Colivers Club Ep 17: From Nomad to Founder with David McNeil The Social club founder

✨ Why settle for a hotel when you can instantly join a community? ✨

David McNeil, co-founder of Social Club Coliving in Chiang Mai, knows exactly what digital nomads need:
🏡 A home base in Asia
💬 Events that connect people beyond just partying
💪 Fitness & workspaces that keep you productive & healthy

Tired of feeling isolated while traveling? Coliving might be the answer!

Would you try a coliving in Thailand? Let us know in the comments! 👇

Read the Interview

Ramón: Hello, welcome to another episode of Colivers Club, powered by Mapmelon. Today, we’re interviewing David McNeil. We met him at the Social Club, a coliving space in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He is the co-founder of this coliving.

David has been a digital nomad for some years now. He wanted to have the same experience in Asia with coliving because he had stayed in many colivings in Europe. So, he decided to create a Social Club, a coliving space in Chiang Mai with his partner. The coliving has been open for around two years now. He’s a really interesting person to learn from about coliving in Asia.

Hope you guys enjoy. See you!

Ramón: Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of Colivers Club, powered by Mapmelon. Today, I’m with David McNeil from Social Club, and we are going to interview him about this amazing coliving space in Chiang Mai. So, welcome, David.

David McNeil: Thank you. Yeah, thanks, Ramon. Good to be here.

Ramón: Could you tell me a bit more about yourself? How did you end up here?

David McNeil: Yeah, so I’ve been traveling for the last six years as a digital nomad. When I first started traveling, I enjoyed it, but after about six months, I got pretty lonely. I discovered coliving because I was traveling alone and wanted to meet people. I did some research, ended up staying at a coliving place, and really liked it.

I was a customer of different coliving spaces around Europe for a couple of years before COVID. Then COVID hit, and at some point, I usually traveled in Europe, but I was traveling in Asia and came to Chiang Mai. I think Chiang Mai is like the digital nomad capital of Asia. I was surprised by how many restaurants, good coffee shops, and co-working spaces there were.

I think everyone who travels a lot eventually wants a base. Chiang Mai felt like a good place to settle down and make it my base. Then, I started thinking about coliving in Asia. I had always struggled to find coliving spaces here—I only knew about two places, CoHub and Hubmoyan. So, I thought Chiang Mai would be an amazing base since it has everything people need.

One day, I just woke up and thought, why not start investigating coliving more seriously? Once I decided to try it, it was a pretty quick process. I started looking at properties, and within a couple of months, I found a place and opened Social Club.

Ramón: Okay, and how long has the Social Club been open?

David McNeil: We opened on April 7, 2023. So, it’s been about 18 months at this point.

Ramón: How has it been running a coliving space in a different culture?

David McNeil: For me, it’s been wonderful because I basically created the place I want to stay at. I feel like I’m the customer here. I still travel a lot, but I have a good coliving base to come back to.

Thailand is very easy for doing business. There are so many foreigners here, so you just need the right people in place—the right lawyers, accountants, etc. Running a business in Thailand has been nice, and the overall experience has been really pleasant so far.

Ramón: You wanted to start with a smaller coliving space as a test. Why did you take this approach instead of launching a large coliving from day one?

David McNeil: Actually, we were always going to do coliving from day one. We thought about multiple locations, and this was kind of a proof of concept.

I’ve traveled to 44 countries and lived in many of them. My dream is to be able to stay in different places, so I’ve always thought it would be nice to have multiple locations where I can rotate through.

Coliving is not always the best business model—it’s more about passion than making a lot of money. I’ve always been an entrepreneur, so I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to be too complicated or a disaster before scaling up.

Ramón: What were the minimum requirements for this proof of concept?

David McNeil: I’m not super focused on money—I just want to make enough to live on and not lose money. My main goal was to see if people liked it enough for it to be sustainable.

I also wanted to test whether people would like the style of coliving I had in mind. I designed Social Club based on my personal experiences as a customer. For example, the name itself highlights the social aspect, which I think is key. When I arrive in a new country, I want to meet interesting people right away. If you go a week or two without meeting people in a short stay, you miss out on meaningful connections.

Ramón: What were the key things in the vision you had for this coliving?

David McNeil: The first key aspect was socialization, but not just centered around drinking. A lot of coliving spaces in Europe feel like summer camps for adults—lots of drinking, partying, and bunk beds. That’s fun, but after a month, I always needed a break.

I wanted to create events that let people socialize in different ways. We do game nights, movie nights, exercise sessions, meditation, and yoga. We still have happy hours and fun events like beer pong, but we also do things like elephant dung papermaking workshops.

Another key focus was fitness. When I traveled, I often got frustrated because the gym was too far away. I wanted Social Club to have easy access to exercise. We offer yoga, personal training, and are within walking distance of a great gym.

The co-working space was also crucial. I wanted professional digital nomads to have a disciplined work environment. So, we made sure to have ergonomic chairs, strong Wi-Fi, quiet spaces, and plenty of natural light.

Overall, I wanted to create a coliving experience where people could maintain a balanced, productive lifestyle while traveling.

Ramón: How did you choose this location?

David McNeil: Gym access was a top priority. I also wanted to be within walking distance of both the Old Town and Nimman district. Most people coming to Chiang Mai for the first time should stay within the Old City walls—that’s the ideal location.

I also looked for open, bright spaces, which are hard to find in Thai buildings since they often have small windows and no common areas. I walked every street in Old Town multiple times looking at potential buildings. There was another place I loved, but the cost would have made rent too expensive for digital nomads. Price-consciousness was another major factor.

Ramón: So, would you say this is one of the first coliving spaces in Chiang Mai?

David McNeil: Yeah, there are about three or four proper coliving spaces here now. It’s starting to grow.

Ramón: Do you think coliving in Chiang Mai will continue to grow, or will it reach a saturation point?

David McNeil: Before opening, I thought there was unlimited potential. But after running the business and talking to over 600 guests, I see that only a specific type of person looks for coliving and co-working.

There is definitely potential for growth, but it depends on how many people can actually work remotely and travel. Remote work trends will determine the future of coliving.

Ramón: Now that we’re at the end of the interview, we have a question we ask every guest—what does coliving mean to you?

David McNeil: For me, coliving is about community. When you think back on your favorite places you’ve traveled, it’s usually the people you met that made it special. Coliving is about stepping into a new place and immediately connecting with like-minded people.

Ramón: Thank you very much for your time, David and thanks to everyone for listening. Hope you enjoyed it!

Learn More About David

The Social Club 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephanie Prossinger
mangobeds management software for colivings
mangobeds management software for colivings

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