Rental car location in Madrid

That's a tough question to answer. We've rented a car twice in Madrid (in the city rather than the airport) and had some difficulty both times. The first time, we rented in the city and found that finding our way out of town was a challenge--it took us more than an hour to navigate our way out of town (that was before we traveled with a GPS.)

The last time we had trouble find the rental car location when returning the car. Sometimes they're "hidden" inside a car dealership and not obvious or well-marked.

It's just my opinion but I'd be inclined to pay the additional $80. and use the airport location--and I'm a frugal traveler!

Hi!
I've been thinking about this a little bit more--it also depends on whether or not you're already at the airport or staying in the city and returning to the airport to rent the car.

If you're in the city already, you might be o.k. if you have plenty of time to scout out the location in advance and have a good map or directions for getting out of the city and back to return the car.

Another consideration is finding a gas station to fill the tank when you return it! We had difficulty finding a gas station in the city and it was going to cost a fortune to turn the car in without a full tank.

We rented a car at the train station. and it was easy to get out of town towards Toledo. We rented from Hertz. The only problem we had that when we got off the train from Barcelona the ticket office was to be just off the platform. There was a sign on the window closed. We asked at a store next door and they said the main office was on the second floor. No problem they had our reservation. Give the train station a try.