Rating: 
Summary: Better than the most recent reviewers would suggest
Review: I just got back from Chile this week and use this book. It had some good info but I would not use this as your only guide book. I found three problems with this book.1. Not many opinions. I don't want to be told that a place is "worth a try" I want to be told why it is worth a try...i.e. good selection, great steak, clean rooms etc. 2. It is out of date. It was published in May 97 and things have changed like prices, additions to national parks and attractions. I went to two hotels that were no longer in business. 3. Covered a lot of things and did not really go into depth on the major attractions like Torres del Paine National Park. It did not talk about all the trails, or hotels available or plus and minuses of them. The book is okay but there must be better ones out there that are more up to date. At the beginning he had a suggested itinerary but it was too general. I would like to have been told straight up from the beginning that Torres del Paine is the most popular and spectacular attraction and to center my trip around it.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, but don't use this as your only guide book
Review: I just got back from Chile this week and use this book. It had some good info but I would not use this as your only guide book. I found three problems with this book. 1. Not many opinions. I don't want to be told that a place is "worth a try" I want to be told why it is worth a try...i.e. good selection, great steak, clean rooms etc. 2. It is out of date. It was published in May 97 and things have changed like prices, additions to national parks and attractions. I went to two hotels that were no longer in business. 3. Covered a lot of things and did not really go into depth on the major attractions like Torres del Paine National Park. It did not talk about all the trails, or hotels available or plus and minuses of them. The book is okay but there must be better ones out there that are more up to date. At the beginning he had a suggested itinerary but it was too general. I would like to have been told straight up from the beginning that Torres del Paine is the most popular and spectacular attraction and to center my trip around it.
Rating: 
Summary: Best of the Chile guides
Review: I was really stunned by the number of things that were not in this book. But for a number of things, like finding good places to eat and sleep, this was far and away, the best book that I used in Chile (I also had Openroad and Footprints). Example things that were left out: almost anything on Torres del Paine. No mention of the W. No mention of a glorious day hike in Puerto Natales. Little mention of logistics for getting around to various parks. It seems to me that this is an essential book to have, but I don't think that it will do as the only one. And I don't have a good recommendation for the other one
Rating:
Summary: Essential but inadequate
Review: I was really stunned by the number of things that were not in this book. But for a number of things, like finding good places to eat and sleep, this was far and away, the best book that I used in Chile (I also had Openroad and Footprints). Example things that were left out: almost anything on Torres del Paine. No mention of the W. No mention of a glorious day hike in Puerto Natales. Little mention of logistics for getting around to various parks. It seems to me that this is an essential book to have, but I don't think that it will do as the only one. And I don't have a good recommendation for the other one
Rating:
Summary: Better than the most recent reviewers would suggest
Review: I'm not quite sure the other reviewers looked at the same guide book. This one has plenty of opinions (like telling you what restaurants are expensive, what guesthouses are gloomy, etc.) and, of course, it's "outdated"----any guidebook is out of date the moment it's published and the LP folks tell you that upfront. I would have appreciated more on the Torres del Paine, but I could say the same of Footprints or other common guides to Chile. If you expect everything in a guidebook to be fully current and the opinions to be exactly what you need, you should stay home and leave the traveling to people who actually want to experience the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Packed with information but lacking zest and opinion
Review: No one could deny that this book is packed with info, but its failure to give an opinion one way or the other makes it a frustrating experience, especially in the way of restaurants. I don't particularly care if a place serves Italian food if I don't know if it's good or bad. Guide books should do just that, guide you. I hope there's something better out there...
Rating:
Summary: Useful but not much fun
Review: Reasonably detailed and accurate, but somehow dry. The book doesn't really make you want to "go there and see it", which is an account where it falls flat on its face compared to some other LP titles, most of the time it merely provides you with an information. The author appears to have a serious Darwin obsession -- by reading the book one might get an idea that the Beagle's visit is the most important thing that has ever happened to the country. Well, at least it's compact and lightweight :-).
Rating:
Summary: Spanish courses in Santiago, Chile
Review: There's a good Spanish school in the Bellavista neighborhood, Santiago, Chile (Centro de Idiomas Bellavista), but they've moved 3 years ago from its old location, and the 1997 LP edition has the wrong address of it, therefore at the beginning it was very difficult to find it in its new place. That new address is fortunately published in the 2000 edition, now, but in those days I had to find out by myself about this school. Lonely Planet needs to update its information more frequently! So, I advice you all going there for learning Spanish in a friendly ambience. You won't regret about.
Rating:
Summary: Spanish courses in Santiago, Chile
Review: There's a good Spanish school in the Bellavista neighborhood, Santiago, Chile (Centro de Idiomas Bellavista), but they've moved 3 years ago from its old location, and the 1997 LP edition has the wrong address of it, therefore at the beginning it was very difficult to find it in its new place. That new address is fortunately published in the 2000 edition, now, but in those days I had to find out by myself about this school. Lonely Planet needs to update its information more frequently! So, I advice you all going there for learning Spanish in a friendly ambience. You won't regret about.
Rating:
Summary: It's very good and complete
Review: This is an excellent guide for travelling Chile, specially if you do not know anything about that country, but sometimes many places are missing. I think that with this guide you can plan your trip without needing any help from another guide.
| 
