Having travelled for the last six years, I’m no stranger to coliving spaces. In fact, I’ve stayed in almost every type of travel accommodation: from hostels and hotels to Airbnbs, housesits, and workaways.
As a solo traveller, coliving has always been my favourite accommodation style. It offers community, safety, and a space to work comfortably – essentials for someone like me. Naturally, I was drawn to Outsite, a global coliving brand promising stylish, upmarket spaces in desirable locations.
It sounded like the perfect fit. Airbnbs often lack quality and community, whilst many other coliving spaces lean too much towards a hostel vibe. As a full-time traveller working online, I need a balance of comfort, community, and practicality.
But here’s the catch: Outsite has a somewhat mixed reputation. After reading countless reviews on platforms like Reddit and their own website, I knew I had to try it myself. Could Outsite solve all my travel accommodation woes, or have they overhyped their service?
In this honest review, I’ll share my 50-day experience at Outsite Roma Sur in Mexico City, along with insights into their customer service (which I had to test on a few occasions). I will soon be staying in their popular Oaxaca location, and will update this review then!
TD;LR: Outsite isn’t the perfect solution for digital nomad accommodation, but it is the closest I’ve found (other than some independent spaces dotted around the globe). The rooms are clean and comfortable, coworking spaces are functional, and locations are often spot-on. The community is incredible, even if hosts don’t always excel at organising events. Whilst the customer service experience is mixed, I’ve always managed to get the help I needed.
Pros
- Functional co-working spaces
- Clean and comfortable rooms
- Global locations
- An amazing community of like-minded people
Cons
- Mixed customer service experience
- Some hosts are better than others
- Can be rough around the edges
What is Outsite?
Outsite is a global network of coliving spaces designed for remote workers and digital nomads. Founded in 2015, it caters to location-flexible professionals seeking to integrate their work and lifestyle. Locations include the USA, Mexico, Portugal, France, Indonesia, and many more.
They build their coliving spaces with community and work in mind. This means you will find plenty of spaces to work from, in both your room and shared spaces. They also offer a variety of online and in-person events, so you can meet other individuals staying in Outsite.
My experience
After having spent a large chunk of time at Outsite Roma Sur, I have compiled this honest review of Outsite Coliving. I will draw upon my personal experience with the space, the amenities, the community, the price, the customer service, and the variety of locations.
Overall, my experience has been a positive one and I will continue to use Outsite, unless I don’t find more suitable options elsewhere, usually on coliving.com. No coliving space is perfect, but hopefully, through my review, you’ll find out if Outsite is suitable for you.
The space
Outsite promises a space in which you can live and work in, and I do believe they have achieved this. Maybe some of the decor is a little rough around the edges, but I have found all of the spaces to be visually appealing and comfortable to live in.
I find the standard matches that of other upmarket places in that location. For example, the standard of the Roma Sur location is very similar to other nicer Airbnbs I have stayed in around Mexico City. I have read a review of the Roma Sur location, saying it lacked the personal touch, but I find the space to be welcoming.
The rooms themselves are pretty spacious and come with a personal desk, great for any online meetings. There is plenty of space to store your stuff, which is great for long-term stays. I stayed in a room with a small kitchen and it served its purpose, despite the stovetop being a little slow to heat up. This was only an issue when cooking extensive meals. Other Outsite locations have different kitchen setups, including full ovens.
The co-working space is functional and perfect for remote workers. They provide comfortable desk chairs, plenty of plug outlets, and different spaces for you to work from. Including a quiet room and sofas. The Roma Sur location also has an outside patio space which is nice to work from during the day.
The amenities
Outsite offers a variety of important amenities in their coliving spaces, including WiFi, laundry, cleaning, coworking spaces, kitchens, bed linens & towels, soaps, and basic cooking ingredients like oil and seasoning.
I have found these amenities to be far superior to that provided by Airbnbs. For example, in the Roma Sur location, there is a storeroom downstairs with coffee beans (and a coffee grinder in your room), bin bags, toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, washing up sponges, and more. You can top up these whenever you need. My favourite thing is the filtered water tap in the apartments.
When it comes to WiFi, I found it to be sufficient for my needs. The Wifi reaches across the whole building and it only cut out on a few occasions when I tried using it at the edges. Within the co-working space itself and inside my room, I had no issues and was able to take important work calls. However, I do know that the internet can cut out on rare occasions, which is an issue I’ve had in Airbnbs across the city also.
I really liked the additional biweekly cleaning services which meant my room stayed nice and clean throughout my stay. This included towel and bed linen changes. Moreover, Outsite provides onsite laundry, with a washer and dryer. Although they often don’t provide enough machines for all the guests staying in their locations. So you may have to wait to use the laundry every so often.
One thing I would love to see in Outsite locations is an onsite gym. There are other independent coliving spaces across the world offering gyms for a similar overall monthly price.
The community
One of the biggest selling points of coliving spaces like Outsite is the community. My experience with this aspect, however, was mixed. While I met some incredible people during my stay – many of whom I’m still in touch with – these connections were not actively facilitated by the onsite host.
The Roma Sur location has mixed reviews regarding the host. They did organise events but they didn’t take into account mixed dietary requirements. I did request we visit a vegan-friendly spot so I could get involved and when they eventually did, they weren’t flexible with the dates so I couldn’t even attend.
Moreover, I had heard of guests not being able to access their rooms and the host didn’t reply because it was nighttime. If this is the case, Outsite should at least provide backup onsite (or nearby) support.
I have heard other guests complain about the fact some Outsite spaces are open to non-members, meaning they can be booked on Booking.com or Coliving.com, and sometimes these guests aren’t as invested in the coliving lifestyle. But most spaces are big enough to have a variety of people, and you’ll likely meet people you get along with!
The price
Outsite isn’t cheap and the cost will vary a lot depending on the location and time of year. But I have found it to match that of other similar accommodation options, particularly similarly equipped and designed Airbnbs.
The price does get cheaper when you book long-term stays, which I think is suitable for the community it appeals to – slow travellers like myself. Moreover, if you pay for a membership you will get up to 40% off your stay and you’ll be able to access member-only locations.
Most of their locations offer a variety of room types so you can pick one that is most suitable to your budget. But it still costs a lot more than a budget hotel or hostel. However, budget travellers definitely aren’t their target audience! It is more suited to people like myself who are looking for a home away from home, to be able to work and live.
For me, the spaces they provide, the amenities, and the community you can access, all make up for the monthly cost. Even when considering my mixed experiences with the host and customer service. Having read many other Outsite reviews, I know other people come into these spaces with different expectations, some higher, some lower, so really the worth is a completely subjective thing!
The customer service
I had to contact Outsite’s customer service on two separate occasions. The first was because my building’s water supply ran out and the host didn’t offer any solutions, like showering in the other tower block (which still had water) or providing us with bottles of drinking water, until day two.
So I requested a refund for the two days I went without water. It took a little time but I was eventually offered 50% off the two nights.
The second was because I had extended my stay, but since my current room was no longer available I’d have to swap to a slightly more expensive room. But then my original room became available again, so their customer service notified me that I wouldn’t have to move. Which was great, but considering I’d paid more, I requested for the difference to be refunded. Which they eventually accepted.
Overall, I have found their customer service to be quite helpful, it can just sometimes take a little time. Moreover, I find their communication quite cold and scripted. It would really add to the community feel of Outsite if their customer service were a little more human.
The locations
Outsite has coliving spaces dotted across the world, including a fair few in The Americas and Europe. Annoyingly, they only have one location in both Africa and Asia and none yet in Oceania.
That being said, they currently have 40+ properties to choose from and they are continuing to expand, particularly after the downfall of Selina (another coliving brand). Therefore, if you pay for a membership you will get plenty of choice, including multiple locations in the USA, Mexico, Portugal and Columbia.
Take a look through all of the Outsite locations (including their partner hotel Zoku):
Outsite review verdict
Despite initial concerns, I thoroughly enjoyed my long-term stay with Outsite and I am excited to try out other locations. Although, I will be wary of picking locations that have particularly negative reviews.
I was able to relax in to the space really easily and worked way more efficiently than I have in any other accommodation when travelling. I definitely think it helped that I really enjoyed the company of my fellow guests and maybe I would have had a different experience had I stayed at a different time. But that is the nature of coliving!
Ultimately, I believe travel accommodation to be a very subjective thing, hence the mixed reviews of Outsite online. Having stayed at Outsite and met many fellow guests, the overall feeling has been a positive one. Outsite provides a space for likeminded communities to grow. Does every single guest feel like Outsite are running things in the best and most positive way for digital nomads, no. But do most of them still continue booking stays through Outsite, yes.
I want to reiterate that this Outsite review is based on my own personal experience and I will continue updating it as I try out other locations. But I know not everyone shares the same feelings as me and I welcome anyone to leave a comment! Just make sure to be kind and respectful of others.
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