Living and Working at Selina Hostels
20 Jun 2021 by Amby
I've been traveling with the hostel company Selina for the past six months. Their micro-room coworking package is $650/month and includes a small private room, shared bathroom and kitchen, a coworking space, and various other amenities at each of the Selina locations. This is, for me, an extremely good deal financially. And after I met Sev (at the Selina in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica) and he started traveling with me, it became an even better deal—not only did I get to spend more time with him, but we were each paying $325 to share the room.
Sev and I have been using Selinas together for four months.
On the one hand, I love Selina for the variety of their locations and for being reasonably dependable in trying to make a fun, social, aesthetically appealing atmosphere. Plus, for remote workers like me, knowing that wherever I go will have a good coworking space and good wifi is essential. I also commend Selina for their commitment to the safety and security of their guests. Truly, if you're a beginner traveler who just wants to chill and work, this is an amazing set up that takes a lot of the difficult part of travel planning out of the equation.
On the other hand, living in a hostel can get tiring after six months, or four months, or two months. The party atmosphere can become annoying, and while the security is good, it's perhaps too good: you have to wear this bracelet indicating you have a room at the hostel. It's annoying to wear this bracelet all the time, and they become angry at you if you take it off. Which is really not ideal if you're staying somewhere for weeks or months.
Selina does make an effort to be a quirky, aesthetically pleasing place to hang out, but some of the interior decorating can be slip-shod. Shower quality was also a bit of a gamble—showers might never get warm (example: Selina Atitlan), might oscillate uncontrollably from extremely cold to extremely hot (example: Selina Villa de Leyva), or the water pressure might be very low (example: Selina Cartagena).
The coworks have generally been quite good, I think, and it's actually a nice way to make like-minded friends who have jobs, like to travel, and don't only want to party. It can be a really friendly and congenial atmosphere. But like the showers, some of the features are suboptimal; private rooms for making calls are sometimes poorly lit or have sound quality problems (example: Selina Antigua), some of the spaces are too loud in general or not very clean (also Selina Antigua), and some Selinas don't even have official coworking spaces, but rather make-shift tables in random spots that are not always very quiet (example: Selina Palomino).
I don't want to be that down on Selina though. Like I said, there are many extremely good reasons to stay at Selina and I really do recommend it, especially for solo travelers or those looking for a social atmosphere. The price cannot be beat, there are usually a lot of things to do, the locations are interesting, and the wifi is reliable. Together, Sev and I went to 9 different Selinas:
Costa Rica 1) Manuel Antonio 2) San Jose
Guatemala 3) Atitlan 4) Antigua
Colombia 5) Cartagena 6) Palomino 7) Villa de Leyva 8) Bogota Parque 93
Mexico 9) Playa del Carmen
Six months is just a long time to live in hostels. When we got to Mexico City, we got an Airbnb, and having our own kitchen, bathroom, and living area has been amazing. Selina was an exciting adventure and I'm so grateful for my time there, but I'm excited to move on.
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