Crew houses in Antibes, Palma and Fort Lauderdale — what to expect

If you're looking for a first job you'll almost certainly spend some weeks in a crew house. Here's the shape of it. WHAT THEY ACTUALLY ARE Shared accommodation aimed at yacht crew, usually priced per bed per week, often in bunk rooms of four to eight. Some are well run and genuinely useful. Some are a mattress in a hot room with a rotating cast of strangers. WHY PEOPLE USE THEM ANYWAY Because the network is the product. Half the daywork in a season gets passed on in a crew-house kitchen by someone whose boat needs an extra pair of hands tomorrow. A slightly worse room in a busier house often beats a nicer room where you know nobody. WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE PAYING • Weekly rate, deposit, and exactly what happens to the deposit when you get a boat and leave at short notice. • Whether there's somewhere to lock a passport and a laptop. • Laundry, wifi that works, and a kitchen you can actually cook in. • How far it is from the port on foot at 07:00. • Whether the house is mostly people in your department and season. SENSIBLE PRECAUTIONS Don't wire a deposit to someone you found in a comment thread with no verifiable identity. Prepayment scams targeting green crew turn up every season. Pay on arrival where you can, and be suspicious of urgency. THE ALTERNATIVE Sharing a flat with two or three people you already know is cheaper and calmer — but only once you have a season's contacts. First time round, the house is usually worth it. Which house worked for you, and what would you warn someone about? Please keep it factual — the review rules apply here too.