Do you need a vehicle in Palm Beach?

[Antny]

I'm planning a family trip to Ocean Pointe next year. Should I plan on renting a vehicle? Is there much to do in the area or will a shuttle/taxi service do the job? What are the costs and does anyone know of a repuatable tansportation company/taxi service to use in the area?

Thanks

 

[jont]

You should rent a car. Unless you plan to stay on property, there is very little in the way of resturants, shops, activities within walking distance. Talking taxis to destinations will be very costly.

 

[dougp26364]

IMO, a car is a necessity at Ocean Pointe.

Having said that, I can see staying at Ocean Pointe without a car......if you're content to stay at the resort and either lay out on the beach or by the pool.

There is a small grocery store within walking distance caller Greator Gator. Sailfish Marina Restaurant and Johnny Longboats are two restaurants within walking distance. There is a Wings brand store with discount beach accessories within walking distance. There was a 7-Eleven and a Subway within walking distance the last time we were there (not sure there's still there as they were in an old part of the Ocean's Mall slated to be demolished).

For us though, A car is a necessity to get to a larger grocery store, see a few sites, go shopping and go out to restaurants.

 

[DebbieF]

I would rent a car. We always go thru Priceline and save a lot of $$. You just can't cancel so I would not start bidding until 1 month or so out. You can also use Priceline for non name your own price bid rates-but they usually are not much, if any, less than the rental agency sites.

We like to go to City Place for dinner and shopping, Cheesecake factory, and many other nice restaurants. Also, are you bringing children? We go to the drive thru Lion Safari Park which is about 20 min. away. When you start adding up taxi, bus fares you really won't be spending much more, IMO, if you rent a car and the convenience factor is huge!

 

[Antny]

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like a car rental is the way to go. I've searched a few car rental agencies using the various search engines (orbitz, expedia, etc.) but non of them compared in price to Costco (You must be a member to reserve.) Also, when is the right time to reserve a rental? Are the prices cheaper the further out you book?

 

[riverdees05]

You might check Hotwire, I have gotten some pretty good deals there. Also, what is there to do in the area? We are going the first week of December, 2011 and trying to pull together a to do list.

 

[normab]

Our strategy for rental cars:

I typically check the Hotwire rate and then bid a couple of dollars lower on Priceline. if it isn't successful I can always use the Hotwire rate. Gets us some pretty low rates--always beats Costco!!

Of course, we only do this once we are sure of dates since you pay up front!

Norma

 

[mjm1]

We are headed to OP for Thanksgiving. First time in the area, so we rented a car through Hotwire. We did it many months ago and got a very low rate. I compared it to Costco recently and we were still lower.

We will be doing some more research on things to do in the area. Lion Safari Park sounds good. We plan to take a day trip to Miami since we haven't been there either, and may even get over to Marco Island to check out the gulf coast side and the Marriott resort there.

Looking forward to some nice weather.

 

[dougp26364]

Thanks for all the replies. It looks like a car rental is the way to go. I've searched a few car rental agencies using the various search engines (orbitz, expedia, etc.) but non of them compared in price to Costco (You must be a member to reserve.) Also, when is the right time to reserve a rental? Are the prices cheaper the further out you book?

For reservations that can be cancelled without penalty, I reserve the best rate I can find as soon as I know my dates, then keep checking for rate drops and change or cancel and re-reserve the rental at the lower price.

For Hotwire or Priceline rentals, I typically wait until 30 days before our arrival date. However, I do check Hotwire regularly and, if I see a low rate I'm willing to lock in (Hotwire and Priceline rentals are final), then I'll bid even lower on Priceline. If I get the lower Priceline bid, I'm set. If not, it's back to Hotwire where I'll confirm the resrvation so long as it's the same low price (sometimes prices jump in the short time it takes me to check Priceline).

 

[dioxide45]

For reservations that can be cancelled without penalty, I reserve the best rate I can find as soon as I know my dates, then keep checking for rate drops and change or cancel and re-reserve the rental at the lower price.

This would be our advice also. Book the cheapest cancelable rate directly through the rental car companies. You can rebook and cancel as often as you wish. We did this for our upcoming trip to Ocean Pointe. The first rate we booked was around $300, and with rebookings we now have it down to just over $200. You have to check often because the rates can drop and go back up. This happened with ours as the rates are now close to $250.

Don't wait to book like you may do with airlines. Most rental car reservations made directly through the car rental companies can be canceled or no showed without penalty.

Imagine if you waited to book because the price was too high only to find it went up instead of down. I have read about many situations that were exactly that. Don't get burned, book early and keep checking. The same holds true for hotel reservations.

If in the last 30 days you want to see if you can get something cheaper, then try Hotwire or Priceline.

 

[Superchief]

We will be staying at Oceana Palms in two weeks. I had previously reserved Hertz with AAA rate, but recently found the best rate of about $200 for 8 days with Alamo through Costco. I think you definitely need a rental car on Singer Island. Don't forget to enjoy a wonderful dinner at Carmine's.