A very mixed experience with our recent stay at Sonder. We arrived with all the check in details emailed ahead of time and everything seemed easy. Got through the main entrance okay relatively late in the evening. (Nobody was at the desk but it's a unmanned desk with 24/7 phone support so not an issue). We got to our room to hear people inside. We rang the customer service line who was very helpful and arranged us to go to another room. This was easy, and we were emailed a new code straight away and told to go down a floor. No issues. These things happen.
The new room was nothing like the one we had booked. It was tiny, the bed was very sinky like a hammock, the fridge was very noisy and sounded like bubbling cauldron and under the bed there were lots of nuts, an old sock, a chocker and receipts from a week before. We called again to say this wasn't great and they moved us to the room next door. This was much cleaner, but the fridge was very noisy again, so we turned it off. This room had a locked door between the next rooms, and I could hear everything the next guest was saying through the dividing door along with their alarm clock and hairdryer going at 6.30am. The air conditioning also banging and rattled all night too. I can normally sleep through anything, but this was poor.
We called the next day and asked us if they could refund us the difference from the large room we had booked to the standard size room we had been given and arrange for the original room to be available the next day. Once again, they were very helpful and refunded the difference straight away and got us moved back to the original booking for night 2. This was good but we shouldn't have had to ask for this!
The second night was a totally different experience. The larger spacious room was lovely. The shower is twice the size, bed is far comfier, and the room was silent at night. Sadly, the fridge was very noisy again and this seems to be a common issue in every room based on other reviews. It's also worth noting that the TV in all 3 rooms we tried basically had zero reception and we could only get BBC1. Every other channel was a blurry and juddery.
All in all, if we had been given the correct room from the beginning, we'd have had a nearly perfect stay, however changing room twice in the first night with both rooms not being great tarnished the trip. What I will say is the staff and customer service were excellent and very polite and friendly. The 24/7 phone line was very efficient and the hotel manager (Jay I believe his name was?) was incredibly good at his job. He was super polite and friendly, lent us his umbrella, spent time to get to know us and sorted the new room out on the second day very quickly. A top guy!
Sonder is a great if you're after a place to crash for the night. If you're after a little bit more of a relaxing break, need space for bags and suitcases etc and like a good night sleep, the larger more spacious rooms are a must for only as small amount more money. I'd 100% avoid the cramped noisy cheaper rooms from what I saw and the other reviews I've read! Location is spot on! 1 minute from the tube and there is a Costa underneath and a M&S next door along with all the local restaurants and shops along the road. Would probably stay again based on the second night.