Spaces to Stay

Field reports from coliving, hotels, hostels, campers, and rentals — revisited as places change.

4 articles · last updated May 2026

A long dining table set for a coliving Sunday dinner with candles and shared plates

First Person · 4 min

A week at Pomar na Praia: what the rhythm actually is

The Pomar website tells you what the house provides. This piece tells you what the week looks like inside it. Both are useful. Only the second is hard to find in advance.

Hotel lobby with a laptop on a small wooden table next to a window overlooking a Portuguese harbour

First Person · 3 min

The Olhão working day: Pomar's partnered hotel and why I used it twice

An operational quirk Pomar does not advertise loudly enough — a partnership with a boutique hotel in Olhão that lets coliving guests work from a different room for the day.

A bowl of freshly picked oranges and avocados on a wooden kitchen table

First Person · 2 min

Pomar has its own farm. You pick the avocados yourself.

The word 'pomar' in Portuguese means orchard. I had assumed this was a poetic flourish; the website was not aggressive about correcting me. Two afternoons of fruit-picking confirmed otherwise.

A handmade cake on a kitchen table with several plates and forks ready to share

First Person · 3 min

Pomar's community manager changed mid-stay. The cohort kept going.

Coliving brochures rarely talk about the community manager. The community manager is the single most important variable. Week seven of my stay ran a complete handover — and the institution survived the human.