Situated on the Grand River, east of Lake Michigan, Grand Rapids is commonly thought of as one of Michigan’s best places to live. Home to a burgeoning brewery scene, a prestigious art museum housing works by world renowned artists, and the picturesque environs of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, it’s little wonder that so many come to live and work here.
A street in Grand Rapids (Photo: John Eisenschenk via Flickr / CC BY 2.0)
While Grand Rapids is a relatively walkable city, many short-term visitors still choose to rent their own car during their stay. There are a number of car hire agencies here, each providing their own car fleet catering to differing budgets. To help you pick the best deal for your needs, we’ve picked out the best agencies located in the downtown district and at the airport, as well as our favourite RV rental company for those wanting in-car utilities such as sleeping quarters and kitchen equipment Here are our top recommendations.
For downtown rentals in Grand Rapids we’d recommend Enterprise. Although their downtown office is only open for limited hours – especially on weekends, when their desk is closed entirely on Sundays – our online searches for week-long rentals pulled up an impressive choice of cars, from simple but sturdy models like a Mitsubishi Mirage priced at $243 per week, to more premium options such as a Nissan Maxima for $415 per week. Or for something spacious and sporty, we also found a Ford Eco Sport costing an impressive $313 per week. For returns, there’s an after-hours service that lets you drop the keys off in a drop box.
Situated 13 miles southeast of the downtown district, Grand Rapids Airport has several on-site car rental agencies. Our top pick is Alamo thanks to the sheer range of their available fleet at the airport. Among the best deals we found were a Nissan Versa for just $240 per week and a Nissan Frontier pick-up truck for just a few dollars more. The Alamo counter is located inside the terminal in the lower level across the street from baggage claim, and is open from early until midnight each day except Saturday, when it closes at 9pm.
A renowned peer-to-peer online platform for RV owners to advertise and rent out their vehicles for short term periods, Outdoorsy caters for all tastes, budgets and needs. The main advantage of using Outdoorsy is that you’ll usually find much cheaper deals than with standard rental agencies. When we searched for RVs in Grand Rapids, we found several options available for pick-up across the city. Among them were a 2020 Dutchmen Kodiac Cub for $620 per week that sleeps 5 and can be picked up from the southern suburb of North Byron. For something bigger, there was also a Crossroads Zinger available for $1,114 per week that sleeps 10 and can also be collected from around North Byron. You can add a range of insurance protections onto your package, too.
