Customer Reviews

Frommer's Belize (Frommer's Complete Guides)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A few days into our trip to Belize, my friends and I began calling this the book of lies. I bought it because it was the only 2007 travel book for Belize, but it none of the prices were accurate and some things it suggested doing hadn't existed in years. It was just a joke by the end of the trip and we would read passages and just laugh at how wrong the information was. You're way better off getting the rough guide or lonely planet and checking the internet for current prices.

I purchased this for my upcoming Belize trip on my ipad since I figured I'd bring a few guides all easily accessible using it while we travel.

The kindle edition is buggy and hard to navigate. It does not allow you to access the TOC in through the navigation menu and there are numerous difficulties quickly accessing the information you need.

Download the sample and you will see what I mean. Even the title is formatted with non working html code in it "Frommer's^(r)"

The information is ok but the key to any guide book in my opinion is ease of navigating the information to find what you need when you need it.

The kindle edition should be passed on.

I had a number of guides in my hands from the library when I started planning my trip to Belize, but no Frommer's. I had to order it and wait for it to come. As soon as it did, my frustration in trying to figure out where to go and stay was over. I just needed to make my reservations.

We have used these guides for trips all over the world. The suggestions for places to stay and places to go are almost always just what we're looking for. The level of these books is not for backpackers nor for those who like to stay in expensive resorts and have others do the planning for them. These guides are for those who want to build a customized adventure and have their money go a long ways.

I used to write abroad for travel guides, and I've traveled to developed and developing countries in Asia, Europe, South and Central America. From a low to moderate budget perspective, this book is a letdown. Not only were the budget restaurants and accommodations expensive, nothing we found was even a good value at its price. If you can't afford super expensive to get super nice ($40+ meals, $200+ hotels), this book leaves you with sub-mediocre options. My experience with their "Budget Value" listing ($60/night!) was 3-inch cockroaches in the bathroom, no warm water and loud neighboring bars.

Public transportation is skimmed over, with bus and boat terminals missing from maps and costs missing from text. They repeatedly recommend renting a car or flying to nearby cities, which is fine albeit very expensive, but left me no information to make public transportation an option. International bus travel was incomprehensible.

Some recommended activities were downright boring. Frommer's is simply too positive on every meal, site and hotel, and in the end, that doesn't help plan a trip! Negativity may not be nice, but it's essential in a travel guide - if the meal or hotel or Mayan ruin or river is so-so or awful, don't waste my time and money. If I had only known, I would never have traveled with a book that reads as if written by someone who'd never bothered to take public transport or stay in budget accommodations. This is my first and last experience with Frommer's.

I actually used the Belize section with a purchase of the "Central America" Frommer's guide. I'm sorry to read some of the negative reviews because I personally thought the Frommer's Belize was great! I think my experience was more positive than others because while I use Frommer's as a "guide," I don't rely on it as my travel bible. Maybe that's what some people expect it to be, but I personally think you should ALWAYS supplement your travel information from different sources. For starters, information will almost always be out of date so you should not expect the prices to be exactly what's listed in the book. Do you REALLY think they go back to those same hotels and try the same activities year after year? NO! They simply slap a new date on the book and reprint it. You and I both know that hotels change their prices literally from day to day, so if you pay more than what's listed in the book it shouldn't be earth-shattering. It's also not earth-shattering to discover that tour operators can change their prices on a whim. Some may cut a deal and charge you less while others try to make up the difference for a small group and charge more. Some tour operators create new businesses between Frommer's releases while others go out of business. What Frommer's does is makes you aware of some of the most popular tourist options available and an approximate price range you can expect. I always inquire directly with the hotels and tour operators on the price before anything is booked. When I was planning my trip to Belize, I used Frommer's as my "guiding light" to tell me what options were available. I supplemented my research by utilizing [...] for other recommendations. I also found both of my Belizean hotels (one in San Ignacio and one on Ambergris Caye) by researching and booking through my credit card's travel services. My San Ignacio hotel wasn't even listed in Frommer's. For my meals, I always ask locals where they like to go to eat. Sometimes those restaurants are listed in Frommer's, sometimes they're not. At the end of the day, I'm sure that Frommer's taught you a little bit more about the country and what it has to offer than if you hadn't read it at all. Think of Frommer's as your "jump-off" point to tell you what's out there. If you conduct research from other sources and corroborate your information, you'll be well-informed. If you don't want to put in any effort to research your options, you're better off hiring a travel agent who can arrange everything and give you exact pricing.

This book was so useful in our trip planning, the maps and ratings were accurate and we had a beautiful holiday, wanted to stay longer. It gave us several ideas on where to go and what to do it was hard to choose but we were able to come up with an itinerary that fit our time schedule and covered the locations we so wanted to visit. You will end up using it again! We are planning another trip to the southern ares and then possibly another to the northern parts of the country. Have fun and travel safely.

I took the frommers and the lonely planet book to my first trip belize, get the lonely planet the frommers isnt very useful nor as easy to use nor as accurate (even tho its newer)

I am a planner freak, so I used this book and Lonely Planet for my trip. I ended up relying on the Frommers as it was more detailed, more accurate with pricing, and included alot of stuff LP didn't.

Although I have not been to Belize yet, it is on my bucket list and will see Belize City during a cruise in January. I have already read this book and it has so much information, I can tell I am going to have to go spend more than one day in Belize. Had no problems with the order, book was as described and in excellent condition. It is a 2011 publication, which is good. Order was shipped promptly.

Just came back from Belize. Book is inaccurate in many ways and missing a lot of information. Prices are way different than what the book suggest and I'm not even talking about some restaurants that were recommended in the book ..... bad bad bad !!! Directions are sometimes very poor. If you tell people that one place is worth the find, why don't you give them a little bit more explanation on how to find it ????? After driving in the middle of nowhere for an hour, without a soul to ask for directions, we just gave up. Overall I have the impression that Frommer's caters more for the wealthy, which is the easiest. When you pay a lot, it is easier to get satisfied. If you travel on a budget, it is a lot trickier to find good places to stay and eat. I am going back to Belize in June, and I will definitely try to find a better guide for my next trip.