Customer Reviews

Wallpaper City Guide: Bangkok (Wallpaper City Guides)

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Reviewer "Ikat" has a valid point: the Wallpaper City Guides (WCG) are not comprehensive, and there is a bit of an extended travel magazine article aspect to them: however, I like WCG's differences from Luxe City Guides. Luxe engages in snarky comments and its prose (rather like a slick, smug club kid writing for middle-aged wannabee hipsters with bottomless pockets) is of a sort that I've always found grating. I tossed my Luxe Tokyo guide for this very reason.

The WCG style is meant to whet your appetite and give you a few ideas about what to see if you have but a few days to check Bangkok out. I like its brevity. The WCG gives hotel and restaurant options both expensive and reasonable, making it worthwhile for the traveller on a more modest budget, whereas Luxe covers only the most expensive places to stay, eat, etc. Luxe has no pictures and a tiny, crammed-to-the-rafters typeface: WCG has attractive photos and great layout that's easier to read. I, for one, prefer it.

This is the most absurd "guidebook" I have ever seen - and I've been to 50 countries. I didn't expect it to have information on the sights but thought it would do a decent job on shopping and contemporary architecture. Wrong. It is more like someone turned an article into a book and added photos to make it seem longer. Don't waste your money. If you want a guide to hip shops, etc. that aren't in mainstream guides, get the Luxe.

11/07 Update: While I still think this was useless, after using more of the Luxe guides I absolutely agree with the other reviewer - they are snarky. And they also send you all over town to find "unique" places that aren't terribly interesting. Some of them are useful but their tone has become really annoying.