Why We Opened a Coworking Space in Lombok — And What We Learned
Coworking spaces started in Berlin in 1995. By 2022, they'd reached Kuta Lombok — here's why we made the call, and what running The Spot has taught us about what remote workers actually need.
The first coworking space opened in Berlin in 1995 — a group of hackers sharing a space, sharing ideas, and working together on equal terms. It wasn't about renting desks. It was about what happens when you put motivated, independent people in the same room.
That idea evolved slowly for the next decade, then exploded after 2010 when WeWork and the broader gig economy made "coworking" a mainstream concept. By 2020, there were tens of thousands of coworking spaces worldwide.
We opened ours in Kuta Lombok in 2022. Here's why.
Why Lombok, Why Then
The pandemic changed the pattern of remote work permanently. Before 2020, most digital nomads were either traveling constantly or settled in established hubs like Canggu or Chiang Mai. After 2020, more people were working remotely but wanting more stability — a real base, for weeks or months at a time, somewhere quieter and cheaper than the usual suspects.
Lombok started showing up on those shortlists. Cheaper than Bali. Less crowded. World-class surf. Good climate. And at the time, almost no proper place to work.
We'd been running a café and accommodation in Kuta since 2019. The infrastructure was there. We had fast internet. We had space. Remote workers were already sitting in our café with laptops, using whatever Wi-Fi was available.
The coworking space was the obvious next step.
What We Built
The Spot's coworking area is built around what remote workers actually complained about in cafes and guesthouses:
- **Unreliable internet**: We run fibre as primary, Starlink as backup. Automatic failover.
- **No ergonomic seating**: Proper desk setups, not garden furniture.
- **No quiet space**: A dedicated focus room, separate from the café.
- **No power**: Sockets at every seat.
- **No flexibility**: Day passes, weekly memberships, monthly memberships, dedicated desks — whatever fits your stay.
What Running It Has Taught Us
Remote workers in Lombok tend to stay longer than typical tourists. A week becomes two weeks. Two weeks becomes a month. The best coworking experiences come from regulars who know each other and share the space like a community, not strangers passing through.
That pattern shapes how we run the space. We're not optimised for daily walk-in volume. We're optimised for people who want a reliable base for an extended stay — the kind of place you settle into, not just pass through.
If you're in Kuta Lombok and need a place to work properly, [The Spot is open from 08:00–21:00 daily](/cowork). Day passes from Rp 100.000. Memberships available for longer stays.