Unfortunately, our awful experience started when we did not get the room booked. It said I had a reservation, took the money out of the account ,etc.
The day arrived for our trip and I couldn't find check-in instructions but it did show I had the room reserved. I messaged them through the Airbnb app multiple times - no response. I called the only Sonder number I could find on the way to the airport for them to tell me there was a technical issue and I did not have a reservation. Yet, I had an email from them and Airbnb confirming a reservation. They said it must have been Airbnb's fault but they would "upgrade" us to another room in the building.
We landed at 10 pm and made our way to our Airbnb. Instead of an "upgrade" (we booked a room with a balcony) we found our small room with one window with the view being the stairs. I emailed Sonder (with the email they had emailed me with and told me to email the day before), messaged through their Sonder app, and messaged AGAIN on Airbnb. Once again, no response. I let them know we were disappointed and did not get the room/value we had booked. The next day, I spent hours on the phone trying to get it resolved.
They moved us to another building and another room and told us we could have an immediate check in. We made the trek there. We got there and used the codes given to us to get the key, for the codes to give us errors. Since I knew there would be no way for me to get a response through the various other forms of communication in a timely manner, I called the same number (a number in Massachusetts) to get help with our key. The representative was confused since she had just given me this info. She contacted the lady who was supposedly over the properties and then told me that she would meet us at the building as soon as possible. Because we did not have a key or anything and did not have a place for our luggage, we were stuck in the hallway of this Airbnb for an hour until the lady brought our key.
The new room and setting was better than before, although the value was still not equal to what we spent. The room was larger but it wasn't clean. Dirt on the floors. Dirt on the nightstands, dead lizard on the floor, etc.
(Yes, it was an older building but I expected it to be clean when we went in).
The AC did not work well (which is not ideal in the NOLA heat and humidity). The toilet wouldn't flush properly. There was not a trash can. I messaged Sonder through the app and emailed, in hopes of getting a response to fix these issues. Never heard a word.
We ended up cutting our trip 3 days short. It was the exact opposite of the relaxing getaway we wanted/needed. We changed our flights and went to another city because everything was going wrong and we did not want to spend $800 on a hotel when we just spent that on Airbnb.
We were incredibly disappointed by the experience, service, and value.
There is not an easy way to get a hold of someone for any issue.
I have never stayed at an Airbnb where there was not GREAT communication and a local contact in case problems arise.
We have always LOVED staying in an Airbnb but I do NOT recommend staying in one if there is not a local contact.
I especially do not recommend staying at this Airbnb unless you know you won't need anything at all and you're fine not being able to get a hold of someone if you end up having problems.
I do hope they take care of these issues to make stays more pleasant for those in the future.
**By the way - Sonder, I did contact you, I emailed you, I called you, I messaged on your app, on Airbnb to get help to make our stay more pleasant, but most of the time, you didn't respond and when you did, problems still weren't completely fixed or handled rightly.**