TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin seven days no rental car just taxis

Staying at club orient. In October Though we are only two we are considering using taxis to rather than renting car. Five nights we would go to gran case for dinner, one trip each to grocery, philipsburg, Marigot and gran case, the cost of the car is over $500. Any advice?

Norm

Rent the car.

$500/week for a SXM car rental in October?(low season)
That's more than 2X what I pay for a car rental in high season.
I suggest you check other car rental companies.

Totally. Rent the car.

We stay 10 days in Nov and pay quite a bit less than that- check some other rentals

Nine trips...18 cab rides. Rent a car. I checked a couple of rental sites for mid-October and the prices were around 1/3 of your quote +/-

Advice - find a new rental agency!!!! Who did you get that quote from and what kind of car?

I'm thinking that car rental quote has to be some kind of a typo, as you should pay about 1/3 of that rate in October. Regardless, rent the car. If you're making that many trips, it will cost you much more for taxis and it will be extremely inconvenient to wait for someone to show up to pick you up that many times.

If you are determined to not rent a car for other reasons, suggest you contact TTOL sponsor Wilfred Brooks and arrange to have him do all your transport. At least then you won't go crazy sitting around waiting for taxis to come.

same comment as all the above!!!! 500 for five days??? WTF?????? Whoever quoted you must've thought you have lived under a rock!!!!! like everyone else has stated....RENT A CAR....but SHOP RATES!!!! low season...you should be able to find a car for five days under 150 bucks!!! That surely will pay for at least a couple of those great grand case meals!!!

We pay less than that for three weeks in November and December. You should shop around.

'll bite and argue the other way based on dinners needing a cab so as not to drink and drive
If that is the case now you have less trips.
You could cab from the airport and stop for groceries on the way
If you want a shopping day, either a cab or depending when your flight leaves, we shopped on the way to airport. That would nean 2 cab rides plus whatever was needed for dinner. Again assuming you would cab for dinner, 2 cab trips would be cheaper than a car

All depends on what you need

If you cab, suggest you arrange with Wilfred Brooks

J&B

I agree. That many dinners if drinking it's a small price to pay for taxi. Shopping in philipsburg is easier by taxi than parking & there are taxiis everywhere to get back when you are ready.

I have to agree with JohnandBev and jeepers. We stay for 28 to 30 days each visit and have never rented a car. We don't venture from Orient Bay often, but when we do, it always includes some drinking. And since the rules on the French side are like ours at home, we know that it only takes a couple of drinks to be off-side. So we always take a cab.

I will also second the suggestion that you contact Wilfred. We have used his services and he was always reliable.

Also, for shopping or daytime travels, we have used the local bus between Orient and Marigot. 4 bucks each round trip and you might be surprised by how friendly and polite everyone on the bus is.

We like having a rental car to have at our disposal, it allows us to be spontaneous.

Agreed. If a person was going to stay at Club O and not leave the complex for a week, that would be one thing. But these folks are already planning several trips. Just doesn't seem practical at all.

We stayed at Club O for 3 weeks and rented a car for 2 days to do a few banking grocery things and go to Parrotville. Cabs the rest of the time, especially for dinners out. We walked to Orient Village a few evenings and took a cab or walked back on the beach. No need for a car for your entire stay. I think it was about $80 for the car

$80 is probably about right for two days. The daily rate is much higher than the weekly rate, especially if you rented it right there. It makes sense to pay a bit more for the convenience of renting right there, for just two days.

I just did 10 days in July (low season) from Lesley for $35 a day.

We generally rent from him, too since he makes the rental so very easy and I have to say, while I know everyone has their own ideas as to what makes their trip perfect, I just can't imagine being on this, of all the island in the Caribbean, without a car at my disposal. I might not use it every day but if DH wants an ice cream at 9:00 at night, and he often does, we're not about to want to call a cab to entertain the whim. Sure, he could have it at home, but then how would I get my guava colada? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

I haven't been to orient in about six years. I've always rented cars. My problem is that my back does not let easily move a manual seat. It seems like a minor matter. I checked with three of the rental sponsors and with Jim Ruos, the cars they all rent have auto transmission, but little else. The $500.00 is for a Chrysler 300 or a large SUV, neither are practical but that is the cost, its not a typo. We are going to rent the standard white little car and live with the extra pain. We have two much to see on the island to limit our trip by some many taxis, even if it cost about the same.

Thanks, for everyones help.

Norm

Good luck parking that Chrysler anywhere on the island.

I think I'm being Captain Obvious here but Why not have the seat be set where ever you want it when you pick it up? I can't remember the last time I actually moved my seat after day 1...

Agreed, Captain Obvious. I don't understand it either.

Perhaps he is a larger man and needs the seat to the rearward position to gain entry but needs to slide it forward to his driving position and back or other conditions make it difficult to do so. When I had a pinched nerve in my back it was very uncomfortable to enter or leave my car with the seat in my normal position but it was equally painful to reach and move the seat manually once in place.

I'll buy that <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />