No. 284 powered by Sonder

Our stay at Sonder in Boston began with a bit of a challenge. Our check-in time was 4 PM, but we arrived early, around 11 AM, expecting to store our luggage in the lockers. This expectation was based on a prior conversation with customer service. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we found the two largest lockers occupied, leaving us with no storage option for our belongings. We then approached the office to inquire if we could temporarily store our luggage there. However, the staff member declined, citing potential unavailability due to being out or on calls at other locations. He suggested using Bounce, a nearby service, for our storage needs, emphasizing that it was only a six-minute walk. While I understand walking is a feasible option, as the staff member pointed out his own routine of walking five miles a day, this solution felt dismissive of our specific situation and not very customer-centric. When we inquired about the possibility of an early check-in or leaving our luggage in the room with a note for housekeeping, we were told that this was not an option as the housekeeping staff may not understand English. This lack of flexibility and unwillingness to assist was disappointing. The room itself was fine and convenient, but this initial experience and the perceived lack of effort to accommodate our needs left a lasting impression. Additionally, the shower door in our room was not properly sealed, leading to water leakage and a wet bathroom floor. While the stay was overall acceptable, the lack of storage solutions and flexibility might influence my decision to stay again at Sonder in the future.

My husband and I stayed at Sonder in Boston for our honeymoon and loved it. The location is so clutch in this city; Back Bay had so much to do and see that was a walkable distance from the Sonder, but was close enough for an inexpensive Uber to see everything else Boston has to offer. The room was small but efficient, and was just as expected based on the photos from their website. It was relatively quiet, and though we were aware there were other occupied rooms on our floor, it wasn’t nearly as noisy as a traditional hotel set-up. The air conditioning worked well. I researched many hotel options to compare price and Sonder won out for me as the best location for price option. They’re not the least expensive in the city but they’re certainly not the most, and the amenities fit what we were looking for. Our only critique was the lack of on-site staff. We happened to bump in to the engineer of the property who happily toured us through the building to make sure we knew where everything was… he was wonderful! However, there was an office downstairs that was supposed to have on-site staff, and we only saw people down there once during regular business hours during our 5 days there. We didn’t need anything but were curious what would have happened if we had, or if there was an emergency. Nothing bad happened though, and it was a great stay. We will seek out other Sonder properties when traveling in the future.

Our first stay at a Sonder property, 284 Commonwealth, was excellent: clean, comfortable, convenient, and quiet. We appreciated the complete complement of comfortable furnishings, linens, kitchenette, closeting, and supplies…even a Homedics sleep helper. And the thoughtful blend of classic architecture with contemporary decor was very enjoyable. We had everything we needed and more. Thank you for this introduction to a new way to stay. For our next Boston visit we plan to book at the Sonder facility at 907 Main in Cambridge.

If you're looking to experience Boston this is the place to stay. Such a neat place. It's very old but is kept up well. We stayed for 3 nights. They do not clean your room or anything unless you book ahead for a fee. We knew this ahead of time and we were fine with that. Our room had shampoo/conditioner and body wash. We also brought our own because some of the other reviews I read before made it seem like it was the complete basics. Not sure if it would have cost more if we would have ran out of any of that?We also had a little kitchenette area with microwave and small fridge. Never had any issues with the keyless entry. Boston is busy and traffic is loud. By night 3 I actually found it more comforting hearing the noise then not. Usually late night to early morning it's not so bad. Great location! Just around the corner from Newbury Street. We didn't even rent a car for this portion of our trip as everything we had planned was within walking distance and if we needed to we just booked an Uber with no issues. If you do plan on renting a car parking may be a bit of a challenge as majority is street parking. Glad we didn't have to worry about that. This was the beginning of our trip as we headed out the Salem way afterwards so we went back to the airport to rent a car so it was easy to drop off when we headed back home. Worked perfectly for us. Highly recommend. We had a great experience!

I booked this hotel through my corporate travel service, which is seemingly unaware that this isn’t a hotel but more of an Airbnb-like guest house. If you enjoy yelling “check-in” into a robo hotline that tells you that they’re “currently busy” and “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that”, followed by having to stand outside and using your phone to scan your face just so you can make it into a room, this place is great. The rooms are nice, the building is beautiful - I just don’t think they should advertise themselves as a hotel.