The Sloan — Local services in Philadelphia

Overall, I enjoyed my stay and would consider staying at Sonder the Sloan again, but I’d explore my options before booking. I travel a lot and tend to book decent, but not expensive, airbnbs and hotels and normally give a 5 star review for context.

The bedroom in the unit didn’t have any ventilation or windows, which I would’ve liked to have known. It got very stuffy at night, even with the bedroom door left open. Sonder provided us with a fan after we asked for one, and that helped a bit. If you want any natural light when you wake up, I wouldn’t recommend staying here, as the bedroom is pitch dark all day. Additionally, our fridge and freezer smelled terrible despite being empty & the smell permeated anything that we put in there & gave the unit a bit of a smell. Multiple things in the bathroom were broken or in the process of breaking (towel hook fell off the wall, bottle holders in shower seemed to be hanging on for dear life).

There were also a few safety concerns during our stay. The piece of metal that is supposed to stop the door from being able to be opened from the outside was broken and could be pushed back, which was a bit considering as it seemed that the unit had been entered with force before. This left me on edge, especially with the walls being so thin that you can hear every noise happening above, below, and around you. There was also a situation that happened during our stay that management said they would update us on, and I am still waiting to hear about that.

There were things about this stay that I loved, though! The bathtub was incredible (and very clean!), the room was well stocked with cooking supplies as well as essentials such as coffee and laundry detergent. The location was great & it was so easy to get around on foot on transit. Definitely a decent place to stay if you know what to expect! Also, the sonder team was very communicative via...

PROS:

Fully Equipped Kitchen! Of course buy your own groceries

This stay is perfect as far as location and security as long as your not assuming and holding doors open for people instead of using the passcode. But you won't feel unsafe.

Walking distance to food spots,movies,transportation,etc. If you need to get anywhere else just Uber there. There are a lot of food options if anyone says other ways they were too lazy to walk or didn't google.

Acme is walking distance if you need to buy necessities just in case staff doesn't restock what you need right away.

CONS:

Fire Detectors/Sensors are too sensitive. If you cook and open the oven the Detector goes off even if a window is open and the vent is on. At least we knew they worked.

The shower has no where for you to place your soaps or body wash so, you have to keep holding it or bend down to use it and the shower curtain doesn't come down for enough, lots of water spills out so you have to use extra towels for the floor.

We were told we have to take our trash out ourselves in the hotel because they don't get a chance to go on each floor to take trash even though the maids were heard every morning on our floor vacuuming and conversing. The hotels towels and rags are not to be placed in the hallway like other hotels they are advised to be re-washed in your own hotel room. Which is fine but what is the staff for lol(Me being petty)

The trash chutes are too small. Larger bags were to be left outside of the chute for the cleaning crew to take, see my point?

Me and my friend stayed over 14 days. If you request for your sheets to be changed expect to do it yourself and wash them.

This is just information for anyone new staying here. The Cons do not outweigh the pros. I was very happy being here. I just don't want anyone blind sided.

Overall, I would 100%...

I like Sonder as a brand overall and have had decent customer service over the app, but I'm rating my stay as a 3 because this Sonder location was not as great as the previous one I stayed at.

The room itself had some issues: there were a lot of scuff marks on the walls, cracks around the molding which make the space seem old/dirty, the walls are thin so you can hear the tenants upstairs stomping around and people talking in the hallways, the air conditioner and pipes are also loud, and there's only street parking available (which could be tough to find sometimes).

The most frustrating thing was that the shower curtain is not long enough (or is installed too high) so water will get out of the shower and flood the bathroom floor. I had to ask for more towels to mop it all up (which they were good about giving me the next day), and angled the shower head towards the wall during the rest of our stay. The containers for the conditioner and shower gel didn't work: no matter how much we twisted/pushed/pulled the pumps, they remained stuck and would not pump anything out. So we completely unscrewed the lids and just poured the conditioner/shower gel out that way. The last frustrating thing is that the building's neighbors can be really loud (and again the walls are thin). They had a party Friday night and we heard loud music/talking until at least midnight.

Again, I love Sonder as a brand but was pretty disappointed with this experience. Overall Sonder hotels are a great option for a long-term stay, and can be more reasonably-priced than hotels for a short-stay too. But if you're picking between Sonder locations in Philly, I'd recommend Sonder at Sixteen Hundred...