7 Features Every Upscale Coworking Space Should Have
Not every coworking space is worthy of the adjective "upscale." A lot of them just have a nicer couch than a regular office and call it a day. The real ones get the fundamentals right: meeting rooms with scheduling systems that actually work, internet that doesn't drop mid-call, and a location people can reach without a two-transfer subway trip, plus all the extra goodies.
Here are the seven features worth checking for before you sign anything official.
1. Premium meeting and boardroom facilities
A meeting room is only as good as what happens inside it. That means tech-equipped rooms with screens and video conferencing that work without any fuss as soon as you walk in, soundproofing so the pitch in room B doesn't leak into your call, and a booking system that doesn't require three emails to reserve an hour. If you miss any of these, you’ll end up with meeting rooms that look nice as your LinkedIn profile picture backdrop, but that’s about it.
2. Flexible desk and office options
Teams need different setups depending on their size and stage, and a space that only offers one option caps how far a member can grow with it. Hot desks work for the freelancer who's in twice a week, while dedicated desks suit someone who wants the same spot every day without renting a whole office. Private offices make sense once a team hits five or six people, and day passes matter more than people expect, because clients visiting from out of town need somewhere to sit too.
3. High-speed, reliable connectivity
This one sounds super obvious until the Wi-Fi drops during a client call and you realize you forgot to check when you were signing your contract. Enterprise-grade Wi-Fi should be the baseline for every coworking space, no exceptions, but unfortunately that isn’t the case. A real backup connection matters too, since a single point of failure puts your whole workday at risk when your business runs fully online. On-site IT support rounds it out, because who feels like troubleshooting the connection on a Wednesday afternoon?
4. Wellness and comfort amenities
Ergonomic furniture keeps people at their desk past 2pm without their back giving out, which matters more the longer the workday runs. A quiet room or wellness space gives people somewhere to take a call, decompress, or just get away from the open floor for ten minutes. Natural light and actual greenery make a bigger difference to how a day feels than most people credit. All of these things are crazy productivity boosters.
5. On-site hospitality
Good coffee seriously matters. Lots more than most people admit. A real barista setup, decent catering options for meetings, and a lounge or kitchen space where people can actually sit down and eat lunch instead of hunching over a laptop all add up. This is one of those things nobody mentions when touring a space, but it's the first thing people notice once they're actually working there every day.
6. Community and networking programming
The best coworking spaces bring together a room full of people you want to know, on top of just being a nice place to set up shop. Through curated events, a member directory that's kept up to date, and real opportunities for collaboration between member companies, coworking spaces can turn a workspace into something much more akin to a professional network. A space without any of this is just an office with strangers in it.
7. Prime location and accessibility
Ultimately, getting there easily matters more than any amenity on this list, since a hard commute keeps a space quiet no matter how good the insides are. Good transport links, parking for the people who drive in, and proximity to clients and talent pools all factor into whether a space actually gets used or just sits half-empty on a lease somewhere. Location is the one feature that can't be fixed after the fact.
What to look for when you tour
These seven features are the difference between an okay, run-of-the-mill coworking space and an upscale one. If a space is missing more than one or two, it's worth asking why before signing a membership. Varo was built around all seven, from the engineering and interior brief on.
The easiest way to see how these play out in person is to tour the space yourself. Come check out Varo Coworking or take a look at membership plans to find the setup that actually fits your team.
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