Coworking cafés – a better place to work

Cologne has plenty of lovely cafés to suit all tastes: modern, hip, cosy, all with good coffee and delicious cakes. On the minus side, there’s not many cafés where you can comfortably spend a few hours in front of your laptop. As a blogger, I prefer to write my posts away from home because there is so much less potential for distraction outside of my own space. That said, an ideal workspace needs fast wifi and an ample supply of power sockets. It’s 2018 and although coworking cafés are becoming more popular across Germany, it’s still a bit of a needle-in-the-haystack situation. On my hunt for the ideal office away from home, I’ve discovered a number of great places that serve good drinks and snacks and are perfect for an extended laptop session. Here’s four of them.

Designed specifically as a coworking café, Wndrfuel on Zülpicher Strasse is in the heart of the city. You can choose to sit in the generous indoor seating area or, on a sunny day, outside in the courtyard, which features a swing as well as a sky-blue Vespa scooter. Wndrfuel has installed at least one power socket at each table. There’s tables for two or for groups, a fast wifi connection, and a selection of healthy-but-delicious dishes such as bowls, smoothies, fresh banana bread, and great coffee. As a courtyard space, Wndrfuel is shielded from the noise of busy Zülpicher Strasse and its quiet background music is conducive to concentration.

+++ Unfortunately, Wndrfuel is closed +++

Zülpicher Straße 30, 50674 Cologne

Pretty Nippes, not far from Flora subway station and just a few stops from Hauptbahnhof/Central Station, is home to Wohnraum. Known for its good breakfasts and lunches, it gets super busy on Saturdays and Sundays between late morning and mid-afternoon. At any other time, though, Wohnraum is a brilliant office location. Not every table has its own power outlet, but all tables placed along the wall do, and there’s great wifi. I prefer to sit on the cosy upper level, a great vantage point for observing the goings-on down below when your eyes need a break from the screen. My regular order is a rhubarb spritzer and the enormous (and delicious) “basic” salad, which is great value for money.

Neusser Straße 314, 50733 Cologne
Web: www.cafewohnraum.de | www.facebook.com/CafeWohnraum

There are hotels that are so much more than just a place to sleep; and among them are the 25hours hotels, currently my favourite chain. A few months ago Cologne’s own 25hours hotel, The Circle, opened just off Friesenplatz. Located in the generous hotel lobby is Neni Deli, which serves drinks, good coffee and a variety of snacks but also a number of workspaces that are integrated into or just adjacent to the café itself – a super-stylish place to work in peace and quiet. This coworking space is still very much an insider tip for Cologne’s freelance army, but I guarantee that will change very soon.

Im Klapperhof 22-24, 50670 Cologne
Web: www.25hours-hotels.com/restaurants-bars/koeln/neni-deli

A pretty recent addition to the gang is Laden 1/3 in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, right on the square where Ehrenfeld’s municipal offices are. While hip Ehrenfeld already has a multitude of lovely cafés, this one is different in that it’s a coworking space, café-restaurant and event location rolled into one. And in the basement, there’s even an ancient bowling alley. Laden 1/3 is perfect for whiling away the hours in front of your laptop with a salad or fruit bowl by your side. And just in case you fancy recreating its lovingly designed interior at home, there’s a “design corner” featuring hand-made decorative items for sale.

+++ Unfortunately, Laden 1/3 is closed +++

Herbrandstraße 7, 50825 Cologne