My wife and I have been great fans of Frommer's books on our travels. However, we found the Spain Frommer's guide only average. While the book was excellent in terms of highlighting what to see and do, it was way off base when it came not only to restaurant recommendations, but also in terms of the existence of actual restaurants. Many of the restaurants didn't even exist, or had different names altogether. I can understand if this were an old edition. However, we used the 2002 edition, and it wasn't up to usual Frommer standards.

We also used Frommer's for Portugal. That was a bigger disappointment as the ratings of things to do and places to see were way off from what they really were.

I prefer the Frommer Guides to most others, and this is no exception. While a bit short in background, it provided a lot of useful, practical information for my recent trip to Northern Spain. As with most standard guides, however, it falls short in breadth of coverage, emphasizing the well-known sites and omitting lots of fascinating smaller towns and areas. But then, that's why I travel, to discover the real country, not the postcard one. If you're going with a group, or sticking mostly to the main roads, this is a good book to bring.

My wife and I have recently returned from a six-week trip to Spain. Thanks to Frommer's guide, we had the most memorable trip of our lives. The book is helpful, opinionated, personalized, like a good friend talking to you and leading you out of the traps and into the oasis. We were directed to friendly people, affordable meals, great beds, and lovely moments that will live long in our memory. We have used Frommer's guides to America before but never one to a country in Europe. From now on, we're dedicated fans. We won't leave home without it!

I recently returned from a 3 month tour of Europe and took this book with me. While it did have a number of major European cities in it the actual information about them was definetly lacking. I found my self usually better off with out a book at all as opposed to only having this one. Several other travelers we met felt the same way and some were lucky enough to have Lonely Planet guides. For the money spent I'll stick to them or Rick Steves in the future. i.e. This book would take you to the train station/ subway but then fall short on what the heck to do to get a ticket!!! Which is important information stranded in 20 different stations/ subways a month each with different customs. Frommer's did do an excellent job of pointing out all of the gay and lesbian districs and bars in each city and the gay friendly hotels and shops... but they also have a strickly gay guide to Europe as well. The amount of space used for this information could have been better allocated for more pertinent information. I'll have to give a thumbs down on this book. Take something else with you or take nothing at all.

Frommer's does a good job with the general hints on travelling cheaper, but unless you plan on visiting only the major cities and capitals only, look for another book. There are 24 major cities and surrounding areas covered from Ireland to Budapest, but that's not many cities in comparison with all of Europe. I only will have a short time in Europe and that means that I will only be able to visit two of the cities listed and have to use another book for everything in between. Lonely Planet is much more inclusive and definitely covers the lower price scale.

Just returned from a 2 month trip using the 2002 guide. I found the recommendations for the restaurants to be excellent. After realizing that the Frommer's writers and I had the same tastes, I made it a point of seeking out all of their 'starred' recommendations for restaurants. The sightseeing descriptions and recommendations were also quite good. The hotel recommendations were not as good. A few of the hotels we stayed in that were not 'starred' or listed as a 'Find' were not as comfortable as hotels in other books.

We traveled with this Frommer's, Rick Steves, Lonely Planet and Rough Guides through France, Belguim, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Italy. We liked Rick Steves' recommendations for lodging, Frommer's for restaurants and both for sightseeing. Lonely Planet and Rough Guides were not used if in a Frommer's city. If in a Rick Steve's city (but not Frommer's) we used Lonely Planet for restaurant recommendations (not as good a Frommer's but better than Rick Steves).

Background: Two travelers, professional, early 30s with enough money to stay out of the hostels, but did not want to blow the bank of 5 star lodging. Rick Steve's packing philosophy. Both traveler's love to eat!!

I've used this guide for three PR vacations, and each time I want to throw it across the hotel room. But I can't because the other guides are even worse or even less comprehensive. What's the problem with this one? The lack of description: it gives you no feel as to what makes each beach/hotel unique. Invariably every second beach is summed up vaguely as 'one of the best beaches on the island,' even if one has brownish sand and no snorkling while another "best" beach is pristine white, loaded with fish, and secluded. It's the same with hotels, too, except there's no explanation of what the mood is like there, what kind of people stay there, what the view is like, what the rooms are like, if there's a bar to hang out in after dinner, how close the beach is.... It's almost comic, except when you're trying to figure out where to spend your precious time and money.

Another frustrating problem is that no one took the time to edit this guide. One beach or hotel will be mentioned in two (or three) places in entirely different tones, so it's hard to guess whether a place is just wacky or dirty (or, in the instance of La Parguera, too polluted to swim in one mention; just fine in another). Also, uninspired writing means a breathtaking mountain retreat like the Casa Grande Hotel in Utuado comes across as completely unremarkable and possibly worth skipping. Can't the writers come out and say "This place is great" or, if necessary, "This place is a dump?" A reader might wonder if these guys visited anything but bloated resorts at all. PR deserves better and I certainly expected better from Frommer's.

My husband and I purchased this book to go on our honeymoon and were sorely disappointed. The descriptions were vague and often downright incorrect. Luquillo beach, which the authors described as one of the best beaches in the Carribean, had dingy grey water and was filled with garbage. This is only one example of many many misrepresentations. The guide leaned almost exclusively to very expensive restaurants, and even these were nothing to write home about. We had more luck after we ditched the guide and started exploring on our own. Its one good point was some interesting background on the history of Puerto Rico. However, this was not enough to make me buy another Frommer's guide.

This is a good guide for seeing the cultural sights of Puerto Rico, especially in San Juan. The book is geared towards travellers only moderately concerned with budget. A few pieces of information are outdated, such as bus numbers and changes in price, but the numbering system (up to three stars) is useful for the first-time traveller with little knowledge of the country. Detailed descriptions of the sights in San Juan help visitors get a sense of the city's history while the walking tour takes them around to key spots. There is a comparable walking tour of Ponce, along with a description of the Museo de Arte de Ponce which prevented me from missing out on this fine museum. Ponce is the only place where we tried one of the listed hotels. Although the book described Hotel Belgica as "roughing it," we thought the accommodations were fine and enjoyed the unusual atmosphere of an old-style hotel. The book is full of useful tidbits. For example, en route to Parguera (which should get two stars, not one), the name of the road changes several times along the way (101, 116, 315, 305, 304). No wonder people get confused. Additional information: The book should include a warning that the $5 boat trip to the Phosphorescent Bay near Parguera doesn't let you see much, so it's best to go with the friendly folks at Paradise Scuba Center (the address is listed). Additionally, the Rio Camuy Cave Park sometimes sells out of tickets by 9am (especially on weekends), so it's best to get there early. Finally, good snorkeling is available in San Juan on the west side of the Wyndham Hotel (Condado).

While traveling through Europe, my husband and I decided to visit Barcelona. Since it was the only country we had not researched before we left, we decided we better pick up Frommer's guide. To our dismay, most of the information in it was inaccurate or misinforming. For example, the street the laundry was listed on was misspelled. When we finally found it (in the pouring rain) it was a laundry service, not self-serve. So there was 2 hours of "dead time" not to mention paying 3 times as much money for getting our clothes cleaned.

The silver lining I guess was that the laundry lady was one of the 3 nice Spanish people we met during our 6 day visit. I wish that Frommer's would have given us some forewarning on Spanish culture and rudeness. Even the service people in our 4 star hotel were grumpy. Everyone seems to need either a fiesta or a siesta.

On our final night in Barcelona, we counted our change and had just enough money to catch the metro and attend a Spanish dance. Upon our arrival (late because the directions were fuzzy) we found that both the time and the amount listed were incorrect. We then found out that the metro closes down earlier than the book states, so we got to spend our last pasettas on a cab ride back to our hotel. When I got back I was so aggravated that I could have started a bonfire with it.

There were several other ommissions and inaccuracies that we ran across but all in all my final straw was when I contacted Frommers online for a refund and read that they do not offer refunds--I needed to contact the point of purchase. No wonder it was the only English guide book left in Germany-nobody wanted it!

I learned a lot of things from our European excursion. One of the best I can tell you is use Lonely Planet guides! And visit the information station at the airport-they may not be friendly but at least their brochures are helpful!