Factory Berlin Mitte — Local services in Berlin

I am an active member in this space while visiting Berlin for 3 months. This review is regarding the hot + fixed desk spaces available on the 1st floor. I can't speak to the more dedicated offices located on the upper floors.

It has some positives: Very cool, historic building Numerous meeting pods and rooms which are remarkably well soundproofed. Ample bike parking Easy to get to, centrally located, etc Laura and Lara at the front desk are super helpful and very kind. Free coffee + tea that are surprisingly good Fairly good chairs for a coworking space. Granted many are broken, but most coworking spaces use the cheapest chairs possible and your butt/back will feel it. That's not the case here.

Unfortunately the negatives heavily outweigh the positives: Hot desk members who believe it is OK to use another members fixed desk (and even their equipment) if they are not at it. I've witnessed this frequently. I've never been at a coworking space where people thought this was OK to do. Members who "squat" in the meeting pods/rooms for hours or even an entire day, despite signage that suggests a 30 minute limit and a 1-hour hard limit. There are some who do this nearly every day. Inconsiderate members who routinely take conference calls in open spaces or spaces not intended for phone calls so everyone is distracted. There are a few members who routinely do this while also using speakerphone. That's not only rude to other members but extremely unprofessional to the person on the other end of the line. Bathrooms that are in wretched shape. The mens urinals are backed up 50% of the time, leaving only 2 toilets for the entire floor of coworkers. Even worse, some of the members (I'm guessing the same ones described above) will still use the urinals despite them being obviously backed up, causing a mess everywhere. Just a complete lack of common sense or decency. Security is very lax. When Laura or Lara are at the front desk they hold things down well, but any other time it feels like it would be remarkably easy for anyone to walk in from the street and grab a few laptops.

Don't get me wrong, there are some really friendly/kind/professional people at the space. Unfortunately it doesn't take that many of the other kind to really ruin the vibe or just make it completely unproductive to work from. The best coworking spaces I've worked from actively put in the effort to maintain a professional + productive environment. Sometimes that means having difficult conversations with certain members. Unfortunately here that just doesn't seem to happen. It just feels like upper management are far too hands-off. As it currently stands, it's definitely among the lower tier of spaces I've worked from. I'd love for it to change because at first glance it's an amazing space. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this location to anyone who is serious about being productive and in...

Dubious business practices. They send you invoice from 18 months ago and claim that you still need to pay for a membership that you've already canceled way before. Of course, after such a long amount of time it's hardly possible for you to recollect the events.

The customer support sends you some screenshot of cancellation email that even suggests you to downgrade your membership to the "hold" status even though that's the membership they claim you to have had. This doesn't make any sense. Once I pointed that out, they simply stopped responding.

Just because I was tired of receiving legal warnings from them I sent them the money they asked for and now still receive some warning that I need to pay another 20,07€ in interest even though that wasn't stated in the original invoice.

I get that it's a tough time for a coworking business. Still, how former customers are treated is unprofessional.

The coworking space itself is nice. In 2020 it was overcrowded though and I felt that - with exceptions - the overall quality of the community is low. Mostly freelancers and coaches who try to sell you their stuff. Get togethers are organized and offered. Some are interesting, however, they often lack a clear purpose and directing - without the payment issue I would have...

My experience has been mixed.

What I like: very spacious great effort put into regular community events cool chill out area at Goerli overall clean and sanitary working spaces kitchen staff are super friendy and food is usually good great selection of tea

What I didn't like: not enough quiet spaces to work Berlin Mitte coworking spaces are either undeground or facing a construction site. The last fun place to work was the caffe area, but they recently decided to blast music there all day, so no more working possible. Goerli recently closed the creator area incl. the music studio for good. Reasons cited are "increase the sustainability of the building, to reduce the impact of energy costs" staff, with some exceptions don't appear particularly motivated or content. The overall vibe / energy of the place just isn't that great. Maybe better...