deposit took almost 2 weeks to get refunded which was a bit slack. Also, the currency conversion charges and interest on the deposit probably added up to an additional A$100 even though the 1000 Euros were eventually refunded.

Otherwise, it was great fun and I would do it again if I had any holidays left. Thanks!

Josh Ours and Beth Schuster, Washington, D.C., 04 june 2006
A wonderful experience from start to finish. Excellent customer service from both Ideamerge and the vendor. The brand new VW California was a great way to travel (flexible, fun, fast, and good gas mileage) and camping was convenient, inexpensive, peaceful, and a good way to meet fellow travelers. For added fun and convenience – use those bike racks to bring along the bicycles! We would do this again and recommend it to anyone who enjoys camping.

Matthew and Melissa Johnson, 31 may 2006
We found the German rental company extremely professional and the camper was like new. We appreciated the flexibility of being able to move on whenever we wanted, saved a lot of money not eating in restaurants, and were very comfortable. The pick up and drop off process was efficient and the staff made a real effort to resolve an issue we had. We loved traveling via camper, the camping guidebook was a godsend, and we enjoyed the state of the art sound system for our language CDs. Idea Merge communicated with us and with the vendor and we knew all the information we needed. Top notch, would definitely use Idea Merge again and do a camper trip again- great fun!

Judy Julian, 18 may 2006
Fun, exciting adventure. Our brand new camper van with our TomTom navigation took us through winding narrow alleys and picturesque countrysides in Germany and Switzerland for over two weeks. We had a great time. The camper has good gas mileage, very easy to maneuver, ample storage space, and cozy at night. Bike racks are easy to use (We will rent bikes/scooters all the way for our next trip.)

One advice-don't even think of driving into the cities.

Adolf Annemarie Joubert, South Africa, 15 may 2006
Wow. wonderfull and exiting! We enjoyed a week of wonderfull travelling through the German and Austrian countryside.

The only suggestion I would have, is that the camping site reference books and maps offered be more up to date (camp sites) and in detail (maps).

We will be doing it again.

Cormac McGrane, 26 april 2006
Hi Guys, many thanks for a great holiday. We flew into Munich and arrived at the rental agency about 4 hours early. I suppose it was low season and they weren't too busy, they got us on the road well before lunch. It was snowing, so we flew south and 36 hours later were in sunny Lake Garda, Italy. The wonders of a mobile holiday home. The van was great, heated for our overnight in the snow and roomy enough for the two of us and two young children. The roads were great and the other users were polite and patient, we had no problems. Venice was the downside of the trip, old crumbling buildings with lots of water in the streets, couldn't get the van under the bridges ;o) waste of time when its crowded, might fly in some winter for a look. Slovenia was the discovery. A beautiful country still unspoiled by commercialism, hopefully they will manage to keep it so, at least 'till we get back there a few more times. Many thanks and best wishes to Ulle in Munich, we'll see you again next year.

Val R Paraiso, 14 april 2006
I can't say enough how grateful I am to you and your company. We rented a Dethleffs RV in Frankfurt in the DEAD of winter. The RV was roomy for the four of us and not once did we complain about the cold. The RV was winterized and the propane tanks lasted us the entire two week trip. The only time we encountered traffic was during our return to Frankfurt from Prague. We got stuck in a snow storm, along with thousands of other drivers. Since we were in a complete stop for several hours as the cleared the road, we simply turned off the engine, prepared some supper, and played some music....alot more comfortable than other motorist trapped in a sedan. I will do another vacation in an RV. It was economical, adventurous, flexible, and allowed for us to spend quality time with one another. The staff in Frankfurt, especially Herr Lehmann, were both entertaining, as well as helpful. I need to also thank Eric and Doug in the USA for all their help. I can't say how many dozens of calls I made to them, freaking out about one thing or another...they built my confidence, helping me to garner enough courage to drive this HUGE RV through foreign lands....I Survived guys!!!!!and I'm ready for another round!

Paula, 25 march 2006
We rented from the Frankfurt Depot. The staff there were very friendly and helpful. They spoke good English also. We had a slight problem with a water leak from the bathroom, but they were extremely helpful in correcting it. The RV was clean and just as described on the website. We traveled all of the southern part of Germany ending up in Munich to drop off. The Munich depot is easy to get to and extremely large. We had a bad fuse in Kongisee which with a phone call to the Frankfurt depot was handled was lighting speed. We were refered to a Fiat dealer in town who sent a tow truck to bring us to the Fiat garage. It took about an hour total to repair before we were back on the road. The drop off was just as easy as the pickup. We would definately rent from them again and plan on traveling all over Europe with their RV's.

Strath Brown, 01 march 2005
Dawn and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to France in your Campervan last year. The service that we received was excellent and, although not this year, probably next year we will make a booking for another van. Next time we will go for the slightly smaller one which has the bed at standard height and the large separate shower.

What a pleasure it was dealing with you. How very helpful your staff were in Frankfurt. The campervan was in immaculate condition and gave us no trouble. It was much better than most that we came across during our tour. The price was competitive. And IdealMerge will be our first choice next time.

Because we were following the Tour de France, it was important that we should have a TV. This was the only area that we had a spot of bother with as neither of us can speak German. It took us a day to find a 12volt/220volt TV, a decoder, a satellite dish, a transformer and the correct cable. Some we hired, some we bought. The other problem was to find a cell phone card and put money on it. Communications in Europe seem to be far behind those in Zimbabwe!.

As I mentioned, next time we will request Group E4 EM612 where the bed is a better height and there is more room in the shower. As this was our first time and I am very tall, we were worried about length of bed. We also felt that the compartment at the bach would be useful for the bicycles and for security. As it was, security was no problem and it is just as easy to put the bikes on a rack.

Bob McLaren, 27 february 2005
Booked VW California camper (Sept-Oct). It was ready for PU early on day of arrival in Frankfurt. We toured 4000K over 3 weeks thru Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany. Just loved the trouble free experience and the flexibility this camper provided. Diesel milage was amazing 8L/100K. Driving in any situation was never a problem. We would certainly do it again. One small criticism: the vehicle's manual was in German only (which made it a challenge to decipher some of the operating instructions. eg fridge, gas heater digital symbols.)

Drew Ratcliffe, 26 february 2005
The Dusseldorf depot has brand spanking new machines. From the suede seat covers to the ice cold beer from the fridge, those boys supply a quality product. My wife and i rented a Fiat chassis six berth machine in June 2004 and enjoyed every minute of the experience.

David Helder, 25 february 2005
We had a wonderful experience. The van was in great condition, clean and comfortable. It gave us no trouble what so ever. The people were very helpful and our deposit was returned promptly upon our return. This is great way to go.