What to Expect From Your First Coliving Experience

For the past week and a half, I have been doing an internship at Nine Coliving in La Orotava, Tenerife. Before coming here, I had never experienced a coliving before and, to be honest, I didn’t really know what coliving was or how it worked. During my internship, I got the chance to experience what daily life at Nine is actually like, talk to the people staying here and see how the community works from the inside.

Before arriving, I had looked at the Nine website, so I already knew about the rooms, coworking spaces, activities and what was included. However, I quickly realised that there are some parts of coliving, especially the social side, that are difficult to understand until you actually experience them yourself.

So, if you are considering staying at a coliving for the first time, here is what I learned from my time Nine and what you can expect from the experience.

Sophia Pryor

How is coliving different from simply renting a room? 

I think the biggest difference between Nine and staying in a hotel or Airbnb is the community.

If you stay in a normal hotel, you can easily spend the whole trip without really talking to anyone else. At Nine, you are constantly around other people because you eat, work and spend time in the same house. What I noticed is that you do not only meet people during organised activities. A lot of the social part happens naturally. You might talk to someone during breakfast, while working, in the kitchen or just while sitting in one of the common areas. 

Before coming, I thought the community would mainly come from the activities, but I realised that the normal everyday moments are just as important.

What does a normal day look like?

There is not really one normal day because everyone has their own schedule. 

Most of the guests work in the offices, so during the day a lot of people are working. Nine has coworking spaces, Wi-Fi and places where people can work quietly or take calls. Breakfast is included every day, and there are also shared meals during the week. For example, there are community lunches and a family dinner on Wednesdays. Guests can also cook for themselves in the kitchen. 

After work, people can join activities which are organized on Monday evenings, spend time together or do their own thing. There are things like yoga, workouts and other activities, but people can also organise their own plans. 

I think this is important because before coming here, I thought coliving might mean everyone does everything together all the time. In reality, everyone still has their own routine and plans.

Can I still have privacy and time for myself?

This was one of the things I wondered about before coming to Nine. Because coliving is focused a lot on community, it can sound like you have to be very outgoing or social all the time. But I do not think that is really the case. 

There are many chances to talk to people and spend time together, but you can also be by yourself. You do not have to join every activity or every meal. I think the main thing is just being open to meeting new people. You can still have your own space and decide how social you want to be. 

This also makes it a good option for someone who is more shy, because you do not have to force conversations as much. And since the minimum stay is 14 days, you have more than enough time to open up to people. There are already many situations where you naturally meet people.

What if you come alone?

Coming alone can probably make you feel a bit nervous, especially if it is your first coliving experience. You might think that everyone already knows each other or that it will be difficult to join the group. But because people are sharing the same house and there are different meals and activities, there are many easy ways to meet others. Nine also has a minimum stay of two weeks. 

I think this makes a difference because people actually have time to get to know each other. It is not like a hostel where someone might arrive one day and leave the next morning. 

For someone coming alone, I think that makes the experience easier because you are not the only person who is there to meet new people.

Working and living in the same place

One of the most interesting things about Nine is that people are living and working in the same place. 

During the day, you can see people working on completely different things, and then later they might all have dinner together or join an activity. For remote workers, this is useful because they do not need to find a separate office or café every day. Everything is already in the same place. 

At the same time, it also makes working remotely less lonely because you are surrounded by other people who are doing the same thing. Though it might be hard for some people, since there isn’t really a clear border between work and free time. Everything happens in the same place.

What surprised me

What surprised me was how different everyone’s lives are even though they are all staying in the same place. 

People have different jobs, working hours, nationalities and plans, so I expected everyone to be doing completely different things. Instead, there are still moments during the day where everyone comes together, for example during breakfast, lunch or in the common areas. 

I also found it interesting that people can have their own routines while still feeling like they are part of a group. Before coming here, I imagined coliving as something more structured, where everyone follows a similar schedule, but it is actually much more flexible.

What I would tell someone coming for the first time

If someone was coming to Nine for their first coliving experience, I would tell them not to overthink it too much. You do not need to arrive already knowing people, and you do not need to join everything. 

I think the best thing is just to be open to meeting people and trying some of the activities. Coliving is different from normal accommodation because the people are a much bigger part of the experience. 

For me, that is probably the main thing that is difficult to understand just from looking at the website. You can see the rooms and the facilities online, but you only really understand the atmosphere and the community once you are actually there.