Bryan's Car Rentals

About the agency

Bryan''s Car Rentals was started in 2000 by Ronnie Bryan, with one car, while he was working hotel maintenance at Shoal Bay Villas. Twenty-six years later it is one of the most consistently recommended operators on the island, and the reason comes up in almost every review in the same words: there is no line and no wait. You fill in the paperwork online before you travel, the car is already at Blowing Point when your ferry lands, and you get in and drive. That is a real choice, not just a convenience. Bryan''s sits about a hundred metres from both Andy''s and Junie''s at the ferry terminal, close enough that the three are effectively neighbours, and all three will have you on the road within minutes of the boat. The difference is what happens in those minutes. Andy''s and Junie''s put a person outside arrivals to greet you and hand over the keys. Bryan''s does not, by design. After a travel day some people want a friendly face and some want to speak to nobody at all. Ronnie does follow up a few days before you arrive to confirm the details, so it is not impersonal, it is just front-loaded. The fleet, and the drive side. Sedans at $45, midsize SUVs at $55 including the Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Kicks and Rogue, and Kia Sportage, minivans at $65 in the Kia Sedona and Dodge Caravan, and large SUVs at $70 in the Kia Sorento and Suzuki XL7. Everything is automatic, air-conditioned, non-smoking, and left-hand drive. That last point is worth thinking about rather than skipping. Anguilla drives on the left, and some operators here run right-hand drive Japanese imports which put you on the correct side for the road. Bryan''s does the opposite deliberately: the entire fleet is left-hand drive, which is what most American visitors are already used to. You will be sitting on the wrong side for the road but the right side for your instincts. Neither approach is wrong and reasonable people pick differently, but you should pick on purpose. What is in the rate. Unlimited free mileage, an Anguilla road map, 24-hour emergency roadside assistance, and the car handed over with a full tank. On the fuel, be clear about what that means: you start full and you return it full, or you pay pump price plus a $20 flat fee. The tank is not free, you are just spared the scramble to find a station on arrival. Insurance is separate and split into two: Supplemental Liability Insurance at $7.50 a day, covering third-party injury and property damage but not the vehicle, and Collision Damage Waiver at $7.50 a day, which limits your liability on the car itself to a $1,500 deductible. Take both and it is $15 a day. The fee schedule, which is unusually specific and mostly in your favour. A lost key is capped at $250, where the operator next door will bill $300 to $1,000 for a chipped one. Late return is $15 an hour for up to two hours before the full daily rate kicks in, which is more forgiving than the calendar-day billing used elsewhere at this terminal. Cleaning is capped at $100 and smoking at $250. Pets are permitted with a fee capped at $100, and Bryan''s is the only operator in this directory that says anything about pets at all. The one to watch is cancellation: cancel inside 24 hours of pickup and you are charged three days at the rental rate, which is stiff, so hold your dates. The extras, and the cyclist. Beach chairs, umbrella and cooler, full snorkel sets, and child safety seats can all be added at booking and are waiting in the car. So can professional road bikes, and that is not a random add-on. Ronnie is an internationally ranked cyclist who has represented Anguilla in competition, including the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, and he still rides with professionals here and in Atlanta. He is not renting you a bike off a shelf; he is renting you a bike he would ride. Nobody else on this island offers that.