Sonder The Hancock Apartments Beacon Hill

I had a frustrating experience with Sonder, the company offering vacation rentals, after booking a stay at The Hancock Apartments in Beacon Hill. Here’s what happened: Booking Experience: I booked a studio apartment in March for an upcoming trip less than six months away. After providing legal documents and a photo, I started noticing charges on my credit card—daily charges that kept appearing. Sonder claimed it was a software glitch and promised refunds, but the charges kept piling up. Customer Service Issues: I made countless calls, each one reassuring me that the issue would be fixed, but by the time everything was said and done, I had nearly $10k in overcharges. Despite all the promises, I never received the call-backs I was told to expect from management. The only compensation they offered was $75 or $300 in credits, both of which expired within a year. The Cancellation: Then, just a month before my trip, my reservation was canceled. I was left scrambling with no time to find a replacement. I was fed up with the lack of accountability and meaningful compensation from Sonder. Final Opinion: I can say with certainty that I’ll never rent from Sonder again. The customer service was useless, management was non-responsive, and even when they did offer compensation, it was insignificant and expired quickly. In the end, they canceled my reservation without offering any positive conclusion. I don’t want any future credits from Sonder. If they want to make things right, they can offer me the equivalent of a night’s stay at either Marriott's Theater Center location or Courtyard North Station location, during the dates I was supposed to stay at the Hancock property.

Abysmal management. Do not recommend. The app doesn’t work, our apartment was stocked for 2 days (for a week) and it was impossible to get restocked. We had a sliver of soap for a week. I gave Marriott sufficient time to rectify the situation and they decline. I highly advise against this property.

We booked here for two nights because we had credits we had to use from a cancelled trip. We ended up only staying one night and giving up the lost cost. The hallway smells like literal garbage and diapers. It was awful. We did not get any sleep. The bed was uncomfortable and hard. The pillows were very flat and flimsy. The blanket sounded like plastic every time it moved. Lastly, we were in unit 8 and the wifi didnt work. Theres no on site support, so we had to rely on text communication and they told us to connect to another units wifi. Don't waste your money.

My husband and I stayed here for 4 nights. I got a good night sleep the first night because I was tired. The other nights we tossed and turned because the bed was very hard and just not comfortable. We were in #11. The couch wasn’t that comfy either. We put pillows on the coffee table to put our feet up and took the comforter off the bed and used that as a blanket if we were sitting there. The location was actually perfect though. We did not have a car and this place was centrally located so we could go in any direction and it didn’t take long to walk where we wanted to go. It is located on a hill so hope you like walking up and down the hills. We were on the 4th floor and there wasn’t an elevator which we knew. It was clean enough for a old building. Plenty of closet space. I would return for the location and if they had better beds and a more comfortable couch. I do have to say, the response from them was very prompt. They took care of a issue within a few hours.

Maybe Marriot really did consider the Bonvoy members they would lose when they made a deal w Sonder and they still didn't care. BEWARE- BIOMETRICS ACCESS ONLY. FRIGEN NUTS to ask for such sensitive data for a hotel room. We tried to move to another property but we were talked at, hung up on and disregarded at Bonvoy CS. That is a first and a last. KNOW it's a 5 STORY WALK UP and you DO NOT get any room that is pictured on the reservation. Our toilet was crooked, they were pipes in our room, ,no tv in the rm, an unreachable window, tiny sofa wo bed, mini fridge, my clothes hung on the floor off the rickety shelf in the closet. A good source tells me they deal with duped guests all the time and they pretend to call the supervisor but they really just put you on hold for 10 min / time just to say no regardless of medical issues. no change, no care. I didn't expect this from Marriott but know I know they have turned away from hospitality towards greed and deception

If you're looking to feel like a local in Boston, this is the place. Basically, a 1br apartment with all the amenities of an AirBnB or bed and breakfast, at a cheaper cost. Great location, just a few minutes from Boston common, and there's a Whole Foods right down the street. Rooms have everything you could need for a long-ish stay, and the dishwasher is a nice add. There was some noise outside and other units occasionally, but not enough to be an issue. It's in the listing, but they aren't kidding about stairs- any unit number 7 or higher will mean you have about 4 flights of stairs up- not the worst thing, but something to consider. Had an issue with a runny toilet, but they were quick to send a tech to fix it, so they're responsive in that aspect. This was my first Sonder experience, and it's definitely one of my new favorite ways to travel like a local

Sonder and Marriott = Stay Away From. What a terrible experience. To top it off, when I informed them we had come down with covid and had hospital documentation, and inquired about a refund or even a credit for just one night, their response was "it's outside the cancelation period." With no other response. Wow. That's what they think of their customers. Sonder/Marriott is ok with dangerously contagious guests endangering their other guests. I would hate to think what kind of contagions are at Sonder and Marriott properties. You have many other choices with similar businesses that care about their customers. Sonder and Marriott isn't one of them. Sonder/Marriott -- Stay Away.

I didn’t stay at this hotel so can’t comment on the accomodation. However I think it’s necessary to write this review to warn people about the run around they’ll be given by Sonder when trying to get their money back after cancelling in the free cancellation period. I booked 4 nights via booking.com. Sonder requires full payment on reservation. I was hesitant to do this because I booked in October 2024 but wouldn’t be staying until August 2025. However I got a good deal (by Boston standards) so decided to proceed. I have since needed to cancel the reservation, well within the cancellation period, but am now being given the run around by Sonder to get my money back. I contacted them about 10 days after cancellation to ask when the refund would be processed and was told I needed to contact booking.com. I asked why, as Sonder had charged my card, not booking.com. I was given no explanation and just told I needed to contact booking.com. Of course when I did this, I was told I had to speak to Sonder. I messaged Sonder again and miraculously after hearing booking.com had referred me to them, they could suddenly deal with the issue. However, they purportedly only processed a refund of $177 (I paid $1132). There was no explanation for how that was calculated and when I said I wanted the full amount refunded I was told that exceeded the agent’s authority limit and I would need to wait at least another 10 business days for the balance, and that I should check in with them if I hadn’t received the refund. So basically Sonder expects me to wait almost a month after cancellation to receive my funds back. This is despite the fact they require full payment immediately on booking, even if you’re not staying for many months. I have no faith I will receive the refund so I have taken the step of disputing the transaction with my bank. It seems Sonder has recently been acquired by Marriott and this kind of customer service is a stain on the brand. So I can’t comment on the quality of the accomodation , but I can say absolutely DO NOT BOOK A SONDER PROPERTY unless you are 100% sure you won’t need to change your dates or cancel. I will definitely not be booking with them again.