Customer Reviews

Fodor's Costa Rica 2004 (Fodor's Gold Guides)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My wife and I just returned from the Guanacaste Province, staying at NW Pacific resort. The vacation was great, but "Fodor's 04" was of little or no help. I thoroughly enjoy planning my vacation and activities well in advance of the actual trip, but was very much unable to do so with this book.

My impression of the book is that it has been slow to be updated, with the 04 version containing little beyond 2000. At the same time it seems to focus on travelers planning to tour Costa Rica staying at a different hotel/lodge/resort/camp each night. I realize that many of the natural attractions of this beautiful country are unchanged over the years, but a significant portion of a vacation includes items that do change, especially in a country such as Costa Rica where tourism is the leading industry, and is rapidly growing.

...and found the Fodors guide indispensible. Costa Rica is an amazing place, but a guidebook is definitely necessary. We stayed mostly in the Tamarindo area. Fodors writers really know their stuff as their recommendations were right on. We booked our activities (like sport fishing) with the recommended guides/programs were clearly the best. The restaurant reviews were also accurate. Probably the best advice comes in driving. Fodors recommends a 4WD auto if you rent - a great call! There are some exceptionally bad roads in CR! Enjoy your trip!

We just got back from the Manuel Antonio area of Costa Rica. We found the Fodor's book to be cumbersome and unhelpful most of the time. The map of the Manuel Antonio area was incorrect, with most of the hotel and restaurant placements wrong. One of the reasons we selected our (very expensive) hotel was because it looked as if it was near a path to the beach, when it wasn't even close to it. If you were to rely on the map, you'd never find your way to the correct place.

The map of San Jose was equally as difficult to read, and the crafts store that was listed in the book was no longer there. We wandered the streets aimlessly asking for directions, until we were finally told that it was out of business.

Other problems with the book: extremely poor index, dining and hotels listed together, and not enough details on activities, beaches, different tour providers, off-the-beaten path sites, and finding buses within San Jose. There should also have been a warning about what is considered a "casino" in Costa Rica.

We did find the restaurant reviews to be accurate, but there were several places that we and other travelers enjoyed that weren't even listed in the book.

I bought this book prior to my trip to Costa Rica and found it to be inaccuarate. Descriptions of most things and places are exaggerated and it was very disappointing to go to what the book describes as a happening place and find that it is just a 'one horse town'.
I ususally buy Frommers and this was the first time I tried Fodor's book, never again. This book is a waste of money.

I appreciate guide books that are put together with care, appreciate writing that is fun and interesting and highly informative. "Fodor's Costa Rica 2004" is an inexpensive book and a terrific one!

It was the best book on the country besides the considerably more pricey, "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made," a welcome addition to any library collection that will capture the interest of travelers, amateur geologists, students, and conservationists .