Car hire in Menorca - staying Maribel Villa, Cala Santandria

I have holiday booked for 1 week starting on 10/10/09.
We wish to book car hire for the duration, can anyone
out there please tell me of any companies who are on the island
and supply car hire.?

Please respond asap.

Hi
Try looking on travelsupermarket.com. They have quite a few. Depends on the size of car you want.
Sue

We recently reported a shortage of hired cars in parts of Spain and the Algarve, due to rental suppliers being unable to increase fleet stock levels as a result of the current economic climate.

This has since been borne out by members finding it difficult or impossible to rent cars at their holiday destinations.

However, we now know of at least two members who had successfully reserved cars with Auriga Crown in Majorca and Valencia, but have now received emails informing them at very short notice that their bookings have been cancelled due to the non-availability of vehicles. No alternative options were made available to them and it seems the only option may be public transport.

We are not suggesting that any or all bookings with Auriga Crown are at risk but anyone holding reservations with that company, either directly or through a car hire broker, may like to keep an eye on their email inboxes or spam folders for any unexpected or unwanted news.

David

There are a few car hire places in santo tomas, but get booked as soon as you can! We left it till the end of the first week to try to book, and couldnt get a car anywhere! Apparantly because of the euro etc, a lot of companys have downsized, and there werent many cars available! I did enquire on price tho, and the hotel was more or less double what the resort car hire prices would have been! Hope this helps

This takes me back. We hired an open top jeep in Santo Tomas when we were there about 15 years ago. The kids loved it ! Sorry, I don't know the name of the company or even if it still exists. Have a great holiday

I've just got back from Mahon. We picked up a car from National/Atesa at the airport - booked a Citroen C3 (or similar) and was asked if I would like a free upgrade. I obviously agreed and, with a smug face, advanced to the car park where I was met by a bread van!

Do not accept a Citroen Nemo! :yikes: You might as well build a Flintstones car. We never got out of second gear going up Mont Torre and were passed by pilgrims on their knees.

We never got out of second gear going up Mont Torre and were passed by pilgrims on their knees.

Thanks ... that made me chuckle!

:rofl

That's how I looked when I saw the car.

That's how I looked when I saw the car.

Are you sure they were actual pilgrims on their knees ... or staff from National/Atesa laughing uncontrollably on their day off!

Are you sure they were actual pilgrims on their knees ... or staff from National/Atesa laughing uncontrollably on their day off!

More likely that they were snails making use of our slipstream.

More likely that they were snails making use of our slipstream

... Well despite all that I hope you enjoyed your trip up Mont Torre and indeed your holiday in general!

There is a further story from BBC News today about the car hire shortage problem and the reasons behind it, etc., ... please click here.

David

Hi all, me and my boyfriend are planning to visit Menorca in the summer to look after his grandparents' villa while they come back to England to escape the hottest of the hot weather. We're not sure if we will be able to hire a car because he doesn't have a license and while I do I am 23 and have heard you have to be 25 for anyone to hire to you. The grandparents are both in their late 80s and their info isn't to be taken for gospel as according to them you can't get anything English in Spain and if you can it's never as good! Any info much appreciated

Try ringing economycarhire http://www.economycarhire.com/ They are UK based and I've done a dummy run using your age and so far so good it brough up a selection. It states in their T&C

Drivers Age
The maximum and minimum age varies between car rental suppliers. We always state the minimum and maximum age when booking. We work with many different car rental suppliers, and we may be able to accomodate drivers who are younger or older than the limits stated.

So I'd give them a call and see what they have

Thanks a lot that's really helpful, I shall give them a call

Not sure if anyone can help?

I've booked car hire with Economy Car Rentals for August 2010 picking up at Mahon Airport. They use National/Altesa.

Since booking I've read bad reviews about Economy Car Rentals but not any specific for Menorca. I understand they're just agents so has anybody used National/Altesa for car hire?

Starting to panic a bit now incase we get there and a) No car
b) demand more money for the size we've booked.

I've paid a £100 deposit and have a voucher to state the car we've booked and the balance to pay but after reading some reviews I'm not so sure now?

I've used Economy Car Hire for Algarve bookings and never had a problem.

Hi

Thanks for that but it's Economy Car Rentals not Car hire?

Thanks anyway.

National/Atesa are good and reliable ( I have used them last year ) you can go to them direct a make sure they have your reservtaion. Visit altesa.es to get details of mahon airport email and office number -they speak english

Ps their altesa.es website can very very slow -but it works!!

My genral advice for Menorca is :

there are NO trustworthy comparison/best deal sites covering menorca hire car. There are Hertz,Avis,Europecar and Atesa( nationals partner on Menorca ) as the big names ( book direct ) then there are the island small family firms ( none of which to my knowledge would be part - of so called bargain sites ) Such websites that claim cheap hire menorca are most likely generally an affiliate partner for holidayautos - not very compettive at all.

You are best advised to go with big names if that is the only people you trust or the local family firms many of whom are reliable and just as, if not more ,compettive than big names.