Sonder — The William Penn

On my second night, I’ll likely have to sleep on the tiny couch. I spent the whole day explaining the problems to the support team, but there’s no onsite help and everything goes through text. They now say they never received the pictures, so nothing has been fixed. The place is worse than a dump, and the owner is clearly a slumlord. The only good thing is the location in the middle of the Gaslamp District. The bed is advertised as memory foam, but it’s an ancient spring mattress sagging all over. When I tried to sleep, my head was about 30 degrees below my body. Half the blinds are broken, so the outdoor lights come through at night. All the windows are frosted, which makes the supposed city view feel like being in a giant bathroom. When the bathroom exhaust runs, its lights flicker in a psychedelic way. The shower door handle is nearly falling off, and the WiFi was under 1 Mbps, so I couldn’t get work done. There’s no TV remote, and although they say to use the Roku app, it finds all the neighborhood TVs except the one in my room.

The apartment had a well-stocked kitchenette with utensils, plates, and pans, plus a washer and dryer in the room, which I loved. It also came with the usual amenities, though it doesn’t work like a typical hotel with daily cleaning and restocking. The finishes looked pretty, but the place wasn’t in pristine condition, and the room felt less open than the online pictures suggested. The location was great, close to lots of restaurants and bars, and we could walk to the convention center, which was the reason for our trip. The elevator was out of order, so we had to go up and down three flights of stairs.

The fifth-floor room was bright, clean, and had great views. Even with the lively city scene nearby, I didn’t hear much of the noise from up there. The building has an older, vintage feel when you first enter, but the room itself was modern and comfortable. Sonder was upgrading the WiFi during my stay, and I didn’t notice interruptions once the work was done. For a longer work trip, I’d suggest asking for a fifth-floor room, so you’re close to the city amenities with less noise.

The place was super clean and comfortable, and the kitchen had cooking gear along with dish soap and a sponge. There was a nice shower, and the bathroom also had a washer and dryer with laundry pods included. It was noisy, but that’s expected in the Gaslamp area on a weekend. The location was convenient and well priced, with nightlife just steps away downstairs.