Best bike rental in Phuket
On previous trips we have gone through various motorbike renters depending on where we are staying. In Phuket it’s sometimes hard to find someone reliable who will rent you a motorbike without asking you to hand your passport over to hold onto as collateral. Either that, or an excessive amount of money as a security deposit.
While it is completely understandable as to why they do this, it is still not a good idea to let someone that you don’t know hold on to your passport for any duration of your holiday, and there is no point in taking spending money with you only to have to have it held as a deposit rather than being able to go out and spend it.
This is where we have found Nee and Danny from Nee’s Motorbikes very different in how they do business.
Once you organise the type of bike you are after and the dates you are wanting them for they make a note to hold the desired vehicle for you for your dates and request that you contact them on the day that you have booked so they can deliver directly to your hotel or apartment.
In their confirmation email they will give you the full quote to be paid on arrival. The quote will be the total cost of the daily rental fee for the bike that you would like, for as many days as you are wanting it, as well as the deposit to be held until the bike is returned. Aside from the small deposit, the only other thing that they ask is for a photocopy of your passport and valid drivers licence to hold onto during the duration of your rental. This is one of the main things that makes Nee and Danny sand out from most of the other bike rental garages around Phuket as many of the rest will insist that you leave your passport with them along with your cash deposit until you return the bike.
On a side note; it is never a good idea to leave your passport with anyone else to hold onto while you are travelling.
The amount of the deposit can vary depending on the type of bike but is usually the equivalent to a the cost of a full tank of petrol for that bike. They do this as they request that you return it to them with a full tank, and failing that, they can use the deposit money to use for the fuel cost.
For example, on my most recent trip I rented a Honda PCX 150cc for one week. The full tank of fuel that it came with lasted the whole week with me riding around and making multiple trips out from my room daily.
When the time came for me to start packing my bags to return home there was still 1 bar reading for fuel which would have really gotten me around for another day, however, as I was returning the bike in the morning I went to fill the tank in preparation for the pick up. To fill the petrol tank completely only cost 220 Baht, leaving me to presume that a full tank would have cost around 250 Baht depending on the constantly fluctuating price of fuel.
Given that they only asked for a 300 Baht deposit for the bike rental I think this was more than a fair deal. On top of all this, I contacted Nee and Danny a couple of days before I was due to return the bike and asked if it would be possible to return the bike the morning after the previously agreed on pickup time and informed them that I was more than happy to pay an additional days rental fee at 300 Baht to which they accepted.
When Nee arrived to collect the bike she had told me that she took the extra cost out of my 300 Baht deposit but only charged for the daily cost of a smaller bike at 250 Baht as I had only had the bike for an extra half a day now than originally organised. All she asked was if I had filled up on fuel beforehand, then handed me back the photocopy of my passport as well as the rest of my deposit before wishing me a safe trip home and heading off.
Nee and Danny have been the most reliable and fair bike renters that we have dealt with thus far during all of our trips to Phuket.
If you’re looking to rent a vehicle on your next trip to Phuket be sure to contact Nee and Danny through their website by clicking here
