CoLiving Review
Oaxaca - Mexico
outsite
A beautifully designed coliving at the edge of Oaxaca's Jalatlaco neighborhood: reliable wifi, hotel-level comfort, and a social scene that's a genuine gamble depending on who else is staying.
Why Oaxaca, why Outsite?
I came to Outsite Oaxaca almost by accident. After landing in Mexico City, my first stop in Mexico, I only stayed five days before Oaxaca called me. Mostly because I needed somewhere to wait while my passport was being renewed at the embassy. Four weeks, one city, no real plan beyond that.
I ended up completely charmed. Oaxaca’s pedestrian, human-scale center, its food, its color, the sense of safety I felt as a woman traveling solo… It’s easy to see why so many nomads and slow travelers end up staying far longer than planned! I wanted to test two different colivings during my month there: CO404, which came highly recommended, and Outsite, a name I’d heard mixed things about and wanted to judge for myself. This review covers my ten nights at Outsite.
Wifi
Workspace
Community
Value for Money
Wifi & Connectivity
No complaints here. The wifi stayed stable throughout the day, every day. Video calls, large downloads, heavy uploads, all handled without a hitch. It worked just as well in my room as in the common areas or the small interior courtyard. If your work depends on a rock-solid connection, this is not something you’ll need to worry about at Outsite.
Workspace & Productivity
On the 1st floor, there’s a large common area with long tables, rolling leather chairs, and a few counter-style seats by the window. Comfortable, workable, but shared with the sofa-and-TV lounge corner and open kitchen. It was quiet during my stay, but it’s easy to imagine tension between people wanting to focus and people wanting to hang out when the place is fuller. There’s also a second long table in the kitchen area, cozier chairs but no natural light, with the same background-noise issue. We can’t talk about a proper ‘coworking area’ here.
This is where Outsite is more mixed. Room has a small desk with a genuinely comfortable ergonomic chair. I worked from there: quiet, well-lit, a good default option. The catch: the room faces the interior courtyard, which Outsite shares with a bakery-café. From 8am until closing, there’s café music and conversation drifting up. It’s not loud, but it’s constant, and worth knowing if you’re on calls all day. Rooms facing the street, or on the ground floor and first floor, reportedly get some traffic noise instead, but supposedly less café bleed.
I settled on working from my room most days, better light, more control over the noise. One real gap: there’s no phone booth or isolated space for calls, content creators, podcasters, or anyone needing to record audio/video without interruption.
Community & Social Life
Outsite has a bit of a reputation for weak community, and I went in with low expectations… but my week was a pleasant surprise. There’s a WhatsApp group you join on arrival, and guests used to organize dinners, outings, and activities. During my stay it was genuinely active: weekend outings, dinners, board game night, even karaoke.
That said, this entirely depends on who else is there. There’s no community manager on-site, no activity calendar, nothing structured. It’s purely guest-driven. The common spaces are large enough that you’ll naturally cross paths at mealtimes in the kitchen or lounge, so it works whether you’re solo and want quiet or open to meeting people. Just don’t expect a « family dinner » style program. If you want organized social structure, this isn’t it.
Comfort & Amenities
Genuinely excellent. Everything is new, clean, modern; from the chairs and sofas to the kitchen equipment. Each room has a numbered shelf in the shared pantry and fridge space, there’s filtered water on tap, and the kitchen is properly stocked with everything you’d need to actually cook. Spaces are bright and generously sized. A washer and dryer on the first floor is a real bonus if you’d rather handle your own laundry.
The room itself is hotel-standard: a comfortable queen bed, good linens, several pillows, a big closet, large windows with both a light curtain and a blackout option, and it’s genuinely quiet at night. Great for sleep, and worth noting if you work odd hours. No housekeeping or linen change during my ten nights, which was fine for that length of stay. Small gripe: the shower’s water pressure was scattered and weak, not ideal for washing longer hair.
One real limitation: there’s barely any outdoor space. The interior courtyard is small, with a few low tables and so-so chairs. It’s fine for a coffee, but it’s shared with the café next door behind a simple screen partition, which means you can hear (and half-feel like you’re part of) the café’s daily buzz. Fine alone; less fine if you’re a group wanting to chat or play music.
Location & Access
This is a strong point. Outsite sits right at the entrance of Jalatlaco, easily one of my favorite neighborhoods in Oaxaca: colorful pedestrian streets, street art, cafés, bookshops… The bakery-café sharing the courtyard is one of the most recommended in the area, perfect for a change of scenery or a quick bite between work sessions.
The city center is a 10-minute walk, as the local producers’ market; a bigger supermarket is about 20 minutes on foot. There’s a running track roughly 15 minutes away, and the bus station is walkable in about 15 minutes too (watch for cobblestones along the way). For the airport, it’s best to book a taxi pickup in advance (about 30 minutes’ drive) and the coliving’s community contact can usually provide the driver’s info via WhatsApp.
Value for Money
Worth it, especially with the membership. My ten nights in a Queen Room with ensuite bathroom came to around $600 total (with Outsite’s $199/year membership) so roughly $60/night. Without the membership, the same room runs about $700 (non-refundable) or $780 with free cancellation up to 10 days out.
For that price, hotel-level comfort and a fully-equipped kitchen make this an easy yes. The social side is more of a gamble, could be great, could be quiet, but even then, the workspace is solid enough, and Oaxaca has enough café alternatives nearby that you’re never stuck.
This was my last stop in Oaxaca before heading back to Mexico City, and it turned out to be exactly the kind of place I needed: that hotel-chic comfort, a bed I genuinely didn't want to leave, and enough balance between solo focus time and shared moments with other guests. When I have real work to get through and need to recharge, this is the type of place that works for me.
Practical Logistics
What you need to know before traveling to Oaxaca and Outsite.
Most nationalities (France, US, Germany, Italy, and others) get 180 days as tourists in Mexico. But be careful at entry. Double-check the date stamped in your passport, and if you don't have an onward ticket, be ready to specify how long you intend to stay. I was only given 45 days without realizing it until much later, and had to leave the country earlier than planned...
You won't need it most of the time. Almost everything in Jalatlaco and central Oaxaca is walkable. Airport shuttle to your accommodation runs about 150 pesos.
I'd recommend an eSIM app like Airalo or MobiMatter. A Mexico plan with 30GB for 30 days runs roughly $30-40.
Street tacos and local market stalls can run under $5; nicer restaurants and cafés get closer to European prices. Overall cheaper than the US or Europe, but don't expect Southeast Asia-level prices.
Who is Oaxaca & Outsite for?
For routine-loving nomads
Nomads who like keeping a routine (gym, café, work, dinner out) will find everything they need here: every cuisine, every price point, plenty of colivings and cafés to work from. It's also well suited to nomads passing through for just a few days: everything's walkable, short stays are welcome, and regular bus lines connect onward to Mexico City, Puerto Escondido, and beyond.
For slow nomads
For slow nomads, it's just as strong a fit. There's always something to do, but just as much room to do nothing: reading in a park, a hot chocolate on a terrace, a bike ride, a day trip into the countryside. At Outsite specifically, you'll find the comfort and quiet needed to actually focus? Just plan for the courtyard noise, and know the social side is genuinely unpredictable.
booking details
Room type tested
Queen Room with ensuite bathroom
Price
~$700 to $780 for 10 nights (or ~$60/night with the $199/year Outsite
Minimum stay
2 nights
Website & Booking
Book online or get more information about Outsite Oaxaca.
Transparency
This stay was paid for in full. No partnership or free nights involved.