I'm surprised to read over reviews of people complaining about other people rather than giving information on the actual apartments. Here's my take on the good and the bad of these apartments.

Non-layout related:

Pet deposit: The pet deposit is huge. $1000 for one pet is crazy.

Pests: My biggest issue with the apartment currently is pests. When I moved in on my first day, there were ants all over the kitchen and a ton of daddy long legs spiders in the garage. I fogged both areas immediately and asked them to send the exterminator when he came on Thursday (he comes every Thursday and I have great need of him apparently). I have seen no spiders in the garage and no ants in the kitchen, but now ants are everywhere else in the apartment: the back of my sofa along the wall, coming in through windows, coming in through the exit door of the master bathroom, coming in from under the master tub, in every bathroom, etc. I am gonna have to take more drastic measures to kill the ants. I believe they are in all if not most of the apartments in this complex. When I toured, I saw single scout ants in a lot of the vacant apartments.

Parking: People say parking is an issue and they get towed, but you are clearly explained the rules regarding parking when you sign your lease. There are tons of open parking places everywhere on the grounds because they are so vigilant about towing. At my old apartment, they gave a week's worth of warning about towing, and there was never any time past 5pm where you could find a parking spot, even if you lived in the complex and someone in a parking spot clearly didn't. I had a time when someone even parked in my private spot in the parking garage, and the security said they would have to wait a few days before towing it! I couldn't get access to my spot because someone else who didn't even live at the complex chose my spot at random to take. At St. Moritz, I look out the window and see tons of empty space. But everyone that parks in the spots has a permit to, and I never have to worry about not finding a spot when I get home. When my garage is full, I park along the street near the park and take the stairs up. It's easy but there's lots of spiders hanging from the trees so you get webbed walking up sometimes. Small price to pay to not get towed.

Noise: I haven't really heard any noise that wasn't within the acceptable hours (8am-10pm). Kids two doors down skateboard a lot on the weekends, that's about the only noise we get. The air conditioner vents are outside and make a LOT of noise. Sounds like I have a jet running in my apartment.

1st floor: Garage
It's sweltering in the garage. If you see people with their garage doors partly open, it's because they are trying to let fresh, cool air in. It is really hot and swampy in here; I try to do my laundry in a hurry and get out. This is where your washer and dryer goes. The dryer makes the room smell good, but it makes it a lot warmer too. A little area for storage space but not much. Nice shelves to put up your detergents and things. They just replaced the squeaky old garage doors with new ones.

2nd floor:

If you have a 3 seater sofa, good luck getting it into the apartment. The stairs are narrow and the handrail doesn't help, and the ceiling on the 2nd level is very short. You won't be able to stand your sofa up to get it onto the second floor. I had to buy a whole new couch that comes in sections just to have a couch up there. Realize that if you have a large sofa, you may have to pay movers to lift the sofa up over the balcony, and your sofa may get damaged in the process. The balcony sliding door is very narrow so your sofa may not even get in that way either. The only other option is the inside balcony overlooking the entry way. You could get your sofa lifted here, but not without risking major damage to the wall and apartment.

Kitchen, 2nd floor: Wow, these are really nice townhomes, especially the ones with the upgraded kitchens. I moved from Los Angeles where I was paying essentially the same rent for a 2 bed 2 bath apartment with no upgrades, and 350 SQ Ft smaller. Here I have the fully upgraded apartment, tri-floor townhome. The kitchen is big for an apartment and even has a separate walk-in pantry: something I've not seen at many apartment complexes. Mine had a brand new gas stove/electric oven and new appliances put in before I moved in. The brand new dishwasher doesn't dry dishes though. Almost everything that comes out of the dishwasher is wet and has to be hand dried. Getting your refrigerator up the stairs is a huge pain and may kill you if you don't have the muscle or help. With a place with 3 levels of stairs, refrigerators should come with the rental.

The 1/2 bath is tiny and you almost have to press yourself against the wall to get inside to close the door. Still, it's nice not having to walk up to the third floor to use the restroom, but it is a tight room. Lots of closet space in here.

A large closet is on this floor for your cleaning supplies/vacuum/etc. Really nice and deep.

The fireplace is wood burning and I'd rather not make a mess so I don't use it.

There's only one logical place to put your television, and that's right up against the wall opposite the window in the living room. You may get a lot of glare on your TV.

3rd floor:

Really big linen closet up here. 2 bedrooms with vaulted ceilings, both of a great size.

Master bedroom has a huge walk in closet and a smaller closet (one for the woman and one for the man' :P ) There are dual sinks and lots of cabinet space, although the height of the cabinets is pretty low. There's an emergency exit on one side of the dual sinks, if you open the door its smelly and swampy in the common emergency stairwell. Just keep the door closed and locked. It does look sort of creepy though. The master shower is over a huge tub. Really big, really nice tub. I replace the crappy shower heads at apartments I live at, and with a nice shower head, this shower is awesome. Toilets are kind of low in these apartments. There is no door between the bedroom and the dual sinks, however there is a door between the sinks and the shower/toilet.

The extra bedroom has some feng shui issues depending on your furniture. The window is outdented, making it the logical place to put a futon or a bed. This puts your head against the window and is strange. Huge closets in this room, vaulted ceilings as well. The biggest thing you will notice about this room is that there is no door between the bedroom and the sink/shower. If someone is showering and someone is in the bedroom, the person in the bedroom can basically watch! Awkward when you have guests staying over together. The toilet is closed off by itself though. Lots more closet space in this bathroom too.


Pros:
Lots of space for the price (for southern cali)
Nice layout for the most part
Nice kitchens
Private Balcony
Lots of natural light
Washer and Dryer hookups
Personal Garage
Pets allowed

Cons:
Pests and lots of them
Low ceiling on second floor means you can't get your sofa in without paying movers
Hot swampy garage
Everything gets dirty really easily (white tiles in entryway)
Stairs (think about this, think about all the stuff you will have to carry up/down when you move; it's much worse than you anticipate)
Refrigerators and stairs are not good friends

User Responses
From: lemmings4u	Date: 02/17/2009
Wow! I was going to write a review, but i think you nailed it I 100% agree with your assessment!
From: salaaf	Date: 05/12/2009
Great review, I am moving in this weekend and I am dreading moving a fridge up those stairs...
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/02/2009
I am thinking about moving there or the St. Moritz. Wonderful review. Just saw both places and love them. One concern third floor in summer. How much warmer will it be than the second floor? Just curious.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/06/2009
I have lived at St Moritz for three years. This review nails it. The air conditioner does'nt cool down the second floor and be prepared for your electric bill to be a min. $200.00 (even when you dont use electricty that much). The first year we lived here we ran the air conditioner during the summer. Big mistake!! We ended up with a $800.00 electric bill for one month.We found out putting fans in the widows at night cools down the apartment very well, without the cost of using the air conditioner. Don't leave your car out without a pass it will get towed!! When there is an issue with something broken, St Moritz gets right on it. The walls are thick enough you don't hear your neighbors. During the summer nights They host all you can eat hamburgers and hot dogs and sets up a big screen and shows movies by the Tennis courts. The kids really think this is neat!! For the most part we have been happy here.

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