I have lived at Hidden Glen for about two and a half years and would definitely caution anyone thinking of moving here. Although my one-bedroom apartment is spacious, I don't like the floor plan and have had numerous problems with management.

When I moved in the place was absolutely filthy. There was gunk caked on the toilet seat and dust in all of the corners. It took me six months to completely get rid of this funky musty smell, and the place has never felt fully immaculate. My fridge had this nasty moldy smell in it, since someone had closed it after emptying it, and the appliances in the kitchen probably came from the late Bronze Age. One time in the first few months that I lived there, I put my foot up on the bathtub faucet to shave my legs in the shower, and it snapped off because it was completely rusted through.

I moved in on January 1 of 2006 and what really sold me on the apartment was the huge balcony and the friendliness of the complex manager. Within my first two weeks of living there, a big winter storm hit us for two days straight and I had water coming in through the light in my kitchen. I complained and was assured it was fixed; two weeks later another storm passed by and my kitchen leaked again in the same place. I should remark that I was unable to use the kitchen for over a day the first time, and close to twelve hours the first time, since water leaking through electrical areas made me not want to turn on anything in the kitchen. Again, she promised me that it was fixed and we didn't have another storm until that summer. There were three bad storms that summer and the roof was fine, so I assumed it was fixed. The following November we had another bad storm and I finally lost my temper and called the manager on her cell phone. I completely lost it and screamed obscenities on the phone to her, but apparently that was what it took, because I didn't have another problem after that point in time. That is, until last Monday, when I was out of town and the friend staying at my apartment called me to say water was coming through the light in the kitchen. I called the (new) manager and complained to her, and at this time have not seen another storm so I'm not sure whether the roof has been fixed.

Maintenance is usually prompt and usually fixes any problems I have had, with the exception of the roof and the electricity in my kitchen. About a year ago my fridge died and I lost all my food. I eat organic and keep a lot of frozen stuff, so there was close to $200 worth of food that was lost when the fridge died. The manager sent an off-site repair guy when the maintenance guy couldn't fix the fridge, who claimed the fridge would be fine, but then it died again two days later. This time I lost close to $150 worth of food that I'd used to restock the fridge. (I should note that the complex reimbursed me for a total of $200 off my rent, when I cataloged everything that spoiled.) They brought me a new fridge ("they" being my maintenance guy, two women dressed in tight clothing, and four kids that ran around making noise in the parking lot) and everything seemed to work well, until the fridge died AGAIN that night. I lost some more food and called to complain again; they FINALLY called an off-site guy because now the electricity for another area near the fridge was going on and off. The electricity guy replaced a circuit (which, to that point, no one had even checked for quality) and everything has worked fine since that time.

They finally got rid of the old manager and got a new woman about a year ago. Although friendly, helpful, and mostly fluent in English, she is never there during the hours posted. They have this cute little plaque posted next to the door with the hours, but she takes most of Wednesday and all of Saturday off, and she'll go around sometimes on Thursdays saying she won't be there the following Friday. She puts out this little newsletter every month (which has become shockingly family-friendly since she herself had a baby), and it's completely grammatically incorrect and full of petty complaints (which have centered around people making too much noise near the pool since she herself moved into a pool-adjacent apartment).

My final complaint has to do with my creepy neighbors. These people moved in maybe a year ago and are extremely disrespectful. It's a woman who lives there, but I've never even seen her.... all that I've ever seen are her skanky boyfriend and their four-year-old child lurking in the parking lot. He is a DJ and has ridiculously loud stereo equipment (I can hear it now, as I type), and they make so much noise on a regular basis that I called the complex to complain about three or four times. I got no response from them, and finally got fed up enough to call the cops one night when the neighbors had people over. The next day I went in to talk to the manager and she told me that multiple residents had complained multiple times, but that nothing had been done by the complex until I got frustrated and called the police. At that point the office issued a 15-day notice and I haven't heard any more late-night noise from the idiots, but I was surprised that the office didn't take action sooner, if they'd received so many complaints. My neighbor came over to my apartment a few days later and told me that the office had told him I was the one who called the police (a very illegal thing for them to have done, if it's true).

All this being said, the manager was very sympathetic the two times I paid rent late, and is more than willing to disclose the area manager's contact information. She's also been very reasonable about going month-to-month. The pool is generally fairly clean (although the lining is chipped and gross). The laundry room is similarly kept-up (although the machines came from the same era as my kitchen appliances and there is no air conditioning or heat in the laundry room, so it's always uncomfortable in there). The grounds are fairly clean in the front, but the parking lot area is disgusting and filthy. The grounds crew have blown crap from the parking lot all over my car on multiple occasions and complaints regarding that have gone unheeded.

One last thing: I'm a girl who lives alone and I was very lucky to have gotten an apartment on the west side of the complex. The whole complex is close to a really rotten neighborhood and people are constantly cutting across the east side parking lot, so if you end up renting here avoid that side at all costs. My neighbor has had his car broken into twice, but he's an idiot who leaves his laptop on the backseat. I drive a '95 Blazer, which is a very commonly stolen car, and have twice accidentally left if unlocked with no problems. Although I am within walking distance of Mill Avenue, I WILL NOT walk home alone because the people in this area can definitely be classified as scary.

If you don't mind being a total jerk in order to get what you deserve, then you will probably be okay at Hidden Glen. However, if you don't like standing up for your rights or arguing for what's been promised to you, then I definitely recommend a different place.

Update: That ridiculous microburst at the end of August sent MORE water through my kitchen ceiling. This now makes 34 months that my ceiling has leaked. Thank goodness I'm out of here next week!

User Responses
From: lindasrule	Date: 01/18/2009
Ok so you don't like your floor plan,you picked it,you must have been happy with it at some point. Where you living there when the lady died? What are the weekends like? Are the people mostly friendly? Where is the nearest store?
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/24/2009
sounds like a nightmare

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