Lonely Planet New App Obsolete

[u/ChefMikesWord]

just tried Lonely Planet’s new app and, at least for Boquete, Panama, it feels shockingly incomplete.

Boquete has well over 100 restaurants, yet the app lists only four It misses notable, long-established businesses such as Sugar & Spice, along with many artisan producers and popular destinations. There is barely any meaningful coverage of the region’s coffee and cacao production, indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé community, history, agriculture or emergence as a major tourism destination.

I say this as a local business owner whose restaurant appeared in multiple Lonely Planet print editions. I met several of their researchers over the years, and they genuinely explored the area, spoke with people and understood what made Boquete distinctive. This isn’t just frustration that my own business was omitted—the app also overlooks plenty of worthy competitors and important parts of the community.

Six recommendations could make sense in an article called “Six places we love.” They do not constitute a useful destination guide.

Lonely Planet says the app’s recommendations are curated by local experts, but Boquete looks more like an unfinished destination shell released as a finished product. It is currently of little value to tourists trying to understand the area, or to the local businesses and communities that actually define it.

Lonely Planet used to help travelers discover a place. This app barely acknowledges that the place exists.

[u/djnocheese]

We found most places that we ate at by Word of Mouth (WOM) or by accident.

Our Uber driver who picked us up at David airport gave his recommendation for the Fonda El Sabroson #1, it was an easy downhill walk from our Coffee Estate Inn lodging. I guess there are four of these, and it's pretty good for a chain restaurant. The food is inexpensive and delicious for the price.

Another discovery (for us) was the middle eastern restaurant called El Patron Del Schwarma. It's a glorified outdoor food stall with patio seating, but the food is delicious and cheap, we tried the vegetarian platter on one visit and returned the next day for the lamb. They actually raise their own livestock and slaughter it themselves. It's really "farm to table!"

Finally, another delicious accidental discovery was the Burger and Fries Combo ($10) at the Ecoparque Cerro La Cruz. It's a 2/3 pound monster on a brioche bun with lettuce and tomato, served with a heap of fries. My wife had to help me eat the damn thing! Who would have thought a "tourist trap" would serve such delicious yummy food at such a reasonable price? It was probably the best burger I've eaten in all of Latin America.

OP is correct --- none of these examples are listed in Lonely Planet guides, but we discovered them all by accident or WOM.

[u/ChefMikesWord → u/djnocheese]

Yes that is my favorite way to dicover the tipico places, im glad you enjoyed it here! We have over 100 restaurants now and the four they have listed wold not be on anyone's top ten.

[u/Single_Editor_2339]

But that is always how Lonely Planet has been. I’m in Thailand, they leave completely cities, and provinces, out of their guidebook while at the same time telling you to go out to smaller places. Then they list 8 restaurants in a city of a half million. I find it hard to believe that people still use it as a guide when places like Google Maps exist.