Accommodation Platforms for Digital Nomads
The rise of Digital Nomadism has resulted in new services and platforms that cater to the needs of long term stay in a destination - one that favours the slow travel lifestyle. As a digital nomad it can often be difficult finding an accommodation that also has a suitable workplace, a kitchen and any other amenities you may look for.
In this blog post, I want to list a few accommodation platforms that I have used for my digital nomad travels and I know that other digital nomads have used as well.
Quicklinks:
Kindred
The Kindred website
Kindred is a relatively new platform that is (for now) invite only and where you can add you apartment or home and host other people in your home, for which you can earn ‘credit’. With these credits, you can then book other people’s homes on the platform.
There are a few great aspects about this platform:
A professional cleaner cleans your apartment before and after someone stays at your place
The key exchange can be done without actually meeting the people and is organised by Kindred
There is a $100,000 insurance coverage in case something goes wrong
You have a personal concierge that is there for you in case you have any questions
Because of the professional cleaning taking places, you will need to pay for the cleaning as well as a small service fee. The longer you stay, the more it makes sense to book via Kindred because the price can get pretty low. And this is especially true for cities like New York, where a hotel may cost $250 a night and more, but with Kindred, you can get a big apartment for just $60 a night 😳
Some cons of Kindred (for now):
They are only available in the US, Mexico and some places in Europe for now
To get significant cost savings, you need to host stays before you can actually book longer term stays yourself via the platform.
It’s still a relatively new service and platform, so not sure how different countries will react regarding regulations and such.
Sign up on Kindred
Kindred is an invite-only platform. Luckily for you I have a referral code 😄
You can sign up on the platform via this link and get 5 nights for free!
Airbnb
Our Airbnb with pool in Ubud, Bali
There’s been a lot of negative press and feedback about Airbnb recently, but the fact remains that it’s still the biggest and most popular platform out there that offers accommodation suitable for digital nomad stays.
I really think it depends a bit on the location if it makes sense to check out Airbnb. In many countries nowadays, Airbnb isn’t really much cheaper than hotels, so in that case, I’d just book a hotel or aparthotel. There are also some things that I always check on Airbnb which are:
Ratings - I try to only book places with a rating 4.8 or higher
Reviews - There should be at least 7-9 existing reviews
Super host - I prefer that the host of the place is a Superhost
Where does it make sense to book an Airbnb?
Places where I think booking an Airbnb (still) make sense are: Bali, Thailand, Eastern Europe (e.g. Bulgaria, Romania), Vietnam, Mexico. There are of course more places, but these are the locations where I have booked an Airbnb in the past couple of years and thought it was decent, and sometimes even great, value for money.
Places where I think booking and Airbnb don’t make sense anymore, e.g. because hotel prices are largely similar: USA, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, most Northern European countries.
Booking.com
The reason I like Booking.com over other platforms (for instance Hotels.com) is that you can book a month long stay (or longer) and there are also many independent apartments and aparthotels that are listed. These places often also have a long stay discount, either weekly or monthly. All the places that are on Booking.com are also verified by the platform, so that gives an extra layer of security.
You can also check the reviews of course, and I would apply the same ‘checks’ as the ones I mentioned for Airbnb (i.e. amount of reviews, ratings etc.).
Find apartments and long-term stay hotels on Booking.com via this link.
Coliving Spaces
If you are a digital nomad traveling alone it can get quite lonely and even isolating. In this case, I believe Co-living spaces are a great way to meet other, like-minded people. People staying at co-living spaces usually stay there to connect with others too, so everyone has basically the same goal. What’s more, co-living spaces usually organise many social events and activities, which is just an easy way to meet the other people who are staying at the coliving.
Another benefit of booking a Coliving space is that it usually includes access to a coworking space - especially relevant for digital nomads and remote workers! A comfortable space to work from (i.e. working desk and ergonomic chair) is often not a given when booking Airbnbs or hotels, so this is a significant pro in my opinion.
A platform that lists coliving spaces around the world is Coliving.com. The platform is a directory of many coliving spaces around the world and you can just search for your destination via the search bar.
🌴 Also check my blog post on Best Coliving Spaces in South East Asia for Digital Nomads
Home Swapping Platforms
There are quite a few home swapping platforms out there that let you register your home on a site, often for a yearly fee, but sometimes also for free, and then you are able to swap with anyone you can find on their platform for unlimited times.
Here are a few platforms out there:
Homeexchange.com
This is a platform that basically does what the name says: exchanging your home (duh!) 😅
You need to get your profile and home verified, pay the $220 annual fee and then you can basically have unlimited swaps with other homes on the platform. That’s a pretty good deal. You can find all sorts of homes on the platform, including homes with pools, pets and gardens.
Find out more about how it work on the Home exchange website.
Swaphouse
Swaphouse.io is another home swapping platform, specifically targeting digital nomads and remote workers. It works similar to Home exchange in that you create a profile, add you home, get verified and then you can search the website for other available homes at your destination of choice. What’s interesting is that it’s completely free!
You can get a insurance with them for a small fee, but other than that, the services seem to be totally free. However, on the flip side this also means that you are more liable for when something happens and there are no extra ‘checks’ for when someone is coming to stay at your place or vice versa. Therefore, you need to make sure that you trust the person that is coming to stay in your home.
Other Options
There are of course other options too when looking for accommodations as a digital nomad.
One of the best ways to get a decent value for money is looking on Facebook groups, such as “Digital Nomads in Bali” or similar, where many people may post accommodation that is available for one month or longer. Try to search for groups on facebook for digital nomads in [enter your destination] and see what people are posting in terms of rental places.
Another option is searching for destination specific platforms. For example, I recently found out that there is a relatively new service in Tokyo that rents out very good apartments for a few months. It is called Hmlet Japan and although the price might be a bit pricier that renting an actual apartment for a longer term, it is still much cheaper than booking a hotel or Airbnb for a month in Tokyo. Just my luck that I stumbled across it only after I came back from Japan 🙈.
I’m sure that more and more of such platforms and services will be popping up that will help digital nomads and remote workers find a decent apartment for just a few months!
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Do you have any other tips for accommodations for digital nomads? Let me know in the comments below!
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