Let's Go Paris 13th Edition (Let's Go Paris)

Rating:
Summary: NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT'S PRINTED ON
Review: I don't write reviews normally, in fact this is my first, but feel I have to warn people about this book. DON'T BUY IT!!!! I have no idea why on earth the following reviews give 5 stars, I suspect maybe the Let's Go staff itself wrote these. Or the reivew is for Paris itself, in which case there aren't enough stars for the enchanting city of lights. Note: Amazon doesn't give you the option of zero stars.

I've just returned from Paris and unless you like being inconvienenced, wasting time and money, and feeling very frustrated, go with a Lonely Planet phrase book and a Plan de Paris (you can purchase these in Paris bookstores) and you will be way better off than trying to follow the horrid and inaccurate suggestions in this book. In fact, you can get maps everywhere (department stores, hotels, etc) for free that are a million times better than the incorrect maps in this book. They even botched the Metro map! Not a big deal if you have all the time in the world, but if you only have a few days, time is of the essence, and you don't have it to waste on bad information.

My friend and I went to a hotel which was not even on the street listed in the book, and left immediately because it was NOTHING like it was described in the book ($20 taxi ride to wrong place). We found our own wonderful hotel in the same area that was not in the book, but cheaper, cleaner, etc. We went to a restaurant who's hours were listed in the book only to find (after an hour on the metro) that it was closed, not closed down, but the hours were incorrect in the book.

And on it went until we ditched the book. You'd think that the Let's Go staff couldn't possbily be this inept, but I'm here to tell you, this book is worthless. It's worse than worthless, it costs you even more than the price in time and energy and all the extra money you spend on transportation to things which aren't open, don't exist, or just plain suck. The whole point of a guidebook is to maximize your time!

Another problem with the book, while I'm at it, is that it is organized very poorly. I thought it was great that it outlined Arrondissments, but when you are actually trying to USE the book, you are flipping back and forth all over the place because they micro-organized it. Instead of having all businesses in each arrondissment, they sub-divide categories (resaruants, hotels, shops, etc..) and then sub-divide again so it becomes very annoying. Did anybody even try to use this book before they put it on the market?!

I travel a lot, and have used probably a hundred guidebooks over the years and never have I seen anything this bad. You understand when you buy one of these that businesses close, quaility changes, there are mistakes sometimes and that's reasonable. And the adventure of trying to find something is part of the fun. But it's not reasonable for such a reputable publisher to let so many mistakes slip by. There are a lot of other guidebooks out there that are much better, don't waste your money and worse, your precious time on this.