Outdoor dining
Check availability

Reviews of Sonder at South Congress

4 out of 5
Sonder at South Congress
South Congress Avenue, Academy Dr, Austin, TX

Reviews

8.0

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 40 out of 88 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 23 out of 88 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 13 out of 88 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 5 out of 88 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 7 out of 88 reviews" "

8.6/10

Cleanliness

8.6/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

7.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

4/10 Poor

Nicholas

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The good: great location, easy parking, comfortable bed. The bad: gym access required 2 phone calls to Sonde and some of the gym equipment didn’t work, apartment tired and needing renovation, view of a parking lot, noisy neighbor upstairs. The ugly: apartment was superficially clean but grime and dirt everywhere - bathroom, bedroom, kitchen. Dirty cutlery. The whole place smelt damp and musty on arrival. Sonder customer service really poor. Stay elsewhere.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024
Response from Sonder on 23 Apr 2024
Hi Nicholas, thank you for your feedback. We're sorry for the issues in your space. Our team will look into your concerns immediately and work to remedy any present issues. Should you choose to give us another chance, we'd love the opportunity to make it up to you.

10/10 Excellent

Annette

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Austin girls trip
Comfortable, spacious apartment in a great location.Even though the complex is located on Congress Ave, the apartment complex is peaceful and quiet. Plates, silverware and basic kitchen items are provided. We did have to buy vegetable oil to do some light cooking. Spacious balcony, big bedrooms, sleeper couch. Pool area has a hot tub which we enjoyed. 10/10 recommend
2bed 2 bath apartment
Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2024

8/10 Good

Clement

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excellent location on South Congress, quiet and large appartment with a nice view. Only thing to improve is the check-in process that Sonder requires you to go through - it is buggy and inconvenient.
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2024

2/10 Terrible

Brittany

Business traveller
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Let me preface this by saying I have never left a negative review, ever. However, I booked at Sonder South Congress on purpose - to be within a very close proximity of an early morning business meeting during my stay. Mid-afternoon the day I was checking in for my trip, I was randomly texted and told I’d been moved to the East Austin property, which is not nearly as convenient as South Congress. In fact, I specifically chose South Congress for the convenient parking. East Austin is a nightmare. The unit smelled, the bathroom was barely clean. The silverware drawer would barely open. The upstairs neighbors were extremely loud. The front door of the Residences of Plaza Saltillo was not secure when I arrived - no key code necessary. The complex elevator sounded like nothing I’ve ever heard before, based on the sounds, someone’s going to get stuck in at some point. I was graciously provided a complementary parking pass which was logistically horrible; especially, with the added travel time I had to account for to be on time for my early meeting due to the last minute property change. After I returned the pass to the unit and moved my car, I STILL had to pay $35 just to leave the parking garage. I will likely never stay with Sonder again after this experience.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Ellen

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
There were 17 steep steps to go down in the apartment. We thought "ground floor" would mean no stairs. Husband handicapped & uses a cane. It was a challenge for us. The apartment was very nice, near lots of night life to walk to. Parking garage was great. Everything tech - driven: gates, door, tv & more. Kind of cool!
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Michael

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Great spot right it the heart of Austin's South Congress District. East walk to all of the clubs, restaurants and shopping. Nicely furnished and comfortable. The only thing we did not like was that Sonder has no on site employees. We got back to our apartment and there was a malfunction on the electronic door lock so we could not get in. We had to rely on a phone call to Sonder to solve our problem. The customer service rep couldn't immediately solve it but called back with a solution for us in 10 or 15 minutes. In the meantime we were waiting in a hallway wondering if we were going to be able to get back into our room.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Comfortable accommodations right in the heart of the Austin's South Congress district. Quick walk to the Continental Club.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Charity

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Location was fantastic . Restaurants, shopping and downtown all walkable. The apartment was spacious & styled very well. Coffee, tea and toiletries provided a nice touch . Beds were extremely firm/uncomfortable and late night street noise was a bit challenging for us . Noise machines and ear plugs were provided. Check in/check out was easy & efficient.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Alyssa

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

2/10 Terrible

Matthew

Disliked: Cleanliness
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from Sonder on 21 Sept 2023
Hi Matthew, your honest feedback is appreciated. We’re sad to hear about your experience. We’d like to learn more about your stay to help us identify how we can improve for the future. Please reach out to our support team at any time.

10/10 Excellent

Elizabeth, chappaqua

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Great location.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Alexander

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
The unit I stayed in was on the ground floor. Aside from that, I wouldn’t necessarily say it was accessible fyi. Plenty of room. Downside of patio is that it is on the ground floor. You look at the parking lot in afternoon sun. The other downside was water pressure was non existent. If you have long hair, expect it to take 20 minutes to wash/get soap out etc. Aside from that, it was a good value for the cost. Space, walkable, clean.
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Stephen

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Place is very good and convenient - it’s right by a lot of things to do. It’s a little confusing getting around the property but it’s a quite nice property all things considered!
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

David

Stayed 4 nights in May 2023
Response from Sonder on 30 May 2023
Hi David, we appreciate your review. It’s great to see you enjoyed your experience with us. We hope to see you again soon in one of our 40+ cities worldwide.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Walls are thin, noise was a serious problem
It is not clear that there are few if no ramps to get heavy and multiple luggage into the apartment. It is also not clear that when you enter the apartment, there is another long set of stairs going downward that you have to carry all your belongings down. Also I was not told that there would be maintenance men coming into the space while I was there so it was a shock (as a single female) to get unexpected visitations during my stay. There were multiple cobwebs above the bed in the master bedroom. There was a leak in the guest bedroom in the vent which leaked all over my newly washed clothes that were hang drying. I had to deal with water stains on my linen. Then the neighbor above walked so incredibly heavy all morning, throughout the day and into the evening. I could barely sleep in or work whilst in the space. (I recorded the audio on this as proof and even the maintenance guys vouched that the pounding was excessive and intolerable). I should have been warned that the walls were thin - I would have booked a hotel/apt somewhere else all things considered (with fair warning). I will not be recommending or staying here again.
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2023

4/10 Poor

Mallory

It should not be listed as a 3 bedroom space if it is actually only a 2 bedroom! Also, way too many check in instructions / requirements. Hard to find.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023
Response from Sonder on 17 Mar 2023
Hi Mallory, your feedback is appreciated. We’re sorry to hear about the trouble with your room type. We see that a 2 bedroom apartement is what was originally booked and listed. Please accept our apologies if anything was unclear. We also strive to create an easy and seamless check-in experience and we’re sorry for falling short here. If you have any booking or arrival questions, our support team is always available to help. We hope you’ll consider us again for your future travels.

10/10 Excellent

John

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Location!
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Bryan

Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

2/10 Terrible

Paul

Travelled with partner
Good showers. Booked for 9 nights and informed Sonder w/m broken. They failed to fix/supply another and failed to keep us informed. Austin in a heatwave and we had no way to wash clothes,bedding or towels. Not set up for European visitors.
Stayed 9 nights in May 2022
Response from Sonder on 1 Jun 2022
Hi Paul, thank you for providing your honest feedback. We know how important it is to have a washing machine and dryer for a long trip. We're incredibly sorry for the issues with your machine and the inconvenience it caused. We have now replaced the entire unit to ensure this doesn't happen again. If you decide to give us another chance, we would love to show you a better experience.

6/10 Okay

Jeff

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Towing Scam
The location of the complex and overall condition of the unit and amenities met our expectations. After an exhausting day of traveling with two young boys and arriving very late we took a short time to get them settled into bed. As I went out to the parking lot to retrieve the rest of our belongings, Our vehicle had been towed! There is No signage anywhere to forewarn you unless you purposefully search for it in Sonders app. BEWARE!!
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2022

10/10 Excellent

Dean

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Check in communication was very clear and easy. Location was great and the apartment was clean and had a number of amenities. Glad there was a washer /dryer, very convenient!
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2022
Response from Sonder on 13 Apr 2022
Thanks for the review, Dean! Safe travels home.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Loved the overall quietness and the location. I am picky, just FYI, but the streaming over Chromecast was hit and miss and we had to reboot 3 times. Also several folks had set extreme schedules on the Nest and it took us 2 days to figure out why it was so hour or super cold. Someone should be clearing those out. Also there was a LOUD motor humming 24 hours a day making sleep very difficult and also the blinds in the bedroom would not close all the way leaving a lot of light coming in at night. If I could have slept well it would be great. I would stay with them again but not if I cannot sleep.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2020
Response from Sonder on 16 Mar 2021
Thank you for providing the details of your stay. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the location of your Sonder. However, we appreciate the additional feedback you've included in regards to the technology, temperature, and noise in your space. In the future, please reach out to us about any questions you may have or for ear plugs, a white noise machine, or anything else we provide to help make your stay more comfortable. We hope to host you again in the future.

8/10 Good

Aaron, Corinth, MS

Travelled with family, Travelled with family and small children, Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The feeling of living in your own apartment in the hippest part of the city! Love the property, although it took us an extra 10 minutes to find the apartment, but once we got there, everything was perfect. The smallest quibble would be the couch is on it's last leg, but everything else was amazing. Would certainly visit again.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2020
Response from Brooke on 22 Mar 2021
Hi Aaron, we appreciate you taking the time to tell us about your experience. We're thrilled to hear you enjoyed your stay in Austin. You were a pleasure to host and we'd love to see you again soon!

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2020

10/10 Excellent

Dinah

Travelled with group
Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness
Cleanliness needs improvement But nice Apt!
The staff communicated about the parking pass missing and had it fixed by the time i arrived. However, the trash can was still full from the perviouse occupants, the ceiling fan in the guest room wabbked horribly and the fan in the master was missing the pull cord entirely. The AC worked wonderfully so no fan needed! Over All the place was nice.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2020

6/10 Okay

Patty, Austin, Texas

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
The room was very clean, but the complex where this Sonder is located is very old; there is a newer construction on the other side that would have been preferable, but there may be other units available there. I think it would be great for travelers who want to see that part of Austin, but as a Staycationer, that really wasn't much of a draw...particularly during Covid.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2020

8/10 Good

KellyN, New Orleans, LA

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
The property and room were aesthetically beautiful! There's some construction and I can see where that might be an issue for some people, but it didn't bother us. The room was mostly clean, the bathrooms and kitchen had a few small issues. The sink in the kitchen was a little difficult to deal with and the master bathroom's tub wouldn't shut off completely and was constantly running extremely hot water, and the a/c in the master bedroom didn't seem to be working. I had messaged the property about the issue and they responded quickly, but were supposed to alert us if anyone was coming to the room. We were never alerted and had a maintenance worker standing in our room while we were getting dressed one morning. Overall though, the staff was lovely and the room was quiet. A perfect spot on S. Congress and I would stay there again for that alone.
Stayed 4 nights in May 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 4 nights in May 2020

10/10 Excellent

Caedin

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
A++
Beautiful apartment, and complex. Very clean.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Makoto

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place to stay in Austin.
The room was very clean, modern, and comfortable. Access to the facility and parking were very easy. It’s located at the prime location in South Austin, very close to everything.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
Overall pretty nice place but there were some minor issues in the bathroom. The toilet seat was broken and the towel racks were coming off the wall. They are building a giant new addition to the complex so construction around made it harder to get into/out of the property. Great location in SoCo.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice and quiet. Very comfy and roomy. The only thing that sucked was our roon was in the 3rd floor, no elevator.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2020

10/10 Excellent

Vivian, Miami

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Key location n nicely decorated apartment. All appliances n kitchen gadgets in working order n clean.
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Angelo

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great stay in Austin
Great location! Easy and walkable to Congress Street. Plenty of restaurants and shopping in the neighborhood. Accommodation. Comfortable and clean, like new!
Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2020

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities
It was depicted as a hotel property and not a subleased apartment.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A pleasant suite in a townhouse complex. Hard to find. Sonder staff worked hard to help me find it. But it shouldn’t have been necessary. The place was well equipped and as a place to stay for a week, it would be great. It was more space than I needed
Stayed 6 nights in Feb 2020

6/10 Okay

Monique

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Unexpected Frustrations
The room itself was great, HOWEVER, Sonder requires that you download their app and jump through several other hoops before you can receive check-in details. I was not informed of this by hotels.com or Sonder at the time of booking. I did not know this until I called trying to figure out where the instructions were. Then then repeatedly told me I had not followed the instructions I never received. Had I known this, I would have selected a different option.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
Great location. Modern furnishings. Very clean. Reasonable price.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Ashley

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Awesome Stay at Sonder South Congress!
Stayed at the Sonder South Congress with my husband for a weekend getaway adventure in Austin & it was an amazing experience! It was such a good call to stay there instead of a big hotel. The location is ideal - right on the South Congress strip of restaurants, shopping, & nightlife. It has a great neighborhood feel vs being right downtown. We absolutely loved our little "home" for the weekend! The condo was easy to find & access with incredibly helpful, detailed instructions. It also included covered garage parking a short walk from the building. The condo itself was impeccably clean & adorably decorated with all the usual conveniences of a hotel - extra toiletries, towels, & bedding - plus in-unit laundry, dinnerware provided in the kitchen, etc. Thanks to Sonder for a memorable, relaxing vacation experience!!!
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Diane

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great space, amenities and location
This was a great value! Centrally located in SoCo neighborhood, good security, free WiFi, quiet location, comfortable and modern furnishings. We loved having full kitchen and washer/dryer. When we had questions, we had quick response and assistance.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2020

8/10 Good

clive

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
My stay
It was very clean and efficient but a lack of local amenities made getting food bit awkward. Overall, quite good but not recommend for a long stay. Also a lack of elevators makes getting luggage upstairs a chore.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
The property itself was amazing. The communication could use some work. The check in info advised of a building code, which is actually the gate code, so we had to get dropped off at the front of the property, because we didn't know it was the gate code so the Uber could drive us to the building. There was no building map, so we wandered a bit trying to locate which building and apartment was ours. The locks are touchpad, but there were no instructions on how to lock the door until the day of check out. Then, when we attempted that method, it didn't work. The condo itself, was amazing!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The property location was fantastic - right on South Congress and in walking distance to all the restaurants and shopping. The unit itself was very nicely designed and clean. It made for a great home base for our trip.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice apartment just off South Congress at an affordable price.
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2020

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Location was great! We were frustrated with the inability to use the pool and we were unable to utilize the t.v. There was also construction going on outside the window and it started up early in the morning.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Pretty crappy apartment complex. Unit in so so condition.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Denise

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very nice and clean! Long stair case when entering but was not an issue for this stay. Close to shopping and eating! Prime spot!
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2019

8/10 Good

Ruben

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location, some quirks.
Location is amazing, walking distance to great spots and just a ride away from so much more. The upstairs neighbor though is so incredibly loud. Everyday at 550 AM woken up by clomping, stomping, yelling, dog barking. The noise went on for hours. Also the space is clean but the vents for the AC were filthy. My husband and I are highly allergic to dust and every morning it felt like a pound of dust in our lungs. Luckily my husband is a heavy sleeper and we were out of the space most of the day.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019