We are rethinking our minimum length of stay as we have learnt through experience that high turnover is harmful to the community.
The last two years of running Chateau Coliving have taught us a lot. Personally, professionally, individually, and at a team level. We have also been able to connect with fellow coliving space owners and exchange on challenges and best practices. We believe it is time for us to put into practice what we know will only deepen connections and enhance that Community Feeling we all seek.

STAY LONGER, GET DEEPER

From 2024, we will have 28 nights minimum stay within the same calendar month.

We understand that might raise some questions. With this article, we aim to answer them the best we can.

We know by experience that most people do end up staying an average of a month (usually extending their 2 weeks stay). We also know that shorter stays weaken the community, creating social fatigue and making it more difficult to maintain a sense of belonging and genuine connections.

As we shared in our October newsletter, we see a lot of benefits from staying with the same cohort of people for four weeks: 

• nobody will feel “new” – you’ll all arrive and depart within 2-3 days time
• the group will be stronger getting to discover the chateau and the region together
• we will be able to have a much more structured social program of the month without repeating activities or someone having to miss out on something they’d love to do
• we can plan trips and fun stuff ahead of our arrival so you can plan around your work and reduce FOMO
• you can connect much deeper, exchange skills and experiences, and nurture friendships to last long after leaving the Chateau
• we can take the time to settle in, fall into a productive routine, and get stuff done while living your best life!
• you can build routines together
• the Chateau will feel more like Home
• we can start projects together!
• you can even start a project at the chateau (gardening…),  follow it through, and leave a trace!

The benefits, we are sure, are endless.

Whether we like to admit it or not, high turnover is harmful to the sense community as it disrupts and destabilizes the fragile balance we’ve all built together. 

PRESERVING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY

Back in 1986, Authors McMillan and Chavis defined a sense of community as:
A feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through a commitment to be together.

They define 4 factors that contribute to that sense of Community: membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connection. All of these things demand time, and repeated moments together to build all of these elements.

This is what we are trying to enhance and preserve.

We also know that to create new friendships, people need repeated unplanned encounters in a comfortable setting.

You start feeling “in community” when you trust the people you are around, and trust does not appear overnight.
It is built and earned gradually. As more conversations and meals are shared, more plans are made and memories created.

IN PRACTICE

• We understand that the 1st can fall in the middle of the week and make it complicated in terms of logistics. That is will we give a leeway of 3 days at the beginning and 3 days at the end of the month for arrival and departure. (ie: you can arrive 1st,2nd or 3rd of March and leave 29th, 30th, or 31st of March. With 28 minimum stay).
• If you are absolutely unable to stay for a month but your heart is screaming Chateau Coliving, we are considering having two fixed weeks once a year for a “trial coliving experience”. Let us know if that sounds interesting to you.

TO CREATE THE ROOM YOU NEED TO CLOSE THE DOOR

Of course, we understand that not everyone will have the possibility to join for 4 weeks at a time.

In these delicate situations we are reminded of the words of Priya Parker, author of The Art of Gathering who wrote “In order to create the room, you need to close the door“.

We believe it is important to protect what is, after all, our biggest asset, the Community.
We have spent the last two years pondering that question, researching Communities, and asking our returning colivers. We have seen it happen in front of our eyes as we hosted monthly cohorts with Hacker Paradise and our Wellness Pop-Up in Burgas. This is why we are confident that this will make a big difference when it comes to colivers comfort and relationships.

And we like to think that there will be a time when these people will be able to join and the experience will only be better for it!