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HAY RIVER - Lonely Planet, a worldwide source of information and advice for travellers, is not impressed with Hay River.

On Lonely Planet's Internet website, Hay River is described as a "hard-working, hard-bitten town" with little to offer visitors.

Hay River Mayor Jean-Marc Miltenberger stands along the highway running through the community, with the railway tracks and the industrial area to the left. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

The entry also describes the town's so-called sprawl – "kilometres of dilapidated motels, hulking tank farms, creaking railcars and scores of boats and trucks decomposing in weed-choked lots."

The negative description to a global audience has not gone unnoticed in Hay River.

Mayor Jean-Marc Miltenberger said he was taken aback when he first read the description, but then accepted it as fairly accurate about some parts of the town.

"Even taken with a grain of salt, there is some cold reality to the description," he said.

Anyone driving into town for the first time does see a largely industrial scene along the highway, he said. "You have to come off the highway to get a good idea of the downtown core."

Miltenberger said Lonely Planet's website description ignores the many positive aspects of the town, such as its golf course, parks, Fisherman's Wharf, the museum, the beach and the downtown core. However those elements are mentioned in Lonely Planet's printed guide book to Canada.

"What we have is hidden gems among the trees," he said.

And he questioned how much the writer explored the town.

"You're left with the impression that this individual drove into town, turned around and left," the mayor said. Miltenberger hopes Lonely Planet's description might generate some energy to make the community try better at beautification, saying a lot can be done with fencing and by covering dilapidated vehicles.

"I believe it is a negative that we can turn into a positive," he said.

The mayor has no plans to complain to Lonely Planet and believes the portrayal of the town will have a "marginal" impact on tourism.

Brian Lefebvre, the president of the Hay River Chamber of Commerce, is also not happy with the description of the town, and is more worried about the potential impct than the mayor is.

"It can have a very negative effect," he said.

Lefebvre said the chamber will discuss the issue, including the possibility of contacting Lonely Planet to register objections to the description of Hay River.

"You just can't sit by," he said.

Long-time Hay River resident Garry Carter doesn't like to see the town described in a negative way as in the Lonely Planet assessment.

However, he said, "The way I think about it, it's kind of half-assed true."

Some people don’t take good care of their properties, especially along the highway, Carter said.

"It's kind of sad for the nice town we've got here," he added.

Lonely Planet's description of Hay River is all the more striking when compared to its glowing assessments of some other NWT communities.

Fort Smith is praised as being "absurdly friendly" and "idyllic." It is also described as a peaceful, appealing government hub and somewhat un-Northern, partly because of brick homes. (When contacted about how many brick homes are actually in Fort Smith, Mayor Peter Martselos could not think of any, although he said there are a couple of businesses with brick fronts.)

As for Yellowknife, Lonely Planet calls it the NWT's must-see community and one of the territory's most scenic towns. It is also called a "Northern slumgullion" – a spicy if sometimes discordant stew of people. While described as having "black, cryogenic" winters that can break a person's spirit, Yellowknife in the summer is also called an urban outpost "a bit like paradise" because of innumerable lakes and rivers nearby.