Loogic English

Restalo is a restaurant guide and reservation service started by two entrepreneurs with the support of Barcelona Activa.

I asked the founders of Restalo to explain to me the differential aspects of the site, and to speak the truth, I am really impressed.  All entrepreneurs should be able to explain in a few words the fundamental idea of their project and get others excited by their idea.

Here are two aspects of the site that have made a very good impression on me:

It’s a site thought for the users, as much in it’s usability aspects as in its purpose. What stands out the most is that part of the revenues earned by the site are destined to the users in the form of dinner invitations through points accumulated by participating on the site. Can you imagine a travel or hotel site gifting flights or hotel stays just for commenting and participating? In Restalo, they are doing exactly that by inviting their most active users to dine out.

It’s a useful site that only accounts for restaurants that are really worth a visit. Not all - only those that stand out for something. Apart from that, the reservation service doesn’t cost anything and one can get discounts of upto 50% in some restaurants.

I would very much like to see projects that are so well thought out as Restalo. I am sure that at some point of time, we will stop thinking that we are at the tail-end as far as internet businesses are concerned.

For quite some time Lanetro was a portal of reference in Spain, an example to follow for many internet entrepreneurs. Their founders wanted to take it public and then it was acquired by Planeta.

Now Lanetro is going through a profound renewal and it wants to turn itself into a social network based on entertainment in which the users share their experiences and opinions about the places they visit.

In the new Lanetro we will be able to see content generated by an editorial team coexist with user generated content. As in all social networks that are springing up, users can create their profiles, connect with their friends, and express their opinion on the places or events they have been to.

Another important aspect of Lanetro used to be its street map. In this new version of the site, the street map accounts for the records of all the places that are mentioned in the entertainment guide, something that will be of great utility as a complement to the contents of the site.

Lastly, the design of the web is worth a mention, very cool in my opinion and also the profiles of the users that reflect very well the activity of the user within the community. Salir.com and Gentereal.com will have an important competitor in the new Lanetro.