As a location independent entrepreneur and frequent traveler, I had been eyeing the Selina CoLive program for about a year. It seemed like the perfect solution to the conundrum of wanting to access to co-working spaces and community while on the road. This is a Selina CoLive review where I will share my experience in Costa Rica.

PS: This is not sponsored by Selina. It’s an independent Selina CoLive Review based on my personal experiences.

The Selina CoLive program advertises stays of 1+ month starting at $450/month. The program includes complimentary access to co-working spaces, health and fitness classes, and a built-in community. PLUS, the biggest benefit is that you can hop around to their different properties in a country or region. You can choose either 3 properties a month, or unlimited properties for an additional surcharge.

In this post, I’ll be sharing my experience of the Selina Co-Live program for 3 weeks in Costa Rica. If you are looking for Selina CoLive reviews, look no further!

Booking

To get started, I booked a 10-minute call with a Selina CoLive representative from their website. I logged into the Google Meet appointment and talked to Cris, who was super helpful. Make sure to have an idea of the dates you want to travel, and the locations you’d like to visit. They will need to get an idea of your itinerary — at least for your first few weeks of travel — to check availability.

After talking to Cris, he sent me a message via WhatsApp to confirm the details we discussed and secure our booking. NOTE: Selina does A LOT of business through WhatsApp (the free messaging app). At first, I thought this was a bit sketchy but it’s just the way they operate since they are a worldwide company.

Once confirming the booking details on WhatsApp, Cris emailed us an invoice to pay and contract to sign as a final step to lock in our booking.

You also have the option to book directly online, which is a bit more convenient and transparent. That is what I would recommend. You can do that HERE.

We booked our trip somewhat last minute. We secured our booking at the end of March with a plan to leave May 2nd. This seemed acceptable, although I would recommend booking a bit earlier if you’re very specific about locations because certain locations could be sold out for the dates you want to be there.

Cost

Selina has several room types — shared, mini, standard, and suite. We selected the standard room. One nuance that I wasn’t sure about is that we were traveling as a couple, so I wasn’t sure how that would work with pricing. We paid about a $14/night surcharge for the additional person (after taxes and fees), which was a really great deal.

My husband and I only had 3 weeks to travel. Even though the minimum on the website says 1 month, they were flexible and prorated the monthly amount accordingly.

Overall, we spent about $1,150 (after taxes and fees) for 3 weeks — or $54/night. Since the standard room wasn’t available during the whole time, they upgraded us to the Suite for about 8 nights of our trip which was pretty great.

PS: Even though we were working and traveling, this trip was not tax deductible for us. If you’d like figure out whether or not you could write off part of your trip, check out our freebie mini-course on Travel as a Tax Write-Off HERE.

Our view from our Suite in Manuel Antonio.

Properties

We stayed in 3 different properties — Jaco, Manuel Antonio, and San Jose. Each property was very different— but all very Selina branded with modern decor and an insta-worthy feel.

Jaco, Costa Rica was beautiful and right on the beach. It was clean and had a great shared kitchen space as well. It catered to current and aspiring surfers — but was still totally inclusive to novices who wanted to take a surf lesson (like me!).

Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica was a HUGE resort-like property with three pools, and a beautiful yoga deck. However, there were like a lot stairs separating each area of the property and the shared kitchen was isolated from the heart of the property.

San Jose, Costa Rica had a really amazing co-working space. The hostel itself was comfortable as well with a large shared kitchen. The restaurant/bar was always busy and active.

Selina is really great in terms of their cohesive branding — but something to realize is that each property is different. It’s not like staying at a Hilton where you know exactly what to expect in each of their hotel brands.

Rooms

Our rooms were always clean and comfortable. Because we had a standard room, we had an en-suite bathroom in each. We really liked how we had a private outdoor seating area in both Jaco and Manuel Antonio.

We had hot water in each location, and most of our rooms had a fridge as well. Most of the rooms also had a desk in them — but it wasn’t a guarantee.

They offered a daily cleaning service to make your bed and provide fresh towels. Most days, we opted out of the cleaning service since we were staying in each location for about a week.

Co-Working

The best part of the CoLive experience was guaranteed access to comfortable co-working and strong wifi. Each property even had the same wifi login information — so changing locations was seemless! I did have quite a few Zoom calls and phone calls during our trip— and I was able to take those from the co-working space because most had phone booths and/or were quiet enough that it was totally fine.

Each co-working space had coffee makers and filtered water. Outlets were plentiful. Overall, the co-working benefit is what will keep me returning to the Selina CoLive program.

Fitness, Community, Etc.

My other favorite part of CoLive was the fitness classes. Outdoor yoga classes were offered daily at all three properties — except for San Jose where it was 2-3x per week. I really felt like it adds to the CoLive brand to offer daily fitness options, just like if you were at home and had access to a gym membership.

I was able to meet like-minded travelers at all 3 properties and it would be totally easy to navigate and find travel buddies as a solo traveler. Next time I do the CoLive program, it will probably be solo and I am confident that I not be lonely based on my experience.

Each property also had a really good restaurant. The pricing was mid-tier — definitely not the cheapest option — and they provided a mix between American food and local options.

Lastly, each property also offered paid excursions as well as shuttles to their different locations. We found these to be pricey when compared to other options like AirBnb experiences, Uber, local buses, Etc.

Dinner during our first night in Costa Rica at Koko Gastrobar in Jaco.

Overall Rating

I would give our Selina CoLive experience in Costa Rica an 8 out of 10. The value we received for the price was amazing. We loved the access to world class co-working, meeting other travelers, and the fitness classes.

Selina could improve upon their consistency across their properties and shared kitchen/living areas sine often the restaurants at each of the properties were the flagship hangout areas, and you couldn’t bring your own food and drinks.

I am planning on trying out the Selina CoLive program in another country soon (manifesting Portugal this fall!), and am excited to compare that with the awesome experience we had in Costa Rica. I hope this Selina CoLive review helped you plan your next trip. Pura Vida!

Selina CoLive Review: Digital Nomading in Costa Rica