Spanning three continents, this summer, I took a deep dive into remote hospitality. From dispersed micro-communities in South Africa, to a global hostel network targeting digital nomads, the world is transitioning to a new normal - one where people aren't relegated to one city.
These are some of my findings along the way.
The First Stop: TSH Toulouse
The Social Hub (TSH) is pretty neat. For some background, this operator was initially branded as The Student Hotel, focused on providing housing for students in large metros where student housing is expensive. Their first location opened in 2003 catering solely to students. In 2010, they rolled out the hotel portion to the public. With four properties by 2012, and now 22 in ‘23 with three more to open by year end, they are scaling and scaling fast.
From my understanding, their model works by hitting a volume threshold of student housing rooms (negotiated locally with municipalities) which enables them to garner favorable tax incentives (and possibly favorable lending terms?) to build the rest of the property. My assumption in that student housing portion represents ~50% of each property and likely covers a SIGNIFICANT percentage of their debt or lease obligation, meaning that the F+B & hotel revenues are basically just icing on the cake even at low occupancy rates. I am working on digging further into their business model in conversations over the next week, so I will report back.
I will say, however, it does still feel like a hotel. The only difference really being that a large portion of the building is apportioned for student housing. I’m not sure there is quite a model like this in the US, but it is part of their five year vision to expand into North America.
This location first opened some doors in Dec ‘22, but it feels like they haven’t been full open for much time. Case in point - as I’m writing this, they are literally taking more photos for the website.
The quoted content below is all from my “First Take” review of TSH:
Upon walking in, I will say I was a little underwhelmed by the space activation. That being said, it is midday Wednesday, so I realistically shouldn’t be expecting much. The lobby is super well-lit and inviting, the entry doorways have surrounding lighting which is pretty neat. Uber competent staff – all multilingual seemingly.The vibe overall in the lobby & café is awesome. Lots of people of all ages and I mean all. We have high schoolers, university students, Grandmas, business people. It’s truly a unique and diverse group of users which is very cool.The environment is very work and social friendly. They have a great semi-chill playlist at the perfect volume – it’s not too loud it’s overbearing and it’s not too quiet that you can’t make out the words if you aren’t speaking. The décor is on point. I’m actually amazed at how well appointed almost every aspect of the common areas of this property are. From signage to unique lighting to greenery to random decorative items, the design is very intentional. Nothing crazy, the decorations are not luxurious, but just very attractive. I hesitate to compare it to SoHo House, however, it is almost like an affordable outfit of SoHo House. Think what Ikea is to CB2. Comparing the actual environment to the website, I’m blown away how spot on it is – you know how websites can be slightly deceiving, but this has not yet disappointed.
Stop 2: Outsite Bordeaux
So this is one of Outsite’s newest locations, having just opened in January. Located semi-centrally (15 minute walk to city center, 15 minute walk to Bordeaux Train Station), the location is convenient, yet not in an optimal part of town. Not a lot of surrounding public transit, which makes getting into the city or two the train station a mandatory hike.
The house itself was nice. 8 Bed, 4.5 baths. The main floor consisted of a living area, a little desk, dining room, kitchen, and back patio/terrace. The basement had a laundry room with two washers, two driers, a bare bones workout room, and a half bathroom. The second floor had 2 fulls baths and 4 bedrooms - each with queen beds, desks, fan, and an Ikea closet. The third floor had 1 full bath, 3 queen bedrooms, and a fourth bedroom with it’s own bathroom and a king bed. The rooftop had an accessible terrace.
The bathrooms were tiny, not enough space to properly use a towel to dry off.
The finishes throughout the house were VERY bare bones. Like minimalistic to a fault. It didn’t at all feel homey, it felt more like a half-assed Ikea. The kitchen had all the essentials which was nice. The amount of storage was great for 8 people - plenty of drawers and 2 full fridges. The singular small freezer was a constraint, but I didn’t run into issues there. The actual cooking area had plenty of prep space, two stove tops, two ovens, one microwave, a toaster, and a blender.
Foods - complementary items included instant coffee, tea, and sugar.
Overall, the house was alright. I continue to be astonished at the reality of the properties. Obviously all brands want to paint a prettier picture in marketing a product/service than their reality, but I am quite a bit let down. That being said, I am blown away at the retention these places do have. The fact that these properties continue to be in high demand and supported by the user base of Outsite really does surprise me (as can be seen by speaking with house managers and lack of vacancy at both Bordeaux and Biarritz locations). I guess that points to a few things A) there is appetite by digital nomads to stay in these coliving communities, B) people are willing to make sacrifices in order to have the ease of having home-like amenities, C) true communities are sticky - consumer retention is much easier when customers like their community.
So, would I stay there again? Hard pass. Maybe I was spoiled because of the heat or maybe it was the lack of a good location or probably the combination of the two. As much as I loved the community aspect of the place, the actual property kinda sucked. Yeah it might look okay on the photos, but it’s really the minor things that start adding up:
A/C = nonexistent
Crappy community manager (inside scoop - ask for more)
Pillows = crumpled newspaper
Shared bathrooms = inconvenience
Lackluster towels
Stop 3: Outsite Biarritz
Outsite Biarritz has been operating since 2019, so one of their older properties. This is one of their partner properties (I.e. they do not own - they partnered with hotel owner to rebrand). No A/C here. Much better than the location in Bordeaux. Literally have the Biarritz market two blocks away, Carrefour (supermarket) two blocks away, city center like a 5-10 min walk, beach 10-15 min walk (depending on which).
The coworking space is nice. There are 4 desk spots with external monitors and one private/call room with an external monitor. The space is doable, great to be able to plug in and work. The private room is nice for calls, but very little sound proofing. Scattered around the house are a couple other desk spots without monitors. Overall nothing huge to note here, but definitely a nice benefit for the larger property to have these dedicated space setups.
For the size of the house, the kitchen small. Two sinks, two burners, two ovens, two dishwashers, but all in ~120 SF. It never gets too crowded, it’s definitely doable, but some of the conversations I’ve had with housemates suggest that its small size encourages people to eat out. There are two fridges, one freezer. Food labeling is the system of choice here for the fridges. Some cabinetry for pantry space - labeled by room number. Some random spices and coffee are on the house. Would love if EVOO had been included.
The dining room is setup kinda like a European hotel cafeteria… six small (two-person) tables. They could be put together, but I’d say it’s not super welcoming to have each table separate. The room is almost begging for a long table with bench seating. This setup isn’t super conducive to conversation, but is helpful for coworking capabilities.
Some rooms are definitely better than others… I had to split my stay between two rooms for schedule reasons and my first room was most certainly the better of the two even though they were both listed as queen rooms. Regardless, nice to have private bed/bath combos for sure. The bathrooms are SUPER tiny though. My first room had a fan (mobile), but my second room did not. Sounds like they just have 4-5 fans for the house that move around. Biggest pinpoint for me aside from A/C was lack of outlets. There was one by my bed, one built into my bathroom vanity (in the light fixture), and one near the ceiling of my room for the TV.
Other Notes:
Supposedly the Lisbon location has something like 20 rooms and ~4 rooms each floor each share their own kitchen - now THAT’S a layout I could get behind.
I’d come back here, but later in the summer when it’s cooled off.. no A/C is tough.
Biggest plus at this property is the community, hands down.
Stop 4: Colo Colo San Sebastián
Colo Colo Hostel is sweet - very new, very clean, very fresh. Plus, it has A/C!! Socially, it’s a far cry from Outsite… most (if not all) conversation feels absurdly forced. But fun digs for a few days nonetheless. It’s broken into two floors. The top floor for lobby, bunks, and two half baths. The bottom floor for kitchen, living area, and bathroom + shower facilities. The physical location of the hostel is pretty solid. Five minute walk to primary train/bus station. 10 minutes to old town. Five minutes to grocery store. Two minutes to river. 15 minutes to beach. No proper coworking setup - really just kitchen counter/dining space. Enough counter space/common area to get by. Wifi is hit or miss, but seems to be strong during work hours and in the common area.
The kitchen includes all the basics - coffee, salt, pepper, EVOO. Equipment-wise, there’s a coffee machine, hot water maker, microwave, fridge, freezer. Plates, bowls, flatware. No stovetop or ovens. Then again, this is a hostel, so not really intended for longer stays. The living and dining areas are doable… for the max capacity of 26, I’d say there’s about the same amount of overall common area as Outsite Biarritz, but definitely not a comparable “living area,” I.e. there is no couch or TV.
The bedrooms, a.k.a. “Casitas,” are little private beds that definitely have more privacy than any other hostel I have ever stayed in. There are a couple nice “bedroom” features here that differentiate the Colo Colo product from the run-of-the-mill hostel: iPads in each Casita (with headphones) for entertainment and blackout/privacy shades.
Stay 5: Airbnb Rooms San Sebastián
Having observed the disconnectedness of hotel stays since their inception, Airbnb recently relaunched an old product… one of their originals in fact. If you’re US based (or now even in France), you may have noticed an advertisement or two for Airbnb Rooms. This product enables users to rent an individual room in a house where your host will (supposedly) be on property.
Granted, ABB’s primary impetus for this relaunch may have been to nab the wallet-conscious consumer, yet the undertone is most certainly one of building more friendly relationships between the guest and the host - just see the “Host Passport,” which Airbnb just rolled out before their new marketing campaign.
I did not check the topography of this Airbnb prior to booking, lo and behold, it was at the top of a hill. Literally. To get from the level of the rest of the city to the Airbnb, I took a combination of four escalators (yes, escalators, but only when they were functioning) and ten flights of stairs. Suffice it to say, I was ready for a shower each time I returned home.
Though there was no access to the kitchen and very little common space, the property itself was doable.
Other Notes:
The hosts were super sweet. They were a family with two younger children. The main POC was the mother, Kristina. She was super sweet, even did my laundry.
This is the epitome of the inconsistency across all the offerings on the Airbnb platform.
Over priced for offering imo.
Note to self: check topography
Stay 6: BobW Madrid
BobW markets itself as “Exceptionally cool stays.” They currently operate in 14 cities across Europe, with some cities having multiple properties. Founded in 2012, their business model is to master lease entire apartment buildings, pay for upgrades, and sublease rooms. Though they are marketed as a hotel, none of their properties have proper front desks or “check in areas.” Last funding was €21 million Series A in December ‘22.
They prioritize simplicity of check-in and minimize employee count - I actually didn’t interact with any actual person. I had a virtual assistant check me in through WhatsApp, which was a pretty sweet feature. There are no keys - everything is virtual, you’re given a code for building and room access (same code) through their online interface which is extremely slick. Didn’t run into any hiccups there. I could see, however, how this could become a security concern if too many people get access to a code.
They also went the distance to make me feel super welcome. Upon entering my room after “check in”, I found a handwritten note welcoming me along with some cookies and locally roasted coffee beans. For not being a luxury hotel, this was a welcome, wonderful, and tasteful touch.
This location was not ideal, but their other location in Madrid is. I chose the Atocha location for the purposes of saving some money. Their other Madrid location was perfectly located on the border of Malasaña and Chueca, but also ran an additional $30/night. You can tell this is a newer location having opened just under a year ago.
The common areas included a super simple European apartment lobby - I.e. two sitting chairs, mail boxes, stairway access and elevator access. Luggage lockers for early arrivals and late departures. Extra laundry washing machines.
Each unit has its own kitchen. Some basics included - coffee, salt, pepper. Equipment-wise, there’s a coffee machine, hot water maker, fridge, freezer, stove top, oven, even a clothes washing machine. Plates, bowls, flatware. Strainer, pots, pans, mixing bowls. Notable items missing: microwave, dish washer, EVOO. Completely livable for long stays.
Bedrooms contained fully functioning A/C (finally), blackout shades, TV, Atari (yes the game console for the TV), Ikea wardrobe storage. The bed itself was EXTREMELY firm. The bathroom was spacious, with a small shower, doable sink, best bathroom storage of anywhere else I’ve stayed.
However, one of the key differentiators of the BobW product are their partnerships with local businesses.
A normal hotel would have a lobby or dining area where they would host breakfast. Rather than that, BobW offers its guests the option to add on breakfast for 6 euros a day and partners with local restaurants to offer the breakfast. I didn’t take up the offer since I don’t eat breakfast, but had three options to choose from within 5 minutes walking of my room. Pretty unique concept.
Similarly, rather than wasting money putting a gym into their property, they partnered with a gym just five minutes away to provide guests complimentary gym access. This is a no-brainer. I absolutely loved this feature. Rather than having access to the crappy hotel gym with virtually no equipment, I got access to the European equivalent of a 24 hour fitness. Extensive equipment! Genius!
Other Notes:
Absolutely love the welcoming notes… it truly felt like a luxury hotel.
All of the accoutrement - the stickers, the bag, the camera, the water bottles - very small in the scheme of things, carried a disproportionate weight in the quality of the stay. I’d say these minor touches are what differentiate a “sticky” hotel from a regular one - it’s the attention to detail and the small things they go out of their way to do to make you and your stay feel truly special.
Stay 7: Selina Porto
Selina markets itself as a boutique hostel, catering towards adventurers, backpackers, and digital nomads. They do purport to have “accommodation solutions for every budget,” which I believe holds true for 85% of the market (don’t think they quite hit the upper tier). They operate a similar business to BobW in that they master lease each of their properties.
Since IPOing under SPAC in Oct. 22, SLNA has lost more than 90% of its value. Taking a page from the tech industry playbook, the Israeli-founded recently announced they might never reach profitability. This “growth at all costs” model is most certainly a cause for concern as it could be seen throughout my stay.
Not only were employees disgruntled with other employees and superiors citing mismanagement and lack of organization, but visibly across the property and staff, you could tell corners were being cut.
The check in process was the polar opposite from what I experienced during my BobW stay in Madrid, this check-in was hellacious. Pointing towards the mismanagement and lack of organization, guests were showing up wayyyy prior to check in, throwing their bags anywhere (not storage, luggage room, or otherwise), then peacing out. I happened to arrive around 3:30, 30 min after check in begins. The line was out the door. Between understaffing and poor check-in planing, this whole process was a pain in the ass. I didn’t end up getting into my room for another 30 minutes.
Location was pretty sweet. Great walkability to pretty much everything in Porto. 10 min on foot to nearest train station, 10 min to city center, 2 min to super market, 30 seconds to 3 insane coffee shops (one third wave roaster to all my coffee heads out there).
Each Selina operates just a little differently, but it seems like one commonality are their F&B offerings. Most locations (if urban) have a food and beverage component on property, but that component operates separately from the hotel. For guests staying at Selina Porto, this meant that if you wanted to occupy a table on their patio between noon and 8p, you’d be asked to buy something or move. Not the most welcoming environment for getting work done, but definitely some work-arounds here. Another downside was not being able to bring your own food or drinks (yes - I brought a tea with me to the patio pre-noon and I was asked to finish it elsewhere).
Two coworking options here: pay the daily rate for actual coworking access (different building) or work across the common areas of the hostel. Given that the common areas within the hostel were not ideal, if I were staying for longer than a week, I would have opted for their monthly membership. (Almost got away with getting free coworking - they completely forgot to charge me and they ended up tracking me down while I was working). No A/C here.
The kitchen was ~different~
Super difficult to get to - definitely felt separate from the rest of the property - was upstairs and away from the rest of the common areas.
Dark - unfortunate positioning within the building made the kitchen extremely dark and unwelcoming.
Lack of supplies - pretty scarce for trying to target people to stay longer. Only have a couple fridges, a freezer, stove tops, 10 plates, 10 flatware settings, 4 cups, 4 mugs. For a property of 120+, this really isn’t suitable. Especially without a dishwasher or people that will actually clean up after themselves, got to be super frustrating to clean everything before using it. No drying towels here! So you’re forced to use paper towels.
Small - from my experiences thus far, the kitchen/dining are is usually where people congregate, have conversation, get to know each other. Though I did have some fun convos, the small size is really not conducive to this - it gets too crowded too quickly and you basically get forced out.
Food labeling needs work - I think apportioning sections and locations for individual residents is probably a better way to go about this (see Outsite).
The bedrooms are very minimal, way too small for two bunkbeds (I was in a four person room). That being said, I was in a shared room.* The beds themselves are insanely uncomfortable - worst beds of the trip so far. It may have been a combo of things, and this certainly doesn’t speak for all Selina properties, but I had migraines everyday staying there from what I believe was back/neck soreness. I could be wrong, but since leaving, I do feel better. This was only part of the property that was air conditioned.
Bathrooms are minimal with a small shower, doable sink, reasonable storage. Big downsides: no shampoo or conditioner. Just an “all-in-one” wash.
Highlight I would say is the programming. Selina is far and away the best for coming in without a plan, due to its hostel-like nature.
Other Notes:
Employees are all sub 25 years old. They seemed more busy hanging out with friends (coworkers) than tending to guests.
For trying to prioritize the “sustainable” portion of their ESG efforts, I was extremely surprised to find tons of paper towels all across the property. Yes - even in the guest rooms. My bathroom didn’t have a hand towel, just paper towels that would run out each day. Such a waste.
Common sentiment amongst guests was that it is a nice hostel, but comparative to other hostels, the only areas in which Selina exceeds is programming and branding.
The doors sucked - really stupid opening mechanism and still the doors never quite locked shut.
Stay 8: Zoku Paris
Zoku opened its first hotel in 2016 in Amsterdam. Founded by CitizenM Founder, Hans Meyer, the company is a self-described “purpose brand,” aiming to facilitate the “work from anywhere” transition.
Their hotels have also been named to the “25 Coolest Hotels” list by Forbes. Additionally, the company is a certified B Corp, meaning they meet standards for ESG accountability and performance.
Fourth in their portfolio, Zoku Paris opened just 10 weeks ago, so very fresh.
The check in is a little different: You enter a small lobby on street level, then take the elevators to the hotel lobby on the 8th floor. The check in process itself was relatively simple. There are two screens that greet guests upon arrival at the hotel lobby on which yourself check in… that is until they have to check your passport. Simple process all in all.
The location isn't central, but it's uber walkable. Local vibe for sure. The 17th arrondissement is a hidden gem in that it is the arrondissement with the most green space per acre, mostly due to MLK park (which, by the way, is an urban planning feat!). Until 2021, the 17th Arrondissement was only really accessible by one transit line that was relatively antiquated. This hotel is situated right above an enormous new station with a new express metro line to central Paris (as of 2021), making the location quite accessible.
The property is broken across four floors of the building: the basement and floors 6, 7, and 8. Floors 1-5 are dedicated to retail and office space. The basement is relegated to laundry, bike storage, locker rooms, and restrooms. Floors 6 and 7 are solely for hotel rooms and floor 8 is split between true common areas and hotel rooms. Common areas include a rooftop terrace, a restaurant, a bar, dedicated coworking, and a gym.
The coworking space is great - lots of attention to detail. Not super big, but this was not an issue during my stay. Side perk: daily coffee powwow at 3:30 with free snacks and coffee. They do offer monthly coworking passes if you are not a guest.
Every room has its own kitchen, stocked with basics like cooking utensils, sharp knives, pots, pans, EVOO, salt, pepper, eating utensils, mini fridge/freezer, stovetop, even a dishwasher. Cool thing here - if you need extra dishes, cups, rice cooker, hand mixer, or any other specialty appliance, each floor of the hotel has a pantry with additional supplies. Great concept.
Each bedroom is a loft. The floorpan is such that the bed is elevated as to separate the space whilst giving room for entertaining. Access to the bed loft is with a retractable staircase. The space is used EXTREMELY well, every nook and cranny has been thought out. Lots of storage throughout.
Other Notes:
Love the physical space.
Gym was minimal but passable.
Super lucky to have gotten this on sale - staying here for long stays seems exorbitantly expensive… One month (with discounts) would be in excess of $5k USD for the room I had.
Hotel has definitely not stabilized, you could tell it was quite empty, but give it time. Speaking with a few employees, it sounds like their other locations are popping.
Stay 9: CitizenM Amsterdam
As mentioned in my last post, Hans Meyer, the founder of my last stay, Zoku, is also the founder of CitizenM, which opened its first doors at the Amsterdam Airport in 2008. Now with over 40 hotels spanning three continents, and three more scheduled to open by year end, the business is off to the races
CitizenM offers different memberships which deliver discounted rates for members, with their “top tier” membership coming in at $12/month and offering 10% discount on all stays, this aims to capture the business traveler who frequents the large metros and wants a step down from a luxury hotel, self describing as “affordable luxury for modern travelers.”
The properties themselves are extremely unique comparative to regular hotels. After the business model got up to speed, they took development of the properties into their own hand, now using modular construction to deliver prefab rooms. The rooms are built offsite, then assembled at the site into a full building. Through this process, the company is able to streamline their offering and standardize the customer experience from property to property and room to room.
Check in is all on the app, which makes for an extremely easy process. As a member, I logged into the app, received a QR code, walked inside, scanned my QR code at a monitor, and received a key card for my room - worked out really well!
The property is pretty well positioned in Weesperbuurt. For being relatively new to Amsterdam, I couldn’t help but notice this was 5 minutes from multiple grocery stores, a 5 minute walk from WeWork, steps from two metro stations, and a 15 minute walk to city center. *also happens to be a block from the Zoku Amsterdam location.
The common areas are scarce. I’d imagine this is one of their earlier properties given the building (not modular), and the layout of the property. The ground floor was the only common area with a bar/restaurant, work space, a couple of meeting rooms, and a lounge. Some of their other properties include addition F+B options, rooftop spaces, and gyms.
The coworking space is workable. They do have iMacs for those who forget (?) to bring computers. Not ideal, but easy to use nonetheless.
No kitchens on property.
Supposedly every guest room is the same, and they are small. You walk in, might have 4 feet, then run into your bed. The bed itself is a king that was surprisingly uncomfortable. There is a very small desk. Little bit of storage under the bed.
The cool aspect here is that every bit of technology is controlled by either the app on your phone or by their “mood pads” (jailbroken iPads). When I say every bit, I mean everything: AC, lighting, room service, calls to the front desk, blinds…
The bathrooms (if you decide to actually call them that) are small. The sinks are in the “bedroom” part of guest room, outside of the bathroom. They have two different “all-in-one” soaps: an AM and a PM.
Other Notes:
Blown away how they can charge a premium for these properties.
I’d argue this is anything but “affordable luxury,” especially given the small size of the rooms.
Small touch, but very nice: all outlet types are in the room. You have US outlets, European outlets, English outlets, etc… plus adapters at front if needed.
The ability to control things through app/iPad was nice, but not something I’d pay a premium for.
Stay 10: Neighbourgood Cape Town
Neighbourgood was founded in the latter part of 2020 when Murray Clark found an opportunity to reinvigorate the local community. Having a passion for mixed use and activated spaces, he envisioned micro-communities spread throughout the town to create a “neighborhood” like feel.
Their business operates by repurposing older houses or hotels into coliving, charging residents nightly or monthly based on their length of stay. The majority of their properties are still hotel-first, charging users by the night. Having grown from 1 property in 2020 to over 10 by the end of 2023, they are planning their first international expansion next year into the US.
Booking was hoot. I had to prepay one month in advance (really locking me in lol). There’s no smooth booking system unfortunately, everything is manual through their staff. I had to change dates a few times and each time was pretty friction laden (and frustrating due to staff misunderstandings).
Sam, the team member who checked me in was incredible - super happy to be doing his job. He actually made the check in fun and memorable. The process itself was relatively painless, just had to show passport and get a face scan to have access to their spaces (common area doors unlocked with facial recognition - yes was a little weary of this, but there wasn’t really a way around that).
They have a variety of different locations in Cape Town, my first stay was East City, located in the Central Business District. Grocery stores are 5-10 minutes away. 3 minutes from nearest bus stop.
The coworking areas are dispersed: For the one on-site at the first property I stayed at, there was pretty significant coworking/dining space. For 110 units, it seems like the space would be suitable to accommodate at least half of the residents.
The kitchen was large - definitely commercial scale. I didn’t think to count all the stoves and sinks, but must have been 8 total stations.
Bedrooms were simply converted hotel rooms - nothing to write home about here.
What's groundbreaking about this model is their creation of distributed community assets across town. Say you need to hop into a meeting in a certain part of town, simply hop into the coworking space they have on that side of town and you're good to go. Need access to a pool, but your Neighbourgood location doesn't have one onsite - just hop over to a location that does. The premise of Neighbourgood is to truly create a distributed, city-wide neighborhood of shared community spaces.
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