Frommer's(r) Hong Kong, 7th Edition

Rating:
Summary: Woefully Inadequate
Review: If there is a hell for travel writers, I hope Beth Reiber will burn in it. The useful information in this book could be condensed into a postage stamp size guide: One good Dim Sum Restaurant, one good Macanese Restaurant and one walk in The Western District. I recently traveled with this book to Hong Kong. I had a Hong Kong resident as a companion and still got lost using this book. Ms. Reiber recommends a walking tour of Kowloon, but does not bother to place the last four destinations on the included map. Nor does she say that you will encounter two rivers of humanity flowing in both directions that will turn a fifteen minute walk into a half hour hike. It is easier for salmon to swim upstream to spawn than it is to find the Bird Market in Kowloon. She also recommends a Kowloon park that is not even on the visitor map! (Just hop on the bus, she says. It stops across from the park. Hah!) We took the bus to Stanley after seeing Victoria Peak. The bus ride is interesting but time consuming. First time travelers on a three day holiday will never be able to complete her suggested three day tour. Taxis speed things up at night, but get snarled in traffic during the day. I was there six days and saw most of the things on her list, including a side trip to Macao, but only by the grace of God did my Hong Kong friend and I find the ruins of Saint Paul's Cathedral, so inadequate were the included maps. As for the unnecessary words: Anyone can walk into a four star hotel and find a great restaurant. If you follow Ms. Reiber's restaurant suggestions you'll be eating either Very Expensive or Expensive (her categories) most of the time. If you like to shop, which I do not, I'm sure you'll find Ms. Reiber's book helpful; she drags you through every major complex of shops on her walking tours. Rick Steves she ain't. So if you are planning a trip to Hong Kong you can buy this book, but get some good maps as a supplement and draw out your routes in advance. A few things Ms. Reiber doesn't mention: The locals seem to think that tea is a disinfectant for chop sticks and soup spoons. Bring a pack of Kleenex with you to a neighborhood restaurant, because napkins are not provided. And forget about breathing clean air while you are in Hong Kong. However, the city is full of delights and I intend to return, now that I know my way around.

Rating:
Summary: Frommer's Hong Kong - A great guide to Hong Kong
Review: This guide book was excellant. It was spot on for shopping, dining and site-seeing. There is a section on the history of Hong Kong that is great, it enabled us to be better equiped to deal with the different types of people we encountered. The information on the hotels was perfect also, we stayed with some friends house but visited some of the hotels to gage the prices and they were very accurate with the exception of a few hotels that changed the prices. I reccomend the Frommer's guide books for everyone.

Rating:
Summary: This book is not updated. Many names dont exist any more.
Review: This is a good tour book tell you all you need to wrap before your traveling. This book also help you to control your travel budget and tailor your travel into your appetite! So how can you travel to Hong Kong without this one?

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This is a good tour book tell you all you need to wrap before your traveling. This book also help you to control your travel budget and tailor your travel into your appetite! So how can you travel to Hong Kong without this one?

Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: This is a really excellent, accurate, and carefully researched guide, full of helpful information. Note however that it is not BY Arthur Frommer, who publishes a magazine and lends his name to the series, but no longer writes guide books--the author is Beth Reiber. She is right on top of her subject, and you couldn't ask for a better, more complete guide to Hong Kong.

Rating:
Summary: This book is not updated. Many names dont exist any more.
Review: What have the frommers done is Just duplicating the old edition with a new name. This so called 2001 edition " frommer's hong kong 6th eddition" has so many names I could not look up on the internet mainly because they were sold to another company with a different name. The air lines they suggested dont even fly to hong kong any more. Many restaurants were nonexistant. Things are changing rapidly in Hong Kong. Frommers has not kept up with those changes. Seems like a [price] rip off scam to me.

Good luck.