“Coliving.” When I first heard the term, my first reaction was huh?? I briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the buzz around coworking and if people were just tagging the prefix ‘co’ onto everything now. But as a true blue millennial and remote worker myself, I was irresistibly drawn to the co-ncept. Breaking down the walls and stuffiness of traditional hotels with endless conference rooms and carpeted seminars, as well as cold, isolated service apartments, coliving is all about creating a conscious community with shared housing to fully embrace collaboration. Wow that is a LOT of words starting with ‘Co’ in a sentence.
So I jumped at the opportunity to stay with Lyf @ Funan! Lyf Funan Singapore is the largest coliving property in Southeast Asia, housing over 400 rooms in 279 apartments. It is located on the 4th floor of the brand new Funan SG, a spunky new shopping mall with a gazillion dining and retail options, and also a gorgeous rooftop garden!
There is also instagrammable ‘Connect’ social zones such as coworking spaces and an arena for activities such as hackathons, innovation talks, music jamming sessions, cooking sessions, or workshops with artisans.
At its ‘Bond’ social kitchen, guests can prepare home-cooked meals, take cooking classes and socialise while learning more about global cuisines from other residents.
Residents can work out and have fun with quirky design and interactive elements such as a giant ball pit, a giant-sized Connect Four set and the ‘Burn’ social gymnasium with a human-sized hamster wheel, evoking lyf’s unique and fun brand personality. They can hang out at the ‘Wash & Hang’ laundromat and strike up new conversations while waiting for their laundry to be done.
Sounds exciting?! Read on to follow us on our Lyf experience!
The lobby does feel like you are entering a coworking space or a very hip hotel – plenty of light, futuristic designs and Instagram-friendly installations. Checking in was relatively smooth, but requires more interaction on the guests’ part because we have to download the Lyf app and log in which will serve as our mobile key. Just a heads up – the app doesn’t quite work on iOS 13 (which stands by my philosophy of never updating my iPhone because the updates suck but my device went behind my back & updated itself when I was asleep) but works just fine on Android.
Getting to our floor was quite a scramble – as tech savvy as our generation thinks we are, we are still baffled when it comes to tapping our phones on a reader. “Do I face it up or down? Why isn’t it working?!!” Eventually we realised you have to hold the phone back facing the reader then press the button for your floor. Oops.
Having made it safely to level 8, we were greeted by a magic 8 ball 🎱 and a wall quote “Seek your answers.” Instagram-savvy residents will definitely be trigger-happy here!
Thankfully, opening the door to our room with the Lyf app was a breeze after the elevator fiasco. Our Two of a Kind room was compact and cozy, with funky chic designs reminiscent of an industrial classroom. I was a little disappointed with the lack of a view (or an excess of views from the hotel opposite into our room, as we could practically look right into each others’ windows) but it’s the inside that matters right? Worry not, there are pretty blinds which unfolded to form a photo of a carousel awning to safeguard your privacy. I did notice a few rooms that had better views overlooking Hill Street and our Instafamous rainbow Ministry of Communications so you can request for them!
Internally, our little crib had everything we needed. A soft fluffy bed atop the ample luggage space, a small work desk, power showers and many many many shelves, fuelling my urge to toss my belongings in every corner of the room. Probably in a bid to discourage bed potato-ness, no television screens were to be found. Shower and sink are en-suite with a very therapeutic power shower that doesn’t switch from blazing hot to ice cold when you turn it half a millimeter. I had called ahead to ask about amenities so I can pack lean: they provide towels, soap, shampoo but not toothbrushes, bathrobes, combs & razors, so bring your own!
After cocooning for an appropriate amount of time in our room, we set off to explore the coliving spaces! Each inch of Lyf is a content creator’s dream and Instagram heaven 📸 I’ll let my obsessive overtaking of photos speak for me:
To me, the appeal of Lyf is similar to the appeal of a cruise ship, except with far better internet connectivity. You don’t have to move horizontally, just vertically – everything you need to live is within a single building! Definitely the number one place I’ll hole up in when the zombies attack 🧟♂️ It is also PERFECT for night owl remote workers like myself – I can pluck myself off the bed and just head downstairs to a 24/7 office with fellow likeminded individuals to stay productive together. As someone who gets bored too easily, i would gladly @live.lyf.here; with a hundred different work corners for me to get inspired & cocoon with my laptop plus my own little rabbit hole just upstairs to dive back & recharge, I will never tire of this multi-faceted abode.
Someone (older) I worked with once told me, “I’ve never met someone quite like you.” Well, he clearly hasn’t seen the next generation of workers. Unlike our parents’ era, our generation is less and less desk-bound. Remote jobs exist today that we couldn’t even imagine 20 years ago. The future is mobile, dynamic & flexible. I foresee a future of predominantly mobile workforce, where skills and connections are your assets – it might not even make sense to invest in a traditional office for your startup, or even to tie yourself down to home loans in your younger years. That is why even though we nearly got trapped in the lift once and the app took a few sharp raps to unlock, I applaud Lyf’s dedication to technology and the future of work.
I have had the fortune to review many hospitality offerings, from luxury hotels to bamboo houses – there is something in the air in Lyf that sets it apart from other staycations, sort of like a Google Campus vibe that I really liked. Its fresh, functional take on coliving is a welcome switch from the high end ultra luxe experience.
However, having visited other tech focused coworking hotels in the world like CHASE Walker Hotel in Taichung, Taiwan & The Millennials Shibuya in Tokyo, Japan, I believe sustaining the community focus and buzz in Lyf depends a lot on the people moving through Lyf. Checking into Lyf, the Lyf Guards (cutest names ever btw) though polite and helpful, don’t strike me as any different from lobby receptionists at hotels. They need to be actively engaging residents beyond extending polite smiles which is definitely still very entrenched in the Asian culture.
All in all, this purpose-built space that’s designed and managed by millennials for the millennials and the millennial-minded makes me uber proud to be a #millennial! 👫 Have you had a chance to check out Lyf Funan yet? Let me know in the comments below! #livelyfhere