The Queen Hotel Queen Village, Sonder — Hotel in Philadelphia

Before booking, we emailed back and forth with booking agents for Sonder asking if they could accommodate our request for two rooms next to each other, since they do not have adjoining rooms. We said if they couldn’t that was fine, but that we would book elsewhere. We were traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday and wanted to spend as much family time close and together as possible. They assured us that we could have two rooms next to each other, and gave us our room numbers with the reservation. Fast forward to the night before we arrived, I just happened to look at my app and saw the rooms had been changed. I messaged to ask them and they said they were having maintenance issues in one of the rooms so they had to change it. I understand maintenance issues arise unexpectedly, but Sonder did nothing to alert of us this issue, nor did they offer any real remedies for us. They just kept repeating to me that they cannot guarantee rooms next to each other, even though I had it in writing that they would guarantee it. And because it was within 24 hours of our arrival time, we could not cancel the stay for any money back, even though we were no longer getting the original rooms that we paid for. So we were stuck staying in rooms that were literally as far away from each other on the same floor as you could possibly be. And the design of the hotel is not a straight hallway, so they really felt far away. After we checked in, met more family for dinner (in the restaurant downstairs that was actually really nice) we were sent an email saying that the heat wasn’t working in one of the rooms so they left us a space heater. The space heater really didn’t make much of a difference in a room with such high ceilings. And because it is not a manned hotel, there wasn’t anyone there to ask for extra blankets nor were there any in the room. There was also access to the lobby area through the restaurant downstairs, which was great….except it meant you really didn’t need a code to get in to that area, which did make it feel a little less safe without someone there manning a desk. The whole experience left a really bad taste in my mouth. It was not at all what we were expecting or what we paid for, and I was disappointed that the staff (both over the phone and in the online chat) wasn’t more accommodating. The area was nice, lots of coffee shops/bakeries and stores to walk to, but when we visit Philadelphia again we will 100% choose to stay elsewhere. I wouldn’t trust a booking with Sonder again. PS - the attached photo is the “view”...

This place was perfect for our weekend trip to Philly. It’s not a traditional hotel, and most of the negative reviews I’ve seen appear to be from people that didn’t fully understand how this site operates (which, to me, was clearly laid out on the website)- it’s more like a very nice/secure ArBB set up like a hotel. There’s no onsite staff and you’re meant to be essentially self sufficient during your stay, but they have everything you need and customer support was actually very responsive and accessible via their app. So you’re best off if you’re at least somewhat “tech savvy”/ ok with navigating things digitally, and I don’t think I’d recommend this for families with kids or have those in their party that need direct supervision. If you want more attention, you’re gonna have to pay more and stay at a traditional hotel in the area! My spouse and I had a lovely, roomy, and clean queen suite for the weekend. The room’s thermostat/heating was great, it felt decently private and sound resistant, there was even a mini fridge and Keurig coffee machine. The bed was comfy and you could easily access extra towels/blankets/TP/etc via their storage space in the basement. Our first night we ran into an issue with our shower draining very very slowly, but within 10 mins staff responded to my chat about it and it was fixed by maintenance while we were out and about for the day within 24 hours. The location was SUPERB! Such a cute residential area with tons of restaurants and bars and shops, nice walking routes to major city areas. As with any large city in the US, you definitely need to stay self aware and vigilant when out and about, especially at night (and we were there after the Eagles qualified for the S*perBowl lol) because Philly can get rough and rowdy come nighttime. But we felt safe for sure and there were 5 code-locked doors between our room and the main building entrance with a lock on our room door too. Luggage storage in the basement! The bathroom had free toiletries! Overall really loved our stay and would recommend it to anyone wanting a cool place to crash while...

This really could have been a 5-star review except for one thing. I’ll get to that.

First, I will say that Sonder the Queen is very conveniently located in a nice neighborhood an easy walk, less than a mile, to all the major historical sites in the historic part of Philadelphia. There’s plenty of good food nearby. Our room had 2 comfortable queen beds and was well supplied except for one thing (I’ll get to that).

I’m not fond of the business model that has not a single employee on site to help guests when problems arise but if everything goes well, I guess it’s not a big deal.

But …

The air conditioner in our room never worked over the course of our entire 4-night stay (April 21-April 25, 2025). The room temperature ranged as high as 83 degrees. I reported the problem via chat in the Sonder app upon our arrival. Apparently this is the only way to reach someone about resolving any problems. It was too late in the evening for us to want anyone coming to check it so the agent said they would send someone the next day. After being gone for the entire day we came back to the room expecting it to be cool and comfortable. Not so. I contacted the agent again and was told “Unfortunately, the issue is bigger than anticipated and won’t be addressed during your stay” (even though the hallway just outside the room was cool). I was offered another property but we did not have a car and the other location was not convenient for our planned activities. So, we stayed put.

I asked for a $200 refund upon our checkout at the end of the stay. They countered with an offer of a $150 refund and a $50 credit for a future stay. I told them the credit had no value to me since I did not have any future plans that would enable me to use it. I guess the management team did not think that satisfying my reasonable request was important enough to spring for another $50 even though it was their complete failure to provide what was offered at the time I made the booking.

It could have been a 5-star experience but it...