We took the Betsy Bee out for a weekend along the California Coast. Here is the rundown and important things you need to know:Rental Experience: 5-stars
The owner is a delight. Carrie did everything she could to make our experience pleasant. This was particularly notable as she had a lot going on the weekend we rented, but still made time to give us the information we needed for our trip. Her communication with us was great.Van Experience: 2 stars
The Betsy Bee is a 2006 Dodge Sprinter with almost 240,000 miles. It drove, sounded, and felt its age. Do not expect this van to be a cultured modern Mercedes Sprinter. Its diesel engine ran well, but used 13.8 gals of fuel to travel 200 miles. Not a fuel sipper.The van showed significant sway as we drove. Its older suspension I suspect was the culprit. My companion hated it and found herself bracing through every curve to the extent that at the end of our short 2-hour drive her legs ached. And this was us traveling at well below speed limit speeds.The Bee is missing crucial safety features including a back-up camera. Throughout our trip several warning lights remained lit, raising concerns. Carrie missed letting us know about those. We were very surprised during orientation that while the van came with a great stereo system that supported Car Play, the option to include a back-up camera was not chosen.The build itself was functional if cramped. The bed was comfortable memory foam and slid forward to be a full queen and back to create a bit more room in the van. The refrigerator worked well, but is located under a seat that made it hard to access. The sink and water system worked, but was home made in design of its supply and grey water. You could not drink from it. Practically, we did not find it usable. The kitchen was well stocked and the portable butane stove worked like a champ.That said, the Bee was missing some key features or had other flaws: the windows lacked curtains or any kind of screen. At night anyone could see in. A number of features needed work: broken lights and hinges, a sliding door that could only be closed fully from the outside, and loose flooring.Outdoorsy/Value of Rental: 0 Stars
We payed over $800 to use this van for just over 48 hours. There was a professional cleaning fee equal to an entire rental day in cost, and Outdoorsy service fee (despite them taking a % of the rental cost itself) and mandatory insurance that we understand is hard to make a claim against. Frankly we would have been better off staying at a super high-end hotel. Needless to say, we will not use this service again and we encourage you to look closely at Outdoorsy's policies that severely impact the value of their service.Bottom line: ours was not a great rental experience, but we refuse to give the owner a bad rating. The Bee may be for you--just be clear about what you are renting.
