I was staying in a apartment in London a long time ago and a Sunday(!) bailiffs came and kicked everyone in the building out in 3 hours. The reason was that the rent hadn't been paid to the building owner by the management company. Most people just left and lost the rent they had paid. These things happen and there are no protection for tenants unfortunately.
Sonder is the noun for the realization that each random person you see has a life as vivid and complex as your own.
I guess the company lived up to its name by reminding every guest that the company itself has(had?) a “life” as complex and eventfull as the guest’s own.
The specific Sonder hotel mentioned in the article is still listed on the Mariott web site.[1]
"A stay you can count on. Experience travel without the guesswork. While every space is unique, you can always count on the Sonder Standard. All stays feature designer details, keyless entry, fast free WiFi and our 24/7 digital concierge."
Trying to make a reservation returns "Your session timed out, but you can start a new hotel search below."
This badly hurts Mariott's brand. Their page reads as if they stand behind Sonder.
Marriott supposedly has about 30 brands, and now you have to ask which of them are fake fronts.
Terrible look for Marriott. We've been considering joining either Bonvoy or HHonors and discussing the merits of either chain. Mostly just for something to talk about, as we're too poor to stay at either for significant amounts of time, but nevertheless.
Marriott took the route of spreading out their brands. Sheraton, oh that's Marriott? I see. Westin? Huh. Le Méridien, never heard of … oh, Marriott.
Whereas Hilton seem proud enough to stick their name in a thing, even if it's a trailing '…by Hilton'. I wonder how this affects, say, bringing in a new brand.
'Sonder': anonymous. Never heard of it, until now. Gives Marriott some distance. Goes to hell? Cut it. How hard do you really need to try to onboard that brand?
'Sonder by Hilton': I know who owns that. I know which brand to blame when it goes to crap. Directly affects the core offering.
I remember a case (maybe 30 years ago?) where a local health club chain went bankrupt, and anything anyone had left in their lockers was stuck there until the judge ruled on the case.
>She said there was a sharp decline in revenue "arising from Sonder's participation in Marriott's Bonvoy reservation system".
This will be an interesting case study to piece together. What were the factors that lead revenue to go down on expansion of your marketing and access reach?
I have my own suspicions, but the backstory with this is probably way crazier than I'm even thinking. Like, "Why would anyone ever sign that?" level crazy.
I’ve stayed >150 nights at Marriott hotels this year and was pleasantly surprised when Sonder started popping up as an option. But the thing I noticed is that, at least in the markets I visited, it was often MORE expensive than the local 4/5 star hotel. But with the hotel I got the guarantee of breakfast, a good gym, 24 hour reception, upgrades, laundry service, etc. As a result I never booked one.
My feeling with Sonder is similar to that of my feeling with Airbnb: it’s fantastic for those longer trips where you want some extra amenities in the room like a kitchen. But, for general business or short-term travel, I just don’t get it. It no longer wins on price, and it loses by an order of magnitude on convenience. Why not just pick a hotel?
> Sonder's properties often have no staff and rely on door codes for guest entry.
I encountered this recently.
The reception desk had a large portrait monitor with a person videoconferenced in from a remote location. You talked to the display. She walked you through scanning credit card using a reader installed below the screen and printing out room access code.
It was doable, but seemed like a strange dysfunctional future had arrived.
Not surprised. Our one experience using Sonder was horrible. Toilet didn’t work and was constantly flushing water. Took forever to get connected to someone. Then they said that they didn’t have maintenance to send until the next day. Asked to be moved. Next room was much worse (other broken stuff, visibly poor condition) but at least the toilet worked? They didn’t have other rooms to change us to. At that point it had been several hours on the phone, so we said fuck it. We need to eat and sleep after our day of travel. Not get hot potatoed around between clueless customer support. The only other two people I know who tried Sonder had similarly shitty experiences that swore them off too.
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[ 0.18 ms ] story [ 47.7 ms ] threadSending an email to people saying you need to leave by noon seems crazy.
I would be extremely surprised if hotels can just do this with no consequences, even if you somehow signed into it on their T&C.
Edit: Downvotes on this? Really? Hail corporate!
Unicorn status (1 billion) in 2020, to bankrupt in 2025. Another Zero Interest Rate Phenomenon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonder_(company) https://www.linkedin.com/in/francisdavidson/
Shameful. Given the choice between integrity and money, it seems they chose money.
I guess the company lived up to its name by reminding every guest that the company itself has(had?) a “life” as complex and eventfull as the guest’s own.
"A stay you can count on. Experience travel without the guesswork. While every space is unique, you can always count on the Sonder Standard. All stays feature designer details, keyless entry, fast free WiFi and our 24/7 digital concierge."
Trying to make a reservation returns "Your session timed out, but you can start a new hotel search below."
This badly hurts Mariott's brand. Their page reads as if they stand behind Sonder. Marriott supposedly has about 30 brands, and now you have to ask which of them are fake fronts.
[1] https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/nycho-the-merchant-hot...
Marriott took the route of spreading out their brands. Sheraton, oh that's Marriott? I see. Westin? Huh. Le Méridien, never heard of … oh, Marriott.
Whereas Hilton seem proud enough to stick their name in a thing, even if it's a trailing '…by Hilton'. I wonder how this affects, say, bringing in a new brand.
'Sonder': anonymous. Never heard of it, until now. Gives Marriott some distance. Goes to hell? Cut it. How hard do you really need to try to onboard that brand?
'Sonder by Hilton': I know who owns that. I know which brand to blame when it goes to crap. Directly affects the core offering.
I just made up my mind whose scheme I'm joining.
I remember a case (maybe 30 years ago?) where a local health club chain went bankrupt, and anything anyone had left in their lockers was stuck there until the judge ruled on the case.
This will be an interesting case study to piece together. What were the factors that lead revenue to go down on expansion of your marketing and access reach?
I have my own suspicions, but the backstory with this is probably way crazier than I'm even thinking. Like, "Why would anyone ever sign that?" level crazy.
My feeling with Sonder is similar to that of my feeling with Airbnb: it’s fantastic for those longer trips where you want some extra amenities in the room like a kitchen. But, for general business or short-term travel, I just don’t get it. It no longer wins on price, and it loses by an order of magnitude on convenience. Why not just pick a hotel?
I encountered this recently.
The reception desk had a large portrait monitor with a person videoconferenced in from a remote location. You talked to the display. She walked you through scanning credit card using a reader installed below the screen and printing out room access code.
It was doable, but seemed like a strange dysfunctional future had arrived.