Dori Bisk
Tertulia has a lot of potential. It’s a shame most of it is unmet. From all the colivings I have been to over the years, this is by far the worst one and I feel nomads deserve an accurate portrayal of what its like prior to arriving- 1. The kitchen is constantly dirty, unmaintained and while I was there it was also infested with rats, one of which died and it took the owner 4 full days to attend to the problem in a serious way. Meanwhile, the stench covered the entire first floor of the house including the kitchen, the coworking spaces, and the bathroom intended for the colivers while working. Needless to say, during my first week at Tertulia I spent most of my time outside. 2. There is no host or community manager and the place is clearly not a priority. This means the colivers initiate their own activities, cook their own the meals etc. As most of us dont have cars, all the activities took place within walking distance or onsite. There is no connection to local culture, no recommendations of places to go or things to do. During my time Tertulia I learned of 2 local festivals in the nearby town after the fact, which the owner didn’t bother to tell us about or suggest taking us to. There is clearly no interest in any sort of cultural exchange. 3. Despite the fact that it’s a rural location, most nomads travel without a car, and there is no supermarket within walking distance- the owner didn’t feel compelled to provide a way for us to shop and charged money for gas every time we used the car for basic necessities such as food. In general the overall feeling is that the owner views Tertulia as a money making machine in which he collects money but doesn’t really feel compelled to give back any sort of basic services and amenities. Unlike other rural colivings I’ve stayed at in which the hosts took a genuine interest in the colivers, provided special treats from their garden or things they baked, took us to the store to get anything we needed, or offered to get it for us and we paid them back. 4. For joint dinners all the colivers share in the costs. Although the owners have a family of 5 including himself, his wife and 3 grown teenagers with a healthy appetite who come to every single dinner- he only shares in the expenses covering himself and his wife. This basically means the colivers feed the owners kids on average 3 times a week on their dime. Yes, the setting and the sunsets are beautiful. And the locals I met and befriended on my own accord were fabulous people. But personally, when I choose a coliving over a hotel or Airbnb its for the community aspect. The only community at Tertulia was the one happening organically between a group of people living together. That can hardly be accredited to the owner who was almost never around.