Philippines Travel Guide

Has all the little things you look for, when hiking and diving in a beautiful country.
Rating: 5 / 5

We are departing for the Philippines the end of August 2009 and needed some comprehensive guides since we are staying at Timeshare resort and booking all my travel accomodations myself. This is a very good guide, however, very disappointed because I thought I was ordering the 2009 edition. It was cataloged in the 2009 section and although the seller did NOT disclose the publication year, I assumed since they were a seasoned, reputible seller on Amazon that they would have cataloged it correctly. BUYER BEWARE, to my dismay, I received the 2005 edition. I immediately sent an email to complain or to obtain the 2009, I received no response back. This is why I am only rating it a 3, because of the seller’s negligence. The book is good, however, outdated!
Rating: 3 / 5

Overall a pretty good guidebook with plenty of good information on lodging and lots of good, easy to read maps. I would suggest there is a little too much emphasis on the “where to eat” section, and not enough emphasis on the other daily basic needs most travelers have. We don’t really need to know where the McDonalds, KFCs and Jollibees are as one can usually spot these places a mile away. We always want to know where are good internet cafes, where to take laundry, and where is the best coffee in town.
Rating: 4 / 5

We are use to the Lonely Planet guide but since the new guide was not coming out for another month we picked up this one as Jen is the true

travel writer for PI…remember he is the one who put little Boracay on the map.

Good basic information but missing details related to information needed

for todays tech traveler…he has a whole section in the back with email

contact address but no websites? He need to let readers know if Internet

is available in the rooms or at least a place in each town you can check

your email. Also I just like one A -Z index in the back for quick find

of a location or subject but he has a location index, email index, subject index and it takes a little time to search what I am looking for.

My Loney Planet arrives in a few day so looking forward to comparing the two.
Rating: 3 / 5

For planning a trip to the Philippines, one would be hard pressed to find a more complete book. It does a very thorough job of covering the entire country. What is most appreciated, is the detail provided about transportation. You don’t really need to rely on taxis and private tour guides to criss-cross the country. The detail about buses in Manila is incredible. In addition, the book is loaded with maps — although, I recommend purchasing a separate map of Manila itself. If the book has any shortcoming, it would be in covering the hotels within each city. Not enough of them get included. But then, that would require another 300 pages or the complexity and sole-purpose dedication of a Michelin Guide.
Rating: 4 / 5