Feeling a little agoraphobic with the above floor plan? Don't like those vast sweeps of empty space? No problem, try $875/mo for 147 square feet: https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/d/seattle-apodment-su...
Carefully examine the bathroom photos. No sink! You wash your hands in the kitchenette. Easy enough, when it's three steps away. (After all, where would you put a bathroom sink? The entire apartment is the size of an RV.)
One upside: if the landlord gets on your nerves, it would be real, real easy to move out. A one-backpack apartment.
A couple of years ago I inquired about the prize in a room in a hotel in San Francisco I happened to walk up to -- the front desk person cautioned that it offered 'european style' shared bathrooms. plonk -- I never encountered a hotel in Europe with shared bathrooms, but I've never been to Albania either.
The hotels with shared bathrooms are very common even in Switzerland, and everywhere else in Europe.
The small apartments are more common the richer the country. Larger apartments are more common in the poorer countries. You can find the small ones in every capital city though.
Truly curious. Could you provide a link to one?
As a young lad (on a tight budget) I stayed in youth hostels in Europe and USA as well. Those (at that time) not only were equipped with shared bathrooms, but also commonly with bunk beds in dormitories (separated by gender -- yeah, such were the times) and usually expected you to take on chores. I enjoyed my stay as it allowed me to go to places I couldn't otherwise afford and meet like-minded young travelers, but it would be impossible to mistake those places for hotels.
Even if there is a troublemaker people can't get rid of, they'll graduate sooner or later and will be forced to move out.
I'm not familiar with varying types, but AFAIU (or hope), the organizer / owner is not usually the main employer. It's foremost a community where people live. Some people work there or self-employ, but it's not usually a corporate-dictated, top-down governed establishment, which would be something quite different. At least in the examples I know of.
There were a couple of places in this space when I was looking but I didn't go with them for a few reasons: - cost was high - contractual terms were long (6-12mo minimum) - reviews were mixed, but the general vibe was a "tragedy of the commons" type situation - location / transit links didn't appear great
I ended up boarding with an older couple for a while before finding a more traditional share house with other young professionals.
If I'd been able to try it out with a 1/2 month minimum I would've looked past the other issues to give it a chance, it seemed like it could've a great way to accelerate finding your feet in a new country/city
[1] https://therealdeal.com/2020/06/08/wework-may-abandon-welive...
Seems to be trying it, rebranded as 'co-living' as I imagine dormitories holds a bit of a stigma.
You had a room just big enough for a bed, a desk, and a sink. Everything else was common.
If I was a developer I'd build a "dorm for adults" right next to places like Amazon, but at least around here zoning won't permit it.
It's great if you're single and don't have many possessions. Inexpensive, too.