The rise of co-working hostels

I needed to go to Mexico City to meet some friends for a concert that was going there and I decided that I would go ahead and stay for a few weeks because although I do spend a great deal of time living and working in Mexico, I hadn't ever spend much time in the capitol city.

I am a digital nomad, so my ability to peacefully work in or near where I am staying is absolutely essential to me. Hostels in the pure sense are kind of in my rear-view because ultra-budget accommodation doesn't really do it for me anymore. Plus, since I am now in my 40's the youthful vibe of these places (normally filled with teenagers and 20 somethings that are there to drunk and hook up with strangers) kind of makes me feel like a creepy old guy in those places.

So when Selina Mexico City Downtown was pointed out to me as "the place" for digital nomads to set up shop, I looked into it.

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The rooms are well beyond what you would expect from a hostel, and they are only slightly more than what you would pay at a youth hostel.

One of the biggest attractions to me was the coworking spaces that were seriously comfortable and had access to food and drinks but if you are a guest there, there is no pressure to actually buy anything. You can simply park at a desk, plug in, and order nothing if you feel so inclined. I do like coffee though, especially when it isn't overpriced. Everything in this place was a very fair price, and the staff are super accommodating as well.

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They've got common areas that you can use for free or for a small fee you can book a private room with a desk and even presentation projectors and monitors if you need them.

In a day and age when everyone says they have "high speed internet" it gets to be tiresome when most people are lying. They are not lying here. This is some of the most quick and reliable internet speeds I have ever encountered anywhere including my own house. I never had any issues and I spoke to one of the staff that said they have several redundancies so that they will never experience an outage of service. This attention to detail is the reason why this place is killing it and perhaps why this notion of accommodation is picking up in popularity all over the world.

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I didn't need this but there were many group areas that were intended to accommodate large groups that were there for some sort of group trip and they even had a makeshift conference room in case there was some sort of large event!

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You can get all of this starting at around $13 US per night! This is absolutely fantastic pricing that I think almost anyone can afford. They also offer weekly and monthly discounts and while I was there I talked to several people that were taking advantage of exactly that.

You get to meet a few other travelers while you are there as well, if you are keen, and this is one of the main things I have always preferred about hostels over hotels in all my many years of travel.

This day and age when it seems that almost everyone is a digital nomad of some sort, it is nice to see that the industry is willing to provide for us. Party hostels are abundant as well these days, but places like this have strict policies against drunken rude behavior because while everyone likes to have a good time, this staff here will not allow any guests to be a nuisance to other guests. These rules are posted all around the hostel and everyone was in compliance. I can only guess that they must very seriously enforce these policies - which to me is just fantastic.

Even if you don't work when you are traveling, I highly suggest that you take a look at co-working hostels when you next travel. For some reason they are able to provide comfortable accommodation at a fraction of the price of a hotel and if the others are anything like Selina, they are also smack dab in the center of the city.

You can check this particular property yourself here if you want to but it is my impression that these sorts of operations are exploding in popularity all around the globe.