I accepted a new role where I'll be working 100% remote and wanted to try out a workspace to encourage me to put on pants again. The reservation system is really easy to use it and it was nice to get a welcome email the following morning with details about the location, parking and how to access the space in the building. Loved having access to the free hot tea (non-coffee drinker here), mugs and fridge for my lunch. Seating was cozy, wi-fi fast, and the private conference room had all the amenities I needed for the Zoom interviews I had set up. Honestly, this space is beautiful but way out of my price range. When you add up the parking, daily fee, and the costs for using the private rooms (which I would need to do a lot if I don't want strangers chucking lattes at me); it is not a cost-effective option for me to use consistently. However, I would come back for a day when I had a downtown happy hour or if I was meeting a friend for an afterwork walk (read: people watching extravaganza) at Lady Bird Lake. read more

I prefer other WeWork locations in town because of the lack of parking at the Downtown location, but I prefer the Congress location because it seems to be the hub of entrepreneurship. Better location if you're looking to network and make connections... it's always way busier than the other locations. I think this is the original location in Austin and it's the first WeWork location I had ever been to (for a SXSW event). read more

I feel like a high school crush...totally interested in a girl but she won't give me the time of day. The "holiday season" is over, time to get back to work. For me AND for the WeWork sales staff. read more

I joined WeWork Congress right before they opened in February 2015. I took a tour while the offices were still under construction, but the flexible conference room policy, 24/7 access, great brand partnerships and perks, and special opening discount for the first three months of a "dedicated desk" coworking membership made me decide to give it a try. When I arrived on the first day, I was impressed with the space--it's bright, open, modern, and stylishly appointed. The open area where the "dedicated desks" are had lots of private phone booths, and there's ample open space adjacent to the kitchen with couches, barstools, a dining table, etc. The downtown location is great if downtown is convenient for you--the building WeWork is in is very nice, with a Starbucks downstairs, right at 6th & Congress. The lack of parking was the first nail in the coffin for me, however. WeWork doesn't include parking in their membership--they do provide access to monthly rates (at typical downtown prices) in a few parking garages nearby, but in addition to WeWork's membership rates (which are on the expensive end of the Austin coworking spectrum), the monthly cost is pretty significant. And as a freelancer who needs to be mobile for meetings around town, dealing with downtown parking was just really, really inconvenient (which I should have known to expect). I ended up cancelling my WeWork membership after 2 weeks (but was locked into paying for 2 months--more about that below). Overall, the space and the membership seem designed for private office tenants, not general coworking members. Each "dedicated desk" is just an assigned chair at a long communal table with no dividers--each spot has a small rolling filing cabinet and a chair. Overall, it was really cramped. The filing cabinets under the tables created limited leg room, and the lack of dividers (and tightly packed space) had people's things spilling over into each other's spaces. This setup would be totally fine for open, unassigned coworking space, but it seemed like a stretch to call these "dedicated desks". Moreover, several small companies had rented out clusters of dedicated desks, which made the space feel more like a series of offices without walls. I was seated right next to one of these small companies, and while the people were super nice, they were up and down all day, walking among each other's desks, standing in groups right behind me to have impromptu discussions, and talking constantly. There were also a number of people in the open area who were on phone headsets throughout the day, which is true in any coworking space. I have headphones and I know how to use them, but there was so much activity--not just noise--throughout the day that I felt like I needed to abscond to the open couch area just to get a quiet, undisturbed moment. (And in that case, why am I paying a premium for a dedicated desk?) So I decided to cancel--and that's when I realized that WeWork's "30-day move-out policy" meant that I would have had to cancel on my very first day of membership in order to avoid being charged for a SECOND month. The policy requires you to give notice at least 30 days before your last day--which makes perfect sense for the private offices. But do I really need to give 30 days' notice (actually more like 45 days in my case) to vacate a single chair at a long communal table, on a month-to-month membership, no less? I definitely feel there should be more flexibility for general coworking members--especially those who join a new space, sight unseen. Even at my discounted rate, I'm paying considerably more than one month of full-price membership for using the space for only two weeks. Seems pretty unforgiving! And to make matters worse (personal rant here), they notified me that the ACH I used to pay my deposit and first month's membership stopped working (not due to insufficient funds), so I am having to set up my payment method all over again just to pay for this second, completely unused month of membership. Sigh. All that said, there appears to be a more flexible (and far cheaper) membership option for this space now, which they didn't tell me about on my tour. So I would recommend doing that if you're intent on WeWork for general coworking. All in all, this is a premium space with some great perks and killer private office space, but if you want general coworking, I'd recommend looking elsewhere. There are far more flexible, affordable, and equally well managed options in Austin--most with free parking too! read more

This place is pretty amazing for a freelancer or small business. All the perks of having your own office without dealing with the overhead and administrivia. All the employees are super helpful and generally quick to respond. There's ways sponsored events and activities going on, with free goodies. The free coffee and beer are top notch too. Downsides would be that there's often broken items like a keg system (15th floor) that hasn't worked in 4 months (or never worked?) or a toilet that's been broken for a month. Beer and cold brew is usually flowing, but a percentage of the time is out. Overall very happy to be a member and WeWork has changed my working life for the better! read more

Wow just wow amazing location!i loved how clean and the amazing view from the walk out! Would come back here any day!

Great atmosphere! There are so many people to engage with and constant events. See Carly... She will get you setup (and she's awesome)!

I rented a desk in a locked, yet communal space. A few months ago, I experienced a theft of 5 Zalto wine glasses, all worth $80-90. I reported it by email the night I discovered the incident since it was after-hours, and nobody responded. I tried emailing 2 people to no avail, and then finally talked to someone in person, who STILL never responded. Finally, received an email from the manager that they can't find any footage of the incident, even though I had a camera aimed directly at my desk. After calling WeWork directly, I was told someone would call me back, and they NEVER DID!! Beyond frustrated since these are necessary for my job (I am an on-camera sommelier), and couldn't wait to leave. Tons of people in that space leave their expensive monitors and equipment out, so there's no reason why I couldn't leave some glasses out, and it's shocking how bad their customer service has been. read more

So grateful that they allow MeetUP people to present here! So awesome! So fun to work here and I love the security and how bright and sunny it is. I think they should separate the lounge presentation space which is great open format space, from the kitchen for more quiet as the expresso machine and kitchen noise sometimes interfere with the presentations. Great facility and parking is convenient if not free. But not that expensive in the evening! Just $10. read more

WeWork Congress is great. We've been members since they opened. The space is amazing and their community management team has been great to work with. The space is decked out with contemporary fixtures, the facilities are kept clean and perks such as coffee, free food and great events just add to the experience. Like most businesses, there are issues that come up (something isn't working, etc) but the community team is responsive and quickly remedies the situation (many times going above and beyond to help their members). We've grown quite a bit since we started with them and they have accommodated our needs along the way. The flexibility (month to month), impeccable location and creatively outfitted space makes them a no-brainer choice when it comes to office space in Austin. read more

I highly suggest anyone looking for a co-working space to stay away from this place, actually run away. first they were very nice to me, when I was brand new and just joined, then I was treated as another number, then all of a sudden they become rude when you decide to give them your 30 day notice and move out. In addition the space is very noisy, the staff members are FAKE!!! seriously i am completely shocked. there are so many way better spaces to work out of in Austin, to be treated like they have treated me. I have already been moved out from my space, i am just waiting for them to give me back my deposit payment. i did get an email back that it can take up to 1 month to get my deposit payment back. I am very speechless, in addition they are opening another location at the Domain, they have a sales lead there handing the sales for them. She has been constantly harrassing me emailing me with "We are filling very fast for this membership, so grab one now before we sell out." they are just about sale sale sale so they can make their tiny 10% comission. they lost the value of customer service, they lost the value of what actually made wework, we work. I am very happy that there are so many other choices in the very near area in Downtown Austin, I glad I have found a much much better co-working space. Last but not least, when you go on their tour, they talk about their network that you get connected with while you join wework. I was in the market to make a brand new e-commerce website using woocommerce, hiring somone from their incredible network was probably the worst mistake i ever made in my life, the company I hired from the wework network, burned me, ripped me off, and when I decided to inform others on the network to not work with this company, I was blocked from the wework network, sounds fair right. not to me. but this was my fault i should of not trusted and did my research i just thought i could add this in my review. I HIGHLY SUGGEST ANYONE INTERESTED IN CO-WORKING SPACE TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS OVER PRICED, FAKE, LOW QUALITY, WEAK SPACE........ read more

I have a private office at this WeWork and today was my move in day. I packed up all of my stuff and carried it to the office. When I arrived, the person's logo before me was still on the office door, the desk and filing cabinet were very dusty, old glue from stickers that had been ripped off the wall were still there, and there was a dead cricket (or some other bug) on the floor. Just like in my industry, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. I'd think twice before moving in to this location. read more

This place is SO. LOUD. After about a month of working from various coffee shops, I joined WeWork this past June with the hope of settling into a more professional and less distracting environment. To be fair, I was quite happy with the space until around the last 2 weeks of June, at which point it regularly felt more like a frat house than a work space. What makes the noise especially unbearable is that it's totally unavoidable under their basic membership. The basic "commons unlimited" membership runs at $350 a month and includes access to their common area between the hours of 9am and 6pm, Monday through Friday (but not this Friday, however, because it's a holiday) along with a couple of other neat benefits (ex. "free" coffee and beer on tap, conference room reservations, printing, mailing address, etc.). There are also upgrades to have a dedicated desk separated from the common area (either $400 or $450/month...I forgot, because they didn't have any available when I signed up in any case) or an actual enclosed office (with varying occupant capacities, starting at $600/mo). Both of the upgrades include 24-hour access to the space, as well as access to the common area. Not needing a whole office and given that no desks were available, I wound up getting the basic membership, so my experience can really only attest to that membership level. The first thing I noticed is how the commons members are handled differently. When you show up during their business hours, you hand the person at the front desk a driver's license in exchange for an access card. You get your ID back when you turn in the access card when you leave for the day. The upgraded members do not need to do this, as they always have an access card. While it's not a deal-breaker, this exchange feels a little distrustful considering I'm paying them $350 a month to sit on a couch in their break room. Another thing that seems to be under-emphasized is that the common area is shared with General Assembly, the coding school across the hallway. While General Assembly is considered one of the businesses that operates at WeWork, what they don't tell you is that every single student that attends General Assembly has free reign over the common area as well. This is why it gets so noisy - students who are working on group projects go in there to collaborate with one another. As General Assembly enrollment increases, so does the overall traffic in the WeWork common area. I showed up the other day and there was literally nowhere for me to sit, much less concentrate. There are often more students in the common area than anyone else. Oh, and from what I can tell, the students can roam in and out whenever they please, without handing their ID over. The worst part about this is that as a commons member, there's no way to escape any of this since we're stuck in the common area. The coffee shop I'm in right now is quieter. The staff is alright. This isn't a deal breaker either, but I can't help but notice that they all seem to be friendlier (flirtier?) with the men that use the space. I've been interrupted mid-conversation so they could attend to some dude that happened to be walking by. And after going there fairly regularly for a month, I'm 95% certain the community manager still doesn't recognize me. I don't expect a red carpet rolled out when I arrive, but this general attitude doesn't really add to the whole community feel they're supposedly going for. I don't even know why I'm giving it two whole stars. The other people in the space were nice. And this might actually be worthwhile with a dedicated desk or office space membership. With a regular commons membership though, I feel pretty ripped off. read more

Exactly the same experience as what the other reviewer posted. They have very draconian policies designed to get the most out of you *after* you decide to cancel. E.g. if you decide to cancel on the 7th of May, you'll have to wait until the end of JUNE to move out. (It's 30 days from the 30th of the month. So that means you could be waiting up to 2 months to cancel a membership.) Also, they only take ACH as payment (rather than credit card.) I suspect this is because a lot of people would just cancel their payment if it wasn't ACH. With ACH, there's not much you can do. So they basically wrote their contract to maximize revenue after a consumer cancels, and make sure the only payment method they accept is the one you can't cancel on your end. They're basically like the AT&T of coworking. The workspace itself is nice, but the whole experience definitely left with a bad taste in my mouth. I wouldn't recommend it to a friend. read more

I can not speak to any co-working membership experience but can definitely speak to working with WeWork on using their space for an event. With that in mind, I have to give WeWork five stars on that front. I worked with Sarah leading up the event and Carly the day of the event. Both of them were incredibly responsive and beyond accommodating. This was our first time having our meetup at WeWork. We saw our largest group of attendees, 40'ish, and the space we used was more than perfect. In addition to that, where other venues charge for AV, access to a projector and PA system was readily available. I would highly recommend WeWork if you are looking to host a meetup and I will definitely be reaching out to them first when we need space downtown. Keep rocking it WeWork! read more

I'm seriously considering quitting my job because I cannot stand working in the confines of WeWork. The constant level of noise and distraction prevents me from getting anything accomplished. When you walk in, the place looks great! And it does LOOK pretty awesome. But the place is built like a noise chamber. Glass Offices, narrow hallways, wood floors and about a million people running around with completely different agendas. You can literally hear every conversation going on around you. And if somebody is wearing heals or decent dress shoes, you'll hear them coming from a mile away. "But you can escape to one of the private booths...." ..... Not true. These are typically occupied. And these booth are just as noisy as the other offices, if not more noisy. The people who designed this place must have been completely focused on aesthetics. And they did a good job of making the place look good. But there was zero attention paid to insulating rooms/areas or any sort of noise cancellation! I don't want to be completely negative. The staff at WeWork is very friendly and always do their best to help solve problems. This is simply an issue of design and engineering that they cannot control. If you want to get work done, probably look elsewhere. read more

I think it's misleading that they advertise a commons membership for $45 a month when it's only good for one day a week. Never mind the fact that I didn't see any where that someone who needs a chair could work comfortably. The chairs are not office chairs in the commons area. The offices are tiny. For 600 a month you and another person could rent a nice apartment and just work there. On top of all of this you are right downtown. As "cool" as it is to work downtown I didn't work hard all this time to be able to work remote to fight traffic and parking downtown. The commons area is near the kitchen and entrance and that's on purpose to get you to rent a desk for 600 a month. Rant complete. read more

WeWork Congress is the best space to be working! There is a friendly, dynamic team that manage this whole setup and make you feel at home. There are always friends and business connections to be made through events they host and have in the space as well. They make work motivating and fun! read more