Frommer's Guatemala (Frommer's Complete Guides) [Paperback]

Given that this book was published so recently, I figured it would be the best buy for my May 2007 trip to Guatemala. My trip involved Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Tikal, and Guatemala City, so I had a good chance to use several sections of the book. Unfortunately, the book disappointed in many areas. For one thing, the book caters mainly to the very affluent tourist looking for comfort. (As a disclaimer, I should explain that I'm a young budget-traveling student.) The book features only the most gringo-rific hotels and restaurants (which happen to be the most expensive), and their "budget" options are not nearly the most budget-friendly options available. Their recommended tourist agencies are mainly Western-owned companies that charge Western prices, while locally owned travel agencies charge a fraction of the price for reasonable service. (e.g. US $30-50 for a trip to climb Volcan Pacaya from Atitlan vs. $5 from one of the many reasonable agencies near the main tourist area.) In the end, I ended up relying much more on word of mouth from friends in the area (and their guide books) for advice on lodging, dining, and transportation rather than the Frommer's Guide.

The Tikal section was another disappointment. The "suggested tour" covers only a fraction of the sites available there, and the map is so poorly labeled that it is impossible to do the tour without a guide. The night before I explored the ruins at Tikal (which are fantastic!), I was reading my guide at my hotel restaurant. A woman sitting at a nearby table asked me what I thought of it. When I told her I had found it very disappointing, she nodded in agreement. "Good luck finding your way inside with that book," she told me, shaking her head. She ended up being right -- had I not met a group of travelers with a better map, there is no way I could have navigated the park with that guide.

These are just a few of the problems with the book I had I can think of off the top of my head. Bottom line, this book is so superficial that it is much more of a brochure than a travel guide. It also caters mainly toward affluent travelers looking for luxury. Buy another guidebook that might not be as pretty, but makes up for it with content.

While this book touches on a lot of the sights worth seeing, the rest was lacking. The restaurant and hotel prices list were substantially lower than actual costs. The restaurants felt like total tourist traps- overpriced, mediocre to terrible food, and bad service. I was better off looking for restaurants on my own.

Given that a few years ago Frommers led me on a great trip through Italy, I decided to try them again. I was sorely disappointed at the overall lack of information. After spending 5 weeks in Guatemala I feel almost more qualified to have written a guide than the 2011 edition. The maps of cities were unusuable as they were too small, the information provided on tours/activities was so limited it was obvious the author had not taken the tour, and the number of listed hostals, hotels, and restaurants was so few that I was unable to offer my travel companions any input when planning our get-aways. My travel companions had the Rough Guide and Moon, and both had so much helpful information for each city and even for hostals that we used these instead of my Frommers. Either step it up Frommers or stick to Europe!