Admittedly this is my first experience with a co-working space so I didn't know what to expect. As a concept it's great. In execution it's terrible.
It's nice to have many of the perks: free water, coffee or tea (the latter two are not very good) with WeWork tumblers and coffee mugs. There are often free bagels/bread with butter, jam, nut butters on Mondays and other free food perks. If you're looking for any number of set-ups you've got it: Small offices, larger ones, conference rooms of various sizes. Want to be more social? There's a seating area in the kitchens. Want private space? There are phone booths that can fit one person which I adored but they weren't always great for soundproofing.
Initially it seems great. No need to wash your own mugs/cups and you can even leave your lunch box to be washed, too. Networking opportunities. Discounts and perks with associated businesses. Close to the Metro station.
But the cracks show. Quite frankly I found the floor staff to be quite unprofessional: one called a co-worker a b**** for not doing something (I understand frustration with co-workers but saying so in public? Uh.). One time the mail person flapped a piece of mail at me while saying something like "EeEeEe". It's hard to describe but in summary he was trying to get my attention in a really weird way. Another completely mumbled something at me one morning and to this day I still have no idea what she said or why. Sometimes trying to get a simple ask done from WeWork required multiple back and forths. A co-worker said she had an ongoing issue and literally found herself talking to someone new every time because the turnover was that high.
Noise is a factor, too. As mentioned, the phone booths have no sound-proofing. It's very easy to hear someone coming up and down the hall on their phone. Your neighboring office might be loud. WeWork apparently had a conference at this location recently and we could hear quite a bit of it. You can also see from the pictures that it's really a bunch of glass cages: some offices have frosting on the windows but it's not a big help.
I do think it can be of use to the right people for particular needs and/or setup. If you need a place to meet they have various-sized conference rooms. Depending on the location of the office space you might have a really nice out of the way place that is less noisy and more private.
Overall, though, I won't miss this location or the absurdity of having to swipe in order to exit via the main entry way after 6 PM nor having to swipe EVERY time if you enter the other way, regardless of the time or day. Honestly, there are aspects of the entry/exit that are completely ridiculous and makes me glad my organization is almost done here. read more