Customer Reviews

Frommer's Puerto Rico (Frommer's Complete Guides)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've used this guide for three PR vacations, and each time I want to throw it across the hotel room. But I can't because the other guides are even worse or even less comprehensive. What's the problem with this one? The lack of description: it gives you no feel as to what makes each beach/hotel unique. Invariably every second beach is summed up vaguely as 'one of the best beaches on the island,' even if one has brownish sand and no snorkling while another "best" beach is pristine white, loaded with fish, and secluded. It's the same with hotels, too, except there's no explanation of what the mood is like there, what kind of people stay there, what the view is like, what the rooms are like, if there's a bar to hang out in after dinner, how close the beach is.... It's almost comic, except when you're trying to figure out where to spend your precious time and money.

Another frustrating problem is that no one took the time to edit this guide. One beach or hotel will be mentioned in two (or three) places in entirely different tones, so it's hard to guess whether a place is just wacky or dirty (or, in the instance of La Parguera, too polluted to swim in one mention; just fine in another). Also, uninspired writing means a breathtaking mountain retreat like the Casa Grande Hotel in Utuado comes across as completely unremarkable and possibly worth skipping. Can't the writers come out and say "This place is great" or, if necessary, "This place is a dump?" A reader might wonder if these guys visited anything but bloated resorts at all. PR deserves better and I certainly expected better from Frommer's.

My husband and I purchased this book to go on our honeymoon and were sorely disappointed. The descriptions were vague and often downright incorrect. Luquillo beach, which the authors described as one of the best beaches in the Carribean, had dingy grey water and was filled with garbage. This is only one example of many many misrepresentations. The guide leaned almost exclusively to very expensive restaurants, and even these were nothing to write home about. We had more luck after we ditched the guide and started exploring on our own. Its one good point was some interesting background on the history of Puerto Rico. However, this was not enough to make me buy another Frommer's guide.

This is a good guide for seeing the cultural sights of Puerto Rico, especially in San Juan. The book is geared towards travellers only moderately concerned with budget. A few pieces of information are outdated, such as bus numbers and changes in price, but the numbering system (up to three stars) is useful for the first-time traveller with little knowledge of the country. Detailed descriptions of the sights in San Juan help visitors get a sense of the city's history while the walking tour takes them around to key spots. There is a comparable walking tour of Ponce, along with a description of the Museo de Arte de Ponce which prevented me from missing out on this fine museum. Ponce is the only place where we tried one of the listed hotels. Although the book described Hotel Belgica as "roughing it," we thought the accommodations were fine and enjoyed the unusual atmosphere of an old-style hotel. The book is full of useful tidbits. For example, en route to Parguera (which should get two stars, not one), the name of the road changes several times along the way (101, 116, 315, 305, 304). No wonder people get confused. Additional information: The book should include a warning that the $5 boat trip to the Phosphorescent Bay near Parguera doesn't let you see much, so it's best to go with the friendly folks at Paradise Scuba Center (the address is listed). Additionally, the Rio Camuy Cave Park sometimes sells out of tickets by 9am (especially on weekends), so it's best to get there early. Finally, good snorkeling is available in San Juan on the west side of the Wyndham Hotel (Condado).

I keep forgetting how much I don't care for Frommer's guides and wind up buying another one.

1. Frommer's has next to no pictures.
2. I think somebody went to a couple of random restaurants and beaches and decided to call them the "Best of".

For example, Frommer's says there is snorkeling at Luqillo beach, but there is none (unless all you want to see is sand). Luquillo is a great beach for swimming, but the snorkeling sucks.

Another example is the restaurant in the southeast part of the island called Tulio's. While it is a nice restaurant and our food was good, it is not cheap. At least I don't consider $20 a plate cheap.

Some maps in the guide don't reflect current reality eg the pull out map shows a major highway on the SE coast. However construction projects for many sections of that highway (Rt 53) have not yet commenced.

In general we had problems navigating because every map we picked up from guidebooks and tourist brochures was wrong, each in its own special way! If driving, do yourself a favor and buy a very detailed and up-to-date map before you head out.

This book is unbelievably useless. The descriptions are vague or plain wrong, beaches described as great for snorkeling are shallow, murky, full of sea weed and almost fish-free, whereas quaint fishing villages are hideously cramped tourist traps. Restaurants with bad, expensive food are considered good value and derelict hotels are deemed luxurious and comfortable. One of the weirdest descriptions is that of the Blue Marlin Bar and Restaurant in Guanica ,which serves nasty, greasy snacks and remarkably tasteless fish, while facing a bay marred by an ugly and gigantic industrial structure : "excellent local meals", "overlooking the pretty bay", "tasty snacks", etc. But the most surreal is the one of the pool at the Casa Islena Inn, a very nice hotel in Rincon, as "Olympic-size". The pool is very pretty and has a gorgeous view, but it is much smaller than an Olympic pool or even the one at my home in the US. Check this photo of it:
[...]

Based on these and other glaring errors, I can only conclude that Mr. Marino has never been to most places listed in the book. Or to Puerto Rico. This book is a rip-off. Shame on Frommer's.

We travelled all over the island for 13 days and found that Frommer's information is wrong way too often. Luquillo Beach is very comfortable for swimming, but, like most (or may be all) public beaches in PR closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Parador Guajataca is a terrible place, except for the view. Some beaches described as "one of the best" are hardly accessible by 4WD. Many restaurants mentioned in the book are overpriced and many hotels overrated. The book does not mention that El Yunque forest is awfully crowded at the height of the season. I was surprised to find out that the book has been written by someone who lives in PR. The book seems to escape any editing, some sentences are repeated twice on the same pages. Unfortunately, I can't recommend anything better.

I was very disappointed with this book and agree with many of the other reviewers. The lack of descriptions led to much confusion, and I also wonder if the author visited any of the places written or just made it up. Luckily, prior to visiting Puerto Rico, I had checked Tripadvisor reviews, asked friends from Puerto Rico for advice, and used travel websites for reviews and more information. It seemed that virtually every restaurant recommended in the book had horrible reviews at Tripadvisor. Not mediocre, but, downright terrible in many cases. The same was true for the hotels recommended. Overpriced, lousy service, mediocre food for restaurants recommended and these places are not inexpensive.

I understand that things can change, such as management etc from the time the book is written to publication time, however, there are so many poor recommendations that just don't agree at all with what the general public has to say, it makes you wonder just how old his information is or if it's valid at all.

Not trustworthy!

I was very disappointed in the amount of detail offered in this travel guide. We stayed in Luquillo Beach and the review offered a description of two local restaurants but omitted an entire mall of about twenty restaurants. We didn't "discover" them until the lasts night of our trip. The pull out map is so vague in detail that it adds to a traveler's confusion. It offers a nice perspective before you go but it should not be used for actual navigation. I also found the layout of the area description non-intuitive. I often read a description of an activity or restaurant only to find that it was two hours away. I think perhaps they tried to cover too much in one book and thus the lack of any useful detail.