City Smart: St. Louis

Rating:
Summary: missing something...but has merit
Review: Has merit.

But please, please in future editions emphasize the pathetic operations of Thrifty rental car in St. Louis.

One must be able to deftly avoid such pitfalls in an otherwise wonderful town.

Thank you and great work on the book!

Rating:
Summary: This is how I got to love St. Louis...
Review: I moved to St. Louis about 1 year ago, and I bought this book to get myself familiarized with lovely St. Louis. Becauise of this book, I've known restaurants and places that many locals have never heard of. I still use the book as a reference when looking for something else to do, read on a restaurant, or when out of town guests come.

If you will visit St. Louis for some time, get this great little book. If you live here, then get this book and pay tribute to where you live!

Rating:
Summary: Explore beyond the Arch with this most complete guidebook.
Review: I thought I had seen it all. Done it all. Everything there was to do in St. Louis. Hey, I've lived here all my life. But was I in for a shock. It took just ten minutes of research to make me realize that there is so much more to the St. Louis I thought I knew.

Thinking further, that made absolute sense. We all live in our own communities and tend to our daily routines. When we do any hometown sightseeing, we normally hit the usual suspects -- here, the Zoo, the Arch, the Science Center and the Art Museum -- because that's where the out-of-town company wants to go. And, face it. It's easy. It's what we know.

But there's so much more to St. Louis. There are a number of fascinating neighborhoods, each one with its own personality; each with incredible places to see, shop and, especially, eat.

Many people don't realize it, but St. Louis is a virtual restaurant mecca. From American to Italian to Indian to Vietnamese and Thai cuisines, from home-grown hot dog and hamburger holes-in-the-wall to the finest gourmet dining spots, St. Louis restaurants rival those anywhere.

You'll find a range of fabulous restaurant suggestions in CitySmart Guidebook: St. Louis. But that's just a start. This book is also loaded with hundreds of places to stay and play, see and do, explore and discover. Filled with shopping areas, night spots, museums, theater and concert stops, hotels, parks, kid stuff, attractions, sports and recreation information, CitySmart Guidebook: St. Louis is the only complete and current guidebook to the St. Louis Metropolitan Area.

Whether you live here or you're coming in for a visit, it's well worth investing a few bucks for this book. You'll probably even save some money. Once you look inside, you'll notice just how many free museums, sites and attractions St. Louis has to offer. And I'm not talking about trivial, time-wasting side-trips, either. I'm talking about important sites like Laumeier Sculpture Park, U.S. Grant National Historic Site, Grant's Farm, the Federal Reserve Bank, Scott Air Force Base and Anheuser-Busch Tours, not to mention the Zoo, the Science Center, the Art Museum and the History Museum. You could spend a couple months in St. Louis, see a new site every day, and not spend a single cent on admission fees.

To say I've learned a lot from writing this book is a vast understatement. To say I've had fun discovering all these new places can't begin to tell the story. Whether you live in St. Louis or you're planning to visit here, I encourage you to explore beyond the Arch and do this city justice.

I'd love to hear any comments you have about CitySmart Guidebook: St. Louis. Feel free to post what's been most helpful to you or post any suggestions that could be helpful to me. Thanks.

-- Jody

Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: In general I like travel guides written by natives of the area, but often they don't tell the whole story to the visitor. Such is the case with this book. There are lots of off-beat sidebars and native perspective. While it contained lots of good information and "inside scoop" it also falls short in some respects. For example, many restaurants and other attractions are described as being on "the hill" and there is even a sidebar that explains the culture of "the hill" yet no where in the book was the geographical location of "the hill" given. Hotels, restaurants, etc. are also categorized by neighborhood which is an idea I LOVE, and there are descriptions of what type of environment comprises each area, yet there are no maps or other descriptions to tell you the boundaries of these neighborhoods.

Another area in which this book fails miserably is in the maps. They would be OK if they were ACCURATE. They are not -- in fact the location of several restaurants on the restaurant map are flat-out wrong, and the map of Forest Park was misleading at best. It also seems that a book of this publication date would have noted the extensive renovation, redesign, and road construction in Forest Park that was years in the planning and which is in the first year of a multi-year project. The Jewel Box is closed for all of 2002. Given the lack of signage in the park itself as well as the many construction-blocked routes, an accurate, detailed map would have been invaluable. As it was I got LOST and spent an hour wandering around on foot before reaching my destination.

Finally, this is a 100% positive book. I'm sure that made the tourism board in St. Louis happy, but I appreciate a guidebook that has the guts to say, "XYZ is not worth a visit because ...." I also got the feeling the author ran out of steam with a lot of descriptions and couldn't think of anything to say beyond a generic thumbnail.

So, since I never buy only one guide book to an area I was happy with what I got out of this book, but was also glad I had another guidebook and an excellent map with me as well.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: In general I like travel guides written by natives of the area, but often they don't tell the whole story to the visitor. Such is the case with this book. There are lots of off-beat sidebars and native perspective. While it contained lots of good information and "inside scoop" it also falls short in some respects. For example, many restaurants and other attractions are described as being on "the hill" and there is even a sidebar that explains the culture of "the hill" yet no where in the book was the geographical location of "the hill" given. Hotels, restaurants, etc. are also categorized by neighborhood which is an idea I LOVE, and there are descriptions of what type of environment comprises each area, yet there are no maps or other descriptions to tell you the boundaries of these neighborhoods.

Another area in which this book fails miserably is in the maps. They would be OK if they were ACCURATE. They are not -- in fact the location of several restaurants on the restaurant map are flat-out wrong, and the map of Forest Park was misleading at best. It also seems that a book of this publication date would have noted the extensive renovation, redesign, and road construction in Forest Park that was years in the planning and which is in the first year of a multi-year project. The Jewel Box is closed for all of 2002. Given the lack of signage in the park itself as well as the many construction-blocked routes, an accurate, detailed map would have been invaluable. As it was I got LOST and spent an hour wandering around on foot before reaching my destination.

Finally, this is a 100% positive book. I'm sure that made the tourism board in St. Louis happy, but I appreciate a guidebook that has the guts to say, "XYZ is not worth a visit because ...." I also got the feeling the author ran out of steam with a lot of descriptions and couldn't think of anything to say beyond a generic thumbnail.

So, since I never buy only one guide book to an area I was happy with what I got out of this book, but was also glad I had another guidebook and an excellent map with me as well.

Rating:
Summary: Everything you need to know about St. Louis
Review: Jody Feldman's guide to St. Louis is well-written, comprehensive and interesting. Feldman, a St. Louis native, includes everything from hotels & restaurants to sporting events & night life. Interesting factoids are interspersed throughout and a brief history of the city is also included.

A very helpful feature is added to this second edition: website addresses for almost every listing. This book was published in the spring of 2000 and at the time, it was very clearly up-to-date - it even mentions the Rams' Super Bowl victory in the winter of 2000.

If you're a tourist looking to visit St. Louis, this is definitely the book you want to take with you.

Rating:
Summary: Written by a "Real" St. Louisan
Review: Ms. Feldman does a fine job in capturing some of St. Louis' more sublime features. She writes this book as only someone who loves the area and has lived there for a long time can.

My family and I use this to find out about some of the lesser-known (at least to those not from St. Louis) attractions in the St. Louis metro area. For example, we were able to track down a real pumpkin patch so that my son could pick out his own pumpkins for Halloween. Also, we learned about the Butterfly House, an amazing climate-controlled "greenhouse" that houses several colorful species of butterflies.

Ms. Feldman also gives tips on getting around St. Louis, discusses the variety of restaurants available, and spends significant time discussing evening activities such as plays, opera, and nightclubs.

This book was instrumental in helping us dive in and enjoy what St. Louis has to offer. I appreciated the author's insight into St. Louis. She added opinions and insight that readers will not find in other city guides.

Rating:
Summary: Written by a "Real" St. Louisan
Review: Ms. Feldman does a fine job in capturing some of St. Louis' more sublime features. She writes this book as only someone who loves the area and has lived there for a long time can.

My family and I use this to find out about some of the lesser-known (at least to those not from St. Louis) attractions in the St. Louis metro area. For example, we were able to track down a real pumpkin patch so that my son could pick out his own pumpkins for Halloween. Also, we learned about the Butterfly House, an amazing climate-controlled "greenhouse" that houses several colorful species of butterflies.

Ms. Feldman also gives tips on getting around St. Louis, discusses the variety of restaurants available, and spends significant time discussing evening activities such as plays, opera, and nightclubs.

This book was instrumental in helping us dive in and enjoy what St. Louis has to offer. I appreciated the author's insight into St. Louis. She added opinions and insight that readers will not find in other city guides.