A Sonder unit in Solis, a building in Seattle’s Capitol Hill. (Sonder Photo)

Sonder, a tech-enabled hospitality company, is moving into Seattle.

The San Francisco-based startup, which is part hotel and part apartment-style vacation rental, is now offering units at Solis, a modern development located at 1300 E. Pike St. in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Sonder has 11,000 spaces under lease across more than 35 cities. The company recently announced a $200 million funding round, has raised $560 million to date, and its $1.3 billion valuation puts it in a rare short-term-rental unicorn league with Airbnb.

“Sonder is truly in its own category of hospitality as a branded provider of apartment-style accommodations with hotel amenities,” Sonder’s Seattle General Manager Emma Cahalane told GeekWire, when asked whether the service competes with Airbnb, which it calls a partner.

“Unlike peer-to-peer homeshare platforms, Sonder leases, licenses and manages every space from booking to checkout,” she added. “Unlike vacation rental platforms or listing services, Sonder’s local teams live and breathe every city — and they manage every Sonder directly from interior design, to check-in and clean-up.”

At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has severely impacted the travel industry, Sonder promotes numerous contactless features, including digital concierge, check-ins/outs via smartphone, and no crowded lobbies or lines at front desks. Sonder also promotes professionally cleaned spaces that are self-contained and serviced digitally. Many units have their own fully equipped kitchens and in-unit laundry.

“In a post-COVID world, we know that travelers are looking for this level of separation and privacy, and we’re confident these preferences will likely continue to for the foreseeable future,” Cahalane said.

(Sonder Photo)

The company also said that Sonder units at Solis feature an “advanced air system” that circulates clean air 12 times per day, resulting in 80% less energy used for the building’s heating and cooling needs.

The average rate at Solis is around $175 a night for a 1 bedroom.

Airbnb, which filed to go public last week, was hit hard by the pandemic, with a 90% drop in bookings at the height of the health crisis a few months ago and a 25% cut in its workforce. But as people were itching to get back out and travel, Airbnb, once valued at $31 billion, bounced back.

Cahalane said there were no plans to share at the moment regarding Sonder ever going public. Attention is focused on “growing thoughtfully and responsibly.”

Sonder has about 1,000 employees globally, with four employees on the ground in Seattle. They plan to continue grow that team as they add new locations throughout the city.

Cahalane said Sonder’s occupancy rates have been consistently above 75% for months, which she called “meaningfully higher than average industry rates” and that recent fund raising leaves the company “well-positioned to help lead a re-invention of the travel industry in the months and years ahead.”

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