The William Hotel Midtown, Sonder — Hotel in New York

Apparently, The William doesn't like customers that come from third-party sites and will treat you differently because of it. My mom and I stayed here over Memorial Day Weekend, checking in just 15 minutes after the designated check-in time, and were met with a frown and "I was going to cancel, but I didn't want to do that to you."

After asking for more information and being confused, the woman at the front desk told us that the room we HAD booked was not available and our "only option" was to sleep in a full-sized bed when we had paid for a queen room. When we pressed her, she said "we had to prioritize paying customers who didn't come from a third-party site" as the hotel had been overbooked. Instead of placing the blame on their reservations manager, she placed the blame on us.

She mentioned a specific guest by their FULL NAME and said "Mr. (Name) had already booked the room and PAID us." Making it seem as if we hadn't paid, despite me having a booking confirmation email, multiple follow-up emails from the hotel, and the money taken out of my bank account. She treated us differently because we had booked from Travelocity and acted as if we scammed our way into the hotel, repeatedly saying "well if you hadn't booked from a third party site." When I told her we would not accept a full-sized bed and expected the accommodations we had paid for, I was met with more aggression and pettiness, with the front desk woman saying "I don't think you understand this is a boutique hotel" repeatedly - probably 10 times or more. It felt very classist and rude, given that we had paid for the hotel and she was acting as if we did not belong there.

After arguing, she finally put me on the phone with her manager who was not on the property, and the manager proceeded to give me the same attitude, then telling me she'd come to see us in 10 minutes. She never showed up. After us waiting to the side as the front desk checked in other guests with seemingly no issue, the front desk woman asked us to come back over and there was a man at the desk who did not introduce himself. He promptly told us the same information she had, then proceeded to say they "bumped" this other guest (who they referred to by his full name again) and gave us the room we had booked, constantly reminding us that "we had bumped Mr. (name)" from the room, even going as far as to say "Do you know Mr. (name)?" and when we acted confused, the man at the front desk said, "That's the man we had to bump for you to have this room."

When we questioned their reservation practices as my mom used to do this job for work, they complained that they were having problems with their sales manager as "she keeps overbooking the hotel." Clearly, the issue is not third-party sites or people simply booking a hotel from Travelocity, it's their own staff, and then them gaslighting and berating their guests to deflect the blame.

After finally checking in and being treated horribly by the front desk, they didn't give us any hotel information, did not apologize for how they had treated us or the unnecessary attitude they had given us or told us about the bar/lounge downstairs. Once we got into our hotel room, we were met with a coffee machine that did not work and a very firm bed. After that, whenever we came downstairs, the front desk girl would intentionally avert her gaze, never apologized, never welcomed us back in from the day, etc. It was a very uncomfortable stay and I truly regret not asking for a refund to move to another hotel. Do...

I have stayed in The William a number of times over the last 6 or 7 years. The location is still great, and it is the size of hotel I like. But a few things have changed.||We got a small room this time (probably going lowest cost) and it is pretty small. There are two chairs and a closet. No counter space in bathroom. It has been OK but just not a lot of room.||Second, the whole hotel seems worn since we were here last. Paint peeling on the door of the bathroom, floors a bit stained, the safe in the room didn't work. Not unclean, just worn.||Be aware, this has always been a pretty low-service level hotel, which is fine for me. But nowhere to get water or snacks in the building, no fitness area, no dining room, etc. Just basic. I think this has become more noticeable as the area has deteriorated and there are less restaurants and stores close by.||They have discontinued regular maid service. Can get it upon request for $35, which isn't unreasonable, although we did not request it. (our fault). The towels are minimal and a bit worn. We are here for 5 day this trip (last trip, it was 7 days) and we requested a towel change once. We got two new large towels and one hand towel. No new mat for the floor, no new hand towels.||Finally, they use codes now, no keys. That's fine and actually may be preferable. They can code the outside door as well but we have come back to the room at all times of day and night and the front doors are unlocked, and the bars on the first floor are hopping (except Sunday night). Lots of people roaming around the neighborhood today due to parade on 5th Avenue. Might have been good to lock the doors when no one was there to direct traffic to the bars. Seemed like it would be very easy for someone to get to our floor, although in fact I did not see anyone doing so. On Saturday and Sunday, maids were working in the morning and had pretty small kids in the hallways with them--it would not have made me feel good to have requested maid service and then realized kids had been in the room with medications, computers, etc. out.||It was not an unpleasant stay. Room was quiet, A/C worked great, and the cost was much less than other hotels. Rooms have decent-size mini-fridges, which were nice to have. A minimal every-2nd day maid service might be good for longer stays, and management may want to consider a refresh on the rooms. I would probably stay here for 1 night passing through, and might stay here again for a similar trip due to the price and quietness. Staff was friendly. I just thought it had slipped some from prior experiences.||On another non-hotel specific note, midtown Manhattan is not in great shape. We spent time in Harlem, the West Village and Soho, all of which were much livelier, just as clean and seemed safer. We will probably check out some other parts of town to stay in on...

Here is a review for the Sonder William Hotel in New York City:

"We booked the Sonder William Hotel in Manhattan three months in advance and completed the payment. However, just 5 days before our stay, we received an email stating that the air conditioning was broken, and we were given two options: receive a full refund or move to another hotel in Lower Manhattan, which was significantly cheaper than our original booking. We requested a comparable hotel in Midtown, but our request was denied, and we were told we only had the two initial options. This has been an incredibly frustrating experience. This hotel has provided us with the worst experience ever." 참고로 우리는 이메일은 5일 전에 받았지만, 우리는 입실 3일 전에 확인하게 되었습니다. 3일 안에 어떻게 다른 호텔을 적절하게 구할 수 있을까요? 그리고 아시다시피 호텔 가격이라는 것이 임박해서 구하면 모든 것이 다 비싸지는데, 그 비용을 우리에게 모두 떠안으라는 것이 말이 되는 처사인지 정말 어처구니가 없습니다.

For reference, we received the email 5 days ago, but we only checked it 3 days before our stay. How are we supposed to find a suitable alternative hotel within 3 days? As you know, hotel prices are significantly higher when booked last minute. Is it reasonable to expect us to bear all these additional costs? This is truly unacceptable. Here's the translation of your message:

Son The William is really a scummy hotel. They told us they couldn't give us a room from July 3rd to July 14th because of the air conditioning, but then they accepted a reservation for someone else from July 5th to July 14th. This means that because of the high demand for rooms on July 3rd and 4th due to Independence Day, they canceled our reservation using the excuse of a broken air conditioner, but then started taking reservations again from July 5th. Despite this, they didn't even propose any alternatives, like suggesting we stay at their Lower Manhattan accommodation for July 3rd and 4th and then move to their hotel from July 5th. We had booked our accommodation in advance to get a cheaper rate, but they didn't care about that and just told us to leave or get a full refund. When we confronted them about this, all they could say was "sorry" without offering any real solution. Can this even be considered a proper business? This is fraud. It's beyond unethical and completely unacceptable. Our material damages...