Pros:

-Good area. Chateau Chillon is located in the Strawberry section of Mill Valley. It's a nice neighborhood.
-Excellent weather. Since this apartment complex sits atop a small hill, most apartments get a very nice breeze that keeps the place cool, even on warmer days.
-Very clean and well maintained property.
-Affordable. As many of you know, rents are expensive in the Bay Area, but I consider Chateau Chillon's rent to be reasonable for what I'm getting in return.
-The apartment manager is nice, if a bit scatterbrained.
-Quiet surroundings. From the inside of my apartment, I can't hear 101. Neighbors are also fairly quiet.
-Floor to ceiling windows in the living room and bedroom(s) help cool down the apartments and also offer fantastic views from some apartments.
-Free underground and gated assigned parking for most residents. There's ample guest parking for visitors and tenants with more than one car.
-Right down the street from the park and ride.
-Very close to shopping. Walking distance to Safeway and Starbucks.
-Close to the freeway.

Cons:

-These are older apartments. As an example, I believe the kitchen and bathroom floors are original. To be fair, they're in decent condition, but all the same it'd be nice to have new floors. Also, I have an old coppertone oven circa 1970. The carpet is a little cheap. It's matted down and prone to fraying. The kitchen counters are old, as well, and have scratch marks on them because previous tenants chopped and sliced directly on them. Everything works well and looks decent enough, but this is a 'no frills' apartment. Most of the apartment hasn't been updated in twenty or thirty years.
-There are no screens on the windows, so during the summer you'll have a lot of spiders and mosquitoes in your apartment. Invest in a can of bug spray.
-This one is obvious, but since the shower has glass doors, you need to spray every day with Tilex or some kind of bleach to prevent mold.
-The laundry room has one washer and one dryer and somebody always seems to be occupying them both when I need to do my laundry. Not only that, but the dryer doesn't work very well. Don't put more than one pair of jeans in that dryer at a time. I learned that lesson my first week at Chateau Chillon. I had my clothes in the dryer for an hour and a half. I finally pulled them out and they were still very damp. I hung them in the bathroom, but it was too cold and wet for my clothes to dry. I finally turned on the wall heater and hung my clothes from hangers. That did the trick. Now I do my laundry a few blocks away.
-The apartments themselves are kind of dated looking, but they're kept up well enough.

As far as amenities, or lack thereof, go:
-Assigned and gated parking.
-Lots of guest parking.
-No dishwasher.
-Garbage disposal.
-No microwave.
-Small refrigerator.
-Old appliances.
-Cable and internet ready.
-A LOT of closet space. Two hall closets--one with shelves, one without--a linen closet in the bathroom and a large closet in the master bedroom.
-Laundry room that doesn't function too well.
-No air conditioning.
-Gas wall heater.


I do recommend renting at Chateau Chillon if you want an affordable and clean apartment in a safe area. I'll probably move to a more modern apartment when my lease is up, but I don't regret choosing this apartment complex.

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