I've lived at Archstone Windward since about October of 2007. My lease is up in a few weeks [November 2008], and we are moving to rent an actual house in the area. However, I've had few issues while living here, despite the high number of negative reviews. The complex's grounds are kept clean and I feel safe here...children play outside, couples go for walks around the complex; it's a generally quiet, ambient atmosphere.

The positives:
* The community features a swimming pool, tennis courts with free lessons weekly, billiards room, fitness center, business office, children's room, car care center (overhead hose and pay vacuum), and a playground area.
* Archstone has activites like pool parties and offers after-school snacks for children on certain days.
* I have rarely if ever seen big bugs on the grounds. At my last Archstone apartment in Decatur, there were big bugs around the stairwells and such during the summer.
* The apartments are very clean when you move in, and they give you a move-in kit with essentials and a few snacks.
* Ample parking.
* Nice leasing office and the landscaping is kept up everywhere.
* Lots of local stuff - restaurants, Super Wal-Mart, Kroger, banks, CVS within walking distance, etc. There is also a Whole Foods not too terribly far away.



The negatives:
* The gates sometimes (I'd say rarely to occasionally) malfunction or are left open. Does not stay this way for long, though.
* The gate is effectively pointless anyway. A fleet of schoolbuses could follow each other in before the gate decides to shut....it closes very slowly and most people just follow someone else in.
* Thin walls. [Especially in the bathroom.] I hear my upstairs neighbor disciplining her kids and yelling "PUT THAT BACK!" / "COME HERE!" on a regular basis. You do get used to it, and if nothing else, it's free entertainment.
* Expensive for what you get. I have a teeny-weeny one bedroom with single garage and we pay about $1100; we are now moving into a nearly 3000 square foot home [with 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath, two car garage] in a week that we are renting for $1400. You could probably find more bang for your buck elsewhere, as we did.
* I'm not sure why they bother with the billiards room anymore. Last time I went, there was only one stick left, another one snapped in half propped up in the corner, some chairs in the room were broken, there was a splintered piece of wood from one of the chairs on the ground [with a nail sticking out], and there was a half-eaten sucker on the counter. Clearly, this is the result of children being left unsupervised in this area. They need to develop a stricter policy on childrens' entry to this room. And for Pete's sake, we all pay enough in our monthly rent to replace broken items....they shouldn't let it fall into disrepair this way.
* Some of the weights in the workout center have been stolen.
* We did receive a letter not too long ago advising us that a car had been broken into. I don't know whose, or what was taken, but I believe Archstone reacted properly and took the appropriate action and I haven't heard anything similar sense.
* We had a serious ant problem this summer, and we are on the second floor. Be careful.
* When it was time to move out, my fiance provided the leasing office with 30 days notice. However, they said they require 60-day notice and tried to charge him for the extra month. He protested and got that waived, but I thought that policy was a little bit of overkill designed to make extra $$$.


Overall, the problems I've had were in general minor complaints. We have been generally undisturbed living here and make no mistake - Windward is a nice area.

User Responses
From: waleed1970	Date: 09/04/2009
hi, this is a very good review, Thanks it helps a lot

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