Accommodation Books

I first saw this book advertized in the AAA magazine we receive. They encouraged readers to order it from Barnes and Noble. $5 cheaper at Amazon! Looks good. Haven't traveled with the pet yet using this book.

I purchased this book to start a new adventure in our lives of traveling with our yorkie/chinese crested mix dog. The book was easy to use, but found that you still need to call ahead to verify that the hotel still accepts pets. We found several that weren't listed that did and some that said they did that no longer were. However, it made life easy having it all in one book. Even when reaching a hotel that no longer accepted pets, they were quick to tell you which of the competitors did. We also discovered that west of the Mississsippi, places are more dog friendly. Ohio is terrible for taking a dog with you. Albuquerque, NM and Santa Barbara, CA are the friendliest.

It's ok, not a complete list, misses quite a few hotels that I stay at that I know takes pets.

My husband and I just returned from our trip to Tennassee and then to Florida. We stayed in hotels the entire time and we found them all by this book, its an essential and the ratings are so very helpful. I would recommend this to anyone traveling with their dog.

I wish I would have known about this book years ago. I can't tell you the number of times we have pulled into a motel - exhausted - only to be told "we don't take pets"! Included in this book are the rates, exact locations, exit numbers, phone numbers, motel ratings, discount information, and much more. Everyone with a pet needs this book. Your pet will love you!!!

Published as a tourist guide, this book is packed with historical and cultural perspective, great detail of architectural and artistic information, and extensive local detail providing insights into the life of various cultures that lived in the area now known as Albania over many centuries. I learned excellent details about connections in this geographical region and the Illyrians of ancient times, the direct ancestors of the original "Albanians." This land is more central to the great tides of history and culture of Europe and the Mediterranean than anyone would guess. How can this have remained hidden for so long? Grippingly and readably presented by this affable expert in Balkan affairs!

My personal nickname for the book is Blue Guide Greater Albania, because it also covers Kosovo and the Albanian speaking areas in other countries.

The number of interesting places mentioned is very extensive. But the selection seems to be a bit random and the threshold very low. Yet it is the best guide available at the moment.

I found this book in the bookstores in Albania in both English and Albnanian versions. As is typical of the Blue Guide publications, it is geared more toward a historical rather than travel context.

It is somewhat 'dated' because Albania has developed quite a bit since 2000. Roads and accomodations are improving. Even Internet cafes can be had in most of the cities, although inconsistent power is still a problem in many areas.

Now that Gillian Gloyer's guide is available, I would recommend buying it instead since it is better as a travel resource.

I lived and worked for 18 months in Tirana and traveled throughout the country from Kukes to Korca to Saranda to Shengjin and I always, always carried my Blue Guide. It was indispensable for my personal exploration of the country and allowed me to act as "tour guide" for visitors. I used the Albania-only edition until this edition came out and immediately upgraded. Any book can tell you how to get to a country or which hotels are available, but they quickly become obsolete. By focusing more on the history, culture, and environment, Pettifer avoids that trap. Albania changes every day and any attempt to recommend which hotel is good, which is safe, which is cheapest will be oudated before the ink is dry. This book tells you more about why things are the way they are. It also covers more areas off the beaten path. Yes, I own the Bradt guide too, but prefer the more detailed, denser content of the Blue Guide.

This reminds me of one of those coffee table books people used to buy because they felt they ought.

a) because it is the only guide on the market
b) because every other traveller seems to have one
c) it looks nice

Whether it suits its purpose is quite another matter. Put simply if you're into history in a big way and really want to take on the Albanian cause then this will be indispensible.

If you want an up to date guide to the actual practical information the book is almost useless. First, it is clear the author had a lot of help on the way from prearranged contacts eager to be in the book and second the author obviously had a car and I would hazard a guess a driver (at the cost of the Blue Guide). Lonely Planet/Rough Guide this is not.

Which traveller/backpacker is going to hire cars or stay in the Rogner International Hotel in Tirane? This is in essence an `ivory tower` travel guide. For instance, we didn't stay in any hotel mentioned in the guide as,apart from one, were all new and excellent (could teach the Greeks a few lessons!).

You don't need to be told of the state of the roads as in the book as you will be on the bus experiencing this at 40 bumps a minute. What you do need is up to date info on the LATEST accommodation, a lot more maps (particularly of Gjirokaster) and the maps that are there reviewed for correctness. You also need a more practical Albanian Language section to go with your dictionary than the one in this guide.

Also useful would be a guide to Corfu as this will be a booming crossing point in years to come.

If you are going to Albania and feel you MUST have a guide book and/or seriously interested in going into every historical/archealogical nook or cranny then by all means buy it. If nto stay away.

If you recently adopted a pet, this book is essential if you plan to travel with your pet. All of the hotel, airline, trains, campground regulations are discussed. The documentation and supplies needed are indicated. As well as, a discussion, on a personal level, of the possible hazards and pitfalls associated with pet travel.

This book was a complete waste of money! Last summer our family drove from Rhode Island to Washington State with our cat and two Golden Retrievers. NOT A SINGLE ESTABLISHMENT I CONTACTED FROM THIS BOOK TOOK PETS! Some of the motels I called told me that they have NEVER taken animals. Save your money and use AAA's Traveling With Your Pet. It's cheaper, and one heck of a lot more reliable.

My husband is in the Navy and we move every 18 months; On the Road with Man's Best Friend is an absolute essential. We have gone cross country twice not to mention many, many car trips in-between and have found the book to be extremely reliable. A great tool for plans that can change, it has all the essential info - How many pets, If a deposit is required, address info and phone number. All you need is a cell (or pay) phone and a couple of pooches! I would never take a trip without this book with me even if we are traveling without the dogs. A great resource!

In planning a cross-country trip with my dog (and wife too) for Summer 2000, this proved an invaluable resource. It lists thousands of pet-friendly places to stay in virtually every city and major town in all 50 states. Although the entries for each inn are very basic, they hit the high points: address, phone, web site, pet policy, and basic amenities. Places they have visited or for which they have received multiple reader recommendations are starred. I also like the fact that they cover a wide range of establishments, ranging from cottages to motels to bed-and-breakfasts to top-of-the-line hotels. Its not really a travel guide you'll need, because the information is too abbreviated, but it is a very valuable reference tool. Highly recommended.

On the Road Again with Man's Best Friend suffers from a single, major fault: it does not rate the accommodations it lists. The AAA guides, on the other hand, contain basically the same information as On the Road AND include hotel/motel ratings. This is critical, because I don't want to end up at Bates Motel even if they DO permit pets. 8-}

I have bought the fourth and fifth edition of this book, and am eagerly awaiting the sixth edition. I have used this book to select a youth hostel in both Los Angeles and San Francisco and was delighted with the results. Also used the book to help my brother plan a road trip across the country so he could see all the baseball stadiums, and he was very happy with the results as well. The book gives detailed descriptions on each hostel, so you know how many people you'll be sharing a room with, the international/U.S. ratio, whether or not there will be a lot of partying or if it's quiet, and let's you know the surrounding area. The books is also well written and fun to read.

I hope to travel to Portland and Seaside Oregon soon and stay in the hostels recommended in the book. I just wish I could find a book that is just as good to help me find places to stay during my trip to Mexico which will be this summer.

The authors update maybe 5-10% of the hostels, and with a 'Party Index' you can tell where their focus is. The best thing for hostels is online, www.hostelz.com with honest reviews by independent travelers and lots of comments.

Don't buy this edition.
maybe the next one will be better.

That is, if they list Hostel website addresses,
list the States in Alphabetical order,
put in an INDEX at the end of the book
and a postcard for travelers to send updates!

This guide's big attraction is its "quotes" of on-site people,
and authors' "opinions". The authors should date the entries.
Otherwise the assumption is that the authors were recently there
and that's not the case!

Lonely Planet, and Let's Go, guidebooks don't allow their
'scouts' to accept gratuities from Hostel Owners...
it'd be nice to see that statement from this guide.

The title is correct in stating that this book is opinionated. If you have opinions similar to the authors, this book will be of great help. Personally, I don't agree.
There is a hostel close to me which I visit occasionally. It's out in the woods, the middle of nowhere. It's great for quiet and solitude, and is surrounded by hiking trails. It was given 2.5 stars out of 5, because the house-parents are too strict (I've never found this to be the case. In fact, one didn't mind at all about an accidental mess, just as long as it was cleaned up.) and because "there's nothing to do". There seems to be an emphasis on "partying" which is something I have never expected at a hostel.
The factual information is accurate, and for that this book is useful. I just think there are better choices in a hostel guide.

I brought a copy of Hostels USA with me last year during my cross country road trip. This hostel guide was my travel bible. I found the information in it to be current and accurate. Out of the 35 hostels that I stayed in during my trip, only 5 or 6 of them were not listed in Hostels USA. But there were more hostels listed in Hostel USA than there were listed in the "other" hostel guidebook that I brought with me. Hostels USA was my "life saver" many times! I highly recommend it.

Not much info on hiking or camping that I found useful. Book is better for history type info.

Whether you are first time or repeat visitor to the Adirondacks, this guide comes in handy on any visit to New York State's great preserve, forever wild.

The guide includes eight chapters. First is the park history, an important background for everyone. Second, comes a short guide on transportation to, from and through the wilderness area, including mileage and estimated traveling times. Third, you'll find an extensive 90-plus pages of accommodations, from the rawest of campsites to the most lavish inns and hotels. Personally, we're partial to the non-profit camp organizations, but there are plenty of choices to suit every taste.

A fourth 50-page chapter covers the theater, arts and museums in the Adirondacks, from Champlain Valley to Lake George. There are music festivals and the Six Indian Nations museum, for example, and the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake is not to be missed. One can also find storytelling sessions in high season.
And don't forget the writer's programs, for wordsmiths among the travelers.

Chapter Five offers 80 pages of eateries, in every category, from the classic Adirondack diner, the Noon Mark in Keene Valley, famous for its home baking (including excellent fruit pies) to the fabulous gourmet restaurants like Friends Lake Inn in Chestertown, a onetime boarding house for tannery workers with a fabulous menu. And of course there are a wide variety of food stores listed, for those who like to eat on the run, or need to stock their ice chests before heading to camp.

The 100-page sixth chapter, on recreational opportunities and listings, is one of the book's most useful, for it not only includes the obvious--like bike, ski, boat rental outlets and tours of every stripe--but also several suggestions on how to find private camping guides.

Chapter Seven keeps the shopaholics happy, I suppose, though I've never found much use for this set of listings. Unfortunately, some of the classic Adirondack stores, like the Bashful Bear bookstore in Keene Valley. Finally, in chapter Eight, is a "nuts and bolts" listing of emergency and medical centers, banks and cash machines, guided tours and an important and useful bibliography for further reading.

We've taken this guide along on every trip to the High Peaks, and it always comes in handy.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

If this is the best guide for the region there is a wide opening for competition. The organization by topic rather than area makes this book virtually useless for planning a trip. Even if one focuses on a single topic (fishing, hiking, ..) there is little guidance for someone choosing where to go -- often there are lists of places with no descriptions or completely useless paragraphs that say, essentially, "there are many many places you can do X in the Adirondacks." So I agree that this hardly serves as a guide at all. There is some interesting history in the book that could make this worth buying as background reading.

Having spent much time in the Adirondacks, and with a child at school in Saratoga Springs, I was extermely disappointed with the scope of information in this "complete guide". While the historical, geographical and quasi-scientific narrative that Ms. Folwell has compiled is interesting, the information that a traveler/vacationer/tourist (especially one who's new to the area) would need is sorely lacking. The meager information that is available is unusually skewed toward what seems to be the author's limited personal taste in facilities, activities and likes.

Apparently, Ms. Folwell does not like hotels or resorts, since most of them (and there are several in the Adirondacks) were glaringly missing from this book. Also oddly missing were some of the best restaurants in Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Saratoga Springs. (I concede that "best" is subjective, but there were just too many missing from her book.)

The Adirondacks are a haven for camping, yet this book glossed over that topic with a minimum of information. What about the amazing campsites on the islands of Indian Lake? Or the available lean-to locations in the High Peaks region?

Finally, the organization of this book is antithetical to a good travel guide. Rather than approach the Adirondacks by region, the author divides the book by topic. Since the Adirondacks are relatively large, it's most likely that a visitor will be spending the bulk of her time in a single area. This guide offers no comprehensive list of data about any given area or town, and requires you to jump around and compile your own data sheet if you're staying in one area.

Rather than "A Complete Guide", it would be more appropriate for this book to be called "An Introduction to the Area," since that is in fact exactly what it is, and no more.

The Adirondack Book is an excellent guide to what to do, where to eat, etc., in the Adirondacks. The format is easy to follow, and the comments/recommendations are pretty much dead on. Not all of my personal favorites have found their way into these pages, but I've definitely been introduced to some new faves. Even if you own previous editions, I recommend buying the newest available--things change, and yesterday's hot spot may well have fizzled.

We used this book (along with Petswelcome and the Internet) to help find accommodations for ourselves and our rambunctious German Shepherd puppy during a move across country. It was extremely helpful in finding possible places to stay in cities that we were not familiar with. Of course, we called all of the places to confirm that they took pets, the rules and the extra fees, before making a decision on any one place. Each place we ended up at was pretty well described in the book and our dog loved his first road trip!

We use the book often, and successfully because we take the authors' advice which is to call ahead and confirm that the property still takes pets. We also go to their website (www.petsonthego.com) to check for updates as well. This is the only pet travel guide, that we know of, to offer both a print version and online version for updates. It really makes it easy for us.

I work in the hospitality industry and know that hotels change policies on a whim -- I think Pets on the Go does a great job of responding to those changes by offering both an easy to use print guide with updated online information! Thanks.

I took this and another pet travel book on a cross country trip to my folks house with my dog. I found this to be the least useful, as many of the entries were wrong (it was a HoJo, not a Ramada as listed) and the information was wrong (there was a $10/night charge and the book didn't mention it). All in all I wasn't too impressed.

This book covers it all for us -- tells us about pet friendly places to stay, gives us the website addresses to check them out in advance and provides us with the details about pet policies and amenities. We use a combo of the book and the Pets on the Go website (www.petsonthego.com), as the book is easy to look through and carry with us, while the site has book updates and is packed with other information about pet travel trends, cool new hotels, and recreational activities.

Good find!

The main reason I purchased the book was because I wanted the Hotel locations show on road maps. There isn't a single map in the entire book. For some reason I assumed this aide would be included in the printed version. In larger cites this would be a great help as I try to avoid going out of my way when traveling to find a place to stay. Its basically an outdated printed version of the Web site. Great to have along if your travel plans change and you have no internet connection but of limited use if you do.

Over the past few years I have visited several of the resorts listed in this book. I've found the management and conditions excellent. I like the resorts so much that I wouldn't want the mass market or other wrong-headed persons to visit. That makes me hesitate to promote these spots too much. However, in the face of the curious pans on some of the resorts from other Amazon readers, I felt compelled to make note of my own times at these Best All-Inclusives! I'd also like to mention my absolute favorite but that I'm going to keep a secret of course!

We bought the book because it seemed thorough and well written at first glance. Both my wife and I eventually read most of it -- it was entertaining and well done. We used it to select the kind of vacation we wanted and the particular resort. I found it to have a lot of diverse, interesting choices with great detail. We traveled to a resort in the Bahamas that the Parises recommended and found it to be exactly as described -- and in some ways even better! We have since lent it to a neighbor with our high recommendations. I know places can change for the better or worse quickly, but we definitely were pleased --

We visited two of the so-called 'Best' all-inclusives in this book, and they were terrible (neglected, unkept, terrible food). I wouldn't trust this book, and certainly would not use it to plan a hard-earned vacation.

Despite the title this is almost entirely about the US and its' near neighbours. Europe and Asia get a cursory glance. The resort coverage itself is sparse and there are few illustrations.

From the "100 Best Resorts" series by The Globe Pequot Press. The
authors point out that travelers save up to 25 percent of vacation
costs when booking all-inclusive stays. Rates start at $800 per week, per person; the average cost per couple is $2,500 per week. In addition, all-inclusive travelers often receive airfare discounts; for instance, Club Med (the original all-inclusive) has exclusive deals with airlines while the owner of the Sandals chain also has a controlling interest in Air Jamaica.

All-inclusive resorts offer one price for all services, gratuities, food, and lodging. If nothing else, it is an amazing peace-of-mind feeling to go on vacation knowing the exact cost. There are no surprises, especially in cost, with all-inclusive resorts; consistent quality is another trademark. The resorts were originally designed for singles but now cater to couples and families, too.

This book excludes European properties, in spite of Club Med starting there some 50 years ago. The rankings and the book have a very US-centric focus. 84% of the properties are in North America, including US, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. In fact, this book could serve as a useful guide for someone choosing between resorts in Jamaica and Mexico (27% of the listings).

Contact points, including toll-free telephone numbers and Web sites, are provided for each listing. Check with either or both for package deals, specials, or other additional information. Prices for most properties are listed per person, per day, even though the Introduction indicated that most stays are for one week. It would be nice to have weekly rates listed, especially if they are different (that is, less) than the daily rate times seven. Another silly inconsistency that bothered me is that airports (and other information) are listed in different formats;
perhaps because the authors merely duped the information provided by the resorts. For instance, the closest airport for most of the Jamaican resorts was listed three different ways, although it was the same airport (Donald Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay). Also, airports are listed in time, distance, or both from the resorts. This would probably bother only me.

Reviewed November 2001 by Charles McCool ...

We stayed in the London Elizabeth Hotel near Kensingtom Park after reading the exquisite review in Cheap Sleeps. The author goes overboard describing the Hotel as wonderful beyond belief. It wasn't. I was unsure when I walked into the worn and scruffy lobby, but when they showed me to my very hot, stuffy and shabby "family" room (two twin beds with two cots shoved in!) I was apalled. Everything about this place needed help--the towels, linens and carpet were worn beyond belief and dirty. The room, bath etc, need a good scrubbing and refurbishing, the restaurant was closed and the service was minimal. OUr three day stay cost almost $800.00. Not cheap and not a good value for my money. Did the author really stay here? We were very disappointed and angry. J. O'Connor

I WILL TRAVEL TO LONDON & I WANT CHEAP SLEEP IN IT PLEASE SHOW THE PRICES TO ME.

When I saw the title of this book I thought it was meant for me but I guess I just have different definition of "cheap". There are a few "cheap" places listed in her book ...but not many, and not enough to make the purchase of this book worthwhile. I would recommed getting Rick Steves London or Let's Go. Both list more sub $80 dollar hotels than this book and are chock full of other useful information.

This will be our first trip to London in August. Orginally we'd booked accomodations at a Best Western but the thought of flying all the way to London and staying in a Best Western just didn't do anything for me. So we bought this book. Through it we found and rented a two bedroom apartment in Chelsea overlooking the Thames. The price was about the same as a upper middle hotel room. Without this book I never would have considered this or even known how to go about it.

As the author states this book is not about finding the cheapest but the best value for the money. It also contains many helpful hints on what to bring, what to pack, and just general information about London. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially first timers.

The descriptions and details in Cheap Sleeps are accurate and very helpful - not only to the first-time traveler but also to those who want to try a different area or a different price range.

Once in a while I am disapointed to find the mom & pop places are closed up & replaced by a corporate place. Those that pan out are right on the money with the reviews that are included in this book. Calling ahead is always smart.

For a book on travel, it seems that the index would be from the viewpoint of (in this order) State; City, Restaurant. In this book if you are in Podunk, Somewhere you can't find it in the index unless you know the name of the restaurant.

More "out-of-city" locations would have been preferable.

In the text, list the State, City and restaurant with maybe one or two lines of description with a rating code.

Sorry, I was't impressed and am returning the book.

I started reading Jane and Michael Stern in "Gourmet" magazine and soon realized that they obviously have no home other than their car, truck or trailer. They are ALWAYS on the road and when they are not busy eating, they are certainly busy writing. Here I am in New York City where many of the top restaurants in the world are located and, frankly, I'd rather be eating a stack of diner pancakes or snacking on a lobster shack crab roll or finishing the meal with a slab of chocolate cream from a pie palace! After all, I am the guy who drove once from Miami to Key West, stopping way too many times to decide whether Key Lime Pie was different on each and every Key.

The Stern volume can squeeze into your glove compartment and while you're driving, whoever's in the passenger seat can whet your appetites reading out loud about what's coming up ahead.

The book is easily, cleverly divided into large chunks of states and then again into individual states. Do you know where to get flannel cakes or schmaltz? Ever drunk a cabinet? (no, not a cabernet.) Do you know the difference between Indian and Grape-Nuts pudding? Read the book.

This is a funny, charming and totally informative volume. You'll love it. And you'll USE it.

The best parts are the "sidebars", short articles on things like different styles of clam chowder and lists of good steak houses or pie spots that you might want to copy down for quick reference if you travel a lot. However, the restaurant listings are far too incomplete to really use this as a comprehensive source of advice for long road trips. Even "500+" listings have to get spread pretty thin over a country as large as the good old USA! And be warned, this is a meat eater's book that lists LOTS of steak houses, hot dog stands, hamburger joints and bar-b-q spots.

There is an average of about 10-12 places listed for each state, with no apparent relationship between the size of the state and the number of restaurants listed: Maine gets 20 listings (surprise, there're a lot of lobster shacks along the coast up there!) while New York gets just 19, and our largest state, California, only gets 26 (of which 70% are in SF, LA and San Diego).

Western states are particularly sparsely covered. There are only 7 tips for Colorado, but the Sterns guide us to 16 culinary Meccas in Alabama. The Sterns can't find even one place to list in Phoenix (admittedly not a great restaurant city, although I managed to find a few good spots the last time I was there). "Oh well, Mildred, there's nothin' here, we'll just have to drive a few hundred more miles to LA before we can eat."

Based on the authors' selection of restaurants for the area of the country where I live, Seattle, I concluded that the Sterns have no more insight into the identities of good local restaurants than you can find in a typical travel guide. My experience is that most conventional city and regional guidebooks list at least as many worthwhile places as the Sterns and they are usually written by locals who really do know some of good spots. For metro areas I've had good results with the Zagat surveys.

There are only 10 to 12 restaurants per state, but the ones that are listed are great. If you are driving across the U.S. and would choose your route based on great food, as much as sightseeing, then this is the perfect book for you. If you rarely get outside of your home state, then this book will be a disappointment for you.

Hopefully, one day Jane and Michael Stern will have enough reviews to publish several big thick books covering different regional areas in the United States, where they will have 50 to 60 restaurants per state.

Though this book was written some 8 years ago, the information contained is still quite useful. There are many travel books on the market but virtually none focus on this type of market: spiritual travel and retreats in the US. I've been to several of the retreats and have been enthralled with the people I've met there. It's easy to get caught up in the Disney World consciousness of travel but if you want something a bit different, this book has that kind of information for you. Yes, some of the places may have changed but not all of them. If you have an area in mind, this book is most helpful to finding out what's available. In this very unique field of travel, this is an excellent reference book for opening the mind, heart, and spirit to greater things. These folks who have the retreats and monastaries don't usually advertise and are not found on the internet so any help is good help. This book is exactly what it says it is, a guide book. I'm so very thankful to have it too, it's been an exceptional tool.

During these very stressful times, when the simple desire to find peace within becomes a burning obsession, this book can help you locate some perfect places to do just that.There are many guide books out there to choose from for a myriad of vacation styles but this book is extremely unique as it only offers places where a seeking soul can find inner peace, can find the true divine nature of who they are, to find deepest form of traquality one can obtain on a vacation or perhaps in life itself. If a person were looking for dinner shows, black diamond restaurants, thrills and high-entertainment for the whole family, this isn't that kind of guide, nor are the places mentioned between the covers going to be appealing.This book is only for those who seek the greatest thrill of all: inner tranquillity and divine connectedness. It's a "must have" book for the inspired traveler. I give it a 5+ rating! Laurie.

I appreciate that this book exists (I would have no idea how to find these places otherwise, especially the Eastern-thought ones), but the book (and the two others by the same authors) is written sort of as a piece of "spiritual tourism." The descriptions of each place seem to focus on the accommodations and amenities; for example, I think almost every place is described as having "delicious [vegetarian] meals."

That's nice, and I'm glad to know that I would eat well if I went there, but I would have liked a bit more description of each sanctuary's spiritual approach, as it is relevant to my reasons for wanting to go to one.

Maybe a set of short general descriptions of the various approaches at the beginning of the book (Benedictine, Trappist, Jesuit, Mahayana, Theravada, Zen, etc.), including their similarities and differences. Then, in the description of each individual place, how they carry out that particular tradition, any differences of approach from the "standard," and so on.

Don't misunderstand - there is some description of spiritual approach, but it isn't as consistently present as the descriptions of the meals, the beds, the view, and so on.

The other two books by these authors have a decent amount of overlap, but they're useful, too. (I have all three.) I don't know if it's mentioned elsewhere, but each of the three books lists, beyond the places featured and described, the names, addresses, and phone numbers of many other places in each state. I'm sure that some of the information is probably out of date by now, but at least the names and general locations give one something to go on in a search.

Sanctuaries: The Northeast (A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats of the United States)

Sanctuaries: The West Coast And Southwest (A Guide to Lodgings in Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats of the United States)

As another reviewer alluded, many of the monasteries/convents in this book are included without the nuns'/monks' knowledge or permission. Further, at the end of each state's chapter "other places" are listed for guest accommmodations. The listings are totally inaccurate. Having contacted many of the "other places" I discovered that some have facilites for guests and others do not. The information in the book is not dependable.

This is an excellent guidebook -- not only the best of its field, but also the only one that I know of. In my opinion, this is an absolute essential for the spiritual adventurer. Armchair seekers -- such as I -- will also enjoy its many, many stopovers and tales. I recommend it highly, but wonder why something like this wasn't written sooner ... when I was still young and single enough to put it to better use.