Sonder The Esplanade

The place looked cute, but management was useless. When we went to our second floor unit, the access codes worked, but the place had been left trashed by the previous guests. Customer service said Roami had switched our unit because its AC wasn't working. Nobody told us about a change or gave us access to another unit, so why were we given entry to the original one? We ended up having to sleep in the basement apartment until a cleaner could come the next day. Since we'd partly checked in, we gave the cleaner instructions, including to leave a cardboard box on the counter with our belongings. They threw it out. It held wedding mementos from our son's wedding. We also put our things in a fridge drawer and said not to touch them, but they went through it and discarded what they wanted. There was a tissue flower arrangement in the Kleenex box. The bottom was wet, with a brown water stain and long black hairs. Maybe management should spend less time on decorations and more on cleaning. The units are cute, but the way they're managed is dragging down their value. I'll never use Roami again.

We were close to Frenchman Street, which has a much calmer feel than Bourbon, and a block or so from the French Market area, with more locals than tourists. The trolley station was right there too, so we could get rides wherever we wanted. I was a little worried about the windows facing a music club, but the soundproofing was great. You could barely hear the bass unless you focused on it; put on nighttime music or white noise and you couldn't hear a thing. We cooked some meals and had dishwasher pods and what we needed to cook and clean up. We couldn't find oven mitts, which was a small drawback, though we may have missed them. The only other complaint was weak shower pressure. Amazing stay overall. Thanks for giving me, my husband, and our teenage son a home away from home.

The apartment was a great space, and we'd absolutely stay again. Frenchman Street is right nearby, with plenty of bars and loud music, but we couldn't hear it inside. There were a couple small things, like a microwave light bulb that was out and floors that hadn't been cleaned in a while. No big deal, and I'm sure they'll take care of them. The location is fantastic: across from the French Market trolley station, a block from the market, and right by Frenchman Street.

This was our first and last time booking with Sonder. The entry comes through a parking lot that looked shady, with homeless people around it. The AC also made a broken record kind of noise every 30 minutes. We contacted Sonder, but the guy just moved the faulty part from one AC unit to another, so we stopped using the AC altogether. Room service had an extra charge that wasn't clearly stated. We stayed five days and cleaning cost another $72, with no complimentary towel change. They say this keeps costs down, but the rates weren't especially low compared with other hotels, so factor in those extra costs. The digital lock was glitchy too, and took around 10 touches to work.