Could you give us a little brief about yourself ? (background, main passions, activities …)

I’m 24 years old and I come from Paris, France. I did lawyer studies with the objectif to do the postgraduate institute of European studies, the college of Europe. I am now doing an internship at the European commission in competition law in order to have more skills to access this really selective school. Concerning my main passions, I really like traveling, discover new cultures and meeting new people. I lived in different countries like France, Brazil, Uk and now Belgium. I also love doing some sports, alone or with some friends. I did a lot of athleticism before, and now in Brussels I like doing some badminton with my flatmate François and running in the park when the weather is nice, so for the moment not so often (laugh).

Why did you choose Brussels ?

First, because I was looking for an internship at the european commission, as it is really renowned and it could help me to access the college of europe, and I finally found one in the department where I wanted to work. But also because when I went in Brussels during a weekend two years ago I really liked it. It’s a really welcoming city with a lot of international people. In fact, you can meet people who comes from all over the world and everybody are open minded. I feel like home here.

What kind of accommodation were you looking for before your arrival ?

It was a little bit complicated. At the beginning I wanted to live with one of my friend, Hugues. But it was very difficult to find something nice, clean and all included just for six months. I didn’t wanted to live alone because I think it is important to meet new people when you are new in a city, so we were searching two rooms in an existing collocation. So yes basically at the beginning I was searching for a typical shared flat, but finally something better than expected comes-up (laugh).

How and why did you choose Cohabs ?

That’s also a pretty funny story. My friend Hugues was in the same high-school than Louis the last intern at Cohabs, so I heard about it thanks to him. I looked at the web-site and I really liked the pictures of the house, the rooms and the fact that it is an all included formula. So I decided to applied for a room as we did not find a flat with Hugues. I did a skype visit of Montgomery house with François the house manager and I really liked the house, the room, the atmosphere and the services offered by cohabs so I decided to take the room without seeing it in real before. The funny part is that Hugues did the same thing than me and now we are both living in the house and we have the chance to have six other handsome flatmates. I couldn’t find a better option than the one Cohabs offered me!

How would you describe your roommates ?

We are a teasing house. We have a lot of humor and we like chambring each others like brothers and sisters. The atmosphere is really chill, we spend time together at home talking about our life, interesting subjects or just laughing and chilling in the living room in front of netflix. We also go out together, most of the time in bars to take one drink or more (laugh). It’s really cool because we all have a different background, we travelled a lot, we did different thing before arriving in Brussels but at the end it is the perfect mixt and there is no tension between us. I feel like family with them.

What’s the most unexpected thing about coliving ?

Two things: First I didn’t expected at all that cohabs will deliver a monthly breakfast and the common groceries each month. I think it is a really good idea, it avoids the problems of who bought what or who never pay for the common groceries so it avoid a lot of tensions. The second thing that I didn’t expected is all the community accept. The houses are really connected and we feel apart of a community. I also really like the fact that if you have a problem in your room or in the house you just have to log the incident in the cohabs application and someone come to fix it. Everything is really simple and it make the life in the house much more pleasant.

Let’s imagine you’re 35 years old, you come back to Brussels to live here. Would you prefer living alone in your own flat or sharing a house with some young professionals ?

Without hesitation alone in my own flat. But it is just because I hope at 35 years old I will not by single and without children (laugh).

Are you enjoying your life in Brussels ? What’s your favorite place and Why ?

I love living in Brussels, people are really welcoming and nice and it changes me a lot because I come from Paris (laugh). The lifestyle is really different, it’s more international, you meet a lot of people who come from different horizons, for me this city is more open minded and I like that. There is a place I really like, it is near chatelain area. It’s a place with a church in the middle and a lot of bars around where you can go to take a drink with some friends after the work, but I didn’t remember the name of this place (laugh). I also like walking around the ponds of ixelles area, it’s very pretty. But I still have a lot of places to visit and with the arrival of the sunny days I will be able to take advantage of it to discover other nice spots in Brussels.

Could you tell us a funny story which occurred in your house so far ?

I don’t know if I can tell it, but one day the guys decided to draw a lot of dicks on the black board, don’t ask me why (laugh). It was a day before the visit of a roommate mother. So the day after this drawing session, she was visiting the house and she really liked it, but at the end of the visit she arrived just in front of the black board and saw all these beautiful drawing and just said “The sad youth…”. It was a pretty fun moment but maybe not for my roomate (laugh). I also have a lot of funny stories of our afterwork drinks sessions at place du Lux but I will keep them to me (laugh).

Would you recommend Cohabs to a friend ? Why ?

It’s not for throwing flowers but I would recommend it at 100% and I already did it (laugh). At the moment it’s the best roommate experience I’ve had and I have a lot of comparison as I moved a lot these last years. I feel great here, I love my flatmates and the house so for me it could not be better than that.