HotelChatter

Guidebooks

Guidebook Says 'Style', Flickr Member Says 'Check Out Rainbow Bedspread'

January 30, 2007 at 3:12 PM | 2 Comments

We know that hotel guidebooks have encountered some controversy as of late as is evidenced by this quote that sums up the tensions between guidebook publishers and writers quite succintly, "They pay * * * *, they get * * * *."

Even our post this morning on LonelyPlanet's Haystack booking service generated a comment about the "good intentions" behind the site. Which is why when we stumbled across this photo on Flickr today from a hotel in Italy, we found the caption to be very apropro for this discussion:

Lonely Planet says this hotel is decorated with an eye for style. Plus the hotel ripped us off.

Hmmm...eye for style from a 9-yr-old's perspective, perhaps? Either that or the guidebook writer for Italy got paid * * * *.

When your guidebook said luxury rooms did they really mean two cots and a bathroom down the hall? Contribute your own thoughts on guidebook reviews of hotels by becoming a member and commenting below.

Related Stories:
· Bootsinthe Oven [Flickr]
· Can you trust your guidebook for hotel recommendations? [HotelChatter]
· Lonely Planet's Haystack Finding (Hostel) Needles [HotelChatter]

Hotel Booking Tips

Lonely Planet's Haystack Finds the (Hostel) Needles

January 30, 2007 at 9:45 AM | 4 Comments

Accurately summing up how it sometimes feels trying to find a good hotel to book (until, of course, you check out what we tell you here at HotelChatter), Lonely Planet travel publishers have just launched an accommodation booking site called Haystack. Starting off with just 900 hotels and hostels from around 40 countries, you can't find everything you're looking for yet--but they say it's coming.

The site's marketing is all based around the "you can soooo trust us" approach:

It's our own online accommodation booking service, especially created for travellers by travellers ... All Haystack properties are handpicked by Lonely Planet authors then reviewed and recommended to join Haystack.

Still when we did a search for hotel rooms, not hostels (you can pick either one), for three cities--Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Rio de Janeiro--Haystack promptly turned up hostel options for all three. So we hope some hotel picks come along soon.

Now, whether you want to bunk down in the kind of places Lonely Planet guidebook writers stay (the word is that their payments don't stretch to any kind of luxury) is another question, but the theory's good.

Related Stories:
· Lonely Planet Launches Haystack [Lonely Planet]

Hotel News

Can You Trust Your Guidebook for Hotel Recommendations?

January 24, 2007 at 12:07 PM | 3 Comments

Should you choose a hotel based on what you read in that guidebook you're using to plan your trip? The answer is, it depends on who wrote it. With the state of guidebook publishing where it is today, someone who has no idea what they're talking about may have put the book together, with it edited by an office worker who has never set foot in the destination.

That's the depressing theme of this article in the Times of London, Travel Guidebooks Slammed. There's an overall trend in the publishing industry where authors are being paid less to deliver more and as a result, only the fools who don't know any better are taking on the job. "The result is that publishers are using young, inexperienced contributors -- many who are first-time authors -- and that standards of reliability and the quality of writing have fallen dramatically. Another effect is that authors are cutting corners, not bothering to visit places as low fees do not cover expenses."

One author put it more succintly, saying, "They pay * * * *, they get * * * *" How much money are we talking about? In her example, less than $6K to do a 60,000-word book requiring loads of research and 60 photographs. Ouch. So before you make week-long reservations at the hotel that sounds just perfect in your guidebook, you may want to do a quick background check of your own.

Thanks to travel blog WorldHum for catching this one. For more articles on the state of guidebook publishing, see the links below.

Related Stories:
· There's More to a Guidebook Than its Cover [Budget Travel]
· Guidebook Smackdown! [Transitions Abroad]