Sonder RailSpur Apartments Pioneer Square — Hotel in Seattle

Stayed here for the Metallica M72 weekend of concerts at Lumen Field.

There are no staff at this building other than cleaning staff, so make sure you ha e all your necessary details available when you arrive, i.e. the passcode they gi e you to enter the building, use the elevator, and access your room. I travelled from the UK, therefore I had no 4/5G to access my emails, so it is worth saving some screenshots of your codes as soon as you receive them, usually within 48 hrs of arrival. They will come in handy to a cess the building should you not have phone signal.

In the lobby, next to the elevator, you will find a cupboard with extra TP, kitchen towel, extra tea/coffe items and some condiments.

To use the elevator, you will require your passcode every time you use it, so try to memorise it!

The apartment I had was very clean, and had everything that I needed. They had even made sure that the air-conditioning unit was on to cool the apartment, as it was a particularly hot weekend.

The layout of the apartment makes great use of the limited space, which can be a little bit deceiving in the photos. I actually found it to be a bit more spacious than expected.

The bed is situated in a small space above the kitchen, it's pretty cool! It's a small bedroom with a wardrobe, utility I didn't use it as it was too much hassle to carry my clothes up the ladder...

The ladder may cause some people a problem. It is very much like a ladder on a boat, quite steep and requires the use of the handles to ascend and descend, and must be done facing the steps. The bed may also give some people a few problems... because even though it is a VERY comfortable bed, it is quite high. I am 6ft 1in, and it required a little effort for me to get up onto the bed, so vertically challenged people or anyone with a disability or injury may find it difficult to get on the bed. But I had a great sleep every night!

Bathroom was a good size considering the use of space in the apartment. It had plenty of room with a walk-in shower, WC, and wash basin, and was all very clean.

Kitchen area is a good size, with ample space on the worktop to prepare a meal. It has a microwave/oven combi, with a 2-ring stove. Although there were no instructions of how to use them, I figured it all out. The kitchen also has a great size sink and refrigerator, which was a problem on my arrival... I received an email as soon as I entered the apartment to inform me that the refrigerator was not working and would be replaced sometime over the next few days. As I was travelling alone with the intention of preparing all my own meals, this was a big problem. I had to eat out/cold food on my first day, but after some correspondence with Sonder, they managed to get a replacement refrigerator the following afternoon, for which I was very grateful.

The main room has a couch, which for me and my damaged spine was a little uncomfortable... but I was only there for 4 nights. It has a big TV with a huge selection of channels and live streaming services, with loads of movies I hadn't seen in a long time... So that was great for the evenings!

Outside there is a small seating area with a table and two chairs, not much of a view to look at but there is a communal roof terrace available, which is a bigger open space and much better views. The only problem I had with the apartment's small seating area was a vent right by the sliding doors. It wasn't ideal that on a very hot weekend I could not keep the doors open for fresh air because the vent was blowing out a lot of heat... which did not help with the temperature. So, I had to keep the sliding doors closed during most of my stay.

I had another problem on the night of the last concert, the elevator was out of service. I had to use the stairs, which was not ideal being on the 3rd floor. I have extensive spinal problems and hyperextension of the ligaments in both knees... Which was an even bigger problem when I had to leave the next morning and carry my luggage down those 3 floors.

But overall, a great place...

The place was ... "quirky". OK, more than quirky -- slightly bizarre. Perhaps OK for the young, flexible, and car-less -- not so good for anyone expecting a normal hotel/aparthotel, or anything similar.||||To be fair, the Pros:||||-- Good neighborhood if going to Lumen Field or nearby, or if Amtrak is involved;||||-- Meticulously clean -- no complaints there;||||-- A lovely and well-stocked kitchenette, with a toaster, kettle, coffee-maker, microwave, etc;||||-- and ... I got nothin'||||The Cons:||||-- Absolutely nowhere to park. Even if you manage to snag the little space allocated for drop-offs (for Sonder and several other places nearby), you'll still have to lug your bags to the door, then to the elevator, then to you room, which leads to #2 (see below). The nearby street-parking is 2 hours max, so don't plan on parking there -- we ended up walking blocks and blocks from our car back to the Sonder:||||-- No "bell carts" or carts of any kind. You'd better be prepared to drag your luggage all by yourself, all the while being yelled at to move your car from the tiny one-car drop-off space;||||-- Paper-thin walls and ceilings: best be comfortable with knowing the sex and bathroom habits of whomever is staying above you;||||-- No place to plug anything in -- major or minor? For a place aimed (apparently) at young people, the electrical outlets were few and far between and usually inaccessible. There were no USB outlets now found in almost every hotel or even the cheapest variety||||Then we get to the "unsure how to categorize":||||-- Security: You need to enter a seven-digit code three times to get into your room -- EVERY SINGLE TIME. There is no key fob or anything else. The keypads are unforgiving of time spent looking up said codes;||||-- The App: OK, everybody wants to be online, but now I have yet another app on my phone that I'll never use again (because I'll never in a million years stay at another Sonder property). I had to scan my driver's license, enter my credit card, and surrender my first-born child in order to register (kidding about the last part, but only barely). The app wants your location and a bunch of other personal information -- it's intrusive and frankly awful. Maybe Gen Zers who've given up on their personal information won't care, I don't know;||||-- Lovely kitchenette (per above), but the refrigerator is impossible to use and won't keep your food cold, but the freezer will freeze it solid;||||-- If you stay in one of the many "loft" spaces, you'd better be young and agile! If you're old and need to visit the bathroom during the night, this is a life-threatening experience up/down a ladder steeper than any step-ladder in my house!||||-- Weird temperature: there's a thermostat, but it doesn't control anything. The apartment in a cold February was hot, the ceiling fan didn't work, and all we could do was turn off the heat and use the AC! Ridiculous!||||I stayed in three different rooms at the Railspur, and the experience was equally miserable because they were mostly the same. I strongly recommend against a stay here for anyone with limited mobility, anyone who needs help with their luggage, or anyone expecting something...

The place was ... "quirky". OK, more than quirky -- slightly bizarre. Perhaps OK for the young, flexible, and car-less -- not so good for anyone expecting a normal hotel/aparthotel, or anything similar.

To be fair, the Pros:

-- Good neighborhood if going to Lumen Field or nearby, or if Amtrak is involved;

-- Meticulously clean -- no complaints there;

-- A lovely and well-stocked kitchenette, with a toaster, kettle, coffee-maker, microwave, etc;

-- and ... I got nothin'

The Cons:

-- Absolutely nowhere to park. Even if you manage to snag the little space allocated for drop-offs (for Sonder and several other places nearby), you'll still have to lug your bags to the door, then to the elevator, then to you room, which leads to #2 (see below). The nearby street-parking is 2 hours max, so don't plan on parking there -- we ended up walking blocks and blocks from our car back to the Sonder:

-- No "bell carts" or carts of any kind. You'd better be prepared to drag your luggage all by yourself, all the while being yelled at to move your car from the tiny one-car drop-off space;

-- Paper-thin walls and ceilings: best be comfortable with knowing the sex and bathroom habits of whomever is staying above you;

-- No place to plug anything in -- major or minor? For a place aimed (apparently) at young people, the electrical outlets were few and far between and usually inaccessible. There were no USB outlets now found in almost every hotel or even the cheapest variety

Then we get to the "unsure how to categorize":

-- Security: You need to enter a seven-digit code three times to get into your room -- EVERY SINGLE TIME. There is no key fob or anything else. The keypads are unforgiving of time spent looking up said codes;

-- The App: OK, everybody wants to be online, but now I have yet another app on my phone that I'll never use again (because I'll never in a million years stay at another Sonder property). I had to scan my driver's license, enter my credit card, and surrender my first-born child in order to register (kidding about the last part, but only barely). The app wants your location and a bunch of other personal information -- it's intrusive and frankly awful. Maybe Gen Zers who've given up on their personal information won't care, I don't know;

-- Lovely kitchenette (per above), but the refrigerator is impossible to use and won't keep your food cold, but the freezer will freeze it solid;

-- If you stay in one of the many "loft" spaces, you'd better be young and agile! If you're old and need to visit the bathroom during the night, this is a life-threatening experience up/down a ladder steeper than any step-ladder in my house!

-- Weird temperature: there's a thermostat, but it doesn't control anything. The apartment in a cold February was hot, the ceiling fan didn't work, and all we could do was turn off the heat and use the AC! Ridiculous!

I stayed in three different rooms at the Railspur, and the experience was equally miserable because they were mostly the same. I strongly recommend against a stay here for anyone with limited mobility, anyone who needs help with their luggage, or anyone expecting something...