Lonely Planet Puerto Rico

I'm writing this review about the 2008 updated edition. Before I travel, I love to read about the place I'll be going so I buy a lot of these travel books. I have the Puerto Rico version of Moon, Rough Guide, Insight and Fodors. While each of the books have their own virtues, this Lonely Planet book is the best one if you really want to learn a lot about the place you are going. It goes into much more detail about the history and descriptions of different places on the island than any of the others. If you just want a quick reference for restaurants and hotels then Fodors or Rough Guide is probably a better choice but Lonely planet is the best for helping to plan where you want to go and what you want to do before you get there.

We used to buy several different travel books before going on a trip but quickly learned that the Lonely Planet gave us the best and most consistent advice. We had no problems on our recent trip to Puerto Rico.

The book came in in wonderful condition - found some great ideas and resources in planning our trip to Puerto Rico!!

Lonely planet has a great team of writers. Every time I travel I get one of theirs books. It is a good format, has information on hotels, attractions and so on that are updated and realistic. Lonely planet a great job.

In general, this Lonely Planet "Puerto Rico" (there are more than one; this one is by Ginger Adams Otis) is overall reasonably accurate and up-to-date as of February 2006. There are a few oddities within, however: One is the pronounciation of the word for chicken, pollo. As many times as I've been in Puerto Rico, I've never heard it pronounced PO-lyo, as indicated on page 67. It is PO-yo, or sometimes more like PO-djyo. I never heard any Puerto Rican pronounce the "l" sound in this word. Second, some of the hotel classifications seemed to based on the hotel's self-classifications (or wishful thinking) more than anyone's actual experience. For example, although the author's description is reasonably accurate, on page 95, Otis lumps Hotel El Milano into the same midrange category as El Convento. El Convento is truly upscale, and always has been, both in accommodations and in price. El Milano is very firmly mid-scale in all dimensions. Of course guides like this are very hard to keep up-to-date, especially in countries like Puerto Rico where businesses are easy-come-easy-go, and change owners constantly. We found big differences in restaurant qualities in several cases, and in others, eateries she recommends were dark and locked the whole time we were there. My advice is to check with your hotel concierge or call ahead rather than depending on any guidebook when making dining choices. The author also exaggerates the wonders of the Ruta Panoramica and various state parks in the central mountains. Some of the reservas forestales were total junk yards with burned out auto hulks literally every 300 yards for miles on end, and loads of roadside litter (alas, typical of Puerto Rico.) This is not to say that a drive through the mountains of Puerto Rico is not a must-do, because it is, but just be prepared for a big dose of reality that the author choses not to mention. Lift your chin high and enjoy the flora and fauna (mainly roosters wandering all over the road, with the occasional paso fino horse, with a long-leggedy bareback rider on board) and the gorgeous views in the distance.