# Discussion forums and Yelp equivalents for Madrid



## Timoteo7 (Feb 15, 2016)

Can anyone recommend a Spanish-language discussion forum for Madrid matters, or -- better still -- a Spanish language Yelp equivalent?

In the U.S., I could research businesses and purchases online with Consumer Reports, Angie's List, Yelp, other sites. In Madrid, I don't know where to turn. Yelp.es exists, but seems to collect few reviews and little traffic.

Any recommendations will be appreciated. I've searched Google.es, haven't yet found what I seek.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Timoteo7 said:


> Can anyone recommend a Spanish-language discussion forum for Madrid matters, or -- better still -- a Spanish language Yelp equivalent?
> 
> In the U.S., I could research businesses and purchases online with Consumer Reports, Angie's List, Yelp, other sites. In Madrid, I don't know where to turn. Yelp.es exists, but seems to collect few reviews and little traffic.
> 
> Any recommendations will be appreciated. I've searched Google.es, haven't yet found what I seek.


Not really sure what you are after - life in Madrid, business/ work related opportunities, entertainment recommendations?
You could try meet ups
https://www.meetup.com/cities/es/madrid/
There are all kinds of groups from reading, walking, language exchanges to business opportunities and business angels...
Of course there is guia de ocio de Madrid and loads of Facebook pages to investigate like 
https://www.facebook.com/bemadrid.es/


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## jax2bcn (Dec 21, 2016)

Timoteo7 said:


> Can anyone recommend a Spanish-language discussion forum for Madrid matters, or -- better still -- a Spanish language Yelp equivalent?
> 
> In the U.S., I could research businesses and purchases online with Consumer Reports, Angie's List, Yelp, other sites. In Madrid, I don't know where to turn. Yelp.es exists, but seems to collect few reviews and little traffic.
> 
> Any recommendations will be appreciated. I've searched Google.es, haven't yet found what I seek.


I know exactly what you mean Re: looking for a Yelp equivalent. I've found that for restaurants, best to get used to the idea of not relying on an app  In the US, Yelp works wonders, but in Barcelona I haven't needed to resort to it once. Best to get a restaurant list from a friend or colleague and let chance take over for finding new places.

As far as products are concerned, I still use Consumer Reports, etc - as many of the same products I'm interested in are also in MAD/BCN/etc.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Trip advisor??
https://www.tripadvisor.es/


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## Timoteo7 (Feb 15, 2016)

Thanks for trying, Pesky Wesky and jax2bcn! I'll mark this down as a disadvantage, of the very few I've encountered in a smoother-than-expected transition from the U.S. I'll turn back the clock a few decades and try to develop a word-of-mouth network for referrals.


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## 95995 (May 16, 2010)

Timoteo7 said:


> Thanks for trying, Pesky Wesky and jax2bcn! I'll mark this down as a disadvantage, of the very few I've encountered in a smoother-than-expected transition from the U.S. I'll turn back the clock a few decades and try to develop a word-of-mouth network for referrals.


Forums such as this can be used for referrals. I personally much prefer personal referrals than those on some sites, which are often tampered with.

Just saying


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## jax2bcn (Dec 21, 2016)

EverHopeful said:


> Forums such as this can be used for referrals. I personally much prefer personal referrals than those on some sites, which are often tampered with.
> 
> Just saying


Totally agree. I used to be quite reliant on Yelp/TripAdvisor/etc, but it got to the point I could never trust the reviews... I still hop on those kind of sites just so I can see pictures of restaurants/hotels, but I no longer worry about ratings and reviews. 

I believe I saw a study that said over 65% of online reviews are fake (or posted by someone with skin in the game, like an employee or ex-employee).

When it comes to Spain, there's nothing quite like a personal recommendation


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