Winter in Iran - Lonely Planet Guide needs serious update

Winter is considered as 'low season' to visit Iran according to the Lonely Planet and other travel advice. However, I do not regret (at all) that I chose that season to tour (Tehran > Shiraz > Isfahan > Yazd > Kerman > Tehran). Days were sunny and bright with temperatures easily going up to 18-20° C. It felt quite strange to visit main tourist attractions almost void of fellow travellers.
At arrival on 27 December I spotted 35 Visa-on-Arrival applicants at IKA airport in Tehran (takes between 2-3 hrs; quite unproblematic but a tat chaotic).
It is true that Iran is an increasingly popular tourist destination, but the general perception at home is that it is a rather dangerous, adventurous destination. This does not match my experience: travel and is safe, interactions with the locals cheerful and hospitable (with some basic English you can get by quite well), and cleanliness is good with the exception of notorious air pollution in urban centres. I disliked the idea of carrying around all my cash during all the trip because no bank or credit cards, or traveller cheques can be used. However, in that department I did not experience any threat of thievery or pickpocketing. Safe indeed.

I tried to book and pay my hotels and travel ahead without going through a travel agent (significantly cheaper). I tried to book and pay train and bus tickets via http://iranrail.net/tickets.php but in the end, I was not able to manage. Instead I spent a couple of hours at a local travel agency off Ferdowsi sq in Teheran (Ms Moein 00989123830665). I was however able to book and pay hotels ahead via http://en.key2persia.com/home (efficiently, easily thanks to Ms Kashfi) which took strain of the planning.
One final remark: the Iran Lonely Planet Guide needs serious update: entrance fees are mostly 150-200K Rials for tourists (3-5 Euro) and not the 0,50 USD as stated (unless you're Iranian), prices are higher, opening times and time tables (very) often differ. I did not find any hotel that gave low season discounts as suggested. The restaurant Haji Baba in Shiraz that received a good review was an utter disappointment: overpriced, bad service and quality as if I was at the wrong place. At the other hand, the Sharzeh traditional restaurant was as excellent as mentioned.
Iranians often wondered: why did you come to Iran (there are so many more interesting places you can visit)? Well, there is so much to discover in that vast country, but here I agree with Lonely Planet: the most endearing are the people.

Thanks for your comments. I'm planning to visit (my second trip to Iran) at about the same time as you next year. How did you find the heating in the hotels? What kind of hotels did you stay in? Any recommendations? Thanks.

Iranians love their chauffage (heat) and I found that everything was very overheated the winter (and Spring) and actually was more comfortable in Tehran in the Summer.

That's great to hear (I love the heat). Thank you.

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