Lonely Planet. In 2013 we've done a Morocco backpacking trip with just a Lonely Planet guide - no phones, no Internet access, no pre-booked accomodation or transport. The guide contained maps, hostel suggestions, POI, transport options and a lot more. This year we brought the newest LP release to Thailand, and it was mostly useless - no transport or accommodation info, bad maps, generic POI descriptions. We are not buying another LP guide.
They can be quite good during the trip planning phase, like a helpful friend who makes suggestions that you are totally free to ignore. Having multiple threads of thought is easier with books, where you can riffle around the pages, maintain multiple contexts simultaneously, etc., compared to the very linear, one search at a time model that google search gives you.
The other small advantage is that they work without power and cell service.
