17John Hotel — Hotel in New York

Unfortunately during my stay at 17John I encountered a pretty blasé/indifferent/sarcastic front desk attendant who seemed not to have much training in hospitality. The property does not stock standard high end hotel amenities like robes and slippers. It markets itself as high end but it is most definitely not so. There wasn’t even a do not disturb sign and I don’t think the deadbolt on my door worked. However, I was brought two heavy blankets on request since my room was freezing and I couldn’t figure out how to make it warmer. I appreciated that courtesy.

The larger issue is the ROACHES who said a friendly hello the morning after my first night. I wasn’t fast enough to grab my phone for a photo because I was in shock but I will give credit to the staff I encountered when describing this issue for being sympathetic. I left after one night leaving a fully paid night unused. Because I didn’t take a selfie with the roaches I was refused a refund. Kyle who corresponded with me was oddly defensive about the night reception person, who could use some coaching on better customer service. I wouldn’t have made a big deal about that but the roaches and lack of refund and worn floor and lack of amenities I would expect for a property that positions itself a certain way, make his attitude more relevant and help paint the picture of how much this stay underdelivered.

The photos online and on the website make the property seem higher end than it is. While it’s certainly modern and rather stylish, it’s showing fairly significant wear and tear, particularly the floor in my room (1403) so I suspect there are filters on the photos online and perhaps just inconsistency in the quality and condition of the rooms.

Don’t get catfished like I did. Despite the strong reviews I would not recommend this property unless you like a bunch of multi legged roommates and don’t care about proper customer service.

UPDATE: I got the attached note from the owner, Adam, threatening me with some sort of retaliation/action/complaint for writing this review and requesting a refund for my UNUSED prepaid night. He described my refund request and this review as extortion. This is a note of caution for anyone not satisfied with their experience that the new owners (as of late 2024, which I learned after some research) that the owner treats his disappointed customers this way. Also of note which I learned today, Sonder is no longer affiliated with this property, removing the layer of accountability via Sonder’s affiliation with Marriott. Very different tonal change from the gracious tone of prior ownership/management when guests...

To say the least, I was very disappointed with my stay at Sonders City Hall. I arrived to the Airbnb and checked into my room. When I got there I was surprised to see a full bed and a completely different layout than what was listed. I immediately reloaded something was off and contacted the host and also contacted Sonders on the app. I booked the Queen studio and was placed into a room with a full bed. There was a significant difference. I contacted Sonders live support and they got back in touch with me before the host on Airbnb. I was told that they no longer had the queen studio that I booked with a banquette dining table. I was confused because there’s a difference between a layout versus the actual size of the room / bed. after 4 hours we finally got through to another Sonders agent that told us that there was in fact a queen studio in the building and they would see if they could move us. We moved into the new room that we was similar to the listing we booked.

This of course was beyond frustrating because we had a 3pm check in and wasn’t able to get situated until 9 due to this debacle. once we got settled in we looked around to make sure everything was okay. We found that one of the lights weren’t working. So on top of everything else there was another issue added to our stay.

This experience just comes off as skilled/ planned marketing to get money from people because there were other photos for the same listing. I also saw that there were airbnb’s available for the same queen studio for that same day before 8pm. I asked for a refund so I could check out and go elsewhere while I was waiting for sanders and the airbnb host to get back to me but I was told that wasn’t an option as I had already checked in. There were so many things that went wrong during this stay that I actually. Would have preferred not to stay there at all. On the day that we checked out one of the Sonders concierge asked about our sty and expressed his apologies and wish he’d known sooner so he could have figured something out for us. He also said he he would forward the information to the GM and they would be in touch with us. Its been about two business days and w haven’t heard from anyone.

Just do you research. If you’re looking to book a specific listing , make sure you check with he host to make sure that it’s what was was actually listed. We also took a picture of the condition of the rooms before and after we left just in case there should be any other issues.

From may 10th,2021. The manager still hasn’t...

Besides the hiccup when processing payment upon booking my stay, the overall experience was great. I arrived to an extremely clean, beautiful apartment with every in-unit amenity I could think of plus more. I prefer a French press over a traditional coffee maker so I was glad to see a bodum French press in the kitchen. A couple mini olive oils and full size salt and pepper were provided along with a toaster and every utensil and dish you’d ever need. The storage throughout was excellent and it even had a proper closet to stow my luggage after unpacking. I ended up extending my stay and encountered yet again another booking issue with an astronomical quote provided by a representative via chat (which I assume was an error). However, the issue was resolved and I extended at a great, more appropriately priced rate. The building has a laundry and yoga space on level 7 with unlimited usage included and detergent provided. There is also a space to work on level 2 but it seemed to be in the process of renovations when I stayed. The TV in my unit seemed to have issues connecting to the Wi-Fi so I was unable to chromcsst anything during my stay. (I’m tech savvy so it was definitely an issue but given the fact that I was either working or out in the city, I really didn’t mind not being able to use the TV) Overall, I was extremely satisfied with my stay and appreciated the fact that a concierge (or three) was present in the lobby at all times. I also never had to wait more than 30 seconds on an elevator. A new neighbor had checked in next door and ended up being pretty loud but the 24 hour concierge available via the Sonder app was prompt in resolving the complaint and also issued a partial refund for the trouble which I did not expect at all. I really don’t understand the negative reviews and would highly recommend this...