Review of Selina Playa del Carmen for digital nomads
Selina is a bustling coworking and coliving space Playa del Carmen. Part of a chain, my experience at this particular location was the worst I’ve ever had at any cowork. Outright – I wouldn’t recommend working from here at all.
But let’s get into the review so you can judge things for yourself.
Why choose to work at Selina Playa del Carmen?
For most Europeans, American and Brits, Mexico awards up to 6 months stay. As exciting as this is, it meant a lot of planning to make the most of my time in the country.
With friends coming to Cancun the following month, I wanted to stay nearby in the Yucatan. So I decided to base up in the pueblo of Playa del Carmen, which was supposedly less touristic than Cancun itself. Selina was the obvious cowork location for me, having experienced their brilliant locations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Atitlan in Guatemala.
- Wifi speeds 70%
- Community events 30%
- Coffee 10%
- Accessibility 20%
- Price 70%
- Overall Value 40%
About
Cowork Review is a site built to help remote workers and digital nomads on the move. We review coworks in all areas of the world, usually staying between 2 weeks and 1 month for a fair trial.
All opinions are our own.
How much does it cost to cowork at Selina Playa del Carmen?
A coworking membership at Selina in Playa del Carmen costs $120 for one month. However, you have the option to combine this with coliving to receive either a dorm-style or private room onsite. This is more flexible than somewhere like AdventureKeys, where you have to colive if you want to also cowork.
Here are some more scenarios and their associated prices when working from Selina in Playa del Carmen:
Monthly
(USD)Monthly
(EURO)Monthly
GBPHow long did I work there?
I spent six weeks living and working from Selina’s Playa del Carmen branch in February and March. If I didn’t pay upfront and need to stay in the area to meet friends, I would have left as soon as I could.
What are the opening hours?
Selina’s coworking space was open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Outside of standard working hours (9-5), you could access the space using an electronic key card.
What is Selina Playa del Carmen like for digital nomads?
Working at Selina in Playa del Carmen was crowded, loud and sweaty. The entire experience felt dirty and overwhelming, especially due to the heaving onsite kitchen which was an absolute state, all of the time.
The street outside extremely busy, adding to the noise. Every day there seemed to be a performance on this street, leading to incredibly loud music which penetrated the Selina building with ease. If this was hell, the Paros Selina in Greece felt like paradise.
What’s more, there wasn’t enough desk space in the location. Clearly, someone had oversold the memberships at Selina Playa del Carmen which meant that unless you came into the building before 10am, you wouldn’t get a desk. If you’re working European or Asian hours like I was (or just anything other than the local timezone), you can kiss the idea of a desk goodbye.
I thought this was seriously problematic, considering the fact that everyone who pays a membership is promised a hot desk. It meant that there was a huge overflow of workers in outdoor spaces, with humid conditions and no air conditioning. Uncomfortable – to say the least.
Adding to the busy feeling, there were three call booths which were in constant use. The room itself became loud due to the number of people who were forced to take calls inside it, because these call booths were constantly unavailable. Headache after headache.
Finally, the social scene at Selina Playa del Carmen was also seriously lacking. I think due to the overwhelming number of guests and coworkers, it was just too much effort to try and bring people together. That being said, the onsite community manager did find time to bring local women into the facility for a talk on a couple of the days I stayed there. This was confusing.
What amenities does the Playa del Carmen Selina have?
Selina Playa del Carmen has about 20 desks, all of which were oversubscribed during my membership period. They also have three call booths which were also in constant use.
There was no tea or coffee facility which was supposed to be included with the membership. But what made matters worse was that the water facility was constantly out of water. On several occasions I had to ask for water at the bar, and received some backlash and judgemental looks from the bar staff for it. The experience left a nasty taste in my mouth (literally).
The onsite kitchen which was grotesque. Listen, I understand that hostels and coliving spaces must rely on their guests to keep things clean – but clearly something was going wrong here.
The only saving grace was the onsite pool, which was refreshing, especially after a long day’s work. But since I went to Selina Playa del Carmen to work, this wasn’t such an important factor.
Do they run any community events?
Like I mentioned, there were a few community events at Selina but due to the volume of guests, it was difficult to actually connect socially. Moreover, most of the coworkers did not stay at the facility and therefore chose not to partake in the activities.
There was a dance lesson once per week at Selina Playa del Carmen. There was also an outdoor movie night. The space held events for the local community but this was off-limits to coliving guests.
What are the pros and cons of working from Selina Playa del Carmen?
It’s seriously hard to find a positive about working at Selina Playa del Carmen – we’ll go with the onsite pool. The negatives, however, come thick and fast. Oversold desks, loud and sweaty cowork, failing onsite water facilities (a super basic one, come on guys!).
Here are some more examples of advantages and disadvantages at Selina Playa del Carmen:
Pros |
Cons |
|
Onsite pool |
Not enough desks for the number of members, spilling to outdoor working in unfavourable (sweaty) conditions |
|
The wifi works |
Staff could not stay on top of refilling water facilities which meant they were constantly out |
|
Very loud location with street noise filtering into the room, as well as people generally taking calls in the common space |
|
|
No free onsite tea and coffee |
Recommend working at Playa del Carmen Selina?
Not in the slightest. Do yourself a favour and stick to Selina’s in Cancun or Nicaragua – where the experience is much more pleasant. Alternatively, choose to stay and work elsewhere in Playa del Carmen, as it does have a thriving and easily-accessible digital nomad community.
Are there any alternatives for digital nomads in Playa del Carmen?
There are plenty of cafe’s with good wifi in Playa del Carmen. As destinations go, it’s actually a really good one for digital nomads because of the regular meet-ups and thiriving whatsapp community. Just avoid Selina in Playa del Carmen!
Summary
- Staying or working from Selina in Playa del Carmen is not for the weak of heart – I found myself navigating one disaster after another
- I was disappointed at even the most basic level here, the space was not kept clean, without accessible drinking water and it was incredibly noisy
- The staff on the ground did not seem open to feedback and it was hard to connect with other digital nomads in the coworking space