Access San Francisco, 9th Edition

Rating:
Summary: Downhill
Review: There are a lot of guidebooks out there for every major city in North America, but I always find the Access Guides useful, as well as helpful and up to date. So many books are geared toward the foreign tourist with information that you can hardly use. At last here is a book that give honest looks at San Francisco hotels, shops, and restaurants. Keep up the good work..

Rating:
Summary: Not discriminating at all
Review: This book was the most useful book I purchased to plan our trip to San Francisco. I can't say enough good things about it. It divides the city into neighborhoods then goes through each one not only listing the good points and points of interest, but also listing the bad. The information is practical and easy to find and understand. His carefully researched data helps one understand the city and the culture that make it so unique. From parking garages to street vendors this is the book to have on San Francisco.

Rating:
Summary: A must have if you're going to San Francisco
Review: This book was the most useful book I purchased to plan our trip to San Francisco. I can't say enough good things about it. It divides the city into neighborhoods then goes through each one not only listing the good points and points of interest, but also listing the bad. The information is practical and easy to find and understand. His carefully researched data helps one understand the city and the culture that make it so unique. From parking garages to street vendors this is the book to have on San Francisco.

Rating:
Summary: Not discriminating at all
Review: To be fair, I found the book very helpful based on the neighborhood maps and the annotations to find sites. I did use it frequently. However, it was lacking in discrimination. If one is going to list hotels and restaurants, it would be helpful to offer more opinion rather than less, particularly for the unitiated. The restaurant descriptions are bland; everything is made to sound just fine when, in reality, there are a lot of less obvious tourist traps that should be avoided and the Guide makes no allusion to any problems in accommodations or dining facilities. Neighborhood histories and descriptions, although short, are good. The book is heavily geared to retail stores also. At times I felt that it had been sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. I would probably not buy an Access book again.