Enterprise car at Green River, UT after arriving on CZ

[Chuckles]

I realize this may be an esoteric question.

We will be breaking up our CZ trip into 2 segments at Green River, UT (GRI), which is nicely situated for several national parks. But there's not much of a town there apart from highway-exit services. No car rental agencies in town for Amtrak tourists (the Thrifty has closed). I don't know why the CZ even stops there.

However, Enterpise at Moab (they're the only car rental in Moab) says that for $50 they will deliver a car to a nearby Green River motel where we can pick it up and return it. (The motel is called The Robbers' Roost, but that is neither here nor there. I think.)

Now Enterprise isn't the most professional car rental company in the world. They don't seem to advertise this option, I had to call and ask if they had any suggestions. The booking details aren't visible on the web; they only faxed me a confirmation, Their office (Moab) will be closed at 6pm when we arrive. My concern is that if they let us down, we're really, really stranded. Five nights at the Robber's Roost and all meals at Ray's Tavern until our train out of GRI.

We could do this out of GJT, which is a real town with multiple car rental companies, but what with the greater driving distances and earlier departure (4pm), we'd lose the last day of hiking.

Should we do GRI? All advice, recommendations, reports of personal experience, etc. are appreciated.

 

[zephyr17]

Go with GJT. Green River is just going to be too tough.

 

[the_traveler]

Personally, I'd chose GJT (Grand Junction) as there is much more there, including a supermarket a block or 2 from the station to get "supplies"!

 

[Ted Bell]

Green River Utah is close to Goblin Valley State Park, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park and Moab. I would be very surprised if you were "stranded" there for 5 days. I would recommend a little more research, but if Enterprise can have a car waiting for you at your hotel you'll be in a great place to take advantage of some of Utah's beautiful national and state parks.

 

[chakk]

You might also consider taking the train to Helper, UT and get a rental car at Price, UT, which is about 7 miles east of Helper. You didn't say which direction you will be traveling on the CZ, but the westbound train does arrive Helper an hour or so later than Green River (presumably after the rental agencies have closed for the day), so perhaps you would need to overnight in Helper or Price before picking up your car the next morning. I bet there are local taxis that serve both Helper and Price.

 

[Chuckles]

I looked into Helper, but it doesn't work without an overnight stay. And even if it were open, there is no particular advantage over Grand Junction.

For those suggesting Grand Junction, how did you get to the airport? All the agencies seem to be at the airport except Enterprise, but we're arriving on Sat 4pm and it closes at noon on Sat.

 

[tomfuller]

If you get off the CZ at Grand Junction and rent your car there you can be in Moab before the train reaches Green River.

Coming from the west, I got off the CZ in SLC took a taxi out to the airport and rented a car there. We had a breakfast at Denny's and then headed for Green River. We spent 6 nights at the Robbers Roost making day trips to Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Goblin Valley.

 

[Chuckles]

If you get off the CZ at Grand Junction and rent your car there you can be in Moab before the train reaches Green River.

Yes, of course, but at the end of our stay we'd pay for it twice (compared to boarding in GRI), losing daylight hours, because we'd have to drive east and then ride the train back westwards.

We considered continuing to SLC and catching the train there, and that does save time, but an 11:30p departure can turn nasty if the train is late,

PS I read that there are no taxis waiting at the station, but maybe that was wrong.

 

[rusty spike]

I researched just about every rental car agency in Utah, Colo, and New Mexico last summer for a trip we took. Green River would have been a much better choice for our itinerary but no rent-a-car agencies (nor much else) in the town. What worked best for us were Hertz and Hertz LE (off airport locations). They had the most locations and best one-way rates and a really good deal on AGR points.

In our National Park segment, we detrained the eastbound CZ(#6) at Provo UT, renting a car a the local Hertz office at the Marriott, drove through Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase, and Arches NP’s before going through Colo and turning the car in at Raton, NM and boarding SWC(#3). The worst part: getting off the CZ at Provo at 4:30 AM (when you want a train to be late, it runs on time!). Plus the Conductor called a taxi for us as they don’t hang around small Amtrak stations, particularly at 4:30 AM. Fortunately the Marriott allowed us to “camp out” in their lobby while we waited for the Hertz people at 8 AM. I was told that the airport Hertz in GJT would meet an Amtrak train, but I don't know for sure.

This may or may not help you but, I join the consensus: there is nothing in Green River—your best bet is Provo or Salt Lake City or Grand Junction. Good Luck.

More details see our travelogue:

http://discuss.amtraktrains.com/index.php?/topic/49574-western-circle-train-drive-tour/

 

[chakk]

I looked into Helper, but it doesn't work without an overnight stay. And even if it were open, there is no particular advantage over Grand Junction.
For those suggesting Grand Junction, how did you get to the airport? All the agencies seem to be at the airport except Enterprise, but we're arriving on Sat 4pm and it closes at noon on Sat.

Grand Junction has a bus system that goes to the airport from the downtown transit center, which is about a 6 block walk from the Amtrak station. So probably would be more practical to take a taxi from Amtrak to airport. I have dropped a rental car off at the Grand Junction airport and taken the reverse bus ride to downtown, but only had one small suitcase to lug.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

However, Enterpise at Moab (they're the only car rental in Moab) says that for $50 they will deliver a car to a nearby Green River motel where we can pick it up and return it. (The motel is called The Robbers' Roost, but that is neither here nor there. I think.)
Now Enterprise isn't the most professional car rental company in the world. They don't seem to advertise this option, I had to call and ask if they had any suggestions. The booking details aren't visible on the web; they only faxed me a confirmation, Their office (Moab) will be closed at 6pm when we arrive. My concern is that if they let us down, we're really, really stranded.

Possibly, this is all done at the discretion of the local Enterprise office owner/manager.

I had a similar situation with the Vermonter arriving after (long after) the Enterprise office closed for the evening. Enterprise arranged for the car to be waiting for me a local hotel, with paperwork at the hotel's front desk, and had a taxi waiting for me at the station to take me to that hotel, all for free.

 

[tomfuller]

Won't Enterprise "pick you up" in Grand Junction? I would much rather try to pick up a rental car shortly after 4 PM than in the middle of the night at the SLC airport. I had to wait over 20 minutes at the SLC Amtrak station for a taxi to the airport.

The taxi cost $20 to get to the airport and there was a long wait at the airport to get to the car we rented.

If the car has to go back to Grand Junction, 1 driver could take it back with a minimum carry on bag and leave the others in Green River waiting for the train that the driver would be on.

You will see a canyon between Grand Junction and Green River that can't be seen from the highway.

 

[the_traveler]

At SLC airport (unless they changed during the past 10 years since I was there), the only rental agency that was open all night was Hertz. All others open at 5 am or later.

compared to my rental with (IIRC) Thrifty, the Hertz rental was over twice as much. So I waited the 2 hours for Thrifty to open! (I arrived at the airport from an Amtrak train and cab about 3-3:30 am.)

 

[Chuckles]

Won't Enterprise "pick you up" in Grand Junction? I would much rather try to pick up a rental car shortly after 4 PM than in the middle of the night at the SLC airport...

Enterprise is the only company with an office near the Grand Junction station---but we're arriving on a Saturday (westbound, 4pm) and they close at 2p on Saturdays! They don't offer rides; they told me to call a taxi company. Hertz does pick up but they have by far the highest rental rates.

I wasn't suggesting renting at SLC. I was thinking of picking up at GJT and returning at SLC, since we're traveling west.

 

[tomfuller]

Call and talk to Bonnie at Dreamride http://www.dreamride.com/train.html

They can pick you up in Green River or Grand Junction and bring you to Moab.

 

[Chuckles]

Call and talk to Bonnie at Dreamride http://www.dreamride.com/train.htmlThey can pick you up in Green River or Grand Junction and bring you to Moab.

Actually we are going to Torrey first, but the link may be helpful to others.

 

[the_traveler]

"Sleeperette"? :blush:

 

[Chuckles]

I just found this page about renting Enterprise from the Robbers Roost Motel: http://www.rrmotel.com/enterprise-rent-a-car/

This gives me more confidence in my original plan (first post). Enterprise verbally and by fax said exactly what the motel is saying on this web page. The location relative to the Amtrak station is shown here: http://www.rrmotel.com/amtrak/ .

I hope this info will be useful to others planning to visiting the spectacular parks of southern Utah. Green River, although a one-horse town, is much better situated for this than any other station along the CZ route, I will report on our experience of picking up the car in GRI later this year. We have no plans to stay at this motel, however.

 

[Ted Bell]

Stay in Green River (and ENJOY Green River!). I have used Enterprise at least 6 times now, they haven't let me down yet. Have a wonderful vacation and let me know if they let you down in any way. I will be happy to be your temporary taxi and tour guide. As long as it isn't between the 27th and the 1st as I will be on the California Zephyr myself.

 

[Chuckles]

Stay in Green River (and ENJOY Green River!). I have used Enterprise at least 6 times now, they haven't let me down yet.

You posted earlier in this thread and didn't mention this...that is exactly what I was hoping to hear.

Unless you mean you have used Enterprise in general but NOT from Green River? Because of the sight-unseen dropoff involved, renting Enterprise from Green River is a special case.

 

[rusty spike]

I have used Enterprise frequently...they are the best "non-airport" agency IMHO. Hertz usually has a better one-way drop-off rate, but for a local rental, Enterprise is hard to beat.