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Summary: Great Guide of the Isle of Hispaniola
Review: A leader in travel guides, Lonely Plant once again proves it self as the leader in the industry with this excellent guide to traveling to/throughout the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Although Haiti's tourism industry is nearly nonexistent, the guide still provides the readers with information on attractions, accommodations, and safety issues. In covering the neighboring Dominican Republic, the book provides much more information for this country which has seen a major boom in its' tourism industry since the late 1980s. Always informative with tidbits if information, history, maps, and information for singles and gay & lesbian travelers, the "Lonely Planet Dominican Republic and Haiti" is the best book for anyone planning a trip to the island of Hispaniola. Excellent guide for an excellent price.
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Summary: all prices are wrong
Review: all prices are wrong, example: a language school that was recommended for 375$/month turned out to cost 1500$ a month. it appears that the author has never visited the most of the locations he wrote about! muchas gracias
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Summary: Haiti - an afterthought?
Review: Dominican Republic coverage was ok but Haiti seemed very ill served by this book.
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Summary: Superior Choice Available: Haiti's Inclusion A Weakness
Review: Harry S. Pariser's Dominican Republic guide is better and does not suffer from the inclusion of Haiti, a country of far fewer tourists and no appeal to most D. R. tourists. I found the North Coast (Puerta Plata) far superior to the East Coast (Punta Cana), one would not understand that from reading this book. No matter what guide you purchase pay close attention to the NEGATIVE reviews of resorts at the web site debbiesdominicantravel dot com. Unfortunately, many who post at this web site excuse substandard accomodations and poor treatment of tourists (like at the Punta Cana Beach Resort), so study the negative reviews of any resort you consider carefully. This is not a bad guide, just not the best guide. Always remember, the D. R. is a fabulous place to visit and perhaps to live.
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Summary: WHAT AN INCREDIBLE BOOK! YOU MUST BUY IF GOING TO HAITI!!!
Review: I CARRIED THIS INCREDIBLE BOOK EVERYWHERE I WENT. I CALLED IT MY HAITI "BIBLE" IT WAS INCREDIBLE. I FOLLOWED IT TO A TEE AND HAD AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET THE AUTHOR LEAH GORDON AT ONE OF HER FAVORITE AS WELL AS MINE HOTEL. THE HOTEL OLOFSON IS BEAUTIFUL. THAT IS A MUST SEE AND GO TO PLACE. THE BOOK WAS INSPIRATIONAL AND I WAS ABLE TO MANEUVER AROUND HAITI LIKE A PRO! I MET SEVERAL HAITIANS WHILE I WAS THERE AND WAS EVEN ABLE TO SHOW THEM PLACES THAT THEY DID NOT KNOW EXISTED. I TRAVELED BY MYSELF AS A SINGLE FEMALE AND FOUND THAT THE BOOK WAS MY BEST FRIEND THROUGH THE WHOLE TRIP! WHAT A GREAT BOOK! I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE GOING TO HAITI! DOUBLE THUMBS UP!
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Summary: Great guidebook to the Dominican Republic!
Review: I was very surprised to read the last two reviews and feel a need to express another opinion. My husband, David, and I just spent six and a half weeks in the Dominican Republic and we found the Lonely Planet guidebook to be very helpful (we did not travel at all in Haiti and, so, cannot comment on the book's coverage of Haiti). But we thought the section of the book that described the Dominican Republic was excellent. The prices were sometimes higher than the book said, due to inflation, but the descriptions were nearly always right on the mark. For example, we decided to climb Pico Duarte, the country's highest mountain, and we found the information provided about guides and lodges and climbing difficulty was very accurate. The author had clearly climbed the mountain and knew what he was talking about. The guidebook include maps of the various routes up the mountain and to nearby peaks and not one of the other guidebooks on the Dominican Republic that we looked at (about 10 in all) had such maps. Also, while we were in the area of Pico Duarte we went to a lovely waterfall few people go to that the author wrote about that wasn't mentioned in either of the other guidebooks we took with us (the Moon book was terrible, incidentally). I also really liked all of the history in the book. The island is rich with Indian history and colonial history and pirate history, and I thought the author did a super job presenting it.
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Summary: Great Help on trip to the Domincan Republic!
Review: Last month I went on a trip to the Dominican Republic with a group from my church, to help Habitat for Humanity build houses in Barahona. This book was an EXCELLENT resource, both before and during the trip. I really enjoyed Doggett's writing style, and found the information both practical in so many ways, as well as extremely educational. In fact, our church sends many teams to the D.R. each year, so we actually have a staff person (a native Dominican) who lives in Santo Domingo and coordinates these trips. He had not seen the book before, but found it so helpful that he asked if I could get a copy for him -- which I did. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the D.R.
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Summary: It's Perfect for First Time Travellers to the Dominican R.
Review: Once more, Lonely Planet guidebooks set the standard, in providing essential advice, as well as wonderful insights on many issues, successfully targeting all kinds of travelers. Yet, as any first edition of a travel guidebook, this one could be substantially better than it is now - which, I am sure, will likely be achieved by the time the second edition comes out. Both sections on both countries are very good, though it must be remarked that the section on Haiti is - at least in my view - far less researched and refined than the impressive section on the Dominican Republic. The author of the Haiti section is obviously a real Haiti lover, and she provides plenty of wonderful facts about Haiti's history and present, culture and society, which she is eager to share with her readers. Yet, in my view, she fails to provide the best possible advice for travelers. Coverage on hotels and places to eat, and entertainment in general, is poor. On that, we add the fact that things are changing so rapidly in Haiti, which is beyond her control. The section on the Dominican Republic, in contrast, provides just-about any information and avice a traveler could desire when traveling to the country. Coverage of what to see and do in Santo Domingo, on hotels and restaurants, the many tips on how to behave (do's and dont's) etc, is truly excellent. All in all, once more, this is a guidebook you should not take off without.
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Summary: A superiour endeavour, but could be improved.
Review: Once more, Lonely Planet guidebooks set the standard, in providing essential advice, as well as wonderful insights on many issues, successfully targeting all kinds of travelers. Yet, as any first edition of a travel guidebook, this one could be substantially better than it is now - which, I am sure, will likely be achieved by the time the second edition comes out. Both sections on both countries are very good, though it must be remarked that the section on Haiti is - at least in my view - far less researched and refined than the impressive section on the Dominican Republic. The author of the Haiti section is obviously a real Haiti lover, and she provides plenty of wonderful facts about Haiti's history and present, culture and society, which she is eager to share with her readers. Yet, in my view, she fails to provide the best possible advice for travelers. Coverage on hotels and places to eat, and entertainment in general, is poor. On that, we add the fact that things are changing so rapidly in Haiti, which is beyond her control. The section on the Dominican Republic, in contrast, provides just-about any information and avice a traveler could desire when traveling to the country. Coverage of what to see and do in Santo Domingo, on hotels and restaurants, the many tips on how to behave (do's and dont's) etc, is truly excellent. All in all, once more, this is a guidebook you should not take off without.
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Summary: It's Perfect for First Time Travellers to the Dominican R.
Review: This book is a well written book that I really enjoyed. Even though at times I felt the book was a bit negative on some issues, over all it's great. It clearly post the different points of interests, restaurants, accommodations across the Dominican Republic. It gives some good detailed history of the country. I don't think the book did as good of a job with the Haiti section but the Dominican Republic section is stellar. Anyone travelling to the D.R. should not leave prior to buying this book!
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