TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Car rental late arrival

Are there any car rentals open late evening? We are arriving around 11:30 pm on a Sunday evening this November. Trying to determine whether we will need to take cab and rent following day.

If you make prior arrangements, I would imagine most companies would meet you upon arrival. You need to address this with your rental car company of choice. Otherwise, take a cab and get the car the following day.

I didn't think any of the big carriers would be arriving that late at night. If there are big planes still coming in, the car rental guys will still be there. But regardless, you should make advance arrangements with whoever you book through and if so, they will be there to meet you when you arrive.

[edit] Now that I think about it, unless you are staying on the French side, you might be better off to just get a cab to your hotel. SXM car rental guys rent their cars based on the calendar day, not by the hour. So, if the cost to get to your hotel that night is less than the cost for 24 hours for the car, it might be better to just take a cab to the hotel and then have the car rental guy deliver your car to the hotel the next day. But take into account that the cost for a cab goes way up--like double--after approximately 9 PM.

Lesley met us at the airport at 11pm in February when we arrived on a late flight. We asked him if he would prefer to wait until the next day but he said no he didn't mind meeting us late.

There may be, and as others have suggested, the best idea is to check directly with a few. The sponsors here are a great start.

That said, I personally would want to be getting to my "home" as quickly as possible that late at night, and would be more inclined to take a cab to my resort and have the rental car delivered to me there the next day. Many agencies do that.

I think you will have no problem finding a reputable rental agency that will make themselves available to you regardless of your eta.

My questions to you are do you know the island well and are you staying in an easily accessible location? If yes to both questions then I'd make my arrangements with a car rental agency of my choice to meet me upon arrival. But if you don't know exactly where you're going, such as a new-to-you villa somewhere in an out of the way location, then I think I'd cab it on arrival and make my arrangements to have the rental car agency deliver the car the next day. The rental agencies are good people and will work with you either way. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />