Customer Reviews

Frommer's(r) Bahamas 2003

Quite a few resorts there have changed hands, folded, or scaled back. Example: Running Mon Resort-which this guide says was rennovated in 2000, w/ 66 slip marina and has a diving facility coming on line any day- is closed. Two of the three botanical gardens featured had closed (Rand Nature Center and Hydroflora) and a third, Garden of the Groves, listed as a major attraction of the Island, looked as though it had once been quite nice but was suffering from underfunding and neglect.

We also discarded the fold-out map included with the book; the freebie street maps available at the airport were more up to date. Example: looking at Frommer's map, you would think you could drive West Sunrise Drive, the main east-west artery on the island, straight through. However, it is blocked off by a resort forcing a confusing detour. Also, the Bahamian traffic circles, which are numerous, are not even shown on the map. This, coupled with the island's smallish, hit or miss street signs, makes it difficult for a new comer trying to find the way around.

Inexplicably, they don't devote any page space to the network of condo rentals which are a plentiful and inexpensive alternative to the hotels and resorts.

We have found Frommers guides to be reliable in the past, and we did not check out everything they listed for Grand Bahama, but if our experience is any indicator, this one needs to be updated if it is to meet their usually high standards. If it's any consolation, Lonely Planet's guide was also out of step in many of the same items.