leeni8

Hi! Trying to finalize our car rental company for 4 days in St. John. Companies currently with availability are:

Denzil Clyne
L&L Jeep Rental
Paris Car Rental
St. John Car Rental
Spencer's Jeep Rental
Cool Breeze

Rates are similar; only difference I can see is that some include two drivers in rate and pick up/drop off at ferry dock. Can you give me your top two choices?

Also, we are arriving in St. Thomas around 1:30 pm and then need to catch the ferry over to St. John. By the time we arrive in the late afternoon, I'm afraid some places may be closed. Is it better just to take a taxi to our villa that first night and then taxi back the next day to pick up the car rental OR is it best just to pay the extra day of rental to save some time and hassle? Please let me know your thoughts.

THANK YOU!

Maggy

I suggest you just take a cab the day you arrive to your villa and rent the car the next morning. This is what we always do so we don't have to stress out about getting to the car rental agency in time. The car rental people pick us up at the Westin and bring us into town to sign the documents and rent the car. We are using Conrad Sutton Car Rental. You'll be exhausted the first night and it's fun to just jump into an open air taxi to go to town for dinner.

ready4vaca

DO NOT use Denzil Cline. Very rude and tried to rip us off. We had our jeep broken into while we were snorkeling. Broke the window. Forget the name of the spot we were snorkeling but you park and trek downhill to the beach. Luckily there was nothing worth stealing in the jeep just rummaged through our stuff, but the worst was the hassle the rental place put us thru. First didn't care and laughed at us when we asked for another jeep. Told us we'd have to keep it and drive around like that and pay for the window when for it when we turned it in. Each time I spoke with them the price for damages got higher and higher. Eventually higher than the rental balance itself. Nothing you can do because they probably have a friend on the island that is a cop and I didn't want to miss my boat and flight home. Just paid the bill than disputed it with Credit Card company when i got home. So do not use Denzil Cline!!!!!

ready4vaca

Forgot to mention they taunted us and said it could of been them breaking into our jeep.

LindainOhio

We rented from St. John Car Rental. They were closed when we arrived. They left the keys in the car for us. You can park in their lot when you are in Cruz Bay. We were happy with them.

brenandg

If your flight arrives on time, you should easily be able to make the 3:00 ferry from Red Hook and arrive on STJ by 3:30pm. Plenty of time to get your rental. Maggy points out that they stay at The Westin and get their car the next day. We do the same because we stay at Gallow's Point and really don't need it the first day and also taxi's readily go to The Westin. Where is your villa? I'm pretty confident that most taxi's do not go to villas unless it is pretty close to Cruz Bay. If not, it would be cost prohibitive and you may as well get your rental and save the hassle.

We have used Cool Breeze and Courtesy and have not had any major peoblems with either. Cool Breeze does not have a lot in town.

DebitNM

We used Conrad Sutton in 2006 and was pleased with service. Using Courtesy for our trip in 2 weeks. Best price when booked several months ago.

As brenda said, you should have no trouble getting into SJJ in time to get car.

Deb

leeni8

Unfortunately Courtesy and Conrad Sutton are both sold out for our travel dates. Learning towards St. John or L&L Jeep Rental. Any objections?

brenandg

I don't think you mentioned your travel dates. At this point I would take what you can get for the best rate. I would not mess around if your dates are soon, or you will risk not getting a rental.

Tuxedocat

Wow! I just read ready4vaca's report on Denzil Clyne and I am shocked and surprised. Denzil Cline seems to be a gentleman (met him once) and has a rental business on Tortola as well. I have rented from this company on STJ and Tortola and have not had anything remarkable to say. I think companies should be encouraged to search these forums as testimonials like ready4vaca's can be very bad for business. BTW, just about every company has generated a few negative reviews. IMO, no company can be 100% consistent. Also, I don't recall anything particularly negative about either St. John or L&L. If it were me, I'd choose the agency with the most parking for their customers. Cruz Bay can be very difficult for parking.

sfmaster

bookmarking

Kevin_Barnes

We just rented 2 vehicles from Conrad Sutton last week (6/24/11-7/2/11), and NEVER AGAIN! First thing that happened was they gave me a Jeep Wrangler 4 door with about 7000 miles on it. Second day, I was on a switchback just after Trunk Bay and the transmission failed. Police helped, and discovered there was No (nada, none) transmission fluid in the vehicle. I called the number listed on the contract and told the woman who answered of the issue. Her response was "What did you do?". Really good customer service (NOT!). Conrad himself came with a replacement jeep (Liberty not 4dr wrangler) within 45 minutes. I'm thinking, that's pretty good. Then I go to return it and I get an attitude because THEY attached the replacement car paperwork to the wrong original contract.

On the second vehicle that my brother-in-law rented, when we returned it, they say to him there is a dent on the bumper that want there before. It was missed on the pre-inspection. I look at it and said, I followed him out of the lot when we picked it up and it was there already when we picked up the car. Then I get called a liar, multiple times. I ask to see the paperwork from the person that rented it before us to see if the dent was indicated on prior rentals... I was told they destroy all paperwork after the rental is complete... Yea Right! There was a pile 3-4" thick of prior rental forms on the desk. Now who is the liar?

NEVER AGAIN... Rude and in my opinion dishonest.

leeni8

Yikes! We did go on this trip in 2009 and used L&L Jeep and ended having problems too. When I asked about an undisclosed cleaning fee on the contract, no one could answer me. They told me to ask the guy I set up the rental with, who was mysteriosly absent when I called and again when I dropped off the vehicle. Sure enough, we got charged with a fee for having a teeny tiny bit of sand in the car ON AN ISLAND. I disputed it with my credt card company but in the end just had to eat the charge to close the matter(I was in my first trimester and in no mood to argue). What's with these places? Supposed to be laid back paradise and lots of us seem to be having issues with the car rental companies. Sheesh!

jgowman35

DO NOT RENT FROM L&L JEEP RENTAL COMPANY!

Have to say, I'm terribly disappointed with this company. Wife and I went down to St. John's for 9 days and rented a wrangler from these guys. Car was fine, no issues there. However, when we made the rental (and the reason we chose them, as this made them less expensive than others), my wife and I were told that we would be refunded a $50 cleaning charge should we return the jeep in a clean condition. I even asked further about this and was told that as long as it wasn't returned terribly dirty we would get the money back.

So following our vacation, my wife and I cleaned the jeep out, scrubbed the outside down and returned it. It was about as clean as you could get without detailing it. So, we were told they would check it out (we had to leave quickly to make the 6am ferry), and if it was clean we would get our money back. Well, a week later, no refund so I called them up. When I asked the fella who answered the phone about our refund, he said our jeep was very dirty and we would get no refund. After imploring to him that there is no way anyone would consider that jeep dirty and he consistently told me it was extremely dirty, I stated that my only recourse would be to leave negative reviews about their business.....the best part...after that he said he would sue me and hung up. Needless to say, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU RENT ELSEWHERE!! Enjoy your vacation, just stay away from these scammers.

FloydSpellman

Whatever you're considering, do yourself a favor and forget about Denzil Clyne Car Rental. First of all they are just plain old fashioned rip off artists. They have a sign about a $100 extra charge for excessive sand that they use as a pretext for robbing you of extra money. You're on an island with beaches. There's always going to be some sand left in the car. That's all they need to know. There's lots of other car rental choices. Go elsewhere.