Truly local tips in 80+ cities
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Gillian Morris

Spotted by Locals 2.0 - Truly local tips in 70+ cities

by
Jupe
•

Spotted by Locals 2.0 is an app full of city guides curated by handpicked locals in 70+ cities who write about their favorite spots. Version 2.0 is a completely rebuilt app for iOS & Android.

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Tsvetomira Filipova

Since I have discovered this app I used it for Viena, Belgrade, Thessaloniki, Skopje and Budapest - and it was a great experience. You have the chance to find truly hidden city gems that only local can tell you. I like the fact that it works offline perfectly well! SBL has became for me a must have app for travelling.

Pros:

It works offline!

Cons:

I would love to see more cities and not only capitals.

Camille Van Puymbroeck
My go-to app when I visit a city. Especially the fact that you can add your own spots makes the upgrade spot-on! Even in my hometown Brussels I manage to discover new places through Spotted by Locals. Latest discovery: Jour de Fête (which is a lovely restaurant, the best I’ve tried in a while)!
Bart van Poll
Maker
@camille_van_puymbroeck Thanks for your nice words and for pointing out that new feature Camille! It's one we use a lot too when we're on the road to meet Spotters...
Chiara Pillon

I really like the way reviews Are regularly updated.

Pros:

A different point of view to visit a new city. I discovered a lot of new places even in my own country! Offline maps are fab!

Cons:

Nothing so far.

Dan Fennessy
Great to see @spottedbylocals on Product Hunt - congrats on the update @bartvanpoll & @sannevanpol! I've been a long time user, and a big fan of Spotted by Locals, especially since meeting the Founders in Amsterdam. You would be hard pressed to find a more dedicated-to-their-mission founding team than Sanne & Bart. They truly live their their product - more than anyone I know. The fact that they've been going for a decade (an eternity in startups!), have stayed authentic and true to their core values, and have bootstrapped all the way, is even more impressive! Keep it up guys! 🙌
Bart van Poll
Maker
@dan_fennessy 😊thank you so much!
Puja Das
Fun and easy to use. Helped me find a hole-in-the-wall kind of a place in my last trip.
Sanne van Poll
Maker
@puja_das Great to hear! Do you remember which spot it was?
Kamilė Naraitė

I really enjoy using the Spotted by Locals app, I always download it in advance to make sure I have an offline map of the city. From the very first day in a new city I can feel save because I always know where to find delicious food, the best panoramic views or any interesting sights.

Pros:

- Unique places recommended by locals.

- Exclusive tips and interesting articles.

- Offline maps (!) I really love it.

- No annoying ads.

Cons:

I am waiting for more cities.

Kaye Caronongan

I use Spotted by Locals app when researching which cities to visit next, and when I'm in the actual city. The offline map is very easy to use and saves me from using data. :)

Pros:

Many city guides to choose from!

Cons:

No cons

Renata Riva

Love it love it love it! I can never travel without and miss it when I go to cities for which there's no Spotted by Locals. it's easy to find the main sights or famous restaurants and bars, but to really know a city you need to go where locals go. And if you have no local friends how do you do? You download your SbL guide and off you go, to find those rare spots to feel a citizen of that city. What I love as well is that the authors explain you why they love the place, what's special about it, it makes you see the place in a different way. How could we travel without it??

Pros:

offline maps, local tips, exactly what any traveler needs

Cons:

not too many restaurants (mainly snacks) in many cities

Pieter Walraven

Have been a user for years, good to see that the team is still going at it improving the experience!

Pros:

Great insider guides

Cons:

Would like to see some more higher-tier locations too

Pieter Walraven
@bartvanpoll love the way you guys have always had a strong focus on your community of spotters. Could you share a bit more on how you've built that out and what are some of the critical drivers of the spotter community? e.g. would love to learn what tools / platforms you use, how you collect feedback, etc Thanks and looking forward to see a lot more iterations from you guys! :D
Bart van Poll
Maker
Thanks a lot @pieterpaul for your good question! Managing the Spotters community is the funnest part of our job, so it comes naturally :) But I guess there are some key drivers: 1) Meeting all Spotters in person really helped make this publishing platform into a community. We often see that when we visit a Spotter in person, this is when they start engaging with other Spotters. In the beginning we knew who was meeting who - we've totally lost control now! 2) Organizing weekends for Spotters. In November we're organizing our 4th Spotters weekend (http://www.spottedbylocals.com/b...). 3) A dedicated "HR" person. 80% of @sannevanpoll's day and top priority is keeping Spotters happy, active and answering their questions. 4) A good website for Spotters - not connected to social media. We have a private Spotters community website where Spotters can get in touch with other Spotters. As we did not want to be dependent on social media like Twitter or Facebook (although 92% of our Spotters is on Facebook) we built it ourselves. Spotters are pretty happy. In the last "Spotter satisfaction survey" 21% "strongly agreed" and 68% "completely agreed" to the statement “I am extremely proud to tell people I write for Spotted by Locals”
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