Sonder — Old City

The apartment itself was beautiful, but I was furious about the bedding. It had dozens of stains, including BLOOD. There were also bandaids on the ceiling covering something. It was so disgusting, and it made me feel like housekeeping wasn’t doing a good job. Room 403. We were out seeing the city and didn’t notice the bedding until late in our stay. We got back very late that night, then left extremely early, well before checkout, because we were so turned off. We’d booked for Sunday and called first thing Monday, as soon as we realized the problems. We’d spent most of our time in the city by then, but I was irate when I called. Beautiful apartment, lovely experience, except for all that. 1 star.

I stayed for a few weeks and enjoyed every day. The beds were super comfortable, and the soundproofing was very good compared with another Sonder location in Phily. Cleanliness was above average, and housekeeping during the stay is available for $80. The 5th and 6th floor units may have a great view, and the rooftop has a pretty one of the Benjamin Franklin bridge. This works well for longer stays or big groups. A one-bedroom unit sleeps 4, though there’s no privacy because the bathroom is in the bedroom. Book through their app for a better price. A few downsides: the security system beeps at the front entrance day and night, and first floor units have very little privacy. You can park on the street, but it felt unsafe. Someone broke into my car and a friend’s car overnight on wood st, so consider nearby parking lots. Staff weren’t as helpful as you’d expect in the hotel or apartment business.

Update, two years later: this place is a dump. It’s VERY dirty, with loud music day and night. Maybe the cleaning staff changed, but they’re doing a terrible job. Our unit smelled HEAVILY of marijuana, as did the hallways and elevator. Good luck getting Sonder customer service to help with issues. They refuse to help. Not a good stay. #returnToHotels We’ve been here five days, and almost no one follows the posted rules against parties, smoking, and loud music. Things in our room are broken. We bought our own cleaning supplies and scrubbed what we could to deal with the smell. The music was so loud I successfully used Shazam to create a new playlist. That’s a big change from the stay I described before. Then it was a great place to stay while visiting Phila: SUPER clean, comfortable beds, and everything worked. There was no smoking, loud music, or partying, and Sonder was exquisite with accommodations. The rooftop deck was peaceful for relaxing in the morning or evening, I slept peacefully the whole stay, and the place looked exactly like the pictures. BEWARE OF THE SCARCE PARKING! The signs nearby are so faded they’re illegible, but that won’t stop the Philadelphia Parking Authority from towing your car or giving you a huge ticket. It happened to a visitor of mine, YIKES!!! My TIP: the best and most open parking I found was farther down Wood Street. Search around Wood and 5th and you’ll likely hit the parking jackpot and avoid the PPA hassles.

The apartment had comfortable beds, plenty of space, and easy access, and the shower had good water pressure. The location was good too. There was street noise even with a noise machine and earplugs. The internet had DNS issues that sent me to spam sites, and other rooms could access my TV and turn it on. The apartment walls were pretty beat up.