Rating: 
Summary: All you need!
Review: As always you can count on lonely planet to provide honest and useful information. I spent 6 months in Hawaii and this guide is definetly essential if you're planning a trip and want to avoid the most common tourist traps.
Rating: 
Summary: Many good guidebooks out there...this isn't one of them
Review: Before investing in the LP Hawaii guidebooks, you should be aware that the authors do not live in Hawaii, nor are they the experts they claim to be. Unfortunately, their lack of local knowledge is readily apparent in this series from an otherwise high-quality publisher of travel reference books.As a travel writer and Hawaii resident, I was dismayed to find an overabundance of inaccuracy in the Lonely Planet Hawaii guidebook. While it is realistic to expect some things to change between updates (prices, phone numbers), many things do not, such as driving directions and addresses. But aside from being poorly edited, I found even more troubling the authors' propensity for substituting ill-formed editorial opinion for knowledge of fact. That all being said, the book might still be interesting if the authors' writing style demonstrated even a modicum of life. Instead, the tone is pedantic, more reminiscent of a community college lecture (or even an essay on what the authors' did during their summer vacation) than a definitive guidbook on traveling in Hawaii. I was left with the impression that the authors hadn't actually been to the islands, but that their research consisted of spending a night at the local library with a couple of <<good>> reference books. And what's with the amateur photography by author Ned Friary? The poorly composed, low resolution images seem well suited for a neighbor's vacation slide show, but not what you'd expect from a benchmark travel reference. My recommendation? Save your money and buy a couple of cocktails on the flight over instead.
Rating:
Summary: lonely planet way
Review: I purchased this book more so for my husband who is a bit more into exploring the towns and cities. We went to Hawaii on a cruise so our experience was based on days in port. In the words from my husband he said the book was great everything explained was right on the button from decsriptions to cost. We may never do another cruise again so that we can explore even more and not have time restrictions. It was the first time for a Lonely Planet book but not the last.
Rating: 
Summary: Four Stars
Review: Just enough and done up in Lonely Planets refreshing format. I always like the first section with all the necessary traveling details. Hawaii has so much to see and with Lonely Planet Hawaii I got a good idea of where I wanted to go the first, second and third weeks of my vacation. Nicely done LP!
Rating:
Summary: Four Stars
Review: Just enough and done up in Lonely Planets refreshing format. I always like the first section with all the necessary traveling details. Hawaii has so much to see and with Lonely Planet Hawaii I got a good idea of where I wanted to go the first, second and third weeks of my vacation. Nicely done LP!
Rating:
Summary: Great Beginner's Guide to Hawaii
Review: Lonely Planet has always been a trusted resource for traveling, and this HI version did not disappoint. I initially bought the guide hoping that it would give me enough information about the islands as a whole (to help decide which one to visit for my first trip to HI) and yet still contain enough details on each specific island to be an asset once the destination was decided. Once I reached Maui, the book was still thorough enough for that individual island to be a helpful resource on places to eat, visit, and snorkel. While this book fit my needs perfectly as both an overview of all the Hawaiian Islands and a guide to Maui itself, due to the format there isn't a huge amount of depth on some things, like hiking. For future trips I would be tempted to buy an accompanying island-specific guide (we borrowed one and the level of detail was greater). This book was helpful not only in planning my trip, but an excellent guide once I got there (maps were great). I will definitely use it on my next visit to the islands - Kaui is next on the list!
Rating:
Summary: Great Beginner's Guide to Hawaii
Review: Lonely Planet has always been a trusted resource for traveling, and this HI version did not disappoint. I initially bought the guide hoping that it would give me enough information about the islands as a whole (to help decide which one to visit for my first trip to HI) and yet still contain enough details on each specific island to be an asset once the destination was decided. Once I reached Maui, the book was still thorough enough for that individual island to be a helpful resource on places to eat, visit, and snorkel. While this book fit my needs perfectly as both an overview of all the Hawaiian Islands and a guide to Maui itself, due to the format there isn't a huge amount of depth on some things, like hiking. For future trips I would be tempted to buy an accompanying island-specific guide (we borrowed one and the level of detail was greater). This book was helpful not only in planning my trip, but an excellent guide once I got there (maps were great). I will definitely use it on my next visit to the islands - Kaui is next on the list!
Rating:
Summary: Fine general guide
Review: Lonely Planet is best for long trips because the reading and anecdotes are interested. For short trips when you are not sure what you want to see, it gives a fine general overview and good suggestions for restaurants. I felt that I saw everything I wanted to see and then some. The guidebook merely supplemented my trip just to make sure I caught the interesting points---which is exactly what a guidebook is for.
Rating:
Summary: Fine general guide
Review: Lonely Planet is best for long trips because the reading and anecdotes are interested. For short trips when you are not sure what you want to see, it gives a fine general overview and good suggestions for restaurants. I felt that I saw everything I wanted to see and then some. The guidebook merely supplemented my trip just to make sure I caught the interesting points---which is exactly what a guidebook is for.
Rating: 
Summary: same ol' same ol'
Review: nothing special, nothing enticing ... on the lines of frodor's and fromor's, just a bit more inefficient ... DK gives you pictures and more straight-forward facts .. i had purchased my usual DK (love the pics, the format, the lack of bias) and then once i chose my islands wanted a bit of something else .. went to amazon for reviews (don't we all) and found two island specific books which got FAB reviews and sounded perfect (Maui Revealed and Hawaii the big island revealed by doughty and friedman) but i also wanted one of all the islands so i got this ... so, i got disapointed .. the basics, a bit biased, unorganized .. love the Maui and Big Island books mentioned above .. they didn't do lanai which i'm also visiting, but do believe tehy do kaui .... i'd say spend your money on a DK and pick one of the focus books i mention .. if you want a bland book then go for this, fodor's or fromor's (though i would pick the "F" books over this
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