Hi everyone,<p>We just announced our marketplace and we would love HN readers to give us feedback about overall look & feel, our form to submit itineraries and our affiliate program.<p>With Localo, travellers can book rooms, houses, sofabeds, boats, domes, and even complete islands from locals willing to share them.<p>Travellers tell what they want from their stay, and then locals compete for them by submitting personalized offers.<p>We expect Localo to provide the best matchmaking mechanism for travelers looking to experience a city like a local, so we will appreciate any suggestions related.<p>Links:
http://localo.com
http://localo.com/submit
http://localo.com/referral_program
I really liked the site, in general. I could see using this when traveling with my family to find places to stay once there are more listings available.<p>Some thoughts as I browsed the site:<p>* Everything was slow. The "About" page was the worst but the listings themselves took 5-10 seconds to load. Later, I waited 30 seconds for the search page to pop up. (I was searching for a town that had no listings from the front page.)<p>* The search form cleared the location when I navigated "back" to it from a listing. It'd be good to allow for searching, click a listing, back, click another listing, ...<p>* If I'm looking at renting a house are there restrictions on the times/dates? If so, I didn't see that indicated on any of the listings. Do I get the whole house or am I sharing it with the owners?<p>* I found the wording for some things a little strange:<p><pre><code> "This place does not welcome pets :(" Seems negative for some reason. How about, "No pets, please."?
"We don't have security mechanisms as 24-hour security, fire alarms, safe deposits, etc." I wasn't sure how to parse that the first time I read it. I'd suggest keeping it simple - "Not available"?
"Invite to Submit Offer" Gives the impression of a lot of steps. "Request a quote" seems more familiar.
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* The lack of prices on most of the listings was surprising. What does "Upscale" translate to? If I have to interact with the owner I don't want to waste my time or theirs. Perhaps a price range would help.
Very nifty app - took a look at accommodations for Chicago, where I will be going in two weeks, and was disappointed to have found only one entry. Along with it, there was no price information.<p>However, your very clean presentation on location, time from touristy attractions, and amenities included is fantastic.<p>What are you guys using for outbound email? I'd love to talk shop.<p>Good luck!
Your business seems remarkably similar to AirBnB. The only problem I noticed was on your 'about' page. It loads hundreds of thumbnail images (pictures of the "locals"), so it takes far too long to load.
I like the idea. I was confused when I searched Toronto and the top result had a price but the rest didn't.<p>My question is how scalable is this? Is the idea to eventually integrate hotel listings?