Sonder – The Essex

If I could give a 0 rating I would. The place was dirty, noisy, and not well maintained. And I experienced all this in the few minutes that I walked in, called customer service, snapped a few pictures, and walked out. The 'cool' wallpaper was peeling off the wall. The furniture was in awful shape and had stains all over it. Everything was really dusty and dirty. There were dust bunnies hanging from the walls and baseboard. All the carpets and rugs were really beat-up and had stains all over them. The door knob to the bathroom was falling off. There was a hole in the wall with exposed pipes and wires that were either covered in insulation or dust (either way, something that I was concerned about breathing). There was chipped paint everywhere. The wood floors were in terrible shape and broken in places. There was dried goo on the floor. There was dirt on the toiIet. There was graffiti on window sill. The view from the bedroom window was the back of the trash cans that were stored against it. I could go on but long story short, I did not stay. It would have been detrimental to my health and safety to do so. I travel for business and pleasure extensively and I have never had to walk out of property because it was so bad. After speaking with customer service and having them review my photos, the gentlemen I spoke to agreed that the place was not what I had booked and that he would have been uncomfortable there as well. He tried to place me in another one of their properties but they were all booked up so I was on my own trying to scramble to find another place to stay. Since then, I have been given the run around. Now I am stuck trying to deal with Sonder's awful customer service. If anyone from Sonder would like to reach out with something besides a generic email that appears that it was copied and pasted from a template, I would love to hear from you. For anyone else considering this property, stay away!

A little piece of history of.. The Essex building is about 100 years old. The property was well stocked, clean exactly like the pictures. However, while it’s a super thin and you will hit your neighbors.

started out getting the room wrong. Though we just went with it as we got in late. There was no working lock inside the door so we were at the mercy of an e-lock in a room that wasn't right in the first place. Felt like someone could just walk in at any moment. It was a secure building so the homeless encampment across the street was less concerning. The unit was nice but 4th floor walkup with 5' ceilings might not work for everyone. Someone might want to make sure those staying in this unit are fit and on the shorter side.

The building is maintained and clean. There is only so far that cleanliness can go though. You can hear every footstep inside the building and the building is located across from a police station so we woke up throughout the night to sirens. Additionally, the bed had as much give as a yoga block. Meanwhile, the pullout couch mattress is sunken in so we had to borrow an inflatable mattress to get any kind of sleep during our stay.

I've stayed in a few different Sonders in different cities. Always feels like a luxury experience when I do. It's nice to have the amenities of an apartment when I travel. I never have any issues getting in or with anything. Price is so reasonable!