After two years of working from home, there come the days when I just need to get out of the house to work on a different desk.
Although I could technically buy one cup of coffee and spend seven hours at a café, it feels rather shameless to do so.
Coworking spaces make for a happier middle ground. My qualms with them, however, are that they aren’t generally very big on privacy since they promote the collaborative social aspect through hot-desking. Private offices are available too, but tend to be on the pricier end.
At Jerry though, there is no hot desking. Instead, it offers modular private offices for one, two, or four pax, and is the more affordable, no-frills younger sibling to its luxurious elder sister, Colony, which is known for its 5-star hospitality rating.
Our office has been under renovation for a while now, so we’ve personally utilised Jerry at Subang Jaya once a week for editorial team meetups since February 2022. Here’s what the experience has been like so far.
Your private space to focus
Booking a space at Jerry gets you access to a private room to feel like the CEO of your own office. Inside, each guest gets a large desk with two power outlets, metal drawers for storage, and a firm yet comfy office chair.
Strong, fast, and reliable WiFi is available all throughout the coworking space. Although Jerry’s e-concierge on WhatsApp told us that there’s a different WiFi password each time we book the space, we found that our devices would still auto-connect without us doing anything.
You’ll be encapsulated by four white walls (or three walls and a floor-to-ceiling window if you’re lucky), to cut out distractions for maximum focus. You’ll technically be allowed to pick a room you’d like after having a virtual tour on the Jerry website, although it is subject to availability at the time of purchase.
There aren’t many soft furnishings inside the rooms themselves, so chatter with your colleagues or on phone calls can get echoey. Furthermore, the walls themselves are relatively hollow and thin, which means your voice may be heard by other occupants at Jerry.
Hence, it’s common to find other occupants at Jerry taking phone calls in the common area where your voice doesn’t travel as far, thanks to its sofas and indoor plants.
Most coworking spaces tend to come with free-flow coffee and snacks that you can grab and go at your leisure. It’s not an amenity you’d find at Jerry, but you’re welcome to bring your own.
In the common area, you’ll find a shared fridge, microwave, water dispenser for cold, room, and hot temperatures, utensils and cutleries, along with a sink and dishwashing necessities.
All the shared amenities can be used, but of course, it’s just good manners to clean up after yourself.
Getting in and out
What I like about Jerry’s concept is that using a private room there ensures I won’t have to speak to a single soul.
It starts from the moment booking and payment is made through the website. To do so, you can choose your Workspace Plan between:
- Trial Pass: Starting from RM30/day, this trial gets you a day pass;
- Unlimited Plan: Starting from RM610/month, you can have the space for a month;
- Prepaid Plan: Starting from RM150, you get a six-day pass.
Do note though that while the prices above are accurate at the time of writing, the pricing for Jerry is dynamic, so it will increase as its occupancy goes up, and down when it comes down. Its co-founder and Executive Director, Timothy Tiah likened it to the prices of airlines.
When checking in and out, Jerry is designed in a functional way that most systems, primarily the door locks, are unmanned.
Upon receiving a booking confirmation, you’ll be given a unique numerical password via WhatsApp or email to unlock the smart-lock doors to Jerry and your own room. The door automatically locks behind you again once shut.
Because our team was coming in on a per-day basis, we were given new passcodes each time. For those who’ve bought a longer-term plan, a one-off PIN will be provided that you can use for the length of your membership.
There were times when we faced issues with the PINs though. On two different occasions, they didn’t work, but a message to Jerry’s e-concierge helped resolve the problem.
It is worth noting that Jerry is operational from 9AM to 6PM, where the central air conditioning only runs during these hours. The doors will also be locked during off-hours, and unique PINs will reset for those without memberships.
For those on the Trial Pass who plan on staying past 6PM, it’s best to use the toilet or run to get your food by 5.30PM, or risk getting locked out. (You can request a new temporary PIN in the worst-case scenario, but maybe it’s a concern you’d want to avoid in the first place.)
Unlimited Plan members have 24/7 access to their workspace.
Air conditioning will not run on weekends, and lighting won’t be available in the common area. However, the lighting in your own private office is still under your control.
Pro tip: The air conditioning at Jerry can get pretty cold (at least for us), so bring a jacket.
What’s around
Having experienced both its Subang Jaya (SS15) and TTDI outlet, I can deduce that Jerry is placed in strategic locations, with many food options around. However, in terms of parking, there are pros and cons for each location.
The Subang Jaya outlet offers multilevel parking in SS15 Courtyard Mall where parking bays are aplenty.
Although, if you plan to work at Jerry for the whole day, be prepared to pay a parking fee of up to RM13 per day. Otherwise, it’s RM2 for the first two hours, and RM1 for every subsequent hour or part thereof.
As for the TTDI parking situation, your best option is street parking, and you’ll have to pay for it through a parking app. However, because there are many other offices around, street parking bays may get filled up by 9AM. So, taking a Grab to the TTDI outlet would be a more viable alternative.
Food options for both outlets will leave you spoilt for choice. There are enough cafés, coffee shops, and more premium dining options no matter the outlet you pick.
One inconvenience I’ve noted about the SS15 outlet in comparison to the one in TTDI is its accessibility situation.
The SS15 outlet is located at the office building of the mall, meaning you’re sharing limited elevators with other office workers. So, expect long waiting times at the elevators during rush hours, or you can simply run up/down 10 flights of stairs.
At TTDI, Jerry is on the first floor of shop lots, which means it’s just a short climb. Unfortunately, it is less wheelchair-friendly.
Suiting different needs
All things considered, Jerry makes for a useful and practical workspace for small teams, individual entrepreneurs, and hybrid workers looking for some privacy to focus.
Since the rooms are equipped with individual PINs, Jerry is also offering the option for clients to use the private rooms as self-storage space. This would be most suitable for those who are moving, decluttering, managing business inventories, or keeping personal belongings.
With the SS15 outlet being close to educational facilities, Jerry is also running student deals, but more on that in another article.