main1

Thanks to your helpful advice, I looked into having our rental car delivered to our hotel. We are four adults driving from Paris to Bordeaux, with one in our party having limited mobility. AutoEurope was the only agency that was willing to arrange for hotel delivery. They have quoted us a fee of 100 Euros, paid locally, for hotel delivery. Our hotel is located at 66 Avenue Bosquet, 75007 Paris, and the car is coming from 145 Avenue de Malakoff, 75116 Paris. Now, I have a few more questions…

1. Do you think it is worth the 100 Euros to have it delivered to the hotel? Or should we take a taxi (or perhaps 2 taxies, since our friend cannot get into a van, and we’ll have our luggage plus a fold-up wheelchair)? According to Google Maps, the distance between the two locations is about 3.7 km.

2. Does anyone know if it is easier to drive out of Paris from Avenue Bosquet, or from Avenue de Malakoff? We live in LA and are used to city traffic, but we are a little worried about negotiating our way to the A-10.

3. How do you think the traffic will be getting out of town between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m.?

Thanks in advance for any advice you might have.

cheryllj

If there are 4 of you, why don't 2 of you take the metro to pick up the car, and drive back to the hotel to pick up the other 2, who are waiting there with the luggage?

I can't imagine paying 100 euros to have someone drive the car 3.7 km, but it's your money, so only you can decide if it's worth it.

yk

100 Euro??? No way!

There are many car rental locations in Paris, I doubt you have to take a taxi to the 75116 location to rent a car. Gare Montparnasse comes to mind and it has several rental car companies.

ira

Ditto cheryl

Jean

Is there something special about the car or agency you're renting from? Something to do with your friend's disability?

If not, I'd ask your hotel where the nearest rental agency is located. Whatever agency you choose, you can use one of the online mapping websites (like Mapquest) to find the street-by-street routing for leaving the city. Just plug in your start address and city and your destination address and city.

Margaretlb

The 7th is just on the other side of the Siene from the 16th. From the 16th is easier to "get out of town". I'd cab it to pick up the car and leave from the 16th.

Dukey

I'm sure you probably got a better rate with AutoEurope than you might with others (is it ending up with Europcar BTW???).

I would take the taxi, get the car and if it is a stick be sure you know how to get it into REVERSE before you drive off, come back pick up the luggage and others and leave.

kerouac

In olden times when I worked for one of the "big three" car rental companies, delivery to a hotel was FREE. I even had to deliver a car from Gare de Lyon to Versailles once and then take the train back to Paris to return to work.

And you know what? I never received a single tip for delivering a car to a hotel.

StCirq

No way I'd do this. As others have said, either take a cab to the rental office or two of you go get the car and drive it back to the hotel. AutoEurope has an affiliate office at Les Invalides, from which it's very easy to drive out of Paris.

And you didn't ask, but I'll offer that taking the TGV to Bordeaux is a lot more fun than driving.

nytraveler

Agree this is a total waste of money.

And I'm amazed that they charge for this. We've had cars delivered to our hotel several times at no charge (but it was by Hertz or Avis).

One of you simply grab a cab, pick up the car and go back to the hotel to get the others and the luggage.

bob_brown

I think I would rent from a different company just on general principles.
The cab will NOT cost €100 for that short distance. I am not sure two cabs would cost that much.

main1

Thanks everyone for your feedback. When I started researching rental cars, I didn’t consider hotel delivery. But when several Fodorites indicated that it might be free, I looked into it. Hertz quotes free delivery, but when it came down to actually booking the car, they couldn’t actually deliver to our hotel at all. Frankly, AutoEurope (yes, through Europcar) was the most responsive and was the only agency who would guarantee us a midsize wagon which we feel is necessary for our handicapped friend’s wheelchair. I think we’ll skip hotel delivery and send two of us to pick up the car. Thanks again.

yk

main1 - There should be other rental places that offer midsize wagons located closer to your hotel than the one at 145 Avenue de Malakoff, 75116.

Michael

Talk to AutoEurope again. It may be that only the Malakoff agency was willing to delivery. Now that you are willing to pick up the car, AutoEurope might be able to offer an agency that is closer.