Resorts Books

I purchased this book based on previous experience with Fodor's books. The categories were helpful for a quick determination of the type of facility. The descriptions however seemed more like advertisements from the various facilities rather than informed experiences from the writers. The rates were not up to date and there are no web sites listed. Unbelievable for a travel book published in 2000!

I can't tell you how often I have used this book in the year I've owned it. It describes every major spa in the US and Mexico so well. The categories is uses to classify are great. I've sent copies to several friends so we can plan getaways together. Even if you just want to fantasize about going to a spa, it's a great reference.

Having invested (and wasted) money on this shallow, terribly written and inaccurate book, I would advise anyone considering purchasing it to buy Gene Kilgore's Vacation book, which I found out regrettably to late, is considered the bible of the industry.

My trips to Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Vermont were wonderful. If I had not found this book, I would never have found out about these places. I love to ride horses as I can see an area so much more close up. There are so many choices out there, the different categories of horseback vacations that the sites are listed under helped too. I had no idea there were so many ways to enjoy horses on vacation. Even when I have had non-rider companions we have found places where we all had a great time. Also there were good travel planning tips in the book.

A modern day fable- the mermaid is the secret link between childhood & adulthood and a father & son. Inventive, witty, an instant classic!

Let me put it simply: this book is so dreadful that every copy needs consigned to the bottom of the sea where only real mermaids might be able to read it. There's nothing to recommend this book from the laughably awkward dialogue to the nonsensical narration, to the choppy sentences, to the complete misuse of dialogue tags. This is an amateur effort that makes no sense, has no interesting or compelling characters, and is completely disgusting.

I always hate to rail about filth in books because it makes me feel like an old prude (I'm not old at least), but talk of a five-year-old's "pee-pee" as mermaids sexually abuse the young Jacob Koleman and later the father-son-mermaid incestual threesome warrant the tag of disgusting filth.

As mentioned before, the dialogue is laughably awkward. None of these characters ever utters a line that sounds even remotely like something that would come from a human being. Nor are these terrible lines arranged in any way that could be misconstrued as a conversation. Basically everyone spouts random nonsense.

I might be able to describe the plot for you if any of it made any sense. From what I gather, Jacob is abused by mermaids early on and has a lifelong fixation. Eventually after his divorce he ends up meeting a mermaid who is trying to reproduce. There's a lot of talk about menopause, Marilyn Monroe, and Disney that doesn't add up to anything.

The writing doesn't help make the plot any clearer; if anything the writing makes the plot LESS understandable. The author uses lots of choppy sentences mixed with odd metaphors and cliches that gives the whole thing an ADHD feeling. Maybe there's an interesting story in here, but I haven't found it.

The characters are all so bizarre (and speak so poorly) that none comes close to seeming like a real human being. At least the mermaid has an excuse. Some like the agent's secretary and the crisis counselor are so bizarre they seem more like aliens from another world than real people.

Anyone who likes the book might try to call it whimsical or fun, but it's just bad. Not even bad in a campy B-movie way, just BAD as in terrible, horrible, dreadful. This makes my Top 5 for worst books I've ever read. Highly recommended you stay away from this garbage, considering there are so many more worthwhile entertainments out there. Find one and don't look back.

There is very serious mistake in the edition I consulted. The Hanson Hills recreation area map has a NORTH arrow pointing to the SOUTH (page 165). I only figured this out after getting lost in the trail system (end of season and the trails were no longer groomed). I decided to head south "towards" the trail head or the access road only to find out that I was actually heading away from the parking lot and into the wilderness.
My luck was that I trusted my instincts over the map and it was not snowing hard so my tracks were still visible. I got to my car after 4 hours in dark conditions, not a single soul in the park.
I actually like the book and had used before but I find this "small" mistake very disturbing. This is not the kind of mistake that falls in the category of subjectivity, as in rating some trails advanced or easy.
I understand the disclaimer in the book "...know your limitations" but this is such a basic and vital piece of information that, in my opinion, the book should be recalled before someone gets seriously injured or worse.
Hopefully the author and editors will revise this for future editions and be more diligent in checking the information provided.
Edson Chagas

It's a great book, good descriptions, easy to use and concise. It tells you everything you need to know about the trails of northern Michigan.

This book is a little out of date now, but it includes all the basics we needed to plan our ski trip. We wanted to do a road trip through several Western states, and with the information in this book, we were able to plan where to go and where to stay without breaking the bank. It helped us balance our trip between big resorts that everybody knows about a little resorts that we hadn't even heard about.

No much more than a compilation of generally available information. Was hoping for reviews, tips, insight, etc.

All this proves is that "ski style" is ANYTHING you want to build in a ski area. Some of the places have no "ski" feel at all.

I felt there was an unhappy overtone in 'skifanatic's review elsewhere. I guess I can remember feeling a bit like that when young and all I could do was covet. However, don't be put off. The photos in this book -- particularly the Alpine homes -- are a tribute to design, warmth, style, and beauty of traditional materials. And yes, they are also a tribute to money.
But take out the envy and you have examples of a most fabulous marriage between modern crafts and mediaeval styles, using wood, iron, glass, ceramics, cottons, furs, etc etc. Breathtaking homes -- though somewhat less so in the case of the modern-style, overly self-conscious designs.
I lived in a mountain village in the Swiss Alps for a couple of years in the 1960s, and still adore the warmth, solidity, simplicity of the homes there as well as the intracies of the wood structures, paneling and finishes. That was true even for (maybe especially for) the peasant chalets, such as those where I spent that time (skiing fanatically, I might add).
The homes in this book are a tribute to what great imagination, and great taste, based on traditional styles materials, and values can achieve. I was transported by the book and would love to own one of them -- if someone else would take on the upkeep and maintainance!!
Mr.'skifanatic' will get over his hurt one day I hope and may even get to enjoy such places -- while ignoring the fact that others possess them. We don't all have to live in the kind of crowd-accomodating ski barns that dot today's ski centers to be democratic. It is good that human achievement can reach the levels shown in this book. It keeps the crafts people up in the mountains where they surely have a place.

This is a book about college kids working at a resort in the 50's. They have a few goals: loafing on the job; getting drunk and having sex. This is it. The whole story. I managed to get to page 190 before I gave up. Not only is the story forgettable, characters enter in conversations without prior introduction. Then there are proof reading errors. As an avid book reader, I am willing to give any book a chance. Since I did, you don't have to waste your time.

Summer at the Resort is a time capsule. It preserves the peculiar hunger and greed, self consciousness and doubt of a generation poised on the edge of the Korean War, other Communist threats , and patriotic paranoia. As the young characters cycle between labor and lust in the resort world, they play out the dispair, cynicism, and fear that were gripping the larger socity.

In response to these stressful times, many young men who felt they would become involved in the war tried to live their lives to the fullest. The characters of this novel by their actions reflect not only the wild behavior of the era's young men and women, but that mind-set that gripped the nation. The author captures the inexperience, frustration, and awkwardness of young men suddenly exposed-as staff members at a summer resort-to more drinking and wild living that they had ever imagined. They soon learn that the resort's sex ratio of four women to each man doesn't always work in their favor, and thus their nightly search for pleasure is often aimless and unrewarding.

I'm not a prude, but I expect that when I read about a man who is trying to decide whether or not to take his final vows to be a priest that he will struggle at least a little with giving in to his sexual desires out of wedlock. The hero, Brendan, doesn't seem to give it a thought when he makes out with the Dani, the heroine. I felt like the story was just pieced together without much developement of the issues that the characters were supposedly struggling with. I also thought there would be a bit more about the relationship of the couple with the baby, the offspring of Brendan's unwed niece, but the baby seemed to be secondary to things, and ends up getting adopted by strangers at the end of the book. I'm sorry I wasted my money on this book.

A young man parks himself in the woods hoping to settle his
mind on the final acts of his planned career, the priesthood.
But, a young spirited young woman steps into his quiet retreat
and raises serious questions to his choice for lifelong celibracy. And, if that doesn't add enough dynamic tension, his
teenage niece shows up, nine months pregnant. Walden, this is not. Terrific, this is, a feel-great romantic woodland novel that is wonderful to read.

This book contains reviews of the "100 Best" resorts in the Caribbean. The reviews are short and contain most of the information that you would need to make an informed decision. However, the older version of the book had FAR more color pictures, and without them, this version is just not as helpful. Still, there are hotels in this book that you might not find otherwise and it's a good beginning in terms of picking an island to visit. But you will need to buy other books.

My family and I just returned from our first trip to Disney World. (It was as blast!) Because it was our first time and we were essentially clueless to the Disney experience, we bought several guides.

The 2004 version of The Everything Family Guide was one of five guides that we bought, but after the initial perusal, I didn't even look at it. Instead, I find myself drawn to the Birnbaum guide with its colorful, glossy pages and The Unofficial Guide to Disney World 2006 which is a critical, analytical treatment of just about everything.

Don't get me wrong: author Jason Rich is pretty thorough. It's just that nothing gets any critical remarks (although there's a star system rating likely appropriateness of attractions to age groups), and it's hard to tell what's really "not to be missed" (even though he makes recommendations).

Not only that, even though it's a 2004 edition, it already needs updating. Expedition Everest, the Lights, Motors, Actions! Stunt Show, and other newer attractions are mentioned as "upcoming", but hadn't yet debuted before publication. I get the feeling that the Stitch's Great Escape (which replaced the Alien one) hadn't debuted yet, either, yet he ranked this ride "not to be missed". (Everyone I talked to--and every review of this attraction I've read on the internet--describe this as an AWFUL attraction. No one likes it!)

Also, he mentions attractions that are no longer there--like Tarzan Rocks. There is no mention of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (MGM), Mickey's PhilHarmagic (the best 3D show in all the parks), Test Track (Epcot- The Land) or Crush's Turtle Talk (Epcot-The Seas)--further showing that this book should be updated YEARLY in order to be relevant for visitors.

So if you'd like an overview of Walt Disney World in a gentle, upbeat tone--including restaurant and hotel overviews--this is not a bad guide. Yet, I only consulted it once, preferring the other guides over this one.