Beyond Wifi and Family Dinners: How Intentional Communities Are Evolving
When we started Château Coliving 5 years ago, most people discovering coliving were mainly looking for practical things: reliable WiFi, a desk, some coffee, maybe a nice room, and a few people to have dinner with after work.
And at the time, that already felt revolutionary. Remote work was growing fast, but many people were still figuring out how to build a life around it without feeling isolated and distracted.
Then something interesting happened.
Nomads realized they weren’t only searching for a place to stay. They were looking for a way to feel, for belonging.
A lot of what made coliving special was never really about the accommodation itself. It was about the atmosphere that forms when people slow down enough to connect. Shared dinners turning into 3-hour conversations, all the morning walks, the skillshares, the accountability sessions, and arriving somewhere where you instantly feel home and part of something.
Over the years, we watched intentional communities evolve from “coworking with roommates” into something much deeper.
From Accommodation to Intention
In our experience, we’ve reached the point where people start to gather around specific intentions: focus, creativity, wellness, entrepreneurship, slower living…
This is partly why themed colivings became such a natural evolution for us at Château. Focus February, French Immersion, Writers Haven, Digital Minimalism Month… all came from observing the same thing: people no longer only want a destination.
They want experiences that make them grow and connect deeper.
Not necessarily a dramatic life transformation. But enough to leave thinking a little differently, feeling a little lighter, and reconnecting with parts of themselves that life can bury under notifications and mental overload (and running to the next destination).
The Kind of Tiredness Sleep Doesn’t Fix
Because the reality is that we nomads, remote workers, and entrepreneurs today are exhausted in a very particular way.
Not only because we work a lot, but also because we are constantly stimulated.
Most of us spend our days moving between Slack messages, WhatsApp groups, emails, algorithms, news, calls, social media, podcasts, and endless tabs we forgot to close.
And while remote work has given many of us incredible freedom, it has also quietly blurred the line between being connected and being constantly available.
You can feel it during colivings sometimes. People arrive tired in a way sleep alone doesn’t fix.
They don’t necessarily need another holiday. Sometimes they need space and quiet exploration more than rest.
And maybe most importantly, a way to reconnect with themselves beyond productivity and constant stimulation.
Not Quite a Retreat, Not Quite a Bootcamp
Lately, we’ve been seeing more experiences emerge around exactly that.
Not classic wellness retreats or productivity bootcamps either, not extreme survival experiences. Something in between that feels more grounded and human.
Experiences where people disconnect from screens, spend time outdoors, challenge themselves physically, and remember what it feels like to be fully alive again.
One project we recently discovered that feels very aligned with this evolution is Reset Retreat Mallorca, created by Matthieu Zeilas, who also founded Palma Coliving, one of Spain’s best-known boutique coliving communities.
If you’re familiar with Palma Coliving, the connection makes sense. Much like other community coliving spaces, it was never simply about accommodation. It was about creating meaningful environments for remote workers, founders, creatives, and entrepreneurs to genuinely connect.
Reset Retreat Mallorca feels like an extension of that philosophy, but in a different setting and with a new intention: small-group retreats in Mallorca combining digital detox, outdoor adventure, nature immersion, breathwork, cold exposure, guided reflection, meaningful conversations, and real human connection.
The first Survival Reset Founder Editions are invitation-only and intentionally kept small to preserve the intimacy and depth of the experience.
Participants spend 5 days stepping away from screens and daily pressure through hiking, sea cave exploration, survival-inspired outdoor skills, movement, shared meals, and time in nature.
Not in a performative “biohacking” way but more in a remembering how to feel alive again kind of way.
Different People Need Different Kinds of Reset
What we also appreciated when discovering Reset Retreat Mallorca is that they recognize that not everybody needs the same kind of reset.
Some people feel the need for movement, challenge, adventure, wild nature and experiences that reconnect them with their body through action. Others are already overstimulated enough and need the exact opposite: less intensity, more silence, more space to breathe.
Alongside the Survival Reset Founder Editions, they also created a softer experience called Digital Detox Retreat Mallorca. After our Digital Minimalism Coliving month in January, this felt particularly aligned. And if you’ve been to Château, you’ve probably heard Jeanne tell you all about her views on digital overwhelm. 😉
Where the Survival Reset leans more into outdoor adventure, survival-inspired skills, coastal exploration, and physical challenge, the Digital Detox Retreat focuses more on slowing down and regulating the nervous system through deep rest, breathwork, meditation, journaling, somatic release, nature immersion, nourishing food, and meaningful small-group connection.
Different formats with the same philosophy underneath: disconnecting from the noise, reconnecting with yourself, and coming back feeling clearer and more present.
Where Intentional Communities Might Be Heading
Survival Reset Founder Editions:
- July 13–17- last seats
- September 14–18
Digital Detox Retreats from:
- September 28 – last seats
- October 19
- November 16
- December 7
