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Trip report from Philly, Part 2, some local color, some food
Trip report from Philly, Part 2, some local color, some food
Dragon Lady:
We rented our car from Conrad Sutton. The car worked great, it was in good shape and pretty new. It had a lot of scratches in the paint, which was fine with us, so we didnt have to worry too much about branches and such. One of the tires needed air when we rented it (more on that in a minute) but once we put air in it, no problem.
The woman who rented us the car seemed to be in the business of scolding her customers like she was their second grade teacher and they were naughty children. Later we were told this is Conrad's wife. She reamed me out for not fitting all of the information on the forms in the designated spaces and writing some of the information just above the line to fit it all in (I'm a doctor, she should be happy she could read what I wrote!), she was upset that our villa had no address, she scolded the man renting ahead of me for not going outside to wait when she ordered him too (rudely, I might add). Her lot is steep and muddy and the jeep was on an angle; my husband with his bad knees, post-call (no sleep going on 36 hours), wearing his crocs (shoes with no support) was slipping in the mud and I feared he would hurt himself. Says dragon lady, "watch out for the mud puddle, you'll get the car dirty!" I'm thinking, if he slips on your property you will have more than a muddy car to worry about!
When we checked out the car for dents and such we wanted her to note the scratches in the paint, in some cases chips and dings so that later we wouldnt be blamed for them. She tried to turn it around and make it seem that we were complaining that the car was in bad shape and she called us crazy.
One of the tires was near flat. She kept insisting that it was the angle it was parked on, a rock it was parked on after we moved it, etc... We had to go get air for the tire at the gas station, but once we did it didnt leak or pose a problem.
Her last shot was to scold me while I was loading the luggage in the car "Why you not tell me you are staying out Salt Pond way?" She didnt ask, why did it matter, etc... Just another excuse to scold.
After that experience, Conrad himself was very nice when we parked multiple times in the lot, the lot is in a good location. Checking out was fine. A young woman was on duty and perfectly pleasant.
We would probably rent from them again, but we will expect the abuse next time.
Captain Phil:
He is quite a character. Very warm, disarming, interested in getting to know you, and very talkative and open about himself, his life past and present, funny stories (sometimes repeated if you see him another day). He is a very nice guy and his snorkle trip on the Wayward Sailor was fun and he taught us some cool things about how to find octopus when snorkling. He gets in the water with you and it is fun to have a guided snorkle tour. Definately worth a day sail with him. We ran into him on our last day, we were having breakfast at the Paradise Cafe and he sat down with us to chat for a while. He is great with kids and snorkelers of all abilities.
The people who run Sweet Plantains were remarkably nice. The owners are a husband and wife team Rose (the chef) and Prince Adams (the host and bartender). Their restaurant is wonderful, excellent food, ambience, a good wine list and very unusual and good cocktails. They clearly put a lot of TLC in their restaurant. They were accomodating when my son wanted something they were out of and they came up with something else for him. Prince took my kids outside on a tour of his garden and frog pond after dinner. I will try to post a review on the restaurant area of the website.
The guys who run Columbos shake stand are very nice. The owner is from Florida, which I guess explains the continuous Jimmy Buffet playing there. They made a shake by mistake for someone and gave it to us on one of our visits because we had become regulars on our week in St John.
There is a man who sells hot dogs and cold sodas from his car in the Salt Pond beach parking lot. We talked to him for a while, he is a St John native, but lived in NY for a while (NY accent!)
We really liked the laid back nice people running Skinny Legs. We caught live music there, twice on this trip, twice last trip and it was good every time. We went on movie night and watched The Illusionist there on their big screen as we ate. The burgers, salads and mahi sandwiches are great and the drinks are strong!
I have to mention here that Zozo's is a wonderful restaurant, excellent food, ambience, what a view of St Thomas, sunset if you time it right, excellent service. Everyone there was spot on with customer service.
I know there are a lot of people on the board who love Lime Inn, which is why we tried it this time out. We found it disappointing. The food and service were not up to par. The service was well meaning but not good. The food was poorly prepared, and we had some fish served that was not fresh. I will post my review on the restaurant area.
We rented our car from Conrad Sutton. The car worked great, it was in good shape and pretty new. It had a lot of scratches in the paint, which was fine with us, so we didnt have to worry too much about branches and such. One of the tires needed air when we rented it (more on that in a minute) but once we put air in it, no problem.
The woman who rented us the car seemed to be in the business of scolding her customers like she was their second grade teacher and they were naughty children. Later we were told this is Conrad's wife. She reamed me out for not fitting all of the information on the forms in the designated spaces and writing some of the information just above the line to fit it all in (I'm a doctor, she should be happy she could read what I wrote!), she was upset that our villa had no address, she scolded the man renting ahead of me for not going outside to wait when she ordered him too (rudely, I might add). Her lot is steep and muddy and the jeep was on an angle; my husband with his bad knees, post-call (no sleep going on 36 hours), wearing his crocs (shoes with no support) was slipping in the mud and I feared he would hurt himself. Says dragon lady, "watch out for the mud puddle, you'll get the car dirty!" I'm thinking, if he slips on your property you will have more than a muddy car to worry about!
When we checked out the car for dents and such we wanted her to note the scratches in the paint, in some cases chips and dings so that later we wouldnt be blamed for them. She tried to turn it around and make it seem that we were complaining that the car was in bad shape and she called us crazy.
One of the tires was near flat. She kept insisting that it was the angle it was parked on, a rock it was parked on after we moved it, etc... We had to go get air for the tire at the gas station, but once we did it didnt leak or pose a problem.
Her last shot was to scold me while I was loading the luggage in the car "Why you not tell me you are staying out Salt Pond way?" She didnt ask, why did it matter, etc... Just another excuse to scold.
After that experience, Conrad himself was very nice when we parked multiple times in the lot, the lot is in a good location. Checking out was fine. A young woman was on duty and perfectly pleasant.
We would probably rent from them again, but we will expect the abuse next time.
Captain Phil:
He is quite a character. Very warm, disarming, interested in getting to know you, and very talkative and open about himself, his life past and present, funny stories (sometimes repeated if you see him another day). He is a very nice guy and his snorkle trip on the Wayward Sailor was fun and he taught us some cool things about how to find octopus when snorkling. He gets in the water with you and it is fun to have a guided snorkle tour. Definately worth a day sail with him. We ran into him on our last day, we were having breakfast at the Paradise Cafe and he sat down with us to chat for a while. He is great with kids and snorkelers of all abilities.
The people who run Sweet Plantains were remarkably nice. The owners are a husband and wife team Rose (the chef) and Prince Adams (the host and bartender). Their restaurant is wonderful, excellent food, ambience, a good wine list and very unusual and good cocktails. They clearly put a lot of TLC in their restaurant. They were accomodating when my son wanted something they were out of and they came up with something else for him. Prince took my kids outside on a tour of his garden and frog pond after dinner. I will try to post a review on the restaurant area of the website.
The guys who run Columbos shake stand are very nice. The owner is from Florida, which I guess explains the continuous Jimmy Buffet playing there. They made a shake by mistake for someone and gave it to us on one of our visits because we had become regulars on our week in St John.
There is a man who sells hot dogs and cold sodas from his car in the Salt Pond beach parking lot. We talked to him for a while, he is a St John native, but lived in NY for a while (NY accent!)
We really liked the laid back nice people running Skinny Legs. We caught live music there, twice on this trip, twice last trip and it was good every time. We went on movie night and watched The Illusionist there on their big screen as we ate. The burgers, salads and mahi sandwiches are great and the drinks are strong!
I have to mention here that Zozo's is a wonderful restaurant, excellent food, ambience, what a view of St Thomas, sunset if you time it right, excellent service. Everyone there was spot on with customer service.
I know there are a lot of people on the board who love Lime Inn, which is why we tried it this time out. We found it disappointing. The food and service were not up to par. The service was well meaning but not good. The food was poorly prepared, and we had some fish served that was not fresh. I will post my review on the restaurant area.
I'm enjoying your reports. We ate at Sweet Plantains right after they opened in May 2005 and the roti was the best,clean pleasant setting, a little pricey.
I laughed when hearing your account of dealing with Gladys at Sutton's. I know quite a few folks speak highly of her on this board, but I have seen her go off on people that were nothing but polite to her. I have also seen her as sweet as Bailey's Irish Cream. She has no patience if you are a newbie to her little world. When we went down in Nov. 2006 I called to see if they had a Vitara 2dr. for when we were coming. She just said they were all rented out for that week and hung up without letting me know if they had anything else. I'm always polite to people, but Gladys should realise the politeness thing should work both ways. Now that said, I would still rent from them because their cars are generally in good shape.
I laughed when hearing your account of dealing with Gladys at Sutton's. I know quite a few folks speak highly of her on this board, but I have seen her go off on people that were nothing but polite to her. I have also seen her as sweet as Bailey's Irish Cream. She has no patience if you are a newbie to her little world. When we went down in Nov. 2006 I called to see if they had a Vitara 2dr. for when we were coming. She just said they were all rented out for that week and hung up without letting me know if they had anything else. I'm always polite to people, but Gladys should realise the politeness thing should work both ways. Now that said, I would still rent from them because their cars are generally in good shape.
When you find yourself in a hole.... quit digging.
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston
I go w/ Conrad because I like him and Carmen (I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of being scolded by Mrs. Sutton) and because he takes Amex. If you have an amex card you are covered as far as the ins. goes. I have never added it on, as a matter of fact I think I remember RickG posting that it is included in his rental rate (though I could be totally making that up).
Also, your own car ins. policy may cover you while in a rental, so check that out as well.
Also, your own car ins. policy may cover you while in a rental, so check that out as well.
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston
Jenni and all -
Thanks for the info on Sutton's. I have been trying to decide on which car rental to use for a July trip and had decided to call Sutton's this week. I'm afraid that we might not get to STJ until after 5:00 (our flight times keep changing and it depends if we can catch the right ferry) and several of the rental places note that they close at 5:00.
Do you know if Sutton's stay open past 5:00 if they know you are coming? That's one of the questions I'm going to ask but it would be helpful to have some idea beforehand in case I get Gladys.
Also, is there a best time to call so that I can get Conrad or Carmen
Just kidding-kind of
Islandcat
Thanks for the info on Sutton's. I have been trying to decide on which car rental to use for a July trip and had decided to call Sutton's this week. I'm afraid that we might not get to STJ until after 5:00 (our flight times keep changing and it depends if we can catch the right ferry) and several of the rental places note that they close at 5:00.
Do you know if Sutton's stay open past 5:00 if they know you are coming? That's one of the questions I'm going to ask but it would be helpful to have some idea beforehand in case I get Gladys.
Also, is there a best time to call so that I can get Conrad or Carmen
Just kidding-kind of
Islandcat
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swoodbridge
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:08 pm
Conrad Sutton Hours
Islandcat- According to the reservation reply we received from Conrad Sutton when we reserved a car earlier this spring said
"Normal business hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 days per week. Customers with reservations can arrange to pickup a vehicles as late as 6:30 pm (arriving on 6 p.m. ferry). Vehicles not picked up by 6:30 pm may be picked up the following morning."
Hope this helps- Sharon
"Normal business hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 days per week. Customers with reservations can arrange to pickup a vehicles as late as 6:30 pm (arriving on 6 p.m. ferry). Vehicles not picked up by 6:30 pm may be picked up the following morning."
Hope this helps- Sharon
We got in on the 6:30 ferry last trip - putting us at Conrads about 6:35-40 and Carmen was there waiting. It helps if you call and let them know once you have landed at STT what ferry you are coming in on. She was more than pleasant and helpful when we arrived. Since we were staying at Maho the first 2 nights we were ever so grateful that she stuck around for us to get our car. Taking a cab there and back would have been an added expense and hassle for us.
Thanks Sharon and Flip-Flop. That helps immensely. Normally, we can't get in to STT until around 5:00 so the 6:00 ferry is the earliest ferry. You can't get anywhere from Wichita in a hurry. This year we got lucky with flights (only one stop and it was the cheapest one available too-YIPPEE!!!) and get in shortly after 3:00. Hopefully we can catch the 4:00 ferry, but if it turns out to be the 5:00, I was afraid that the jeep rental agencies would be closed down by the time we got to STJ.
That's a good idea about calling Sutton's when we got there. I never thought about doing that. I was always too focused on getting hold of the villa rep.
Thanks again,
Islandcat
That's a good idea about calling Sutton's when we got there. I never thought about doing that. I was always too focused on getting hold of the villa rep.
Thanks again,
Islandcat