Re guidebooks’ accuracy

Keep in mind that prices quoted in travel guidebooks can quickly become outdated.

On our trip to Chile in April ’07 we took a 2005 edition of “Let’s Go Chile” (St. Martin’s Press) and a 2002 Moon Handbooks’ “Chile” by Wayne Bernhardson, also purchased in 2005 (very good for maps and much information). They showed hotel prices in, for instance, Valparaiso as around $40 a night. We found that hotel rooms actually started at $80 and went up to $175.

We stayed at a recommended bed-and-breakfast instead. It was what it said. The room, about the size of my walk-in closet, had a bed in it. No closet or chest of drawers. And an okay breakfast. This cost $80.

CLAIRE P. GORDON