My husband and I lived at the Portofino apartments for a year, ending this past August.

I would strongly recommend anyone considering this place to run away quickly!

This is the 3rd brand new apartment community that I have lived in and I have never had the problems I had at the Portofino as I did at my prior apartments.

Let's start with the very beginning: I was called two weeks before I was supposed to move in and told that our second floor apartment wouldn't be ready for another month because the water pipes had burst and the apartment was completely flooded. The Management got us a new apartment on the third floor and happened to reimburse us for the cost of a moving company. That's where the courteousness of the management ended though.

Once we were blissfully moved in to our beautiful, luxurious and spacious apartment things started taking a turn for the worse. Our air conditioner only worked in one bedroom (we had two). The pipe under our kitchen sink separated 3 times and flooded the cabinet under our sink. The peephole on our door was installed backwards. Not to mention the issues with parking...we bought a new vehicle and two hours after I brought it home, it was towed.

We recieved a notification from the management that they were going to seal our granite countertops (since they weren't before we moved in) the night before they planned on doing it. If we didn't move all the stuff off of our countertops, then they would charge us $750 for it to be done when we moved out. Well, forget that we had planned a dinner party for that night and it REEKED in our apartment for a good week afterward.

The staff are rude, rude, rude. And to echo everyone else's sentiments: for what we pay for these apartments and the hell we're put through for living there - we deserve to be treated like royalty by the staff!!!

About 2 months before my lease expired, I received a letter stating that the Portofino has found it in their hearts not to raise my rent for the next year because of all the issues. Well, how thoughtful...but how about giving us a refund'! When I got the follow-up phone call from the Leasing Office asking if I would be renewing, I laughed. Are you kidding me'!

The dishwashers SUCK! They are so freaking loud and they do not get your dishes clean. In fact, I swear mine were dirtier coming out...

Please - if you care at all about your sanity and getting the most for your money, stay the heck away from this place. Don't let the shiny, pretty buildings fool you. It's not worth it...

Manager's Response
From: Manager	Date: 04/11/2006
03/20/2006 Dear Valued Residents and Perspective Residents, Portofino was built on a 16.5-acre parcel owned by H.G. Fenton Company and developed on behalf of our company by Archsone Communities. In addition, we partnered with Archstone to manage and oversee the day-to-day operations of the community. As of Thursday 03/16/2006, we are very proud to announce that H.G. Fenton Company assumed management of this highly regarded Mission Valley community. Portofino is now the 11th San Diego County multifamily community to join the H.G. Fenton Company portfolio. With its addition, H.G. Fenton Company now owns and manages 2,800 apartment units throughout the county as part of its continuing mission to provide quality places for people to live. Founded in 1906, H.G. Fenton Company is one of San Diego???s oldest and largest real estate companies. We are committed to being responsive and attentive to your needs and provide you with quality service. This letter is a brief introduction of me as the new Community Director and your new staff, at the beautiful Portofino apartment homes. As representatives of H.G.Fenton company and team, my staff and I are very excited to become part of this wonderful community. Home is very important to us; therefore, our team will do everything we can to make your home and your community as comfortable as possible. Your comments and input are very important to us, therefore, we???d love to meet with you to discuss any questions you may have as well as concerns. Accordingly, as a first step in our familiarization process, we would love to meet with you personally. We understand that it will be a transition process for you over the next few months, therefore, would like to hear your comments, which will in turn enable your staff to provide the excellent service you deserve. The most important thing to me and the Portofino staff is your satisfaction with your home. We value your opinion and invite your suggestions to make it an even better home for you and your neighbors! In addition to many great changes that you will see happen within the near future such as weekly continental breakfasts and monthly resident functions, we will be organizing a ???Meet and Greet Hour??? once per week as we extend our office hours to hear your comments and suggestions. We will provide you with more details and a personal invitation shortly. Furthermore, we will be updating you monthly of any changes and different activities that are in the planning process. There are great things to come and I am very excited to be a part of this wonderful community! And of course, please do not hesitate to stop by and just say ???hello???. We would love to hear from you anytime! For additional community information and features, please visit our NEW website at www.PortofinoAptHomes.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon! Sincerely, Irina Polyak Community Director 619-284-1094 619-284-1137 ipolyak@hgfenton.com

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates