This book has a number of serious problems that lead me to rate it as very poor.
First, it is unbelievable that a publisher would allow a book to be released that contains dozens of grammatical errors. It is an English teacher's dream book. There are a number of run-on and awkward sentences, a couple of fragments and a perpetual confusion of when to use "its" and "it's".
Second, the book is completely unorganized. One minute, she is talking about University housing and then, starts a travelogue on Portland, OR. There is no transition or a page break. The book could have been much stonger had the author taken the time to organize it in a logical way.
Third, the formatting of the text of bizarre. For example, on page 57, she is talking about moderate accommodations in San Francisco and the next paragraph deals with Los Angeles. There are no headings or transactions whatsoever. In Appendix A, there is a chart of air couriers where the text and numbers all run together.
Fourth, a number of the references that she quotes at the end have been out of publication for almost eight years like the Budget Lodging Guide. Their website clearly states that the book ceased publication in 1996 and would not be reissued.
Fifth, there is far too much "third party" data which indicates that the author has not been to a place that she is recommending. In numerous cases, she uses "I have been told that ...". I would rather that she stick to places that she has personal knowledge of.
Sixth, she directs the reader to places in some fairly rough neighborhoods without a mention that the area is crime-ridden. For example, she recommends a hostel in Harlem without a mention of the crime. While I am reluctant to steer folks away from certain parts of various cities, crine issues should be disclosed.
There are a lot of great budget travel books that are well written. I recommend the Moon Guides and the Lonely Planet guides as books that are far better than this one.