Customer Reviews

Frommer's Florida 2001

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

 

 

I just want to give kudos to this book, because it was really, really wonderful on my most recent trip to Florida. I've used other guides in the past (Lonely Planet, etc.), but they seem to be more suited for very exotic locales instead of Florida. For that, Frommer's is the best. They have incredibly accurate information (prices, hours, directions, etc.) and give honest reviews for hotels, restaurants, and attractions that I really appreciate, like "this is the definition of a tourist trap," etc. I was surprised and pleased with this guide, and I'd recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone else who's going down there.

This is another great Frommer's guide. We've read the one on Arizona (where we used to live before), as well as the one on the Carolinas and Georgia prior to this one, and all have been equally useful and detailed. If you want highlights, you got them: best beaches, best golf courses, best resorts, etc. If you want detail, you can go into as much of it as you care for.

We live in Central Florida, and it's been extremely useful to help us plan one-day outings as well as longer vacations. It will help you learn about the lesser known locations as well as give you details and tips you didn't know about the popular ones. It truly is a helpful guide equally for tourists or Florida residents.

Having just completed our new DVD, here on Amazon, "The Best Florida Beaches" I can tell you I used this book extensively throughout our 21 day shoot driving around all of Florida shooting its beautiful beaches. The book has a great list and acurate descriptions of Florida's beaches, the detailed maps are also very helpful.

The book is nicely written, giving you things to see, do and stay. However, they do not include any pictures?! So, if you want to see and hear what Florida Beaches really look like, check out our DVD as well as this great book.

Tourism generates over $41 billion annually for the Florida economy, which is more than twice the entire GNP for Cuba. That is why there is a fierce fight for the Florida travel guide market. Fodor's Florida Travel Guide is one of the three guides that I reviewed during my two week driving vacation through Florida, and it came in first! (Fodor's #2 and Mobil Travel Guide #3 [see my other reviews]).

The refreshing writing style of the reviews were as practical as they were sometimes sardonic, i.e. "This resort couldn't be any more remote, not to mention a long way from any water or beaches". Then on the other side of the bay the writing was, well cozy, i.e. "A charming lobby with a rock fireplace and a saltwater aquarium sets the tone of this utterly inviting resort". When you compare this with the utilitarian reviews of Fodor's and the downright drab reviews of Mobil, you will find yourself enjoying the candidness of the book and thus, trusting the commentaries.

The accommodations and dining recommendations are reliable and on the money. This guide lists the best restaurants that Florida has to offer. A lodging and restaurant index would be a definite plus for this guide. As it stands now, if you have a restaurant you want to look up, you have to go through all the listings in the city you are in until you stumble across the name you seek or miss seeing it completely.

On the critical side, this guide omitted a significant portion of Florida. There is no mention of Gainesville, nor Ocala, nor Ocala National Park. Very disappointing. With these omissions this guide really is not a "State" guide; Florida is not just Miami and Orlando... "hello, publishers".

The rating system is labored and difficult to understand. The explanation of the "new star rating system" is buried in the book and not indexed. It was by quirk that I found it. Strange.

The Internet web site addresses provided for hotels could be more comprehensive considering that this is a 2003 guide. In today's world of "connectivity" you can visit the hotel sites and see the accommodations and rates prior to making reservations. And, website/email addresses are restricted to the lodging listings even though many of the restaurants now have their own websites with photos and menus and email to makes reservations.

However there are two significant areas in this guide that could use improvement: maps and hotels/restaurants.

Regarding the maps: the maps in the guide are lackluster. More and better maps would greatly help the user.

What put this guide on top of the competing guides, is the clear and enjoyable writing style of the review. The introductions of the regional areas are the best of the guides I reviewed. You will do well if you have to chose just one Florida guide and you select Frommer's.

and I finally find one that's actually fun to read. I just moved down to miami from new york city and thank god for this book because I'm used to having alot going on and this book fills me in on the whole miami scene. And it does so without putting me to sleep...which is nice.

Let me save you the money I wasted on all the other books I bought about miami: Just buy this one, it's the only one you'll need.

Having Recently purchased Walt Disney World and Orlando For Dummies 2003, I have to compliment the writers all the way because the information given was so acurate that it matched my expectations completely with no stone left uncovered.
It's not often that someone can visit a country and just having read a simple book prior to leaving gain so much knowledge that i was able to plan my trip down to the last minute with the vital information that gets put down to "lost time " in most cases.
I was amazed at the accuracy of subjects covered with things ranging from Park admission prices to Restaurant's and those that we did visit during our trip matched the descripton to a full.
So credit where it's due to Jim & Cynthia Tunstall,for a job well done for the Book that i can no longer be without...A Big Thank-you to you both for something so Informative !!

We road tested this book for 12 days in Fla. It was excellent in choosing the best of the name brand motels. The city maps were extremely helpful . We followed the East coast down and the West coast North - the book goes the other way but still was invaluable for the nomadic tourist who doesn't make reservations in advance.If your idea of a vaction is Disney Vero ,this is not the book for you but in the same location ,we stayed at Days Inn and had the suggested dinner at Thudpucker's.I could do without the GAY sections which were included but that may be a plus to others. I have purchased many f the standard travel guides over the years but few of them have the information that was included here. Be it shopping,nature,tourist attractions,dining or lodging,this book is filled with useful information.