Fourgon aménagé de Joana

This was a bad experience. My kids and I had rented a campervan in Spain just weeks earlier and had a good experience but Joana's rental was a disaster.

She was late meeting us to turn over the vehicle then after just a day when we were about 30 km away, the electricity in the van stopped working. After lots of troubleshooting chats, with her initially asking many questions and insinuating we had done something wrong to her van, she sent her boyfriend to meet us the next day. He tried many things and was unable to fix it. He thought since the boiler was worked on by a mechanic recently, maybe there was something wrong and it was draining the battery. We had to charge our phones and other devices at a friend's place and were in the van with no light at night other than my mobile phone's light. Since we had scheduled education events we had paid for near Palmela, we decided to keep the van another couple days and return it instead of keeping it the planned 2 weeks. 

We couldn't cook in the van (well we technically could since it was gas but couldn't wash our dishes since the water pump needed electricity) so we ate at restaurants more than planned. That was an extra expense. We also paid for a camping space to try to plug into their electricity but it didn't work either. So we had the van for several days without light or electricity (other than the driving part of the van that was on a different system). Not comfortable at all! 

For the drop off, we met Joana's boyfriend in a location that was convenient for him and the friend who was picking us up, just north of Lisbon. He signed off on the van stating we left it in good condition. Later, they contacted me accusing me of putting a dent on the side of the van. I drove the van very carefully and don't recall making any dents or accidents. Perhaps another car bumped into the van when we were out. But even though the boyfriend had signed off on the drop off, they both harassed me via whatsapp multiple times, calling me and pressuring me to pay them for the damage. Boyfriend also whined about coming out to try to help us and coming to pick up the van an hour earlier than we planned to meet as his ride needed to drop him early (like that was my fault!). 

I felt very bullied and harassed. I understand that mechanical problems happen. When all things go well, it's easy to get good reviews. But when things go wrong, that is when the owners should step up their customer service and work to help the customer as much as they can, instead of blaming the customer for everything. 

Also the fridge was such a hassle to keep cold. There were a few different ways to keep it cold and it was a lot of work to keep turning on the gas. Food got spoiled and I had to throw it out. 

My dreams during the past several years of purchasing a van for ourselves was ruined due to this experience. It’s very scary to be a solo parent with two kids in a vehicle that has problems like this. I'm not mechanical enough to fix these things.  

I don't recommend renting this van as who knows when the electricity will go out again! 

I ended up paying for half of the damage(160 euros)  just to get the owner and her intimidating boyfriend to stop harassing me.

***OWNER'S RESPONSE***

Dear Elizabeth,
I am so sorry to hear that your experience with our company has not met your expectations.
Customer satisfaction is our top priority, and I am truly sorry that wasn't demonstrated to you.
While we'd love the opportunity to regain your trust, we understand how frustrated you must be. My deepest apologies for any inconvenience we have caused you. We wish you all the best in the future.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions, concerns, or comments, or if we may be of assistance at any point in the future.
Best Regards, Joana Bernardo

5 estrelas. Começando no veículo que, apesar da idade, apresenta um estado de conservação bastante bom, muito limpo e 100% funcional. A proprietária Joana é fantástica, atenta ao detalhe e de coração grande, sempre disponível para ajudar e preocupada com o nosso bem-estar, excelente comunicação antes, durante e após a viagem! Certamente que voltarei a viajar na Caravan of Love :) 

Joana was a fantastic host and fast to reply to any messages or questions.
The van was in perfect condition and everything worked well for a road trip all around Portugal.
I can highly recommend both the van and Joana to any future road trips.

Aluguei a Caravan of Love para 8 dias pelas Beiras. Foi o meu primeiro aluguer e superou completamente as expectativas. A Joana explicou tudo bem na entrega, facilitou-nos tudo o que podia facilitar e a política da taxa de limpeza como base deixa-nos muito mais descansados no final da viagem. Fiz a rota das 12 aldeias históricas e correu tudo sobre rodas, conduz-se mesmo bem e a vida no interior faz-se confortavelmente, apesar de só ter 5,4m. O único ponto mais negativo é mesmo o espaço de bancada e fogão, mas lá está, faz parte do pacote. Recomendo vivamente o aluguer dos extras do barbecue e mesas/cadeiras, são um extra indispensável para uma viagem destas.

Depois de alugar o ano passado durante 7 dias, este ano aluguei de novo para 10 dias, fazendo 2200km pelo Douro, Trás-os-Montes, Gerês e Minho. Absolutamente recomendável, pois conduz-se muito bem, e a vida no interior do habitáculo não deixa ninguém mal. Sei que em relação ao ano passado a Joana implementou algumas melhorias tais como o chuveiro cá fora e a ventilação mecânica na "sala". A embraiagem nova ajudou ainda mais a manobras mais complicadas. Apesar de um contratempo da minha responsabilidade, a Joana lidou com a situação impecavelmente, estando sempre em contacto quando precisei. Reforço a mais-valia de alugar os extras de barbecue e mesas/cadeiras, fundamentais a uma viagem do género.

En primer lugar Joanna y su padre son personas encantadoras, en todo momento nos han ayudado y facilitado todo en la reserva, eso no quita que estemos descontentos con la caravana. Hay que decir que se nota que tiene más de 13 años. No tiene aire acondicionado en cabina (en el anuncio pone que tiene en cabina y en el resto de la camper y no es verdad), en verano en carretera se agradecería bastante, y el que tiene para el habitáculo no enfría, sólo sale aire. El indicador del deposito de agua no funcionaba, así que te llevas la sorpresa de que te has quedado sin agua, puede ser en medio de una ducha, por la noche cuando llegas a un sitio para dormir....y te quedas sin agua hasta el día siguiente. No hay indicador tampoco ni de aguas grises ni de aguas negras. El WC es realmente un baño portatil atado a la pared. La puerta trasera no se puede abrir por dentro, así que en caso de poner la cama supletória la única forma de salir de camper será saltando por encima de las personas que duerman en ella.

Absolutely perfect! The van is cleverly camperized, with everything you can need for a trip. We went 10 days to southwest of Portugal in winter, we enjoyed it a lot. Easy to drive and manouver. Confortable bed, lots of storage room for the size of the camper. Good fridge and boiler, enough space for cooking.

Joana is fast and easy to comunicate, super polite and she was there to answer any question we had. Easy check in and out.

5 stars, absolutely recommended.

Joana is a great hostess, the camper was fantastic. The communication with Joana was great and the pick-up and return went great. We had a great holiday.

Adoramos a experiência!! Correspondeu 100% a nossa expectativa! 

A experiência correu muito bem. A Caravan of Love é muito fácil de conduzir,está bem equipada e tudo funciona.

A Proprietária Joana Bernardo é muito eficiente,respondendo a todas as nossas dúvidas.

Woow, what a memorable experience! We enjoyed every bit of the trip, the van was super equipped and was very easy to drive and move around. Portugal has plenty of beautiful places to park for the night and enjoy the shore and other interesting areas (park4night is a great app for the beginners).

I have shared with the owner a couple of things that could be improved but you can expect and wonderful van: clean, well maintained, an easy to drive car and all the support needed from the owner... We would love to rent it again soon. 

Thanks for all the assistance and offering couples like us to enjoy your country in a comfortable way with unbeatable valew for money.

Pablo

Joana's caravan is simply amazing, and so is Joana! This was our first time renting a caravan, we were complete rookies, so before booking the caravan of love we compared a lot of listings but we quickly became convinced that this van was the best, not only in terms of price, but also how cozy it looked, how well equipped it was and how great the previous reviews were. We had the pleasure of having the caravan for 4 nights (in hindsight we wish we would have had more, when we booked we never expected the trip to be so comfortable and easy!) and our expectations were just blown out of the park. The van is, at the very least, as good as it looks in the photos. You will not be disappointed. Everything feels high quality. During the trip we found ourselves constantly commenting on how well everything worked inside (the bathroom and the shower is amazing), how nice it was to drive, how well made and planned out everything inside was, how you literally have EVERYTHING you need inside. We had brought towels, washing up-liquid, salt etc. but no need, it's all there for you which is great and saves you from having to bring a lot of things. The beds are comfy. The fridge works great and gets very cool. Along on the trip we had our two-year-old who absolutely adored "her new house" and we were very happy that the caravan is completely kid-friendly. No sharp edges or wonky finishes to worry about. 

We were able to leave our car safely at Joana's place which also was a great thing to not have to worry about.

The attention to detail that Joana has paid is just fantastic and her level of ambition to satisfy her customers is extremely high. We can't say enough good things about our experience!! Obviously, we highly highly recommend this van and we'll definitley be renting it again! Thanks for everything Joana <3 !!

In resume, it was a excelent experience, and the van exceeded our expectations. That awesome hot shower!!

It has enough space to store our stuff, and we could easily manage each other inside the van and share the tasks hapilly.

The van is very easy to drive and never let us down. 

Joana was a nice owner, always ready to help, if needed.

We definetelly recommend this van, but don't mess it up, we would like to repeat the trip! =D

It was my first time renting a camper and deciding to go exploring the coast and i very happy i did it and very happy with the van that took me there. Its very clean, very well maintained and also kinda economic.

Would gladly recommend it for others to try.

We were super happy with Joana’s “Caravan of Love”! It was in good condition, had all the features we wanted incl WC and shower, but most most importantly: both Joana as well as Ricardo, her friend, were very helpful and friendly, delivered the van to our hostel in downtown Lisbon and had good advice on sights etc. Small things like the WiFi hotspot or the automatic toll device made life easier. Everything went well incl management / repayment of the deposit so we would absolutely recommend Joana’s caravan!

Martina and Gregory

Se quedan cortas las estrellas tanto para Joana como para su van.Ha sido mi sueño cumplido y Joana me facilitó muchísimo las cosas desde el primer momento, siempre pendiente de los correos que yo la enviaba con mis dudas de novata.Ha sido muy amable , un encanto.Me falta recorrer la parte sur de Portugal y volverá a ser con Joana y su van, sin ninguna duda. No le falta de nada, es la marca mas fiable ,Ducato, y el motor tenía mucha fuerza. Yo no había conducido nunca un vehículo tan grande y puedo asegurar que terminé haciendome muy rápido a su conducción, da mucha seguridad en carretera. La parte camperizada completísima, no faltaba absolutamente nada, lo que se ve en las fotos es exacto a lo que os vais a encontrar, no hace falta nada más.Quedé completamente enamorada de la van de Joana. Gracias Joana por darnos a mi hijo y a mi la oportunidad de vivir en libertad absoluta!!

Decorreu tudo sem problemas, a caravana estava conforme a anunciado. De salientar a simpatia da proprietária.