Customer Reviews

Hong Kong and Macau: The Rough Guide, Third Edition (Rough Guide Hong Kong and Macau)

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

 

 

Unreliable information punctuated with annoying feminist innuendos. For the sake of political correctness the author lists gay spots which is OK with me, but he goes out of his way to label men who go into the girlie bars in Wanchai as "pathetic." This misses the point entirely. A typical Rough Guide would give the reason to avoid those places: one can unknowingly rack up a bar bill of US $500 within a few minutes just by buying drinks. They bill you on the way out and there's no getting out of it by arguing with the management. ([...]

The author chides prurient men in the streets of Macau whom he labels "creeps." Then he touts the Kingsway Hotel as "one of the newer and most glam of Macau's hotel creations," having a "sauna and health spa"! Had the phony actually BEEN to the hotel instead of just hearing that, he would have learned that the "Kingsway Sauna and Health Spa" is actually a brothel next door to the hotel, where one is presented with a crummy typewritten menu of services in the coarsest possible english, and that the entire second floor of the hotel itself is a sex club .This is inconsistent with the book's condescending, I-respect-women-as-people rhetoric.[...]

The Nathan Road addresses listed for accommodations in Tsim Sha Tsui (an area of Kowloon known as "TST" among English-speaking locals) are all wrong! I had *never* before seen a Rough Guide blow it in this regard! I got tired of trying to make sense out of his wacky directions, whipped out my credit card, and stayed at the Holiday Inn. The author probably had someone else garner address numbers for him; I wondered if he had really been to TST at all.

One more example of how this book falls short: I took the tram up to Victoria Peak --that was a great suggestion. It was dinner time, so I went to the expensive restaurant on the tram level and was told there was a 45 minute wait with little hope of getting a window seat (with a view of Victoria Bay). I found my way to another level (downstairs) and discovered a fast place simply called "Eat Noodles." It was inexpensive with good-sized portions, and the food was very clean and delicious. They brought it out to me on their spacious, uncrowded outdoor patio, where I enjoyed a *spectacular* unobscured view of the bay on a clear night and mingled with some neat people out there as well. It was a real find! But this peculiar, tongue-tied guide book makes no mention of any food at the tram terminal.

I give the book two stars for its lists of things to see and do. It should mention that Ocean Park is primarily an activity for families with children. The index could use more detail, but is adequate. I paid for a Rough Guide and got something else. For Hong Kong, I suggest giving another guide book a chance.

I used the sixth (2006) edition of the ROUGH GUIDE TO HONG KONG & MACAU during a recent two-week stay in Hong Kong. Reading it before my trip, I found it to portray Hong Kong as a fascinating and immense place to visit, where one can spend weeks covering all manner of out of the way places. This was a great contrast to the Berlitz guide to Hong Kong I also took along, which make the region seem like a two-day stop where the only interesting thing is shopping.

There's a chapter each on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, and the outlying islands. The description of each town or wilderness inside these divisions takes the form of a walking tour. The authors guide the reader through the streets well, and like all Rough Guides the maps here are clear and accurate. I unfortunately didn't visit Macau, so I cannot comment on that portion of the guide.

I didn't use the accommodation listings, as like many travelers I prefer to stay with local from hospitality associations for closer contact with the local culture. As the Rough Guide does not cover this option, I have removed one star from my rating. However, there does indeed seem to be an adequate amount of both budget and luxury accommodation, with the stops in between of course. The needs of shoestring travelers are not given short shrift here, as in the offerings of all too many guidebook publishers. I did use the recommendations for restaurants, which do a great job of steering travelers to hole-in-the-wall eateries with little English signage which might not look fancy, but which show you the real Hong Kong in a way flashier places don't.

At the end of the book one finds a history of the region, as well as some general information on Hong Kong culture. The history soberly discusses the uncertainty of Hong Kong's true autonomy after the handover, while other guidebooks I read gave only a rosy view. In these appendices there's also a list of films and books, fiction and non-fiction, about Hong Kong, letting the reader learn more about the place before he visits.

If you're an independent travelver going to Hong Kong, I'd certainly recommend ROUGH GUIDE TO HONG KONG & MACAU. I find it better than the Lonely Planet guide due to the range of its listings and the quality of its maps, and light years ahead of the paltry listings and assumption that the reader is a millionaire which one finds in many other guidebook lines.

I recommend this guide, it was quite useful.

The descriptions of various areas were quite accurate, and the maps were mostly very good. The one of Macau seemed to have some minor errors, but that place is very confusing to walk around, so it could have been me. Anyway, you want the maps in this book or something pretty good, because the free tourist map is basically worthless.

I really like Rough Guides, because their reviews are very honest and balanced, and they are excellent about cross-referencing recommended locations, restaurants, hotels, etc and maps in each book. This guide is up to the same high standards, so it was very easy to use.

I would recommend that the walking tours guide (available for free at the airport, etc) is a good supplement to this guide. I used it extensively.

I purchased the guide because it seemed to give more background information than others I've seen such as Frommers. However, when we tried to use the maps to find our way around, we realized they were not well thought out, and were more confusing than helpful! Also, the restaurant section could be better organized, and give information such as price and address. We were frustrated over and over again with this guide.

Great walking tours are included in this Rough Guide to Hong Kong and Macau-the directions are explicit and easy to follow and the places to which we ventured exceeded expectations. There were GREAT shopping tips for a shopping mecca and we scored on several fronts! This is a great way to introduce yourself to Hong Kong and Macau before you get there and a great way to bring what you read into reality. A must-buy for travel to Asia.

I came across this book in a bookstore near the Central MTR station in HK on my third visit to that wonderous city. Having never purchased a travellers guide to Hong Kong, I decided on a whim to purchase it. I'm glad I did. After spending an hour or so reading some of the sections I realized I wish I had this book in my possession before my first visit! Part one (Basics) was accurate and a must read before visiting the city. Part two (Hong Kong) was clear and provided just enough detail without overwhelming. I can't validate the Macau section (haven't made it there yet). However, the restaurant section in my mind fell on its face by not lising my personal favorite HK restaurant, Jimmy's Kitchen (Hong Kong side). Jimmy's is a must, especially if you are suffering from chinese food burnout and need a good steak or other sort of western fare.

Honk Kong is an exciting, crowded, fun and interesting place. It's a great place for a westerner to begin exploring Asia-a true blend of east and west. The Rough Guide should be your guide of choice for visiting one of my favorite places on this earth, Hong Kong.

I didn't use a guide much while I was there but when I did, I found my Frommer's guide to be much more interesting, attractive and well structured.

I never use a guide to find restaurants, hotels or any of the major tourist attractions, as I can do all of that on my own. But I count on my guides to lead me to interesting things that I would never see if I didn't have one - the out of the way spots. This book definitely didn't help me with that and most of the things that it includes I could have figured out for myself in about the first 20 minutes of arriving in my hotel.

The Frommer's guide on the other hand inspired me to venture into the unknown and see some really wonderful things that I wouldn't have otherwise. But that's just me and other people obviously like this book, so it probably just boils down to personal preference, just like most things!

Have visited Hong Kong 4 times in late 60s and early 70s. Just wanted
to see what it is like now. Well written book that gives me a review of how much it has changed.

For first timer to HK or even second, etc... if you haven't been back for a while, you will need this.

The authors and the editor probably do not know much about written Chinese. I have not tested this extensively, but the Chinese translations that you are supposed to show to anyone who doesn't speak English for directions only seem to make matters worse.
For instance, Luen Wo market is translated on page 154 as the name of a walled village which is in a completely different part of town. Just imagine the frustration.
Or, try and order a turnip cake at a dim-sum restaurant using the table at page 204 and you'll get chicken feet. If you want to order chicken feet of course you end up with stuffed beancurd, but the good news is that if you order stuffed beancurd you reverse the spell and get your chicken feet back.

I have another minor gripe about the unjustifiable scarcity and lack of details of maps in this kind of guides, which makes this particular book not a very useful one for hiking (an activity that you are likely to engage in if you are staying more than 2 days in Hong Kong and like me you hate shopping) or even for walking around the city for that matter, for instance the pretty spectacular Bowen Road walk, or the even more obvious Victoria Peak walks. Unless of course you integrate with better maps, that are *freely available* on the Internet.
I think it's high time that Rough Guide and its main competitor Lonely Planet start publishing some decent maps with their guide books, instead of wasting countless paragraphs trying to explain what can be visually obvious in an accurate map.

Other than that, the book mainly delivered and it was a pleasant enough read, so 3 stars seem appropriate.