This was my first Sonder rental through AirBnb. I’d been seeing their listings for a while when traveling and just assumed it was some fly-by-night outfit trying to milk money out of people for a minimally decent place to stay. But since the AirBnb scene in New York City has gotten so bleak due to newer laws and sketchy slumlords I decided to take a chance.
Overall:
The process with Sonder is mostly good. Seamless booking through AirBnb as usual, which is expected. They ask you to verify your identity and phone number through their website which is understandable. I have been an AirBnb host before and know the horrors of it, so it’s smart to triple check who is there in case they are going to trash the place. They do make it seem like you have to download their Sonder app but I verified with AirBnb that you absolutely do NOT have to do that, so I didn’t. I don’t need another app on my phone and I always communicate through AirBnb, as the rules state, so no app for me. They also try really hard to talk to you directly through email or their app or texts, but every AIrbnb message literally says “ONLY COMMUNICATE THROUGH AIRBNB TO PROTECT YOURSELF” and Sonder doesn’t want to play ball. It's a little irksome that Sonder rents units on Airbnb but wants to sidestep Airbnb policies. You can't have it both ways, Sonder!
The space:
I’ve stayed in Manhattan hotels before and I am here to tell you that this unit was 4x larger, 10x cleaner and 15x nicer than any hotel room in the city, even 4 star rooms. This space is modern, bright, incredibly clean and has everything you need. It would go for $2500 a night if it was a hotel. The kitchenette is fabulous and even has a dishwasher. The water pressure is great and the hot water is hot. The TV has cable and you can screen share your apps to it. My phone did keep getting notifications for screen shares all over the building, which is kinda annoying. They should fix that because I could seemingly control the TVs in different units. The bedsheets had a little pilling on them so that could be improved but the bed itself was great. The front door has a 1 inch gap under it so sound privacy is not the best, but a weatherstrip on the bottom of the door would fix that in a jiff. Bathroom vanity had kind of dim lights so if you do precision makeup you might be irritated. Keypads get you into the building and into the unit, but the building keypad is kinda janky and you have to press really hard to make it work. The unit keypad did not work when I arrived but a call to Sonder got it fixed remotely, so the customer service gets a thumbs up despite the situation being pretty annoying after a long flight and slog from Newark.
Sonder does not put individual photos of the units on the listings and instead has generic photos and assigns you a unit right before check in so you will likely get something completely different than what you think you booked. This is annoying as hell and probably against AirBnb policy. If it’s not against policy it’s still lazy and bad. I know hotels do this but AirBnb is not a hotel. We should see exactly what we’re getting. Hire a photographer to shoot all the units and assign the proper photos to the listings!
Location:
The building is so amazingly located that it boggles the mind. You’re just steps from multiple subway stations that will get you anywhere you need to go. Drug store literally next door. Every kind of food you’d want all over the place. 24 hour McDonalds if you roll like that. It’s a truly impeccable location. The building also has a 24 hour front desk person which adds a big air of safety and security.
Overall I think this is a good hybrid business model fusing the convenience and modernity of AirBnb with a more consistent quality and expectation experience that you get with a hotel. And for NYC this is miles above any hotel you can get and better than most AirBnbs I’ve had here. I recommend but Sonder should really decide if they want to be an independent entity or if they want to be an AriBnb host. They’re trying to do both and the two ideas clash harshly in some areas.