Sonder the Louie Apartments CBD

I’ve never had a worse travel experience than with Sonder, and I strongly urge others to think twice before booking with them. I reserved a Sonder apartment in New Orleans (May 8–12) through Sonder for a special trip with a group of 7. When we arrived, the apartment was infested with termites—flying everywhere, covering the walls, ceilings, lights, and surfaces. It was completely unlivable. I immediately called Sonder. While on the phone, a facilities staff member arrived, confirmed they were termites, and admitted, "I've seen them in other rooms, but nothing this bad." So Sonder knew this building had a termite problem but continued to rent out infested units. Then came an frustrating 1.5-hour phone call loop. The first person, they said they had another unit for me, then she disappeared. I was transferred to at least four separate people—each with no knowledge of my case. There was no alternative availability with Sonder for my group size. Eventually, I was told to cancel my reservation and rebook myself. Leaving me financially responsible. Graduation weekend in New Orleans = few options and sky-high prices. Sonder offered no real help. I called their parent company, Marriott, (thankfully more competent) who helped me find a hotel—but I had to pay out of pocket, despite Sonder’s complete failure to provide a habitable space. The next morning, I received an email from Sonder claiming "termites are common in the South and not harmful," and suggested we just turn off the lights to keep them away. These were not a few bugs that could be ignored. Eventually, Sonder refunded the original booking, but refused to do anything more—no compensation for the hours of stress, the ruined first day of our trip, the out-of-pocket hotel cost, or the fact that we were completely displaced. They "walked" us with no support or accountability. Sonder markets itself as a modern alternative to hotels—but the service is nonexistent when something goes wrong. No quality control, no ownership, no guest advocacy. I will never book with Sonder again, and I suggest you don’t either.

The Louie was conveniently located and was within walking distance of the French Quarter! The apartment was perfect for our family of 6 with enough private space as well as togetherness space. It was nicely appointed, very clean and met all of our needs! However, there were a couple of downsides. The first was the water pressure. It was very low so that using the shower wasn't the greatest. Secondly, you could hear a lot of noise, but hey, you’re in the CITY so it’s to be expected! Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the Sonder THE LOUIE!

The apartment was beautiful and we had plenty of space for our party of 4. We wish we could have stayed longer to make use of all that was provided. The water pressure in the shower was lower than preferred, but I would still give this a 5-star review for the value, location, and other quality comforts

The location is not that glamorous, but the area is very quiet in the central business district. It’s walkable to the French Quarter and many cool restaurants. The beds were comfortable, it had all the basics we needed. Sounder’s service team was excellent if we needed something else. There were no drawers to store things in the bedrooms, but there were empty ones in the kitchen and we used those. One bedroom did not have a closet, but we worked around this. There is a walkable Rouses market just up the street which enabled us to get some groceries. I am a city dweller, but my guests were more suburban and had to get used to sounds traffic going by, garbage pick up, etc. All in all a great stay!

First time stating at a sonder property. Really liked the apartment... nice layout and decor, building was close to transportation and several restaurants and a grocery store (seemed like everything was under 10 minute walk). We had 3 bedroom, 2 bath... with kitchen and washer and dryer. Very clean. Stocked with all the necessities. I was looking for something between a hotel and an air bnb and this was it!

Most of the amenities of a hotel, the charm of an AirBnB, without the insidious drag on the local economy that odious company represents. Everything is clean, and it feels like stepping into a modernly furnished hotel suite, but at prices you simply can’t get in a hotel suite. Check in and out is a bit inflexible, but, the overall experience is very pleasant and quite different than a motel.