Grand Ocean No Longer Allows Outside Bike Companies Deliverying Bikes to the Resort

[lat]

I called Pedals the other day to reserve the bikes because we have a large group of people. I was told that we need to pick them up ourselves, which creates more logistics issue.

They said Grand Ocean no longer allows bike companies to go in to deliver bikes, except to park them opposite the resort by the tennis court area. Pedals said they won't do that because their bikes will be stolen in no time.

This will be the first year we will be renting bikes at GO directly, just to avoid the hassles.

GO's rate is $25 for the first 2 bikes, and then $25 per bike afterwards. This actually is cheaper than Pedals.

How are the bikes onsite?

 

[Dave M]

The new policy was reported here a few days ago.

There have been many reports here of people who have rented the GO bikes. I don't recall any reports of unhappiness with the bikes. Take a look at the TUG reviews for GO. You'll see a number of bike rental references in those reviews.

 

[toni3063]

We always rent the bikes from Marriott. Charge it to the room and get the points (10 pr $ spent). When we were at GO last spring we rented from the resort. The bikes were great. It's also a nice convenience renting on-site... if you have any problems during the week, you can exchange the bike immediately. We bargained the price down to $20 pr bike for our week at Barony this spring. There were 8 of us.

 

[sandytoes]

We will be going to Grande Ocean and were planning on taking our bikes. Is the rate $25.00 for two bikes for the whole week? If so this is a great deal and saves the hassle of carting our own bikes.

 

[Carol C]

What ever happened to the concept of free enterprise, Mr. Marriott?

 

[toni3063]

We will be going to Grande Ocean and were planning on taking our bikes. Is the rate $25.00 for two bikes for the whole week? If so this is a great deal and saves the hassle of carting our own bikes.

$25 per bike.

 

[lat]

I was told that it is $25 for the 1st 2 bikes, and any additional bike will be at $25 each for the week. So basically, each unit gets one free bike.

 

[pcgirl54]

Prior to this year at every HH Marriott we paid 25 per bike per week.

 

[dashulak]

What ever happened to the concept of free enterprise, Mr. Marriott?

MGO's decision doesn't have anything to do with trying to capture the market and eliminate competition. It's a loss prevention issue.

Besides a bicycle rental company employee heisting dozens of bikes from various resorts, there were also reports of expensive bicycles being stolen on the island and MGO is now encouraging that such items be secured in the units.

The only problem we ran into with renting from MGO is they ran out of bicycles with "tag-alongs" and we had to rent off-property. We rode our rented bicycles back from Pedals and then left them in the racks at Van der Meer for pickup the morning we departed.

 

[vlapinta]

If you rent bicycles from GO do they give you a pass to get into Sea Pines?
I am going to GO and trying to find out how to get a pass to get into SeaPines to use the bicycle paths???
Vicki

 

[Jeni]

We rented from GO and all was well; we rode about 25 miles per day. The bike office at GO gave us a pass into Sea Pines.

 

[Dave M]

Confirming....

GO's policy is to give Sea Pines bike passes to (1) GO owners and (2) non-owners who rent bikes from GO. The passes are available at the bike shop.

All GO guests receive passes at check-in that allow access to Sea Pines for a car and its occupants for their entire GO stay.

 

[vlapinta]

Confirming....

GO's policy is to give Sea Pines bike passes to (1) GO owners and (2) non-owners who rent bikes from GO. The passes are available at the bike shop.

All GO guests receive passes at check-in that allow access to Sea Pines for a car and its occupants for their entire GO stay.

So from you response above we are not GO owners, (we are OW owners trading into GO) but we would still receive a car pass for the week because we are staying at GO. We would then be able to drive into Sea Pines with our bikes on the car and ride from there.

Vicki

 

[toni3063]

So from you response above we are not GO owners, (we are OW owners trading into GO) but we would still receive a car pass for the week because we are staying at GO. We would then be able to drive into Sea Pines with our bikes on the car and ride from there.

Vicki

Vicki,
That is correct. However, in addition to a Sea Pines weekly car pass... you should get a pass for each bike rented from GO (be sure and ask if the attendant doesn't automatically give you the bike passes). You will have to stop at the guard shack and show a pass for each bike entering Sea Pines. I always ride right from GO to Sea Pines. It is a beautiful and easy ride from GO. Also during low tide, we ride down the beach and cross over to the bike trails at Marriott's Monarch (inside of Sea Pines). IMO, it's the best bike riding on the island.

 

[sandytoes]

If we bring our own bikes, can we get a guess bike pass while staying at Grande Ocean?

 

[dive-in]

If we bring our own bikes, can we get a guess bike pass while staying at Grande Ocean?

We had friends from SC say to NOT take your own bikes. The salty air will cause corrosion and rust on your bikes. We just rented the bikes from GO last year.

Sorry no answer for the pass question.

 

[Dean]

If we bring our own bikes, can we get a guess bike pass while staying at Grande Ocean?

As noted above, my understanding is that GO owners and those who rent bikes directly from GO will get bike passes for Sea Pines. But YMMV so it never hurts to ask.

 

[dashulak]

Bicycles in Seas Pines

So from you response above we are not GO owners, (we are OW owners trading into GO) but we would still receive a car pass for the week because we are staying at GO. We would then be able to drive into Sea Pines with our bikes on the car and ride from there.

Vicki

My understanding is that unless you are staying at a Sea Pines property (which does not include Grande Ocean), you cannot take bicycles into Sea Pines on your car even if you have a bicycle pass. They must be ridden into Sea Pines. We saw several cars turned away at the gate to Sea Pines a few weeks ago.

 

[vlapinta]

My understanding is that unless you are staying at a Sea Pines property (which does not include Grande Ocean), you cannot take bicycles into Sea Pines on your car even if you have a bicycle pass. They must be ridden into Sea Pines. We saw several cars turned away at the gate to Sea Pines a few weeks ago.

Can someone confirm this? Also if you are bringing your own bikes, are a Marriott exchanger into GO, are there other bike trails for a family to go on if we cannot get into Sea Pines?

Vicki

 

[toni3063]

Can someone confirm this? Also if you are bringing your own bikes, are a Marriott exchanger into GO, are there other bike trails for a family to go on if we cannot get into Sea Pines?

Vicki

There are bike trails all over the island, however, IMO it would be a shame to be so close to Sea Pines and not bike there. It is by far the best biking on the island. You can rent from GO for $10.00 for the day. You'll get bike passes to get into Sea Pines from GO. The ride from GO to Sea Pines is very enjoyable. If you really enjoy it, you can keep the bike for the week and pay the $25.00. Or... I imagine that if you bring your bikes you can buy a bike pass at the guard gate just like you do the car pass. Another option is just to rent a bike for a day inside Sea Pines (but you'll have to pay to get the car into Sea Pines). We did this two years ago and it was $7.00 per bike for the day. We only did this because GO had rented all their bikes with child seats and we need one with a seat. We rented them from GO for the rest of the week after a bike with a seat was returned.

I've heard the same thing that drive-in has heard... that the salt air and more specifically the salt water is hard on the bikes. That probably explains why all the bikes you see on the island are just manual ones. Less hardware to get damaged by the salt water/air. It might not be worth hauling your bikes unless you know for sure you will ride them a lot. My brother and his family joined us this summer for the week, they brought their bikes and rode for exactly 1/2 hour. His 2 daughters did not like riding on the beach and they didn't want to ride on the trails (they just wanted to play on the beach), and these girls ride their bikes all the time at home. He said he will never haul the bikes again.

 

[sandytoes]

Thanks Toni.

That is good information . . . I think all who said hauling your own bikes is a real pain are probably right. Do you really think the air is so salty that if you rode your bikes only on the trails and then brought them into the villas at night that the bikes would be affected? Just wondering? Karen

 

[dashulak]

Sea Pines bike passes are NOT for sale

Or... I imagine that if you bring your bikes you can buy a bike pass at the guard gate just like you do the car pass.

You cannot purchase bike passes for Sea Pines. They are very strict about both vehicular and bicycle traffic in Sea Pines.

To clarify, you can ride bicycles into Sea Pines with your Grand Ocean bike pass. However, you are supposed to be staying at a Sea Pines property to take bicycles into Sea Pines on your car (which does not include Grande Ocean).

By the way, we've never had to have more than one bike pass for our family of four to bicycle into Sea Pines. Unless they are now requiring each separate bike have a pass, renters and exchangers should be able to get into Sea Pines if they rent just one bike from Grande Ocean.

This article from the Island Packet provides some insight http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/5061477p-4614288c.html. (Even though the article says that sometimes guards let visitors with bicycles in for $1 per bike to avoid backups, that is very rare and it is more likely that they will have you just turn around and exit immediately.)