Nas Daily’s Dubai hotel has maker spaces for creators–and lets some share in its revenue

Back in early YouTube days, the concept of becoming a full-time content creator seemed ludicrous–and because of that, there was little logistical and operations support for people who wanted to make content their careers. We’ve come a long way since then; now, there’s an entire industry dedicated to supporting creators and their video-making processes, from editors-for-hire to community managers to talent agents, lawyers, tax preparers, and more.

One thing we largely still lack, though, is dedicated coworking spaces. We had it for a while with YouTube Spaces, the initiative where YouTube offered brick-and-mortar production and post-production rooms, video equipment rental, networking events, and educational workshops to content creators around the world. But those closed in 2021, and since then, it’s been up to a handful of companies and individual content creators to build a network of places for creators to both work and socialize.

There are some programs, like Whalar‘s Lighthouse, where creators pay a membership fee to access a coworking space and biz dev + educational programming, plus networking and social events. Other hubs have been opened by successful creators like American Alan Chikin Chow and Australian EYstreem, using their money to offer professional production studios to fellow creators. Dude Perfect is similarly planning creator maker spaces in its new Dallas headquarters, if and when that ends up being built.

But Nas Daily is taking a different approach. The Israeli-Palestinian Facebook travel vlogger-turned-YouTuber is opening hotels that offer regular guest stays, but also push social interaction and creative collaboration.

Called Nas House, the business is centered in Dubai–which makes sense, considering Nas Daily (aka Nuseir Yassin) has lived in the city for several years, and was involved in 1 Billion Followers Summit, an annual biz dev convention that, in part, is aimed at getting more creators to move to and make content in Dubai. The convention and associated initiatives are backed by a whopping $40.8 billion grant from the United Arab Emirates government, which appears to see content creation as a potential source of revenue and growth–plus free advertisement of Dubai as a tourist destination.

Yassin said in a recent Instagram video that Nas House’s first location, which is “in the middle of Dubai,” took two years to build, and offers six villas and 30 hotel rooms. In the hotel’s center is an outdoor gathering space with an olive tree “to signify peace,” he added. Renting a whole villa will run you around $1,200 USD per night; a regular hotel room is about $100/night.

“I lived in hotels for three years and the problem with hotels is they’re not designed for community,” he said. “No common spaces, no soul, and all rooms are separate. Nas House is the exact opposite of that. It is designed to get you to meet people.”

The gathering space, pools, gym, and cat-petting room are all intended for regular guests. Creators who stay at Nas House will get access to a filming/production studio and coworking space.

Also worth noting is that, for around $10,000 USD/year, up to 50 people can become “founding members” of Nas House. Those 50 people will share in Nas House’s future earnings (10% of the hotel’s profit is split between them), attend quarterly board meetings, and get permanent discounts on stays. If Nas House does become a center for creators in Dubai, presumably some of them will become founding members, which could lead to a model where creators are able to profit from a digital content coworking space in one of the most complicated and contentious real estate markets in the world.

Yassin emphasizes that Nas House isn’t just for creators; he also wants entrepreneurs to stay–and become founding members.

He hasn’t said yet whether, where, or when another Nas House location will open. For now, it’s Dubai-only, so maybe the sort of creators who can afford to flock to the city for a chocolate bar will catch a night’s sleep there.

@naraazizasmith this was interesting😭 #fypシ #dubaichocolate #tastetest #marriage #momtok #dessert #treat ♬ original sound – Nara Smith