Car Rental in Fort Collins / Loveland, CO: The best companies

Situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, Fort Collins is located 56 miles north of Denver. It is the fourth most populous city in Colorado with an estimated population of 168.000. In the main, visitors come for the city’s thriving arts and crafts scene and its impressive mix of outdoor recreation and sports in the surrounding area. The beautifully named Loveland, situated 12 miles south of Fort Collins, is a vibrant city and a modern day hub for high-tech industries. Commonly known as the ‘Sweetheart city’, each year, it hosts a Valentine’s Day parade and the annual Miss Loveland Valentine scholarship competition.

Old Town Fort Collins (Photo: Joe Wolf via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

For those looking to explore the areas in around the Fort Collins and Loveland, we have compared the various rental car companies on a variety of factors, such as opening hours, available cars and of course, daily rates. Here are our favourites.

Downtown Fort Collins: Avis

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The Avis East Anglia branch, situated now in Walmart, has a great selection of cars in its fleet. Bizarrely, on our sample dates, the Ford Escape SUV was cheaper ($46 per day) than the bulk of the cars in the economy category (the whims of the car rental industry!). The SUV option looks particularly good if you’re thinking of heading into the countryside or onto the ski resorts in the Echo Mountains. Users consistently praised the friendliness and professionalism of the staff working here. Ope-ning hours 7am – 6pm; Saturday 8am – 1pm; Sunday closed.

Fort Collins: Hertz

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At just a stone’s throw from Warren’s lake, Hertz’s agency is conveniently situated if you happen to be staying close to down-town. Finding cheap car rentals in Denver can be difficult, but Hertz not only has competitive prices but also scored well on its diversity of vehicles. Among its fleet, we found a Hyundai Veloster, Nissan Versa, Volkswagen Jetta and in the luxury cate-gory, a Nissan Pathfinder and a Ford Expedition. Regulars are full of praise on the ease of pickup and the general friendli-ness and efficiency of the staff. Opening hours 7.30am – 5.30pm Saturday 9am – 12pm; Sunday closed.

Loveland: Enterprise

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Situated just off the Eisenhower Boulevard, close to Silver Lake, is Loveland’s most popular car rental agency, Enterprise. Customer feedback is full of stories of the helpful staff; from families who were driven back to their hotel after drop-off to kids being provided with bouncy balls to keep them amused in the reception area. Enterprise has cars from all around the world with rates varying between $50 to $100 per day but it’s worth noting, prices were as low as $15 on the day after this article was written – sometimes, you can get lucky booking last minute. Opening hours Monday – Friday 7.30am – 6pm; Saturday 9am – 12pm; Sunday 10am – 2pm.