I deleted my previous review from June 2008 because things are much different in the past six months. Best thing about Avalon on Stamford Harbor: the view! This, of course, is if you are willing to pay for it...and it's worth it in my opinion.

Overall, I'd live here again in a heartbeat. We liked our apartment in spite of its somewhat less than luxury fixtures (i.e., low end washer and dryer and weird thermostat); the grounds are beautiful and the view of the harbor is stunning. Maintenance is prompt and all the staff have been very responsive. Don't be put off by the industrial looking area if you're coming from I-95. Yes, some poor people live and work there but it's a safe area if you're sensible. From the other direction you come to the property from the south from "Ye Olde Greenwich" -- so you can always direct your friends to take one exit beyond what the website says and let them be impressed by all the beautiful waterfront estates if it bothers you that much.

But back to the previous issues:

First of all, my biggest previous complaint was elevator access: staff is much more sensitive to the residents use and promptly "unreserve" it, i.e. unlock it, when the movers finish now. Heavy moving months are still early summer to fall, of course, but the staff has been much better about not leaving it locked until 8 pm -- or previously once overnight! -- until someone took the time to complain. It's actually okay now.

Secondly, apparently the staff does pay attention to children in diapers in and around the pool. That issue apparently was very short-lived.

In fact, the leasing staff is very accessible. The concierge staff are very nice and if you take the time to get to know them a little, more than accomodating. Well, not so much the weekend ones; they seem to be temps. Nice enough, but Jan and Charlie are quite friendly if you are. The ones who seem to have a problem with them are the type of folks who probably complain about the service in a restaurant just so they can feel justified in leaving a 10% tip. I've seen the interaction of some tenants and some do have the, how shall I put it' New York attitude' Personally, I've never experienced anything but courtesy and friendliness from the weekday folks, and the weekend ones do their jobs adequately but probably won't win any personality awards that I can tell...though to be perfectly fair I've had very limited dealings with the weekend concierge.

Gym is nice, bring your own towels. The business center equipment has been repaired. The washer and dryer in our unit is still noisy but they work okay, though the dryer takes two cycles of High to dry most things even in a small batch.

Heating and cooling is very good, but I do wish they had programmable thermostats -- or at least digital settings for temperature. The old fashioned slidey thing takes some getting used to in the winter, but the heat works great. A/C, too.

Carpets are being replaced as tenants move out this year, so incoming folks should find that a non-issue...ours were cleaned before we moved in, of course, but were clearly matted in traffic areas in the hallway and several years old; some mysterious stains reappeared about two weeks after we moved in. But the carpet installers are in the building pretty regularly now.

Again, overall' I'd live here again. There are cheaper places in Stamford, but in this case I definitely think you get what you pay for.

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