5 New Travel Startups Bringing Co-Living Into the Travel Industry

Co-living has different definitions depending on what someone is looking for in a travel and living experience. But regardless of someone’s background, work, lifestyle or age, co-living is fundamentally about community and developing connections among those who occupy a particular living space.

This week we take a closer look at five startups part of the co-living trend that’s been sprouting during the past several years. They seek to bring locals and tourists under the same roof, put business travelers and leisure travelers side-by-side and foster a community where work, home and play are all in the same building. There’s a lesson for the travel industry in all of this–there’s a third estate forming in hospitality that combines the amenities of hotels and the goals of short-term rentals while blurring the lines of what it means to be a traveler.

Coliving Club is aimed at welcoming entrepreneurs to Silicon Valley and helping them build their professional networks through shared living spaces.

>>SkiftTake: We can imagine the creativity and collaboration that happens in an environment like Coliving Club, while at the same time foreseeing a competitive atmosphere that can develop if the living culture is not closely cared for.

Coliving helps young professionals and entrepreneurs find shared accommodations around the world.

>>SkiftTake: Coliving’s model revolves around people wanting a home environment that understands and supports what they’re doing professionally. Many people want to keep work and home life completely separate, but there are those that still want even more work in their lives.

WeLive is a co-living space in New York City and Washington, D.C. that’s mixing long-term residents with transient travelers.

>>SkiftTake: From the founders of WeWork, WeLive is counting on freshness and newness to keep residents interested in its model. Building a community where your work, home and social life is all in one building sounds promising in theory, but we’ll have to see whether or not it receives a thumbs up in practice.

Sabbatical is a destination co-working company that provides remote work experiences. It provides accommodations, a co-working space and social and business programming for one to three week trips.

>>SkiftTake: Employers are probably more comfortable with their staff taking one to three week trips compared to six-month or year-long sabbaticals, for example. And that’s a good start, for now.

Commonspace is a co-living startup focusing on finding longer term residents rather than travelers, although two rooms in this Syracuse, New York residential facility are specifically set aside for travelers. Business travelers are given priority for those rooms.

>>SkiftTake: Mixing permanent residents and travelers helps get to the heart of what many travelers are looking for in experiencing local culture. And people that choose to live in a residence like Commonspace long-term likely enjoy meeting new people. Still, it remains to be seen if a model like this, with new visitors coming and going, is desired.

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