Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Mexico, 8th Edition

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

 

 

Lonely Planet seems to be too lazy or [penny-pinching] to keep their guides truly updated. Oh, they may have a 2002 edition, fine, but is it truly updated? Has someone actually GONE to the hotels and checked prices? Has someone actually had a meal in the recommended restaurant in this decade and reported back? Unfortunately the answer is no.

The prices in the book are WAY off! I realize there can be some fluctuations, but I mean, we're talking 40-50% more than the books say, which leads me to believe no one from Lonely Planet has actually GONE there to ask prices in the past 2-3 years!

Also, some of their recommendations, for example in Guadalajara, for hotels are terrible. Lousy overpriced hotels. Meanwhile, I found one on my own (the Don Quixote) that was very nice, and reasonable.

I think this book is okay if you want a general idea of the places and culture and etc. of Mexico, but for specific recommendations of restaurants and hotels, it is mostly useless!

I am an American Living in Mexico and as such find my Lonely Planet Mexico guide of much help. Basically it is (1) instrumental in getting my bearings in most cities where they include maps; (2) helpful in locating some hotels and tourist destinations (museums, other sites, etc.). But (3)understandably at some level, the hotel rates and bus schedules are grossly underestimated. Most lodgings are at least $10 more or even double the least-rate published for a particular listing, and you need to add an hour or more onto their bus times between cities. My guess is that the LP reps are asking the desk clerks for schedule information. The clerks always lie as the bus companies are very competitive and they want to you to buy a ticket from them. So for example, LP says that it takes 2 hours by bus to go from Zacatecas to San Luis Potosi (which is true by car), when actually it is ALWAYS 3 - 3.5 hours by bus. Also, I am not certain how LP aquires hotel rates. Unless you walk in "Undercover" and actually rent a room, you will not get the actual rate. For example, LP has Pasada Acueducto in Queretaro listed as $15/17.50 in the budget category, when in fact the cheapest room is over $30. The Hotel Operators lie to get LP to list at a cheaper rate to drive tired tourist to their destinations first. So Beware, use the maps and destination listing, but ignore any rate or schedule info. Unfortunately, LP does not have a subscription companion site, where listing info could be updated and customer comments shared. Their website is basically a storefront for their products and not of much help. I'd gladly pay more for a companion subscription site.

Actually I think some of the criticisms are overdone. Of course it is nearly impossible to cover such a country as Mexico. Ideally, you need a book per region.

I have the 1998 version and it has served me very well for four visits (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004).

The country will always evolve (especially somewhere such as Chiapas - the mid 1990s LPs would have said don't go, there's a war on! I went in 2003.)

And because of us the prices will rise, and you will find ever more Americans (yes gringos, it's a terrible shame to see so many of you - but I salute your taste in this regard.....)

My book is pretty dog-eared - but I always take it.

Lonely Planet has once again served us well. We just returned from 10 glorious days in central Mexico using the older 7th edition of the Lonely Planet Mexico book. We found this older edition to still be spot on - despite a 5 year old text (prices had changed, of course). The bus info was very reliable. Of course, we also relied on some web research to make sure the hotels we wanted to stay at were still there, or find better hotels for our needs. We visited Cuernavaca, Taxco, Tepoztlan, and Puebla. Another great product from good old LP.

My college son got this book before he went to Mexico for 5 months to study. He was very pleased with it. He said it is very complete and covers a great deal of information. It is a very worthwhile buy!