What was your experience renting a car in St. Maarten?

[DonnaDavid]

I am considering renting a car at St. Maarten as I have a 22 month old and I would like her to be in a carseat when we go out on the island. I've read at other sites (cruisecritic.com) that renting a car in St. Maarten is a pain (traffic, etc.). Any opinions?
Thanks, Donna.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

It's only a pain if you're a really timid driver. Yes, the traffic is a little slow through downtown Philipsburg and downtown Marigot, but it's not a big deal. I had no problems.

 

[donnier]

We rented a car with no problem. There are several rental booths right off the pier. As far as traffic, a little heavy in the towns, but not bad. Once you are out of town, it's smooth sailing.

 

[DonnaDavid]

Thank you.

 

[KAMLEM]

We rented, also. We had reserved a jeep at Avis online ahead of time but we were not aware that it had a standard transmission so we ended up getting a Toyota Corolla instead. Also, it was August and the Corolla had air conditioning. The kids were a little disappointed but I think it worked out great. I don't like having to follow someone else's schedule. We went to the butterfly farm and one of the beaches and it was a great day.

 

[trobert]

donnadavid...go to cruisecritic.com click on boards, then ports, then st. maarten and see other cruisers (all cruises) experiences on car rentals in st. maarten. Lots had no problems, but a very few did. These boards have good information on the excursions they took at different ports.

 

[pigelet]

We have been to St. Martin (non-cruise) a couple times and rented a car without any problems. On our recent cruise we were off the boat early and had many men approach us about car rentals. We choose Budget since it was cheap and a name we knew. A Corolla cost $54 including tax for the day. They took us to this weird lot off Front St. One man working there to give out keys, etc.. He tried staring 4 car before one turned over. Most had dents and scrapes on them which he noted on a work sheet. Luckily we checked cause our gas tank was only 3/4 full and gas in St. Martin is very expensive. After driving a few miles our brakes were so squeaky we didn't think we'd make it down the hill in Phippsburg but we did and did enjoy our day. Just be sure to check out your car carefully including the brakes. PS we brought those Evenflo booster seat w/us that don't weigh much and were not a hassle to take around.