Evolve was my first coliving experience. Going in I didn’t really know what to expect. Travelling solo, my goal was to meet loads of like-minded people and I more than achieved that. It took the fear out of solo travel.

I spent 2 months in Malta (August and September), booking both months in advance because I was forewarned that extending is difficult once you arrive. A number of people learned this while I lived there. So if you think you might like to do more than a month, book it from the start.

The vibe of this place changes with the people. Some weeks are chilled, hanging out by the pool, on the roof or in the living room and others are hyper-busy with people going out to bars, dinners out etc. It flipped from one to the other multiple times but you’re never obligated to do anything. If you want to keep to yourself, you can do that. But people are always open, friendly and supportive.

Some colivings arrange events and, except for the summer catamaran trips, that isn’t how Evolve works. The focus is on group-led activities. While I lived there interests varied with some people into yoga, salsa, bachata, tango, boxing, diving… It’s up to the residents of the house to make plans essentially which worked great because it opens you up to things you maybe weren’t planning to do. Like doing a test dive or learning salsa on the roof.

Experiencing Outsite straight after Evolve, with their two-night minimum, I’m so grateful that Evolve has a one-month minimum that limits entry to the house to twice per month. It was far easier to build lasting connections and really get to know people with these restrictions and it’ll be a rule I look for in all future colivings.

But even though my experience overall was positive, there are negatives that I’m told Matt is working on fixing, but there are also some that just can’t be changed.

Month one, I stayed in a Decent room and thought I’d made the biggest mistake booking two months, but it all got better when I moved to the next level up and escaped the echoey foyer. Don’t book a Decent room – the cheaper price is enticing but it’s not worth it. The walls are thin, they’re located right on the foyer which is made of marble and limestone. Every noise is amplified: the keypad on the front door, people working in the cowork downstairs, people coming in at 3, 4, 5 after a night out, the person in the next room making calls at 1AM. The walls are thin because these rooms didn’t originally exist, they’re just partition walls.

Organisation isn’t great. I arrived after hours so didn’t expect anyone to be there to meet me, but my keycode wasn’t ready and I didn’t even know what room I was in. Thankfully Matt was easy to reach despite being on holiday and it got sorted quickly, but one of the girls who also arrived that day was stuck waiting for hours. In the end, the people already living there took a guess at which room was hers (they were right).

My expectations of the property were set before I arrived thanks to Ola warning me that as beautiful as it looks in pictures, it’s “Maltese” finished. It’s gorgeous but things do break, finishings aren’t seamless etc. The pool had green days, I arrived to the doorframe hanging off in my room that the cleaners somehow missed when they reset the room, storms took the roof off the gym and tripped the electricity, and some people ran into issues with their air con units acting up while I was there. The internet had days where it would just cut out despite them having two routers. 90% of the time it worked fine, but it did have bad days.

Despite all the negatives, I would go back. The community I’ve gained from just 2 months in Malta is incredible and far outweighs the downsides. If you have the time, I would 100% stay longer than a month. It gave me a chance to feel like I was living in Malta and not just bouncing between the tourist spots.