I’m not sure what they intended with the micro boutique hotel, but the room was not boutique, it felt like a hostel room. The shower was tiny and with a curtain, really bad set up. The sink was super small and had a shelf on top which makes hard to brush your teeth or wash your face. Maybe they have better upgraded options as shown in pictures, but the basic one was really bad. And thin walls.
The sink is outside of the bathroom and very small, you can hit your head on the shelf above when brushing your teeth. The bed was high and pushed up against the wall and hard for older people to climb into/out of. It was in a great location and nice to have a front desk and elevator. Walls are thin and we could here our neighbor's TV all night A good value if you can deal with these issues.
Had a wonderful weekend stay here! The perfect location for exploring this part of Brooklyn. It’s super accessible as it’s right by the R train, so it was easy to get to from Penn Station. The premises and room were both spotlessly clean. The room was simple but well-done with a comfortable bed and great shower. It was a small space but absolutely perfect for us, as we were out and about all day and only came back in the evening. Also, the staff were super lovely and gave wonderful recommendations for the local area. Would absolutely stay again!
"You Get What You Pay For" Booked this hotel for a business trip to New York because it was close to my office and had the Marriott brand. Sadly, there’s nothing Marriott about this place.
There’s no reception, and you’re expected to check in a day or two earlier through a confusing process. I completed the online check-in at their “lobby,” then had to call support just to get the entry code for the building and room.
The so-called “digital experience” is actually a patchwork of disconnected systems — Marriott, Sonder, and a third-party verification service - all seemingly handled by people manually behind the scenes.
If you value a smooth check-in and real hospitality, spend a little more and stay at a traditional Marriott property with an actual front desk.
The thing that makes this hotel is the staff. The staff is awesome. The location is also excellent. There are some quirky things about this hotel, though. 1) There are no keys for the rooms; there's an electronic keypad: so you need to use an app to get into your room, or remember the code. You might not like this. I didn't but my tekkie husband was okay with it. 2) The rooms are small. This is to be expected but there are some quirky thing is about this. SUCH AS: between the foot of the bed & the wall is a pull-out drawers that is in two steps (i.e. it gets taller toward the back). (Can't really describe.) SO If you're sleeping on the window-side & need to get out of bed in the middle of the night, & don't want to wake up/crawl over your partner, after lights out, you really cannot see this piece of furniture & you might be climbing all over your shoes or clothing or even get caught in the wire to your mobile devices. I ended up cutting my leg on the edge of this furniture bc I could not see anything in the dark (w/ the blackout curtains drawn). This is a serious issue. 2a) The hotel could have a nightlight on that wall, e.g. But they don't. They also could have a plug-in for charging by the inside position (by the outside wall) but they don't. This is where you kind of feel that ownership is cheap. 3) The 1st floor lounge was freezing. We were there in the summer & meeting w friends there. It was still freezing cold & no way to regulate the temp & we all sat with our coats on. What a waste of energy. 4) Last: the support staff is very good, I can't emphasize enough. The TV in our room was broken, which we didn't discover until 1a.m. In the morning after we brought this to their attention, the staff actually put an entirely new TV in our room. THEY were great! 4) Would be great if ownership purchased the space of the 1st floor/basement which is a former restaurant that nobody is willing to purchase and thus it sits empty. It would open up the space very nicely.
The rooms are tiny, but very functional. The front desk staff are very kind and helpful. The downstairs microwave is clean. The beds are very comfortable and I slept very well.
When we showed up to the hotel they said the booking wasn’t available. They then rebooked the day of the stay and gave us a new price we accepted and gave a credit card. I later I notice we were never charged. I called and they said the original price we agreed upon was a mistake and charged us an extra 120$ months after our stay and after hours on the phone. This place is a scam with terrible customer service. They deleted the documentation and invoice off their app and claimed to have no records of all while the customer service rep was saying she can see the previous agreed price. So we were just lied to.
Also since they didn’t honor our original booking we got an extremely small room.
I booked and paid for a king-size balcony suite for a 3-night stay six months in advance. When I arrived after a full day of travel with my kid, drenched from a rainstorm there had been an error and they put us in the smallest room l've ever seen for the first of three nights, leaving us to re-situate the next day. I would never book a room like where I stayed that night. I have years of proof of my travel. They gave me a partial refund for the first night after | complained but should've take the whole first night off. This error negatively impacted my entire trip which my child and I had been looking forward to half a year. It's been over a month and I've had multiple email exchanges with faceless agents, they didn't do what they promised, and clearly care more about a hundred dollars than the experience I had. I should've read the reviews. Next time I'll stick with Airbnb. One staff member was sympathetic but everyone else has been cold and useless, more concerned with their corporate numbers. What a shame.
Overall was happy with this hotel for a one-night stay after a concert at Barclay’s. The room was as described and was very clean, and I found the bed to be very comfortable. However, there’s no sound proofing between the rooms and the hallways; when you’re in your room, you can hear every conversation in the hallway and every slamming door. Additionally, the locks used on the door were finicky (the contactless tap didn’t work for us, and typing in the long code took several tries that was quite annoying). I would stay here again though.
This was the closest Marriott property to the Barclays Center we could find. The room was shockingly small, even by NY standards. It smelled bad and the sink was a disaster of engineering- the faucet is too big for the bowl and sticks out too far from the wall, so the second you touch the stream of water it goes everywhere but in the sink. The bed was hard as a rock. Room is completely blank- feels like a minimal security prison dorm, or maybe a grippy socks suite. Thankfully we were there for one night then out. The guy at the front desk was definitely the highlight, really nice.
Maybe the biggest problem is the booking process, including “identity verification”. Family member who has Parkinson’s Disease struggled for an hour trying to get it to accept his face scan. Bonvoy said there was nothing they could do to help. This is shockingly ableist and I’m not sure how it’s legal to have no alternative accommodation.
My partner and I had an amazing 8-day stay at The Industrialist. Our room was spacious, with a lovely balcony with a view of Downtown Brooklyn, and a large, comfortable bathroom. We appreciated the coffee machine and the high-quality toiletries (Davines & C.O. Bigelow) – such a nice touch. The whole staff was incredibly kind and helpful, and I want to give special thanks to Christian, who is a true ambassador of this place. Thanks to him and the rest of the team we felt very welcome throughout our stay. The location in Gowanus, Brooklyn is fantastic. The subway station is just a short walk away, making it easy and quick to get anywhere in the city. Highly recommended. We can’t wait to come back.
We stayed here 4 nights in September. Price quality wise it was the best deal I could find in New York for this period. Other hotels were almost double the price.
Based on the comments I expected a very small room, but to my surprise it was much bigger then expected. We were travelling as a couple and for 2 people there was more then enough space.
Yes the bathroom is a bit small, especially the shower. The sink is in the room itself, which is not the easiest to access.
Big tv in front of the bed with all the streaming services.
Location is very good, metro stop just in front of the hotel. Or a 15 min walk from the Barcleys center.
Rating very high for what I got. Visiting NYC you wont be in your room long, yes the room is small but it has everything you need. clean shower and bathroom. Soft bed. Clean linen. Cleaning staff clean every day. It is small. Good for single or couples. There’s no “room service” but a great traveling hotel room. Shout out to Naomi, Brenton, Christian & the cleaning staff.
know what you are getting. weird app based service - no one at front desk. rooms are not sound proofed - you hear neighbors, hallways, elevators, and alleyways. rooms are smaller than suggested, and the bathroom had an odd smell. only parking is street parking, so not helpful for those with cars. my room's tiny TV was also broken, and there were no obvious wall outlets to charge phones. significantly overpriced. convenient location.
I used Sonder for a few years prior to Marriott, and I think the more recent negative reviews are mostly due to the Sonder model being much less clear now that it's under a larger umbrella. You're generally paying for something in between a fancy hostel and a boutique hotel; what you're going to get is a budget-friendly, safe place to sleep with a fairly hands-off staff (however, the staff here stand out for being especially friendly and helpful! If you have a problem, please talk to them. Most Sonders don't feature anyone on-site.) Being able to do everything in the app—checking in, activating your key, requesting a cleaning—is a feature I like, but it's definitely not for everyone. I can see where having to download a new app and verify your identity could be annoying, and you should absolutely do it far in advance of your stay to avoid any kind of technical issues. It never gave me any problems, even considering the fact that I originally booked this room though a third-party portal.
The staging photos for this location are a little deceiving as far as size goes, but I've come to expect that for most Sonder properties. My room was tiny, but perfectly fine for a solo traveler or a couple who plans to spend most of their time out exploring, anyway. The water pressure is good, the shower stays hot. The linens and room itself were clean apart from the floor maybe benefiting from a good mop. For me, my room was only really missing a mini fridge; it was never advertised to have one, but the lack of it definitely means I can't and won't stay here for longer than a couple of days. And since all other Sonders I've stayed in have come with one equipped... I do feel like I have to subtract a star for it. It's hard to stay on budget when you can't store your leftovers anywhere. That said, the lobby does have a coffee machine, a water station, and a microwave, as well as open space to sit around and get some work done if you need more space than what your room offers.
Great location along the R train, and I'd probably stay here again for that reason alone. It was a breeze to transfer anywhere I needed to go. The Beanmonger is right across the street and excellent for coffee, too. You're also fairly isolated from city hustle and bustle, though your mileage will vary as far as noisy neighbours goes.
First, this review is for the property manager, and has nothing to do with my service from the other team members.
First, Christian is one of the best members that this property has! His welcoming personality and kind words are truly the heart of this property and made my stay worth it. Further, the cleaning staff were so sweet and incredibly patient.
I also loved the convenience to the metro and the safe feeling that I had at the location. A great bonus was the view from my room! Gorgeous view of downtown Brooklyn!
My problems with the property were based on my room experience. The room was much smaller than I expected. There was no mirror in the bathroom. The shower handle was already broken when I arrived and came off when I tried to turn off the water. They were not able to repair it before I left. I stayed on the 5th floor and all the other floors were cooled in the hallways except the 5th floor (my room was very cool while I was there though!). The lobby could probably use a bit of painting, as it seemed that there were a lot of chips in the paint. And finally, on my second afternoon, the elevator broke. This was not much of a problem for me, as I enjoyed the exercise, but I could see was a problem for other guests and the cleaning staff.
While I like Marriott and thought this was a cool idea, I would not stay here again.
This was our first trip to Brooklyn and we stayed for two nights to see a concert at the Brooklyn Paramount and to explore the area. The location of this hotel was perfect, there was a cute view out of the window and we were within a 30 minute or less walk to tons of shops and restaurants including the concert venue. The staff was very friendly, Christian especially. He went out of his way to make us feel welcome and gave us great recommendations of what to do nearby. The room was a good small size, perfect for the two of us since we didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the hotel. Very, very tiny refrigerator (like enough to hold two cans of soda) but we were not expecting one at all so it didn’t really matter. There was a coffee machine in the room and in the lobby as well as a water and ice machine in the lobby that was very helpful. The only downside was the bathroom. The design of the sink was a little odd. The spout was both too high and close to the edge of the tub so it was hard to not to splash water everywhere. Other than that, no complaints. Overall, would 100% come here again just to spend another weekend in Brooklyn.
Definitely heed the warnings. Tiny. Zero character in the room. Figured for the price and size at least it would have decent lighting and make up for it by making it cozy. This place is awful. 200 a night and there isn't a table and outlet anywhere for me plug in the coffee machine they provide... The solution provided by the online and phone customer service was offer me a extension chord the following day once staff was available.
My review isn't entirely negative; however, my expectations were influenced by my experiences at other Sonder properties. The room here was very basic and had an odd configuration, resembling a dorm room. I understand that the space was minimal, and they did the best they could with what they had.
Woke up to bumps all over my body - bed bug central!
There is also a reason why there aren’t much pictures of the rooms. They’re super small. The bathroom sink is next to the bed! Yes, the bathroom sink is next to the bed!
Really a dirty, low down, filthy room. One of the towels in my room had a very peculiar yellow stain… see photo.
The pictures looked nothing like they do on the Marriott booking site. When you check in you have to do everything digital, upload your id and take a selfie to gain access to your room and the building. I was not interested in doing that because systems get hacked with peoples ids all the time. You won’t get a key card at the front desk and there are no phones in the room. The room was so small I could barely lay my carry on bag down and open it. I went to shower and had to grab something out my bag, the steam from the shower set off the smoke detector which was directly by the bathroom door and was beeping for almost 10 mins. Why would you put a smoke detector right by the bathroom? The room was clean that’s the only positive thing I can say.
I had not been to the US (or anywhere, basically) in 5 years. First night in New York, on my own. I could not have wished for a better welcome. The rooms are OK. The location is (depending on where you want to go) OK. But the receptionist, Christian, basically the first real person I talked to after a long flight and confusing first NYC-subway ride, was amazing. He made me feel welcome right away. A person I wished to meet in New York and his honest helpfulness and kindness showed me, that I will enjoy my stay in, if not the world's best, then at least the world's most iconic city.
So, I ignored my exhaustion, got high and enjoyed the great bbq-place across the street. I enjoyed the rest of my stay in NYC at least as much as the brisket that night, if not more.
No frills-hotel in, if not the heart, then at least the chest area of Brooklyn. Great and welcoming staff.
This review is not about the location or the room itself, which were fine. It is about how badly Sonder handles problems on-site when they happen and when you try to resolve issues through their customer service line.
During our four-night stay, there was a night where a fire alarm malfunction occurred on our floor. It went off at 10pm, ringing throughout the entire floor, and blared the entire night until the next (late) morning. No one on the floor got any rest, including us.
At the start of the alarm, there was no communication from management, no announcements, and no clear direction. We didn’t know whether to evacuate or stay put. When we went down to the lobby to try to understand what was going on, the only person there was a newly-hired security guard who also had no way to contact management directly to figure out what to do.
The alarm didn't stop until the next morning around 9am. By then, it was as if nothing had happened. No one from Sonder acknowledged the disruption, no one apologized, and no one followed up in-person or through email for next steps to attempt to resolve the issue. The staff on site were clearly unsupported and left to manage a situation they weren’t equipped for.
Since then, I’ve been in back-and-forth calls with customer service for over three days to resolve this issue that occured during our stay.
Once you get through the 15-plus minute hold, customer service promises callbacks and resolutions by the end of the day, but they never follow through. Each time you call, there are minimal notes or records on their end, so you end up starting from scratch. This has been going on for three days and will likely take a week to resolve, even though it should have been handled on-site and on the same day it happened.
If everything goes smoothly, your stay might be fine. But if something goes wrong, if you run into any urgent issues, don’t expect timely help or any sense of urgency from Sonder management. Staff on-site are not equipped (and should not have to) to handle emergencies and cannot get a hold of upper management, leaving guests and support staff to navigate serious issues without proper assistance.
(EDIT: Since this issue, their customer service has continued to be terrible and had required constant back and forth for over two weeks, all to give you some measly (partial) hotel credits for Sonder locations....which we will not be going back to)
Overall, the room is very small. When you look at the photos, it looks very well lit and wide as it’s been shot with a wide lens. In reality, it’s like a dorm. The place is noisy and very cold in terms of personality. The staff were great and helpful. Ice machine was broken. It feels like an Airbnb and totally different than another Sonder I stayed in Nashville where they offered a whole house.
The bathroom sink was very close to the top counter, you can’t really wash your face. Theres no space. The shower was great, lots hot water and great stream. There is no cleaning, only if you pay for it.
It reminded me when I was a student living in tiny rooms. I would not go again. I as considering to cut my stay short but continued with it.
Not my type of accommodation. For the same price you can find a hotel nearby.
What the room lacked for in size, the service definitely made up for - especially from Angela and Christian!
Many hotels can provide great service but one thing they always tend to miss is the personality. Angela and Christian definitely made us feel welcome and at home, sorta like catching up with childhood friends we haven’t seen in years. Top notch - would recommend this spot just for them!
Aside from that, location and cleanliness is definitely there. Safety is also 10/10 knowing you have to key into the room/hotel past a certain time. Would come back for sure!
Convenient location in an upcoming part of Brooklyn. Safe area with many options for shopping and dining, although not fancy mostly. Check-in is pretty late but they'll provide options to accommodate for an earlier check-in. You can use their lockers to store your luggage in the meantime and that's completely free.
The staff is very friendly and accommodating, Chris had a contagious fun energy and David was very eager to provide recommendations. Can't remember the other names but everyone was great.
Bed was comfortable and linens were nice and looked new.
Overall, wonderful value.
Room: tiny, but clean. Under the bed storage was useful and helps keep the room tidy. Bathroom was very small too but worked fine with hot water and toilet flushed properly. Overall good value for New York.
Location is terrific with subway on the corner and some major commercial districts within walking distance. The area felt safe for us at all times. Across the street is an excellent coffee shop and there is many good restaurants near by. This place let us live like a local feeling like we were part of the neighborhood rather than a traditional hotel.
The price we paid was lower than most other alternatives. The down side is that the rooms and bathrooms are extremely small. We personally like small spaces and we were out most of the time so it was ok with us. But I would not pay higher prices for such a small place.
The main inconvenience for us was the sink and lack of a real counter space. I think some other rooms had it better. Our mirror was off center from the sink and there were just some tiny shelves to put toiletries as you get ready.
The staff was super friendly and the bed comfortably firm.
Didn’t really look at many reviews before booking a twin room at The Industrialist and glad I didn’t, as it would have put me off. I don’t understand the bad reviews at all! Had a great stay here with my 16 year old daughter. Clean room and very comfortable beds. Room was small but cosy and had everything we needed. Location was perfect for getting into Manhattan on the subway or by bus. Great deli’s, pizza places and bagel shop nearby. Christian on the front desk was so lovely, very friendly and helpful and had some great recommendations for places to go. Will be staying here again!
As long as you go in with the expectation that this is a place to sleep without any extra bells and whistles, you’ll be great. This was the only option I could find in NYC within budget for my 4-night stay and we didn’t mind it at all. The front desk staff were friendly and it was easy to get new towels when we needed them. The bed was comfortable.
The biggest downsides were that the bathroom wasn’t super clean (visible mold in the shower) or well-designed (the shower and sink were both splashing water onto the bathroom floor). Would maybe recommend bringing shower shoes and a hanging toiletries caddy as there’s very little storage space in the bathroom. We could also hear every noise in the neighboring rooms and the hallway.
But we had very little noise from the street and it’s right by a subway station which definitely made it more convenient to get around. There’s also luggage storage in the lobby that you can use before check in/after check out. I would definitely stay at a Sonder property again to keep hotel costs down.
Dec 16, 2024
Nearest Junkyards to The Industrialist Hotel Gowanus Brooklyn, Sonder
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