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Qin Xie

Tsugio Makimoto and David Manners coined the term “digital nomad” in their 1997 book of the same name, which predicted a future in which technological advances enabled people to live and work on the move.
It would be another two decades before the concept really took off – during the Covid-19 pandemic – but today there are millions of digital nomads worldwide. Unsurprisingly, the trend is starting to shape the travel industry.
Aside from an increasing number of countries introducing remote-worker-friendly visas, there is a new generation of hotels designed with digital nomads in mind.
I checked into one such hotel to see if it would help a part-time nomad like me travel better and for longer.

My base was Lyf Collingwood, a co-living hotel in Melbourne, Australia, that I found through a digital nomad forum.
The brand launched in Singapore in 2016, and there are now 26 Lyf properties in 11 places around the world. Its parent company, Ascott, has plans to open 150 by 2030.
All of the hotels are designed to be affordable enough to stay in for a few months at a time, but you can also stay for a few days or a week. They are meant to help you live like a local.
The four-storey Melbourne property’s exposed bricks and big murals help it blend into Collingwood, an edgy neighbourhood just outside the central business district known for start-ups and companies such as skincare brand Aesop, which has its headquarters there.
Inside Lyf Collingwood, floor-to-ceiling windows allow ample natural light into the open-plan lobby and co-working space. The check-in counter doubles as a cafe, offering barista-made brews that pay homage to the city’s coffee culture.
Towards the back of the property there is an enormous shared kitchen, one wall of which is taken up by a commercial-grade fridge and freezer. Cooking stations – equipped with everything from pots and pans to a KitchenAid stand mixer – surround a central dining area.

There is also a laundry room with a vintage arcade machine, a meeting room and a chill-out space with mood lighting.
After checking in, I meet Ainsley Aldons, special project manager at Ascott Australia, who shows me some of the rooms. They range from small doubles designed for one person or short stays to two-room “apartments” with kitchenettes – Aldons says these rooms are a hit with corporate travellers.
My room is one of the bigger ones, occupying a bright corner spot on the fourth floor overlooking the low-rise neighbourhood.
About half of the room is taken up by the bed – essentially a mattress on a raised storage platform. The rest comprises an enclosed bathroom with a walk-in shower and a simple work desk.


Hooks on the walls for mugs and tissues help maximise the floor space. A widescreen TV equipped with Google Cast Chromecast is suspended from the ceiling.
While digital nomads pass through the property from time to time, the hotel’s clientele is largely made up of repeat business guests visiting the area’s start-ups, and a handful of long-stay residents, some of whom have been at the property for almost a year.
After the tour, I scout out the lobby co-working space. It is big and airy, with plenty of seats and power outlets. There is a small group having a meeting and a steady stream of people checking in.

Deciding there are too many distractions, I escape to the privacy of my room to get some work done.
A big downside of being a digital nomad is that it can get lonely, especially on extended solo trips.
At home, it is easy to schedule a get-together with family or friends, but finding people to hang out with while on the road can be a challenge. Even catching up with loved ones can be tricky because of differences in time zones. Other digital nomads echo this sentiment in forums.
This is why the idea of co-living is appealing. In theory, the social spaces should make it easier to meet people and create a community.
At 6pm, the end of my working day, I head down to the lobby to see whether I can find any friendly faces. At hostels, you usually just have to hang around in the lobby and someone will strike up a conversation.

But when I arrive in the lobby at Lyf Collingwood, the handful of people there when I checked in are still hard at work on their laptops, and most have their headphones in – the co-working equivalent of “do not disturb”.
After milling around fruitlessly, I head out for dinner. By the time I return at 11pm, the day crew have been replaced by a night crew in a similar “do not disturb” set-up; one is on a conference call.
Meeting people and making friends, it seems, is no easier in a co-living space, especially as I am staying for only a couple of nights.
Hannah Paguntalan, one of the property’s “Lyf guards” (guest-services assistants), is still on duty, so I ask her about the social scene and events at the property.

She tells me that, as at house parties, the best place to socialise at Lyf Collingwood is in the kitchen. “Our long-stay guests get to know each other not because we introduce them but because of the kitchen,” she says. “And even with some new guests who like to cook, we’ll see them chatting or eating together.”
There is just one problem: everyone works in different time zones. “We have one long-stay guest who only comes down late at night or early in the morning,” Paguntalan says.
Qin Xie stayed as a guest of Lyf Collingwood.


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The kitchen at Lyf Collingwood, in Melbourne.

The lobby at Lyf Collingwood in Melbourne, Australia. We stayed there to learn more about a new generation of hotels built with digital nomads in mind. Photo: Qin Xie

The check-in counter at Lyf Collingwood doubles as a cafe to celebrate Melbourne’s coffee culture. 

Lyf Collingwood’s laundry room features a vintage arcade machine. Photo: Qin Xie

A room at Lyf Collingwood, complete with a bed, a simple working desk and floor-space-saving hooks and shelves.

A bathroom in a room at Lyf Collingwood, featuring a standing shower.

The co-working space at Lyf Collingwood is big and airy. Photo: Qin Xie

A guest works on her laptop at Lyf Collingwood. Despite the hotel’s social spaces, working in different time zones can make it difficult for digital nomads to forge relationships with each other.

According to one staff member, guests at Lyf Collingwood tend to bond most in the hotel’s kitchen.

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Travel & Leisure

Hotels for remote workers are increasing, but do they make solo travel better? We check into Melbourne’s Lyf Collingwood to find out


Hotels for remote workers are increasing, but do they make solo travel better? We stayed at Melbourne’s Lyf Collingwood to find out


Australia

Travel Destinations