Customer Reviews

Frommer's Tahiti & French Polynesia (Frommer's Complete Guides)

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

 

 

is suprisingly good! Probobly because it is based on the Tahiti section of the South Pacific guide (now in 10th edition) it doesn't contain most of the first edition problems - inacurate info, little info etc. It is really nicely researched and though it is quite a slim volume it is really helpful. One of the best guides to Tahiti & Her Islands.

Finding this book in Dallas at a major bookstore was next to impossible.Seems like there is little demand for books on the South Pacific. This may be due to expensive airfare to the area and lack of crusie ships traveling in those waters. The book contains the regular Frommer sections and much of it we have "tossed" since we are traveling on a cruise ship. Dining out, hotels, ect. won't be of much use. When I searched various web sites I did not find a lot of great information. This book at least puts the reader in touch with what's worth seeing in Tahati, Moorea and Bora Bora---these are stops our ship will make.The book has a copyright date of 2007 and the sites discussed throughout the book won't be changeing.We found the reading and recommedations to be good. Now we just have to see how accurate they are when we visit. If you are traveling to French Polynesia, this is the best book we have been able to locate. Hotel and dining prices are changeing so rapidly throughout the world I would personally not count of the book prices as being up to date.

It appears this is the first edition of the Tahiti and French Polynesia guide, and the only version I could find on Amazon was the Portable version. Maybe a more full version will come out in the future, but for now I just picked up the portable. We're planning our honeymoon to Tahiti, and the book has been invaluable in doing so. You can kind of tell it's a first edition though -- there are even some typos I've come across! Also, there is definitely a lot less information than other guides I've used from Frommer's, but I'm guessing that is the point of the "Portable" line of guides to keep them more travel-sized. Some of the information is a little outdated (already!), but using it as a starting point allows you to take what you learn from there and do the rest of the research online. For example, the exchange rate between XPF & USD is already off by about 10% (not in the favor of the USD), and the Sofitel Moorea they speak of was closed through all of 2006 for renovations, making me think even though this is a first edition, the information was put together in 2005 at the latest because there is no mention of the renovation -- and the hotel would obviously need to be re-evaluated by Frommer's after re-opening.

All in all though, there are some great money saving tips, a lot of information about places to eat, foods to try and sights to see, all in one portable book that we will definitely be taking with us when we go in July. Can't wait! Thanks, Frommer's for helping us save money by planning this ourselves instead of enlisting the help of a travel agent.

I've visited Tahiti twice in the past 5 years and purchased the main books on the topic: Frommer's, Lonely Planet, Moon.

The Moon guide is the better one of the three. But all books have something to contribute. The Frommer's guide is the most personal of all three. It's written from the direct voice of the author, not some conglomerate of anonymous writers, and you'll enjoy reading about his personal experience visiting this beautiful country many times since the late 70s.

So the greatest strength of this book is its personality. It's like having direct recommendations from a friend.

However, if you try to rely on this book as your source of information on Tahiti you will have missed many important facts, as the guide skips many restaurants, hotels, and activities. Also it only covers the main islands that most people are realistically going to visit.

The Kindle version of this book is excellent and the maps are pretty decent but fairly basic. The better maps are in the Lonely Planet. The Moon guide is the most complete one with the most information.

If you're serious about Tahiti I would recommend you to purchase all three books. It will cost you less than just dinner without drinks at an average restaurant in Tahiti and you'll be armed for success! However if you just want to get one book I would get the Moon guide instead.

I bought this item as a gift to my brother-in-law. He was really excited to get the book and immediately started reading it. I'm assuming he did he research on the book before asking for it. The only reason why I'm giving it 4 stars is because I did not actually read the book.

We went to FP for our honeymoon and this book was an enormous help. We ate at some of the recommended restaurants and they were fantastic.

This is a helpful tool, except fot the fact that some of the inforamtion is not up to date, i.e. hotels/restaurants closed, hotel name changes. I realize that bewteen the time of print and sell is a couple months, but wouldn't it make sense to add a notes page of any changes before putting out for sale. Also some pictures of locations would be good to help in directing someone to the locations listed. Condsidering they have never been before.