USVI-On-Line

We, as adults, have always been pretty careful to keep as much sand out of the jeep as possible, keeping a bottle of water to rinse off feet and brushing off as much as possible but...we're taking a 7 and 9 yr old this time. How picky are the rental agencies really upon return? I think we're renting from St. John Car Rental if that helps.

On a side note...Yay, my ticker's down to 2 months!!!

We have never been charged for extra cleaning. We will dump the floor mats out and clear any trash out of the vehicle but we haven’t “cleaned” to prior to turning it in. We are mindful about excess sand and try to keep it to a minimum but I admit we aren’t obsessive about it.

I noticed during this last trip that two things seemed to generate more sand in the vehicle than usual.

1.) We rented a two door Jeep so whenever our son had to climb into the back seat; he brushed against the seat, dropping sand on to the floor.

2.) We couldn’t fit everything into the back of the jeep so the cooler and beach towels went into the back seat and there was always some amount of sand on these items.

I remember a couple of posters getting hit with excessive sand fees on their credit cards on this forum over the years. There has been a vacuum cleaner in our villla the past couple of trips so I just did a quick vacuum right before we returned the car.Vacuuming took less time then I would spend hassleing with them if they charged a fee.

JT wrote:Vacuuming took less time then I would spend hassleing with them if they charged a fee.

Good point. We spend about 15 minutes trying to get as much sand out as possible. We've never been hit with a charge. We usually rent from Bougainvillea.

One of the first things we do on Island is grab a foot bucket at St. John Hardware. That and a gallon water jug and we're ready to beach for the week. Bucket is a villa donation when we leave.

Steve S wrote:One of the first things we do on Island is grab a foot bucket at St. John Hardware. That and a gallon water jug and we're ready to beach for the week. Bucket is a villa donation when we leave.

That is a brilliant idea.

When our son was younger, I carried a gallon jug of water to rinse him off prior to putting him in the jeep, chumb rub was a problem. A bucket would have been a perfect addition to that method.

A while back, someone mentioned a small whisk broom. Two of my family members resisted being "broomed" but I still think it is a good idea.

We always vacuum our rental vehicle on the last day but occasionally getting it plugged in can be a problem. There aren't always plugs close enough to the parking areas at villas.

I don't have one of these but apparently they can be very helpful:

http://www.powderpouch.com/

The folks we travel with are a little OCD about the sand in the vehicle thing. So here is what we do. We pack a small tarp or sheet of plastic. Put in the back of the jeep
Where the snorkel gear, chairs and coolers are. each day we shake out the sheet.

Seriously keeps down the amount of sand that can accumulate in after a week of hard beaching.

I have four kids and we live at the beach in NC so there was always sand in our cars and house. We keep a small container of baby powder in the car. Instead of using a small broom to dust off the sand we sprinkle the powder on our legs and feet. The sand just brushes off with your hand and our sand problem was over. No more crying about the scratchiness of the broom!!

All good ideas. Here's another. If you rent on STT, there is a great car wash place with vacuums, near McDonalds at Tutu at the big KMart.
If you're there on a Saturday, there's a food truck with apparently killer barbecue available, across the street...

For several of the villas we work with, they ask that you rinse your feet with a hose (or in the outdoor shower, when it's available) before coming into the house... but I love the idea of bringing a bucket along...! Despite my best efforts, I usually get a bunch of sand in the car when coming from the beach, thank goodness for floor mats

The powder pouch is cool, but it looks like you could do the same thing with baby powder and an old sock. Of course it wouldn't be as cute, but we all know that I am cheep! I also like the wash bucket idea!

1. Wash your feet and gear with a hose before going in the house.
2. Most houses have a vacuums. Before you leave, wash and vacuum the rental.

Don't worry about sand in the vehicle. When leaving the beach we knock the sand off with a towel, then use the towel as a seat cover. I treat a rental like it was mine.