Palace Cafe

Love Sonder’s great value offerings like The Hogg Palace. You won’t be able to find listings this unique via hotel brands. The Hogg Palace loft units are straight out of an architectural magazine, with super high ceilings and exposed structural details that tell of the building’s previous life juxtaposed against fine modern furnishing. Their management also really put heart and soul into their bedding, all high end and super clean. The bed was California king sized, a pleasant surprise upgrade from the original queen size booking. It paid off — I’ve never slept so sound and so deeply away from home. On top of all that, the unit had a sizable walk in wardrobe, large oval shaped jacuzzi bath (love the luxurious scent of their shampoo/soap set), and fully outfitted open kitchen with an island replete with a Cuisinart coffeemaker, all for under $120/night — inclusive of parking and all else. Unlike hotels, you don’t get slapped with surprise charges at checkout. That said, Sonder’s fully automated checkin and checkout can be tricky. Make sure you read instructions carefully and check both email and text for the passcode. They send different ones out via different channels, you just have to try all of them. You may also want to be prepared for adjusting to unconventional unit layouts and seemingly large hollow spaces. For example, seeing the bed first thing upon entry, or massive columns and and air ducts. Playing music helps to fill the void with familiarity, as with bedroom slippers that keep your feet warm in these larger units. Amenities wise, The Hogg has a fully equipped gym on the second level, a theater on the third (wasn’t available during my stay), and storage service for luggage and parcels. This location is also nestled in the heart of the Theater District in downtown Houston, within walking distance of many great performance arts venues and a variety of diverse dining options. Compared to my first Sonder experience in So Cal earlier this year during peak summer, this was definitely more upscale for about the same price. Very impressed and would absolutely recommend this Sonder location to anyone looking during off peak periods for optimal value capture.

We really enjoyed our 3 night stay. The loft apartment was well equipped and the bed was very comfortable. Keep in mind this is downtown so big city street noise is a thing. I travel with ear plugs so I slept well. I'd stay here again.

This was our first Sonder experience and we really enjoyed it! The apartment was HUGE - way bigger than what we were expecting (no complaints here, though!). Comfy bed, walk-in closet, and hotel-style amenities like towels and soaps. The washer/dryer was a godsend with the Texas heat. They even included laundry pods! The office staff were able to hold our luggage since we arrived well before our check-in time. Once it was time to check in, it was super simple - just enter your code into your door's keypad and you're in! It was nice not to worry about carrying a room key or using a digital in-app card that works 50% of the time (I'm looking at you, Hilton). It was mostly quiet, except for one night when our neighbor decided to host a rager that kept us up from about 3 to 5 AM. I contacted support, and while they weren't able to fix it in that moment, they did remove the guest from the property the next day. We really appreciated their strong response instead of just warning the guest. Our complaints - parking garage is cramped and we found ourselves struggling to park some nights. It is locked, though, which was a plus! There's also no 24/7 front desk/security. While you can speak to someone in the Sonder app whenever, there wasn't anyone in the office at all times. We were told security should've been there the night of our noise complaint, but when I checked, there was no one to be found. Overall, we had a nice stay and were able to enjoy our first trip to Houston. I would definitely stay here again in the future. We're already looking into Sonder for our future travels as well!

This place was awesome, first time using sonder. Did not disappoint me, I was nervous at first but definitely recommend it. Parking was easy to find and rooms were too. The only bad thing that happened here was elevator did not work when we arrived. But they did fix it within 5 hours. Rooms were clean and spacious. I will keep using sonders and especially this location

My rating is technically a 4.5 but because google doesn't do half ratings I gave it a 4. Pros. 1. The Loft that I was given was on the 5th floor and it wasn't next to another door like the other ones I noticed. I didn't have the best view but the floor to ceiling windows allowed for amazing sunlight to get in which made it feel a lot more homey. The studio loft was big and beautiful, it wasn't what I expected from the photos I seen, but I was pleasantly happy with what was provided. 2. You need a code to get in the building and your loft which made me feel safe from wanderers coming in from the street and having access. 3. Customer service was good. I arrived about 20-30 mins early and I asked the front desk assistant if I could go up. She answered all my questions and kindly allowed me to do so. 4. The app did take me a couple of tries before I realize how to us it - but once I did, the responses were always polite and reassuring. I asked for more coffee and tea, where the the associate responded someone would bring it to me. the only issue with this is that I had to on the app to realize that they left it at my door as opposed to knocking and letting me know. Cons. 1. The place was not throughly cleaned. There were water stains from cups on both the kitchen counters and table. As well as dust and other substances on the chairs. The freezers ice bowl had orange liquid inside of it as well as the tray seemed to be broken. The pillow cases had black stains and the bathroom counter and tub water and soap stains. 2. The kitchen faucet would drip out the pipe enough for me to see a small puddle on the floor in front of it. But only when I used the garbage disposal side. 3. This is something I can't technically blame on Sonder - more of a ware and tare kinda thing, but there were various holes/dents/ scratches on the walls. The bathroom doors paint was chipping etc. 4. There is not that much to do in the area, as I was told it was up and coming. if you don't mind a bit of walking there are some parks, bars, and coffee shops that look good.