Working from home isn’t for me. Blame it on cramped apartments and desk-next-to-bed setups.
However, I cherish the ability to work remotely. I can be cocooned in a hammock while on the phone or furiously typing away on a wobbly airplane tray table at 35,000 feet. My office can be anywhere with semi-usable WiFi or one bar of cell service, but my favorite place to work is a hotel lobby.
The lobby isn’t just about checking in or out anymore. For many hotels, these shared, mixed-use spaces foster a sense of community. It’s where guests can work and mingle outside of tiny rooms, often without a desk. The hotel’s lobby or common area is a “third place” that is often overlooked. Personally, I crave an environment where other people are working; it produces a kind of social white noise.
Despite what you may think, hotel common areas are not solely for overnight guests. Instead of turning visitors away, more hotels are increasingly opening their doors to the neighborhood.
“We see that people today are traveling more on their own, looking for places to comfortably work during the day without feeling alone,” says Mitchell Hochberg, president of Lightstone, the developer of several Moxy properties across New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles.
That’s ideal for visitors who want local flair — and locals coming down with cabin fever.
That Brooklyn branch, along with so many others, has a lounge providing the perfect venue to unpack my laptop by day. By night, I can move a few feet to the bar to meet with a friend who lives around the corner.
Other hip brands such as CitizenM, Hilton’s Tempo, and Hyatt’s Thompson Hotels blur the lines between lobby, bar, and co-working space.
As a travel writer and generally nosy individual, getting to people-watch in the nook of a hotel lobby is my dream work scenario. If I’m in town for an assignment and need to get work done, I often look for cafes and lounges within hotels that can give me a feel for the local vibe. (The lively buzz and velvet sofas of the Hoxton Amsterdam were a recent standout.)
Meanwhile, if I’m home, I know the hotels with gorgeous common spaces that tend to foster light and ambient conversation, have fast WiFi and offer coffee and snacks for purchase. (The effortlessly chic Santa Monica Proper Hotel has been a recent go-to.)
Of course, there are some ground rules for working from hotels, too. Think of it as any outside cafe: You probably wouldn’t sit down without buying something first. It’s not the cheapest habit and not something that I do every day. There are also some properties — usually at the higher end — that have distinct rules about which reserved areas are off-limits to non-guests.
While the intended effect of the new wave of lobbies may be to actually socialize, I love them for indirect interactions. That is, to go buy a cup of coffee, sit down, and soak in the travel experience of a hotel — even if I’m just around the corner from home.