Sonder at FOUND Union Square

Emma Leacy

This was undoubtedly the worst experience I have ever had in any hotel anywhere in the world. It took a total of 7 hours for our group to check in as Sonder insisted I verify the identity of the cardholder instead of the actual guests. This was not communicated to me in the weeks before my booking, despite me contacting customer service multiple times prior to the trip to attempt to clarify the process for check-in. This was a business trip booked on our groups' behalf by our university's travel department. Neither the on-site receptionist nor the customer service agent I spent >2.5 hours on the phone to would offer any solution or workaround to this issue. Our prepaid trip had to be cancelled, rebooked, and paid immediately for us to get access to our room. Again, it was the cardholder's identity needed to be verified, and again this was not communicated at any point in any email or in-app communications. Every single staff member we dealt during this ordeal with was completely incompetent and unsympathetic. That we could not check in without the cardholder's approval (on a trip that had already been paid for), but completely cancel that trip with no verification speaks to the fact that this isn't an issue of fraud, but of policy. We were not the only people that this happened to, there were several other patrons who experienced this flaw at this location on the same day. After all this trauma the rooms smelled awful and Sonder appear to take pride in the fact that they aren't cleaned daily; "so they don't get in the way". I doubt any of this feedback will even be taken onboard as the bare minimum appears to be the Sonder way.

Tom Hilkemeier

Nice location with tiny, clean and cozy rooms. Well situated and close to the Bart-station. Downside no staff present in the lobby that could help as we had an issue for checking in the room. Getting support you need to contact the service line or service chat which is way from customer satisfaction...

Sonya Palafox

The actual room was good for the price; however, there was no heat in my room and there was a strange smell that made it difficult to get comfortable. I went to the front desk to let them know that my room was freezing and the security guard said that turning up the thermostat only makes it worse and that I should get a space heater, but he didn't know where they were. I text the concierge number to let them know and after 40 minutes I got a reply asking if I had tried to adjust the thermostat. No help on the first night, second day I contacted them again and was told the entire building was having hvac issues. So my entire stay it was cold and I was told that I would get $40 credit and an extra blanket or check-out and get a refund for my final day. The customer service response was delayed and not helpful, room was clean, and front desk people were nice.

Bradley Cole

Sonder bought out the Found Hotel and stopped doing dorm/hostel bed rentals. In a city where a needs of hostel is increasing with solo travelers... more hotel rooms that will be empty. Solo travelers are increasingly being pushed out of the hospitality industry. It's a shame. I stayed at The Found Hotel last year for $45/night. A fabulous stay. It was a safe and clean place for solo travelers to stay. Now, Sonder is renting the former hostel rooms (4 twin beds) as entire rooms rather than offering individual beds. Yet another greedy corporation, pushing solo travelers out of the Industry for the misguided sake of making more money. Shame on Sonder. Bring back the hostel bed rentals. I wish the City/mayor could act on this