Journalists and Overnight Stays at Common
I hate saying no.
I particularly hate saying no to people who want to write about Common. But there’s one request that we get more than almost any other and decline every time: a request from a journalist to stay overnight in a Common home. We’ve never allowed it, and we never will.
From what I can tell, we’re alone in this policy: all our major competitors have allowed journalists to stay overnight. We’ve missed out on many feature stories on coliving and innovative housing models because we wouldn’t let a journalist stay overnight while another coliving company would.
Despite all this, I believe more strongly than ever that we’re making the right choice.
Common is a community and a place our members call home. Common is where our members live, sleep, and make friends. To that point, a huge part of the Common experience would be missed by staying only a night. The genuine and organic relationships our members build with each other is a fundamental ingredient in the Common special sauce. Those relationships take time to build and often gel in serendipitous, unplanned moments — doing laundry, watching TV, hanging out on the roof. And people build stronger relationships if they know everyone is there for the long haul. This is why we stopped offering monthly stays.
Common is not a hotel. Common homes are neither designed nor operated to give a hotel-like experience. Our minimum stay is six months in most homes. We don’t have little bottles of shampoo or single-use bars of hand soap. Many of our homes are walk ups without lobbies or full-time staffing. While a journalist may come in with a conscious understanding that they aren’t staying in a hotel, it’s inevitable to miss the creature comforts of a hotel room when only staying a single night.
Finally, we believe that our members privacy comes before an overnight guest. Common members expect privacy, familiar people, and welcoming surroundings. Where you live is something personal, and being “on the record” in your living room is counter to the spirit of home.
We are very fortunate to have some members who volunteer to go on the record and speak with journalists about their experience at Common. Many of our members go out of their way to give others a sense of what it means to be a part of the Common community. We feel that this should be something special that a member raises their hand to do. It should never be the default expectation that comes with living in Common or in any home.
The Common team, many members, and I all love talking about life at Common. We welcome conversations and tours with writers who want to capture an authentic view of life at our homes. So our welcome mat is out. We gladly give tours, arrange conversations with members, and tell the world why we believe Common is such a great place to call home.