Sonder at Revival

We just got back after spending 4 days in my parents basement. Oops, correction; it was 4 days in a dim bunker-like Sonder room . But, yeah I know, the whole Sonder concept is way cheaper than a lot of hotels, so you shouldn't have high expectations. And besides the lack of natural light, the room itself did have some good points. The shower was large with amazing water pressure and there was a fair sized kitchen with a real sink, a 2 burner induction store top, a microwave, a toaster, a kettle, a 10 cup coffeemaker, an apartment sized dishwasher(!) and fridge (with freezer) and all the pots and pans, china, glasses and cutlery one would need to whip up breakfast, lunch and/or dinner for 4. For washing up, there was a sponge, dish washing liquid and dishwasher detergent as well as a drying rack and tea towels. The room had a large wardrobe to hang your clothes and stash away your luggage as well as a small round dining table with 2 chairs. The King sized bed was comfortable and there were 6 pillows. The room had a large flatscreen TV with Roku. And then a few important details derailed our first Sonder experience. It would have been nice to have had a sofa - there was room. It would have made the room more inviting to hang out on. And there was no safe for your valuables. There was a tiny patio with 2 chairs and a small table. The 4 foot square patio had zero privacy as you were literally inches away from the neighbors. Your choice of views were: a pile of rocks if you looked straight ahead; a concrete wall to the left or the neighbour’s bed to the right. Or I guess you could always hang out in the large lifeless lobby and pretend you were in a real hotel minus the bar, the reception, the restaurant, the people coming and going and any sort of ambiance. First impressions are very important in any relationship, and for us Sonders blew their chance to turn us into returning customers. Too bad, because the room had a lot going for it. But it wasn't what we were expecting. I don't understand how we ended up in one of the worst rooms in terms of natural light. We booked months ago! All the neighbouring rooms seemed to be empty when we checked in. The only daylight came from the patio door and because we were in a weird corner, it always seemed like evening. All the surrounding rooms had 2 large windows on either side of their patio doors. They basically had three times the light if not more. There was no curtain, only the blackout screen. And seeing how the bed was right in front of this patio door, you had to close the screen for any sort of privacy. If this had been a real hotel we could have returned to the reception and asked for another room, but this was not possible. I guess we could have sent an email, but then what? And to add insult to injury, when you look at our stay history, it's illustrated with a large sunlight room with 8 foot wide windows. When we booked months ahead, we assumed that we would get a ro

Large comfortable room with kitchenette and outside seating area Clean and well equipped, but cleaning during your stay has to be arranged and paid extra The system is done by app, so while there are friendly cleaners around, there is no visible management. But we got a very quick and helpful response to a problem. We liked it very much, and it was in an excellent location - walking distance to Stanley Park or downtown. Lots of shops and restaurants nearby.

Absolutely loved our apartment! Spacious room with all that you need. Massive comfy bed, well equipped kitchen, power shower, huge smart TV, not to mention great location! So close to Stanley Park, Granville public market, Coal Harbor all walkable and a fab Safeway supermarket really close. If we were ever to come to Vancouver again, we'd definitely stay.

My family booked 2 rooms and the AC was not working in either room during our entire stay. Temp in both rooms was 85 degrees F during the day!! There was no one on sight to address the issue (there is no staff in the building) and they did not send anyone to troubleshoot the issue for 4 days. Although they told us we could check out and be refunded, they refused to refund us for parking ($120) and our first night's stay even though we called 30 minutes after checking in. Additionally, the bath tub in one room was broken. Again, no one came to fix it during our entire stay. We asked to move rooms, but they claimed nothing was available. Despite being told that we would be significantly compensated if we stayed, we were not. It has been a nightmare to get in touch with anyone despite their claim that they are available 24/7. I have called several times and put in 4 requests to speak to a manager. No one has ever called me back. I do not recommend staying here. It was and continues to be a terrible experience.

We had a great experience staying at Sonder Revival. Everything looked very new and the room was squeeky clean (including the bathroom). It felt like a nice upgrade from a typical hotel room as it was very spacious and had a kitchen stocked cup, dishes, silverware, and cleaning supplies. The wall of windows was great during the day for natural light (but we closed the blinds at dusk for privacy). Our 3rd floor room faced the courtyard, which they did a good job with greenery, but no view otherwise. The location in the West End is incredible: 1) Denman Street has an unbelievably diverse choice of restaurants, 2) English Bars Beach is a stones throw and lovely (amazing views, sunset, & people watching, 3) and very close to Stanley Park as well. We would definitely stay here again!

This was an unusual stay to review. On one hand it was large, comfortable and convenient. Huge fridge and loved the small kitchen set up. Bed big and super comfortable and great location. Then there was some weird things like cheap blinds that let the light in… Black bath and shower taps that you had to work out which way was hot or cold… No information where to get more towels, toilet paper, tissues etc (took a couple of days to work it out). I’d suggest an information book inside the room would have been handy for the older travelers. However, all in all we enjoyed our stay here and very handy having a supermarket and great coffee just near the hotel a huge bonus!