Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Arizona

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I have a long, entirely satisfying history using Lonely Planet Guides when I travel so I was unhappy to find that the Arizona edition was less helpful than expected on a recent road trip through The Grand Canyon State. My reason for purchasing a travel book solely devoted to Arizona was related to my intention to explore the state thoroughly with an eye toward possible relocation. Hoping for a wealth of detail on places to stay and eat in addition to general descriptions of areas of interest, as I toured both city and countryside I was surprised by a paucity of detail on service establishments and a complete lack of differential analysis of the options on offer. For example, the village of Parker has several motels listed as being essentially equivalent in what they provide the overnight client. But a quick tour of two of the facilities turned up consequential differences between them! For instance, the rooms of the recommended Stardust Motel turned out to be in poor repair and unpleasantly aromatic as well. Further, described as having a pool the actual resource was more like a bird bath than a basin for swimming. Meanwhile, just up the road rooms at the lovely, well kept Kofa Inn (recommended co-equally with the Stardust) could be rented for just a few dollars more per night than the unappealing Stardust. At the end of a long day of driving it is distinctions like this that I expect to find available in the guide book I am relying upon rather than having to do the legwork myself upon arrival. These shortcomings in the text were unfortunately repeated at any number of other locales I visited on my trip. Although Lonely Planet Arizona does a fairly good job of orienting the prospective traveler to what the state has to offer by way of national parks and natural beauty (Sedona as a landscape as opposed to a human settlement is incomparably beautiful), its failure to assess comprehensively and distinguish effectively between the service establishments it recommends makes it only barely adequate as a travel guide.

We buy this book annually for Spring Break in Arizona. Every year there is a new treat included and the Lonely Planet (Australian) method is to get off the beaten track! Great alternative suggestions here, but they still need to expand and get even more specific without ruining independent travel, of course! Example: my relatives all go to Tortilla Flats out of Mesa and then stop. But then begins the famed "Apache Trail", a truly harrowing adventure drive (ask Deb!) which President Franklin Roosevelt called "the most amazing scenic drive" in America. (Paraphrased closely). Equally exciting are the great restaurant finds, hotels other than the chain-link variety, and some terrific restaurants. (Go to the Turquoise Room in Winslow: rated the #3 restaurant in the USA!), plus stay over at the La Posada train station Inn, a truly grandious hotel and a place we visit yearly! We've used this book for six years in a row, and although "Old Arizona" and the Aboriginal Indian Lifestyles are all but gone (visit Canyon de Chelley!), I saw them as a kid, and like anyone my age, wish that I had lived in the "Wild West" which included amazing Arizona. Buy this book and learn to use it wisely! This is not "Drive-Ins and Dives", as the average Arizona tourist is an elderly Snowbird. You can have great fun here at ANY age, however, but please follow their philosophy and get off the "Main Drag", please! You won't be disappointed!

I was looking for specifics on Sedons. The Lonely Planet doesn't share much about the gem of the state.