Guest User
March 4, 2023
I CANNOT recommend Sonder Maison De Ville located at 727 Toulouse St., New Orleans, based on our stay of February 27 through March 3, 2023. This very beautiful property has tremendous potential but suffers greatly from lack of local management and neglect. And based on the way Sonder manages this property, I will not book any other Sonder property, anywhere, for future travels. If that’s all you need to know, there you have it. If you want to know why, keep reading. Our family came to New Orleans for a special family gathering and planned to stay all together in the same place. We did stay in Rooms 3, 4, and 12 but, literally minutes before arrival, one family member was informed electronically that she was to be moved to another property several blocks away. It was frustrating and very inconvenient to be broken up this way, and she felt left out. We were never told why Sonder did this. Sonder is pretty silent when it comes to information and explanations. Sonder advertisement of the property repeatedly skirts the truth. Whether this is the result of purposeful exaggeration or because no one is onsite to actually know the truth remains to be determined. For example, one of the things we really like about the property is the historical nature of the place. It is a beautiful old French Quarter home, residence of New Orleans apothecary Antoine Peychaud, founder of Peychaud’s bitters. Oddly, several materials advertise it as a residence of Tennessee Williams though this is incorrect, as historical documents show Tennessee Williams rented a residence across the street at 722 Toulouse. As for skirting the truth regarding onsite amenities, Sonder Maison de Ville webpage clearly states that they provide “contactless convenient check-ins, professionally cleaned rooms, … shower amenities, comfortable bedding, fresh towels, artisan coffee, and 24/7 support.” Let’s take the “truth” of these promised amenities one by one. 1. The Sonder app is well designed and easy to use. A building entry code is sent via email and the app shortly before your arrival. Definitely “contactless”. But convenient? The keypad is VERY worn out. We had three rooms, there were six of us, and ALL of us had constant trouble getting into the building. Sometimes we had to enter the code again and again until it finally worked. Sometimes we just gave up and cut through the bar (open 4 pm to 10 pm). Sometimes we waited for someone to come out and let us in. Not convenient at all. So “contactless convenient” is 1/2 true. 2. Regarding the advertisement of professionally cleaned rooms, there is absolutely no room/maid service whatsoever during your stay. The room is “cleaned” prior to your arrival and after you leave, but “professionally”? Hard to say. My photos are of my bathroom in Room 3. The floor suffers from “middle of the floor” mopping meaning, the center is cleaned but no mop or any other cleaning device has touched those corners in a long, long time. Ro