Six years ago I packed up my life, took my two daughters by the hand, and moved to Costa Rica.
I didn't move here because I had a business plan. I moved here because this place felt like somewhere I could actually build a life — a real one, with space and community and the kind of warmth that's hard to find in a lot of places. Guanacaste specifically has this pull to it. The people, the pace, the way strangers become neighbors become family. I felt it the first time I came here and I haven't stopped feeling it since.
The car rental business started almost by accident. I had one car. A friend needed a rental and couldn't stomach the prices at the agencies or the way they treated her at the counter — like a transaction, not a person. I said, "take mine, pay me what's fair." She came back and said it was the best experience she'd ever had renting a car in Costa Rica. Then she told her friends. Then they told their friends.
"I had no website. No advertising. No marketing plan. Just a WhatsApp number and a genuine desire to help people have a good experience in a place I love."
That was one car. I now manage over 50. Every single client came from someone else saying "call Jenny." That doesn't happen by accident. That happens because I actually care what happens to you on your trip.
Why I run it the way I run it
I've thought a lot about why the agency model bothers me so much. It's not just the pricing — though the pricing is genuinely predatory in a lot of cases. It's the way clients become numbers. It's the rotating cast of agents so nobody knows your name. It's the terms and conditions designed to extract money rather than protect the customer. It's the complete absence of "are you okay? did your trip go well?"
That is just not how I want to operate. And I think most people, when they finally experience the alternative, realize they didn't have to put up with the agency model in the first place.
"I believe that when someone is traveling in a foreign country, they deserve to feel like someone has their back. Not a faceless company — a real person."
I believe fair pricing means you know exactly what you're paying before you pay it. It means no hidden fees. It means the deposit you put down comes back to you if things change. It means I would rather lose a booking than mislead someone about what they're getting.
I believe that trust takes time to build and seconds to break. Every client I've ever had has my personal number. Not a business line. My number. Because that's the kind of accountability I want to hold myself to.
What my clients have taught me
I've had clients who messaged me for months before they finally booked. Clients who were nervous about everything — nervous about driving in Costa Rica, nervous about the roads, nervous about sending money to someone they'd never met. I never rushed them. I answered every question, sometimes the same question three different ways until it clicked. And almost all of those slow-burn clients became some of my most loyal ones.
I've had clients who arrived for a week and ended up staying for three months. Clients who rented cars, then rented houses, then started sending me all their Airbnb guests. Clients whose kids now call me Tía Jenny even though we met through a car rental. That is not an exaggeration. That is just what happens when you treat people the way they deserve to be treated.
A note on Costa Rica specifically
I want to say something about Costa Rica because I think it matters for understanding why this business exists the way it does. Costa Rica is a beautiful country with a real scam problem. I say that as someone who loves this place deeply. The tourist infrastructure has not always kept pace with the number of people arriving, and there are businesses — rental companies included — that take advantage of that gap. Fake listings. Real companies with predatory fine print. Tourists who arrive and feel taken advantage of before their trip even begins.
This makes me angry. Because Costa Rica is not that place. The people here are genuinely warm and generous. The country is stunning. And visitors who get burned on something like a car rental leave with a sour taste for a place that didn't deserve it.
Part of why I operate the way I do — WhatsApp first, real conversation before any money moves — is because I want you to verify that I am exactly who I say I am. Ask me anything. Ask for references. Ask to see photos of the car before you pay. I will answer every single one because I have nothing to hide and because you deserve that confidence before you hand anyone $500.
Why this stays personal
I've been asked a few times if I want to grow into something bigger. Turn this into a proper agency. Get a storefront. Hire a team. And my honest answer is: not if it means losing what makes this work.
The thing that makes Jenny's Rentals different is not the fleet or the prices or the airport pickup. It's the fact that you matter to me. Individually. You are not a booking reference. You are a person going on a trip, or starting a new chapter, or seeing Costa Rica for the first time, and I am genuinely invested in that going well for you.
If I scaled to the point where someone else was answering your WhatsApp messages, where there were too many clients for me to know any of their names — I would have just become the thing I started this business to be different from. So this stays personal. That's not a constraint. That's the whole point.