Airbnb -ing in Mexico City? Try Coliving for Remote Work

If you arrived here it’s because you’ve been looking for the best option to stay on Airbnb in Mexico City, right?

I’m a remote worker who has been in this position before, searching for it on Google.

One day, I found a better option than Airbnb to stay in the big metropolis of Mexico when I visited it for the first time.

In fact, I was so delighted with it that I even started writing for “the better option” that this blog belongs to.

What is it? I’m talking about coliving spaces.

I wrote this article to let you know the 4 problems I’ve faced while staying in these places.

Disclosure: I’m an ex-Airbnb “fanboy”, so these experiences are real.

1. More and more unfriendly hosts

Let’s begin with the fact that Mexican people are extremely friendly.

Nonetheless, being an Airbnb host is different.

You have to realize this is basically a job where a house owner opens their door to strangers.

Sometimes, they do it daily. So it’s obvious to expect people to get tired of routine.

As someone who got into Airbnb because of this early “family-like” vibe that you don’t find in hotels, it was sad for me to see hosts become hotel people.

You know, I’m talking about the ones that just “do the job”, without any passion for it.

When I stayed for the first time at a coliving space out of necessity, I was expecting this too. But it surprised me.

The people there have real passion for its guests. Most of them don’t even see its job as a “job”.

There was always someone for me in the place.

This is something you rarely find on Airbnb nowadays (unless the host lives in the same house, of course).

2. Unstable Internet connection

Yikes! The holy grail of amenities.

I told you before that I work remotely, so you could imagine how important a fast Internet connection is for me.

I mean, my professional life depends on it, so I can’t leave this to luck.

And that’s actually what I did.

Back to the first couple of times I stayed on Airbnb in Mexico City, I was optimistic that my hosts were going to provide me with a stable Internet connection.

Some of them did, but I suffered with the ones that didn’t.

I’m not going to extend on this a lot, but to keep it simple:

• If the host has a shared house, you’ll suffer like me.
• If the host doesn’t mention a reliable connection on Amenities, you might suffer like me.
• If the host lives on the outskirts of the city, you might suffer like me as well.

I had to find an alternative. A hotel? A hostel?

The problem of the alternative is that most hotels or hostels don’t shine for its network as well.

How did I solve it?

Long story short: Coliving spaces are designed with remote workers in mind.

It was a breath of fresh air to find out that the one I stayed in had an amazing free coworking space and one of the best Internet speeds to work with.

And not just that, but tasty coffee and my things in the next door room, in case that I need them.

3. Prices getting higher

If you’ve been into Airbnb for a couple of years, you may have noted that prices have been steadily going high.

And this is a normal thing because higher-rated hosts tend to have less availability than before.

What this means is that if you want the best, you have to pay more now.

This is one of the things I dislike the most about Airbnb when I’m in Mexico City.

I mean, if there’s a high-rated seller on Amazon, there isn’t a way he could get its prices higher because the market would respond.

In this case, if a high-rated Airbnb host decides to move its prices up, no one puts it back because the “product” is not commoditized.

In other words, no one could offer the same service. That’s the reason why we’ve seen prices go up on the platform.

What I’ve always liked about not just coliving spaces but hotels, hostels, B&Bs and the rest of similar options, is that they have a fixed price.

It doesn’t matter if they get the best reviews, they will mostly stay the same.

If they change, competition will kill them. And as you can imagine, there’s a LOT of competition among these.

4. Loneliness

Last but not least: the lack of human contact.

And I know, this isn’t for everyone reading this.

Most of you guys (especially remote workers) would prefer living alone.

To have a place for all of them to enjoy and do whatever they want to with it.

But the majority is not everyone.

There’s people like myself who would prefer to live in a shared room rather than living alone.

And that’s where coliving spaces excel. Think about the name itself.

Co-living. Living with others: the soul of these places.

When I stayed at U-Co for the first time I went to Mexico City, I thought of it as a hostel. And certainly, it’s similar in many aspects.

But the one thing that made it a superior option among the ones I mentioned (and especially above Airbnb in Mexico City) is the fact that it solved all my problems at once.

Besides living in a shared room (with a private bed) I enjoyed having my privacy within a group of people.

I didn’t have to sacrifice one for another as I had the best of both worlds.

Add the friendly team, a fast Internet connection, and a big discount for monthly stays, get the best alternative for Airbnb in Mexico City.

Conclusion

Take my experiences from this post but don’t get completely biased for it.

As with everything in this world, you won’t get the taste until you try it. That’s what I want to encourage you.

If you are a remote worker like me, try staying at a coliving space.

I tried U-Co Roma and I loved it, but this is not the only space in Mexico City.

There’s a list of options from all over Mexico that I created (if you want to see it). If you decide to stick with Airbnb, that’s fine. Perhaps my problems didn’t happen to you.

If you decide to stick with Airbnb, that’s fine. Perhaps my problems didn’t happen to you.

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If you have any questions for me, leave a reply below ?. I’ll answer as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading!