SonderReviews of sonder.com

Accommodation was to a good standard. Building work in the apartment resulted in main staircase being blocked (fire safety risk?!) and then had a power cut.

It smelled like mildew. Seemed to be the washer. Twice they said they would send someone "to clean it" but they just sent someone to drop off a washing machine cleaning tablet. I did that three times and it still smelled. I had to clean the gasket myself and it still smelled. It made my clothes smell and left black spots on them. I left work early, losing $400+ in earnings to meet someone there to clean it and they didn't clean it. The dryer also made my clothes faded and stiff, even on low heat. The cleaning staff clearly doesn't care. The mildew smell hits you over the head when you open the door to the unit. The bathroom sink had mold in it (which someone did clean out at least). The kitchen scissors had sticky junk on them. It doesn't give me confidence that details are taken care of and that cleanliness and sanitation is important. Chat support is awful. They misread my messages several times and so their responses weren't relevant. They were polite, but didn't take care of things. Phone support was a bit better, but obviously there were still issues. The last time I spoke with someone on phone, they said they would ask the on site staff if they could meet me at a designated time to replace the battery in the Yale lock so no one would enter the unit without me present. He said he would text me what he found out. Instead, he texted that someone fixed it. Meaning, they went in the unit without me which I had repeatedly said not to do. It was disrespectful and a violation of privacy. He should have tried to arrange another time. The window shades were sheer. So I could see into my neighbors apartments and they could see into mine at night. The kitchen was poorly stocked. I had to ask for a baking sheet. It wouldn't be big enough for pizza though. There was only one pan, no colander, no whisk. A single serve coffee maker would be better. The old school one is messy and most travelers don't need 10 cups at one time. The linens were scratchy and stiff. Not great to sleep on. Couch was hard and not comfy. The lighting was terrible. It was so hard to do my makeup in the bathroom and the bedroom was dark all the time. The parking garage gate stopped closing, so for 4+ days it was open. Which removes the sense of safety in a gated parking garage. Last, but certainly not least, the low flow shower head. It was like that episode of Seinfeld all 2 weeks. My hair was greasy, flat, hard to style and manage. I've stayed in the area lots of times and haven't had that problem, so I know it's not just a change in water softness. In short, I wouldn't stay here again and wouldn't even stay at another Sonder because of the standard that this one set. Why would I expect any difference at another unit or property?

I have to give Sonder 2 stars for the customer service only. I am optimistic that our stay will be better than the experience I have had thus far. I feel I must share about the fact that the business clearly has no understanding of what customer service should look like. Everyone understand that there are policies. However, when a customer makes a reasonable request for a legitimate reason, someone of authority with a little wherewithal should be able to make the executive decision to authorize the request. In my case, I asked for a 30 minute early check in. I did that b/c my parents, who are 84 and 92 years old will be arriving at the Sonder location at about 3:30pm, which is 30 mins before the 4pm check in time. I noticed on the website that the fee to check in an hour early would be $25. So I decided to make a request for a 30 min early check in. I made this request on Tuesday Oct. 18. Today (Oct. 23), I followed up and was told I wouldn't get an answer until tomorrow morning. This was very unexpected and not really helpful b/c my parents would be traveling tomorrow and I wanted some assurance that they would be able to access the building without a glitch. They are flying up from South Florida, which is much warmer than Philadelphia, where they will be staying. So I have been very concerned that they would be locked out of the building and unable to access the unit before their check-in time. I have never had a difficulty asking for an early check-in before. So I was honestly stunned that no one could take the initiative to accommodate my reasonable request. I was also a little offended and annoyed b/c I knew that, had I paid the fee to access the unit 60 mins before check-in, there would have been no question that my request would have been honored. Instead Sonder told me they would call me back within 2 hours. That did not happen. I called again and was told I had to speak to the person I had spoken to. This made no sense, so I asked for a manager, but was told none would be able to call me back until 24 -48 hours from my call. So I was told I would have to wait until the morning. Very shortly thereafter, my request was denied b/c the cleaning crew would need to clean all the way until the check-in time of 4pm. There is no doubt in my mind that the cleaning crew will be done long before 3:30pm. But rather than work with the customer, Sonder simply made no decision at all and stuck with the policy that the company would have been willing to change if I had been willing to pay a fee. This is just really unfortunate considering the circumstances and the reasonableness of the request. My parents will be traveling without me, which they seldom do (I am traveling to meet them in Philadelphia). So I am working hard to ensure their travel goes well. It would have been nice to have a sense that someone at Sonder cared enough to make a decent executive decision instead of mindlessly doing whatever the company normally does. Customer service necessarily calls for flexibility in moments like this. Sonder has not taught its personnel this. And I think that is very unfortunate indeed.

Stayed at The Tidewater in Philly. The apartment was nice but the first bad sign was the two packages of Sonder branded ear plugs on the night stand. The bedroom was right next to the roof deck that people come in and out of all day and slam the door over and over and move chairs around. That results in tons of noise in the bedroom. I thought “ok whatever I’ll go out on the private deck” that my unit had. It was very nice the first couple days and nights. Sunday came and at check in time a large group arrived in the next unit over. They were very loud. They also setup a PA system playing loud music. There is only a wooden fence separating their deck from mine. So sitting on my deck is like being right in the middle of their party. Is it the end of the world? No, but I came here to relax by myself and get some work done. I can do that at a hotel with a lot less of this kind annoyance. I won’t be back.

Similar to other Airbnb reviewers' experiences, good location, close to Roosevelt District. But I booked one month in this Airbnb and was given a completely different apartment in the same building without a balcony nor a couch, not the one shown in the Airbnb listing. Feels like a basic 'bait and switch'. The, what I think is an offshore call center, customer service folks were apologetic but either powerless or uninterested in correcting the issue. I was even promised a move mid stay to the apartment I actually booked but later found out it was an empty promise. I was promised that a supervisor would call me within 24 to 48 hours but also an empty promise. It shows that booking Airbnbs from large faceless hosting companies like Sonder is a gamble if something goes wrong. Despite their poor reviews, I have personally really liked Sonder up until now, actually having booked 145 nights with them over the past years, purposely seeking them out as I travel as a digital nomad. But never again. Maybe not a surprise since both Sonder and Vacasa are tanking in reviews across the web for poor customer service.

All our towels were dirty and stained - BIG stains and some were red, yellow and blue! The walls were dirty and obviously hadn’t been washed or wiped down. The coffee table did not appear wiped down. I did not trust the glasses that had spots in the rims and the overall feel is that the unit had not been cleaned. The shower door did not close all the way so water ran out. There is no ledge in the shower for toiletries so you had to put all your soap and things on the shower floor. We had booked a 6th floor unit but at the last minute we were downgraded to the third floor due to “maintenance”. Customer service through the chat was responsive to me but ultimately I didn’t feel comfortable in the room because of the lack of cleanliness. And I felt cheated out of a 6th floor unit I had booked and wanted - but by the time they notified me of the change, it was too late to find someplace new and I had already paid Sonder.

GUEST BEWARE!!!!! Pictures look great, vibe is cool, but the Orlando Welborn group has some big issues! First of all minimal amenities and looks quite different then the pretty pictures on the site. However once you understand the place is old and know what to expect , the location and total vibe there make it OK. However first walking in we Had two big cockroaches in our room. The place needs some updating to make it "feel more clean! Second Horrible parking and inconcstancy with their parking pass requirement Policy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They allow guest who come to the restaruant but who are NOT staying at the hotel park in the spots that are marked for guest only and suppose to have a pass park in "payed guests" spots with out consequences forcing "paying guests" of the hotel to park quite far away from the hotel. I parked in an area on the Sonder property that stated only "parking pass required" near the building I was in since I could not find a spot near my building and did not want to walk by myself in the dark from blocks away. The parking spots were full of mostly cars that had no parking pass. The next morning my car had been towed from the property. When I called I was told each building though all a Sonder properties have different passes. Its in the small print on the app. So read all the details!!!!! Yet all the other folks "with out passes" took our spots (I took mulitiple pictures the next evening when I returned of many cars parking in guest only parking spots and whom never got towed). After driving around the parking area for 20 minutes someone "with out" a pass finally moved out of the designated spots for guests! Inconsitant policies make for BAD BAD customer service. If you require a pass..then hold ALL the folks who dont have one accountable too! On a good note your customer service staff is amazing. Our airconditioner broke the first night and they were able to compensate us and get it fixed right away the next day. Rough night sleeping though on a hot Florida night though..The over all stay was quite disappointing since a small gesture of a 2 hour late check out was all they offered. ;-( I've been in the hotel business and love experiencing these type of venues! I'm dissappointed because this could be a great place to stay if there were not so many disappointing issues and frustrations.

Update 2023-Aug-15: I no longer recommend Sonder at all. Having watched (as customer and stock holder) their service and management go downhill I only recommend avoiding this company entirely. Update 2022-Jan-16: In the US I have discovered Sonder requires a 3rd party background check for long stays. When this failed due for technical reasons (in the 3rd party software) I asked why and what this is about. The response was that it's for the safety of their guests and that for higher rates I can still stay at a higher short-term rate. Which is obviously untrue (money magically makes guests safer?). As a result I've removed 3 stars. Clearly this company has low regard for its customers--especially long term repeat customers. And I no longer recommend Sonder, especially anywhere in the States (and I have researched the matter--in December 2022). To expand on this Sonder literally sends the customer to another domain where the identifying company information is an invalid address and phone number in San Francisco. I consider this remarkably unprofessional and makes me question the future of the company as it plots forward with its IPO. I'll have to look to see what happens to companies that offend their customers and turn away housing budgets. In Canada late 2021 the experience was more positive: I stayed at one of the Montreal locations (Le Guerin) twice for a total of just over 2 months late August and again October through November 2021. Overall the place was very comfortable and a pleasure. The company was responsive to help with any issues and I recommend it to friends and family (worldwide) based on my experience at this location. Additionally I intend to return to this and other locations where available as it fits my needs better than the alternatives (Airbnb, hotel, etc).