Newbies to St. John

troy32 · Post by **troy32** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:24 pm

My wife and I will be taking our first trip to St. John this summer for our 10yr Anniversary. We have already booked a villa and can hardly wait to get there. We know it's going to be hot and humid, but that doesn't bother us. We have been searching this forum for info on car rentals to resturants. First I would like to say thank you for everyone who has posted with such great information on this site. Can anyone tell me which car rental companys are the best to deal with? Also, any other tips for the first timer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Teresa_Rae · Post by **Teresa_Rae** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:42 pm

Have you decided if you want to rent your car on STT or STJ?

There are positives and negatives of each…there are people who swear by renting on STT and others who swear by renting on STJ. Renting on STT will definitely save you some money but if you have car trouble you’ll be stuck on STJ. People who rent on STJ also like being able to park in their rental company’s lot when they’re in town for dinner and shopping. Personally we like renting on STT because we like loading up our stuff at the airport and being able to go without having to mess with loading and unloading luggage at the taxi, ferry, and again when getting the rental car. But then getting back to STT to catch a flight is a bit more stressful because the car ferry doesn’t run as consistently as the people ferry.

Here’s a good site for coupons:
http://www.couponstjohn.com/

We always use the Morgan’s Mango drink coupon

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:35 am

I wrote a newbie guide to STJ in 2006 of a big family trip. Its still mostly relevant. The biggest change is that the Texaco is gone.

Must update this soon!

http://www.garvin.us/STJ/New_Visitors_G ... Guide.html

Cheers, RickG

Nic in KC · Post by **Nic in KC** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:21 am

Welcome Troy!

You will have a wonderful trip! I definitely recommend renting on St. John since you are new to the island. I wouldn't want to have to hassle with something happening to a car and not having the rental company on island to help. We had a small problem on our last trip and had rented through St. John Car Rental and they were there and had the problem fixed asap! They are the only car rental agency we've used and we'll be using them again in May.

Rick's guide is AWESOME for newbies! Just relax and the vibe of the island will carry you!
Nicolle

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:24 am

I'll second the recommendation for St. John Car Rental. The people are friendly, you can park in their lot, and their cars are in good shape.

I used to rent from Penns, but they switched from Viatras to Liberties and John did not like the way the Liberty handled. Once they switch to another kind of car I would rent from them again. They also have a big lot in town that you can park in, and they are very nice people too.

lazylane · Post by **lazylane** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:39 am

Our first trip to STJ was also for our 10 year anniversary - this year we celebrate 24 years and we're still going to STJ each year. We never tire of it. For some great videos visit www.on-stjohn.com a daily blog and also www.seestjohn.com Lots of great info there! We used Courtesy Car Rentals this past year, friendly professional staff and you can use their lot when in Cruz Bay.

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:03 am

I just want to issue one word of caution about St. John Car Rental. They are great to work with as long as you remember this.

If you cannot be there during their normal business hours to pick up your car, then do not rent from them. Another person in our group was in charge of renting the car last time and she didn't realize they weren't flexible on this and we almost didn't have a car the first evening, which would've made it very difficult to get to our villa, which was out of town and a little tricky to get to. If you won't make it by 5 p.m. (I think that's when they close), then rent with a company that will make after-hours arrangements.

Other than that, I had no trouble with them and always found a spot in their lot. That was more an issue with someone else not listening to the advice that I'd received on this forum! So, you're already a step ahead of us.

Xislandgirl · Post by **Xislandgirl** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:20 am

If you are booking with STJ Car rental and are arriving after 5, they will give the keys to your property manager, if you are renting a villa. We have had very good luck with that service.

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:42 am

Xislandgirl wrote:If you are booking with STJ Car rental and are arriving after 5, they will give the keys to your property manager, if you are renting a villa. We have had very good luck with that service.

Maybe they liked you more than they liked us, but they told us point blank that if we didn't make it on the 4 p.m. ferry that we could pick up our car Monday morning. No ifs, ands or buts. And our villa rep did talk to them.

If I weren't sure that I'd be on island by 5 p.m., I just wouldn't rent from them. It's nothing personal. I liked them and they were great to work with, but I didn't find them to be particularly helpful when we realized that our cab was not going to get us to the ferry dock in time.

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:04 am

lazylane, thanks for the reminder on seestjohn.com. This is a great resource and the descendant of Gerald Singer's stjohnbeachguide.com. It looks like they are doing frequent content updates.

Cheers, RickG

augie · Post by **augie** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:21 am

Lulu76 wrote:
Maybe they liked you more than they liked us, but they told us point blank that if we didn't make it on the 4 p.m. ferry that we could pick up our car Monday morning. No ifs, ands or buts. And our villa rep did talk to them.

I don't know if this was the difference or not, but our villa management company suggested St. John Car Rental, and once we'd decided to use them we let the management company make the car rental reservations for us.

When I realized that we would likely not be able to get there by 5:00, I contacted the management company and they replied right away that it would be no problem - that they would get the keys and we could drive into town the next morning to fill out the paperwork. It all came off that way without a hitch.

Lulu76 · Post by **Lulu76** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:36 pm

It could be anything. It could be the person who was working that day. We just thought it was all taken care of and had some folks in our group not already been on island, we would've been getting our car Monday morning.

If you go to their Web site, it pretty much says if you can't be here by 5 p.m., either make your reservation for the next day or rent from someone else. Perhaps next time I would use them again if our rental agent just coordinates everything and I am assured my car will be there when I get there.

But it serves as a warning for new folks. If you do rent on your own, just make sure you know that company's after hours policy if you think you might not make it.

And we probably would've made it if our cab driver hadn't insisted on taking us to Red Hook instead of Charlotte Amalie when we had plenty of time to make that ferry but would have to wait another hour for the RH one.

It was all a learning experience the first trip.

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:16 pm

We rented from Courtesy last May and it was absolutely hassle-free! I loved parking in their lot when we went into town. If we couldn't have parked there, I'm afraid we probably wouldn't have been able to find parking anywhere! Super nice people, no hassles picking up or returning the car. I highly recommend them

troy32 · Post by **troy32** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:23 pm

Wow, this is so wonderful. Everyone here is so helpful. I would like to thank all of you who replied on this topic. We will be looking into the rental companies you suggested. Also, Teresa, thank you for the coupon site. RickG, I had just got done looking at that guide like a half an hour before I posted. We found a lot of helpful information in that. Thanks again to everyone here!!

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:24 pm

Oh, and by the way.... Welcome to the forum! You too can become as addicted as the rest of us!

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Newbies to St. John

Newbies to St. John