Balou - 2021 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

Where do we even begin? The moment we first laid eyes on Balou, we knew we were in for something special. And the second we drove her through the streets of Berkeley, that feeling only grew stronger. It quickly became clear that this wasn't just a van—it was a labor of love. You can feel the care Niko and Annette poured into every inch of Balou. From the little teddy bear waiting to greet us to the thoughtfully designed cupboards, every detail tells a story. Nothing was overlooked. We didn’t have to worry about purchasing a thing. Everything we needed was already in the van. Even from hundreds of miles away, we felt completely taken care of. Niko was very thorough when going through the van with us, even having an app of their own so we could get comfortable before the trip. He went over how the van ran and all its operations so we can feel comfortable and confidant on our journey. Niko and Annette were attentive, kind, and endlessly inspiring throughout the entire journey. They trusted two complete strangers with something they'd built with so much love, and that trust made the experience even more meaningful. We thought two weeks in Balou would have been enough... but honestly, we could have lived in her forever. This trip has inspired us to build a van of our own someday, and that's a gift we'll carry with us long after the miles have faded. Thank you, Niko and Annette, for being more than hosts. Thank you for creating a space that invited adventure, comfort, and connection—not just with the road, but with ourselves and each other. We'll always be grateful for the care you put into every detail and for sharing Balou with us. This journey is one we'll never forget, and we can't wait for others to experience the magic of Balou and discover their own journey within her, too. Lindsay and Brendan

We were fortunate to spend a birthday trip in Balou traveling to the national parks. The van is sparkling clean, in great condition, and has all of the necessities and amenities we needed for our for van trip, and we fell in love with it immediately. Niko was super nice and explained everything in detail to us, gave us tips and tricks as well to make our trip really easy and enjoyable. Would recommend to anyone that's interested in renting!

This is my second Balou trip, both times have been effortless. The van is very well stocked, well cared for, and easy to drive. Nikolaus has been equally helpful, easy-going, and flexible. Can’t recommend more enthusiastically.

It was almost too easy and pleasant to borrow Balou... a pleasure from start to finish. Niko was extremely easy to communicate with, Balou was a dream—clean, easy to drive, and easy to care for. I hope we won't be strangers to this perfect van. 🤩

Nikolaus was great to work with, especially on short notice. The Sprinter was clean, well-maintained, and had everything we needed for a week up the California and Oregon coast. Easy pickup and dropoff process. Would definitely rent from him again!

Balou was a great part of our National Park experience and trip, Niko does a great job preserving the van as if it was new, he has every detailed ticked so everything works perfectly. Just great! Every detail in Balou is well thought out so you can enjoy the trip and have easy work around the everyday van life. The outdoor shower was a great great amenity! We had a minor incident with a scratch on the vans rear bumper, Niko was very understanding and we worked it out together for it to be the least painful for both of us. The trip was so wonderful that this unfortunate event seems like just a small stone on the shoe that we could easily shake off, all thanks to Niko’s outstanding communication and comprehensive approach. We will must definitely be back on the road in Balou, maybe next time going north.