Sonder Duane Street

DO NOT BOOK HERE. THIS PLACE IS A COMPLETE SCAM. The pictures online are deceiving and it's more like a single step up from a hostel. First day here we overheard four staff sitting on couches in the lobby talking about how shocked they were that people paid so much to stay at the hotel. This is my first time ever leaving a review for anywhere because of how terrible of an experience I had at Sonder in Tribeca. I booked a King sized room for three nights at around $600 per night, which ended up actually being so small that my partner and I couldn't even have our suitcases open. First night the AC stopped working, the thermostat was reading 80 degrees in our room and so I messaged the app. Two maintenance people came into our room and said it was busted, one maintenance guy apparently told my fiance "it's not even that hot in here". This was after I asked him to give us a few minutes to pack to move rooms and when I asked if that was okay he said, "well I guess it'll just have to be". Apparently this was the maintenance manager? Where is the professionalism? I ended up having to cancel a dinner with a friend of 20 years who I had not seen because the entire ordeal took over two hours. The person at the front desk said there were no upgrades available to move to a different room and that we could move to an identical room in the building where the air was working. Once we finally agreed to that, we entered into the new room and they had DOWNGRADED us to a queen size room in much worse condition. When I went back down to the front desk (for the fourth time) to tell him he had moved us to a smaller room after saying that the room would be identical he said "oh yeah, looks like it's a queen. That's all we got." We proceeded to spend 1.5 hours on the phone with customer service, who refused to let me speak to a manager or supervisor and said someone would call me back in 24-48 hours and that they couldn't issue me a refund. And then, get this, the AC in our new DOWNGRADED room DOES NOT WORK. I have a theory that this place puts thermostats in the room that make the person believe they're setting the temperature to something but the whole building is probably set to 75 degrees to save money. This place is definitely on the verge of getting shut down. It's bad here: the rooms are in bad condition, poorly managed, unprofessional staff, terrible customer service, and totally uncomfortable. Our stay was only for three nights, if a hotel can not refund someone for very solid reasons less than $2,000 then there's something bigger at play.

Do not be confused with the former Duane Street Hotel, located at the same address in Manhattan. This Sonder facility is nothing like the namesake whose name it has co-opted. The hotel is filthy, with no real staff (just a lone unhelpful person at the door, stuck behind her computer), the rooms tiny, even for NYC. I asked for ice, was told I could buy some at the 7-11 down the street. The "lobby" is just a couple of chairs by the scratched and dirty door. My wife and I checked in, arrived at our cramped, noisy and astonishingly depressing room and decided to find another hotel nearby. Stayed 15 minutes and relocated (the first time ever for us to do that). The next day I contacted Sonder management online and requested a refund. They gave me half back, which you may consider fair, but I believe the entire operation is a misrepresentation of the former boutique hotel and is simply a second-rate hostel with a tony address. As to my photos, just a couple of quick shots as I was retreating to the street.

Great and friendly. There is not an ice machine available. I wanted to have ice for an injury I had but that wasn’t possible since there was and is no ice available for guests. That’s a bummer for me. Other than that, awesome. Nice comfy bed, interesting staff, super silent protection from the city sounds…making a good nights sleep possible.

I was thoroughly impressed by this Sonder’s exceptional location, impeccable service, and comfortable rooms. Situated in Tribeca, the hotel's prime location made it convenient for exploring the city's attractions. The staff's professionalism and attentiveness enhanced my experience, and the cozy and well-appointed rooms provided a comfortable retreat after a day of sightseeing.

As stated in many reviews, this is an apartment style accommodation rather than a true hotel. There is no breakfast, fresh coffee, daily housekeeping, 24hr attendant, etc. Other than that, the room and lobby were fine. It was safe and this location (Duane St) was wonderful for exploring Manhattan.

Starting with the pros, the location was good and my 5h floor room gave me distance to the street level noise, so that I wasn’t bothered by it. The room was also a very generous size with a little sofa and desk and the bedding and mattress was clean. The cons started upon check-in. The online only checkin seems silly when there was two people at the front desk, so that you have to just stand in front of them for 10min and fill out all your details on your phone. I arrived 15min before the stated checkin time and therefore had to sit and wait in the lobby even though the room was ready, because they would otherwise charge for early checkin. It’s also worth noting that there is no staff in hotel past 8pm, which could unsettle some guests. The rest is down to the details. For a hotel that seems to have been renovated in the last few years, it already seemed quite tired and sloppily taken care of. There’s paint splotches on every single door handle, window and mirror frame and even on the curtain. There’s some lovely products in the shower, but all three bottle holders were broken which made it hard to actually use the pumps. The shower tiles seemed dirty and the grouting was already gross in some areas. There’s a little sign by the bedside table saying that “cities can be noisy so we left some earplugs for you”, but there were no earplugs to be found. Some of the furniture was already were worn out, which let down the otherwise simple and modern design that they’d initially gone for.