The way we work is still evolving, impacted by digital change, remote working, the blurring of lines between work and leisure, and the hotelisation of the office space. Co-working spaces are fast becoming an emerging asset class, with a massive shift towards hybrid workplaces, and greater flexibility becoming the norm. How can hotels and the alternative sector harness this demand?
“What is really important is looking at the consumer and the needs they have on a daily basis,” says Martin Egner, CEO and co-founder of flexible stay and co-working brand The Porter, which is set to open its first property in Leipzig at the end of the year.
“You need other disciplines today to really shape a relevant service and environment and understand where the market is growing… We see huge demand from a consumer perspective, we see huge interest from investors, especially the real estate market, because office demand is going down so this is a great opportunity and momentum to grow.”
He quotes four Cs of “how work is evolving” for operators to consider, including concentration, communication, collaboration, and community, stressing that hospitality businesses are experienced in creating “inspiring and aspirational” environments that offer great user experience, and can bring that experience to office spaces.
“We don’t design spaces efficiently based on activity – the ability to deep focus compared to taking a phone call, collaborate or meet, these are use cases that are in both hotels and the office world,” points out David Turnbull, managing director and co-founder of co-working platform Denizen.
The office is dead – or is it?
“The main place for work for the workforce is still the office, but the office has to transform. Every office concept has to think about third places,” insists Ansgar Oberholz, founder and CEO of office, co-working and event space business St Oberholz, which has sites in Berlin including a retreat space which opened earlier this year.
While he stresses that hybrid and remote working will not be going anywhere post-pandemic, he is also convinced that the workforce still needs physical office spaces to meet.
“I think we may see a pushback [and] a lot of people will go back to the office. The socialising aspect is a strong thing,” he adds, but he suggests that offices will be shaped differently with third spaces and hybrid aspects “much more important than we’ve seen before”.
“All the innovative hotel concepts that have that mindset, having amenities, will survive,” he adds.
Gonçalo Hall, CEO of nomad hub company NomadX, however, believes the office is dead: “You don’t actually need to socialise with people in the company, because when you go to a good coworking space, you’ll meet interesting people from different companies that you can actually learn much more from than just being in the same like-minded space,” he argues.
“Accommodation can become the new neighbourhoods… for me as a digital nomad, a hotel is the best place to work from if they have a proper working space and a community… It’s the perfect hub, everything we need in a city can be in one space.”
The importance of community
Operators stress the need for community engagement including good community managers for the hotels and offices of the future. “As people don’t use [the office] every day, you need somebody to introduce them,” says Oberholz, while Turnbull describes “pulling the neighbourhood in through the ground floors”.
He adds: “I don’t believe in building community; I think we have the opportunity to facilitate existing communities that behave in a very different way.”
Hall references NomadX’s recent Madeira Islands digital nomad hub project, where he says the hotel was reinvented to cater for digital nomads but at the same time engages with the local community – the project has brought in more than €60 million to the island, and the businesses regularly work with local children’s charities and dog shelters.
“When the community has good, strong leadership that connects with the locals, it’s very easy to move people to do something better for the destination,” he says.
Egner, meanwhile, emphasises that this approach must begin with the team feeling a sense of belonging as well as guests.
“It’s very important to put your money where your mouth is and create that ecosystem first and foremost within your organisation,” he says.
“Space is going to become more and more distributed, more activity-based,” concludes Turnbull, suggesting that hoteliers’ new role will be closer to “curators of connected experiences”.
He adds: “[Companies] need totally different rooms, experiences, services, all combined. This is the next level of operation beyond the grasps of coworking 1.0 and is where the opportunity is for the hospitality industry.”
All those quoted in the article appeared on stage at the International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF) held in Berlin between May 15 and 17, in a session called: Selling Spaces, Services and Communities.