Airbnb has added bookings for flexible coworking spaces to Airbnb Services, starting with spaces from Oneder and Work.Life in London. The trial is small in scale, but it shows that the platform is once again exploring the workplace as part of the user experience, beyond accommodation.
The two partnerships are already available through the Airbnb app, and bookings are made directly there, without requiring a separate external platform. An important element is that access is not limited to those who have already made an accommodation booking through Airbnb.
What the pilot program includes
Oneder and Work.Life are the first two partners in the new category. Oneder offers day passes, private day offices and meeting rooms at its two locations, at Kindling in White City and Channel in King’s Cross.
Work.Life is participating with three locations on St Cross Street, in Borough and in Holborn, while it has a total of 11 spaces in London and Manchester. The company presented the partnership as a new way for travelers, remote workers and digital nomads to discover its spaces.
Airbnb is placing coworking within the Services section, alongside categories such as airport pickup, grocery delivery and car rental. This means that the company is not setting up a separate business travel arm, but is testing the category gradually within its existing platform.
Why it matters for hosts and property managers
For hosts and property managers, the interest is not only the size of the pilot program, but the partnership model that Airbnb is testing. Instead of creating or leasing workspaces itself, it is choosing to activate demand through partners first.
The practical result is that listings near the specific coworking locations can already mention their proximity to a workspace in the listing description, if this is useful for their audience. Airbnb appears to be targeting exactly this audience as it promotes the specific locations.
The comparison with Airbnb’s previous attempt
Airbnb has previously tested services around work and business travel, from Airbnb for Business in 2014 to Airbnb for Work in 2018. It later reduced these efforts to a single element, the Laptop-friendly workspace amenity, until 2020.
The previous initiative with WeWork had started in October 2017 in six cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, London and Sydney. At the time, the guest made an initial booking on Airbnb and was then transferred to WeWork’s system to complete and manage the office booking.
The new trial works differently. The listings from Oneder and Work.Life are created and managed directly through Airbnb, are open to any user and do not depend on whether accommodation has already been booked. In addition, the experiment is limited to a single market, London.
What Airbnb is strategically testing
The move is part of Airbnb’s broader effort to expand beyond accommodation through Services. In this way, the company can have greater control over the search, booking and payment process, without the user leaving the app.
The article notes that Airbnb may also add providers and cities gradually, rather than launch a large global coworking program from the outset. This reduces the risk of a trial that has not yet shown whether it can create meaningful new demand.
The first indicators that will matter are the addition of new providers, expansion to other cities, repeat usage and any connection between workspace bookings and accommodation bookings.
What the platform could gain
The potential benefit is not limited to the commission from an individual workspace booking. Airbnb gains another reason for users to open the app even when they are not planning an overnight stay.
At the same time, meeting room or day office bookings can give the platform more data about travel intent. And if real cross-selling is activated at some point, a connection could emerge between workspaces and accommodations, particularly for group travel or corporate team offsites.
The article notes that, if this pairing moves into production, listings that are closer to demand are those that already suit groups of three or more people and accommodations near participating coworking locations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone book a coworking space without having accommodation on Airbnb?
Yes. According to the article, the Oneder and Work.Life partnerships are available to all users, not only to those who have already made an accommodation booking.
What does it mean that coworking has been added to Airbnb Services?
It means that Airbnb is testing the workplace as another service category within the same app, without a separate business travel product and without requiring users to move to an external system.
