HOTEL SHANGRI-LA

This was my 3rd stay at Sonder and it didn’t disappoint. You can’t beat the location and the room was very spacious. I love Sonder’s approach to restoring historic buildings and turning them into beautiful stays!

I enjoyed this vacation location in Santa Monica at Sonder The Beacon. My first stay was perfect that I had to come back again! Walking distance to restaurants and eateries, shopping stores. I was pleasantly surprised with the room's amenities like extra living/work spaces and comfortable super spacious apartment style room with a kitchenette!

Front desk staff were very helpful and always attentive and recommending great must go-to spots! Housekeeping services needed to be requested in advanced and had a small fee, but I enjoyed not being bothered by daily cleaning service. If I needed any assistance the Sonder app is very handy and just by one tap I was connected to staff.

Overall, the hotel was a great vacation. Highly recommend and would definitely check out other locations in other cities.

Overall nice hotel right by the beach, walkable to the pier and promenade and downtown areas.

The front entrance has a few steps, so you will have to carry your luggage up.

As of writing, only one of two elevators was operational, and the working elevator is tiny and slow, and can only hold 500 lbs.

We stayed during the weekday and the rooftop occasionally hosts parties which include somewhat loud music, which can be heard from inside the room (we were on the 4th floor out of 7 floors).

The apartment room had a full-size kitchen (full-size fridge, stove, oven, dishwasher), living room with sofa bed, and separate room with king-size bed. Bathroom had shower and bathtub, both with shower wands. Sofa bed pops out and is quite uncomfortable, but that might be any sofa bed.

The app and Sonder chat may tell you there are no on-site EV chargers, but valet does indeed have both Tesla NACS and J1772 Level 2 EV chargers. J1772 charges at around 7.2-7.8 KWh. Valet helped charge my car at night, which is a plus. However, valet service is $49/night + tax.

Speaking of parking, it's either valet service, street parking, or parking lot about 1 block away for $25/night.

Overall, I would come back again if they fix the elevators and next time would opt for 2 queen beds instead of 1 king and sofa bed.

We recently had the misfortune of staying at Sonder Beacon, from start to finish, our stay was nothing short of a nightmare.

Checked in all excited for some relaxation, but guess what? Our room was next to a thumping nightclub!

Complained to the staff, hoping for a fix, but they basically shrugged and said "hey, Santa Monica is a party zone!" Seriously, who puts guests in rooms they can't sleep in until 2am?

They offered a downgrade when we pushed for a solution so we ended up checking out the next day, completely defeated.

This gets even worse - Julien Palmer-Martinsons, the building supervisor, promised a full refund and even emailed us confirmation! But here we are, still chasing our money.

This place is a total avoid! Save yourself the stress and find a different hotel. Your sanity will thank you.

We were in a 1 bedroom suite and a 2 bedroom + 2 full baths. Room was perfect in every possible way - spacious, lots of natural light , comfortable bed, and the suite having a small kitchen was also ideal. Didn’t have the kitchen option with the 2 bedroom option, but the extra space made up for the lack of a kitchen for a family of 4. Even the soaps and lotions seemed better than what would typically be available. The room and size was perfect for our family of 4 with two older teens.

My only criticism about the hotel was the shower- getting into the shower required a stool - ok I am exaggerating but it definitely took more effort than what you would think and what you would want, especially when getting out of the shower with wet feet. Ok - I can get over that part, but the real issue with the shower was the lack of hot water when you turn the taps on. It takes a good 15++ min for the shower to hit a reasonable temperature to have a shower. I wish I was being dramatic about it but when you have something to go to, or have just landed and want to jump in for a quick shower…this is not possible. Also, in a state where water conservation is so important and where being green is prized…why not figure this out? You have invested so much with such a nice hotel…I hope you figure this one out too.