Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a useful guidebook for a bustling city, July 28, 2008
I have visited both Hong Kong and Macau over the years and always turn back to this guide for a reliable reference, particularly for the maps and transport info, as their are many transport options here. There are some mistakes--some significant--as other reviewers have pointed out, but 99% of the content is useful and accurate, with insightful background information and great restaurant, sights, and outings recommendations.
All guidebooks are a snapshot in time--this book is no exception. Hong Kong and Macau are fast-paced and therefore always changing (part of the allure...), so the accommodation and eating sections are bound to change.
The pullout map has a few errors, but can generally be relied upon for getting around central HK when you want to leave the book in your hotel. Hopefully next edition's map will be better. A previous reviewer noted troubles finding the Peak Tram. The Admiralty map is downright incorrect--use the map of Central HK map instead. About the tourist bus: trust me, it's quicker and more enjoyable to walk.
The guide is particularly useful for information on accessing the long hiking trails around HK. I have used this info extensively.
About Macau: It's a small place and this has most of it, with great coverage of the restaurants and sites. There are too many good restaurants in Macau for all to be included...more to discover for yourself!
Overall, I highly recommend this book.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A useful guide to a complicated city, April 9, 2010
This review is from: Lonely Planet Hong Kong & Macau (City Travel Guide) (Paperback)
I'm a fairly well seasoned traveller, especially around Asia. Lonely Planet has always been my first choice although I only tend to delve into them for 'help' reasons.
First time in HK, I was surprised to find that there was so much I could have missed unless I hadn't read this book from cover to cover on the long flight from USA. Without wishing to bore anyone with what I did each day, my advice is that Hong Kong is glorious, secretive and complicated at times. I definately maxed out with my sightseeing and ate possibly the most interesting food I've ever tried. The quality of writing is superior to other guides I have used and really explains the quirkiness of the city well. Didn't get to Macau, so I can't judge. However, to offer a free map, they could easily have pushed the boat out a little and provided more detail as I soon disposed of it after I realised its inaccuracies. That said, it really enhanced my trip to HK.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Outdated and misleading, November 24, 2010
This review is from: Lonely Planet Hong Kong & Macau (City Travel Guide) (Paperback)
As opposed to other Lonely Planet guides, this one is shoddily researched and edited. Its central problem is that it's outdated by years, even though it's dated March 2010: its subway plan doesn't even show the East Rail Line, which has been there for years; the Alan Chan shop is listed as in the Peninsula Arcade, where it hasn't been in a good many years, and the guide doesn't list the Elements Mall, one of the most important newer malls in Kowloon. Because of constant mistakes like that, I wasted time and ended up in the wrong places several times during a visit to Hong Kong in November 2010.
The book is also simply not carefully edited. On p. 138, it has the sentence "They can also be hired from two bike kiosks" - but there's no earlier sentence that "they" or "also" refers to. You have to figure out from the term "bike kiosks" that its bicyle rentals they're talking about. This is the kind of stuff that a copy editor should catch. A minor problem, perhaps, but it reflects the incredible shoddiness of research that characterizes this guide as a whole. A big disappointment for me, since I've had better experiences with other guides in the series.
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