Choosing a hotel location - how does it work?
 

Hi,

I've got my first Hertz rental in a couple of weeks in Houston.

It listed my hotel (Icon) as a rental location. However, I don't think there is actually a Hertz office there.

So, how does it work? Do they drop the car off at the hotel and sort the paperwork out there? Or do they pick me up and take me to the local office?

Thanks

There are quite a few hotels which are listed as Hertz locations. What this usually means is that they have a Hertz desk inside the hotel, usually alongside the reception desk, and they have a small supply of cars on site, usually Group C/F cars, which are collected and delivered from the nearest larger depot for washing/servicing etc. So, if you book anything other than these classes of cars, you can be sure that they will deliver your car to the hotel, so you will have zero choice on collection.

Hotel locations can be a good way of avoiding airport surcharge fees.

In some areas, Hertz is willing to deliver a car to you at a major hotel, often for no additional charge. I've done this is Europe and it can be convenient, although sometimes the car doesn't arrive promptly at the reserved time so you must wait in the lobby. Also, often they put the car in a loading zone, so you must be ready to go or face parking charges and hassles. (For example, this was my experience in Madrid IIRC.)

In some hotel locations, you need to be a guest of the hotel to use the location, so if you are not staying there dot dot dot.

How it works is different based on how much volume they have. Some have a staffed desk, some shuttle you to the office, some run the car and paperwork over when the front desk calls, so the answer is it works many different ways.

Thanks all. I'll check once I arrive at the hotel, and maybe ask the concierge.

According to https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/locat...sp&eoag=HOUC08 :

Basically you call the number a bit before you're ready, and they will pick you up and take you to the HLE where you rent the car as per normal. Like any pick-up, exactly how long it takes them to arrive will depend based on how busy they are...

Ah! Thanks for that.

In NYC there are some hotel locations that instead of delivering the car will reimburse cab fare from the hotel to the nearest Hertz location. Just look up the location on Hertz.com to see what the rules are.