Portofino is definitely in a great location. The grounds are well maintained and there are many amenities available (24 hr gym, pool, jacuzzi, bbq facilities, etc.). The area is very pet friendly and the tenants are friendly. However, it is extremely overpriced!!! When I tell anyone how much the rent is they are shocked. We are moving to a 3 bedroom/ 2 bath and are still paying less than what we pay for a 1 bedroom/1 bath here in Portofino.

The amenities definitely entice you into renting here. However, you must truly ask yourself how many times you are planning to use them. I ve never used the computer room, clubhouse, signed up for cooking class, or grabbed breakfast since it s served too early for me. I ve used the gym less than 10 times, pool and Jacuzzi less than 5 times, bbq maybe three times. So basically, I ended up not using the things that made me move here to begin with.

In addition, another posting talked about the construction of the apartments. I totally agree that the apartments were poorly made. Upon first glance, they may look nice. However, upon closer inspection you will see screws coming out, paint chipping, uneven bordering, etc. I only noticed how crooked the walls were when I tried to put up one of those child gates. I could barely get the gate to fit because the doorway was so uneven. Furthermore, I have heard other tenants talking about rats in their apartments and drawers in their apartment that can t open and close.

We have one garage but it is located in a different building than the one that we live in. We are lucky I guess because we have only one car. People with two probably have problems. Whenever we go grocery shopping we have to drive to our apartment, unload the groceries, and then park the car. This is a little inconvenient. We did not have problems with guest parking since there are a few empty spaces and guest parking by our apartment. However, they have recently changed the parking situation so it may be for the better or worse. It seems as though it will benefit residents with two cars but make it more difficult for guests.

Another reason we moved here was the idea of having a secured community. However, this is definitely not the case. The gates are often left open which allows anyone to come in and out as they please. In addition, there are other areas which people on foot can easily obtain access. Cars come into the apartments by following in other cars. The security situation isn t that much better either. Management seems to beef it up for a few weeks/days and then it goes back to how it was which is pretty non-existent. I rarely see any security guards or off-duty police officers patrolling through. The --------American security guard mentioned in the other posting is the only security guard that I have ever really seen on a consistent basis and have talked to. He is definitely pleasant and a joy to talk to. He is aware of the security vulnerabilities and does his best to keep them secured. It s been a little while since I ve seen him though ..

Once you get tired of paying the outrageous rent and want to move out, you ll realize the trouble you will have to go through. Management says that they have this high standard of cleanliness and that YOU have to pay for your apartment to be cleaned. They talk about using black lights to detect pet urine and that you have to pay to have the apartment cleaned and deodorized. However, it did not seem that they had this same standard when we moved into our apartment. Our apartment was covered with women s hair. If they had cleaned it to the same expectations that they are holding us to, there should not have been any hair in our apartment. Long story short, they give you the impression that you will get little of your deposit back because you must pay to have it cleaned to their standards.

In the end, get information about moving out before even moving in. Be sure that you intend on using what you are paying for. If you do move in, you will notice that every week someone seems to be moving in/out. I think that speaks for itself.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/13/2007
wow, I would have to disagree! I saw an ------- american Security officer walking around. My guest and I were next to our truck and he approached us. He was professional, well educated, and understood both community relations and law enforcement. Being in the field of law enforcement I was SHOCKED to learn he was not a police officer. So the security is WAY better than before, and all of my neighbors seem to think so as well. Knowing portofino and there past they will probably get rid of the security company and hire a new one creating a problem. I look forward to the future to see if that happens. The parking, well I cant say much more. Someone keeps parking in my space but the guard says he cant tow. I get to park where he tells me. He can run peoples plates because he found one of the cars that parks in my space. Pool area, well we found a condom next to the jaquzzi, gross, but hell its summer and theres alot of us "young" ones that live here. Other than that, management is great, that woman Irina, HOT!!! Wow, she is totally hot, I wonder if she's single! Anyway management does a great job dealing with us, security rocks, and our landscaping allways looks nice. What more do you want.

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