A vacation should never be budgeted where eating at McDonalds is a reality.
Waiting for the Metro is a new business format from Simon Andrew offering tourists visiting Amsterdam the chance to use the sharing economy on an entirely new level.
Whether visiting Simon’s own home for a completely home-made meal (with locals) or onsite to your apartment, picnic or on the water, Simon is making it easier and more enjoyable to visit Amsterdam as a tourist and live like a local.
Simon started with the idea of inviting people to his home through an online Facebook group called ‘Dinner with Strangers, Amsterdam’.
“I wanted to have a table of people, as individuals, not with a friend or partner, to enjoy dinner and conversation with a group of people they have never met. The dinners have been amazing! It’s amazing what a small world we live”, commented Simon. The group now has a steady growth of new likes every week.
During the exact period as these dinners started, Simon joined another online platform which was starting operations in Europe. WithLocals is a Dutch owned and managed online platform offering tourists a local experience whether it be food, tours or questions on the country or city. Originally launched in Asia, it has seen a massive increase in notoriety and popularity that they decided to launch in Europe. First in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, they have also began in Barcelona, Spain.
Through WithLocals, Simon was really able to showcase his skills in the kitchen, as a host and event manager. WithLocals saw Simon was keen to go the whole nine-yards on his home dinners. Since he has began hosting dinners through WithLocals, Simon has seen over 100 people calk through his door and enjoy their ‘gastvrijheid’. Dutch for hospitality!
“WithLocals have been really great for me. I have learnt a lot about myself and capabilities having so many people visit our home. WithLocals have a great platform to attract people. Great team too for support”, said Simon.
People want to live like a local and sometimes the place where they are staying is so unique and beautiful, why only sleep there!
But it has not stopped there. Waiting for the Metro has expanded! Simon has began to take bookings as a private chef. For an extremely reasonable price per head, Simon has confirmed bookings for people wanting dinner parties but not have to do it all themselves. This includes people doing house swaps or other online accommodation sites such as AirBnb.
“People want to live like a local and sometimes the place where they are staying is so unique and beautiful, why only sleep there! Have a dinner party, invite some local friends. There are some incredible places in Amsterdam and why not make use of them!”.
Additionally, Waiting for the Metro can do picnics for guests or book the perfect restaurant for tourists wanting to go somewhere they would never have known about when visiting Amsterdam.
Too, Simon offers a service that provides what a tourist often needs when arriving at a destination.
“Often arriving into a new vacation location, you arrive late and do not know anything around! Or, everything has closed. And if you’re like me and my husband, we need our coffee in the morning, especially before we leave the house. And we often like a nice drink when we arrive somewhere. To know someone has arranged all that and left it in the house would be amazing! Once less stress to worry about.”, explains Simon.
Check out Simon Andrew’s website to see what is on offer!
Dinner with Strangers, Amsterdam 