Please note that this review is only from my perspective in the THIRD phase, as that is where I currently live.

First, a little background... I moved here back in May from a small college town in Florida, and moved here for a job after I graduated. I read all the reviews about this complex and was very hesitant to even come look at the place, let alone rent an apartment. I really think that their poor reputation on this site (and maybe others') was hurting business, because I got some sweet discounts off my rent, so I basically went against my better judgment and signed a lease.

My apartment is very nice. It s on the fourth floor and overlooks the main pool. I m most impressed with the finishes in the apartment. I have yet to find another complex in a decent price range that is as well-equipped. I ve never had any problems parking, never felt unsafe (I mean, come on, it s Dunwoody!), and I have never had any problems with maintenance requests being fulfilled.

The only thing I really HATE about the complex is the lack of trash chutes or valet trash in the 3rd phase (not sure what the situation is in the 1st and 2nd phases), but that s because of my own laziness, haha!

Life isn t perfect by any means, but people fail to realize that they live in an APARTMENT! That means that construction is not going to be Grade A sound proof, you will have rude/loud neighbors that wake you up screaming at each other at 3am, and odds are that some drunk resident is going to pull the fire alarm at 1 or 2 in the morning. This is going to be the case where ever you live. You either deal with it or buy/rent a house in the country where your nearest neighbor is a mile down the road. Renting has its downfalls, but you take the good with the bad, and move on with your life!

Preaching aside, this review is to rate the complex, not the residents. Gables is only legally able to choose its residents based on their ability to pay their rent and their ability to clear the background check. With a complex of 1200 residents, there are bound to be a few bad apples.

I just think people grossly exaggerate the conditions here because they are heated when they write the review and want to make their voices heard the only way they know how.

So, with that said Will I be renewing' No, I will not. It is not because I dislike the complex; it is because I dislike the Gables company. I had a unique situation that came up where I had to temporarily transfer for work, so I wanted to take advantage of the Smooth Move program to transfer my lease to a Gables property in the new state I was moving to. Well, they wanted to charge me $4500 to do a smooth move. I only owed $2500 for the remainder of my lease, so it s obvious which choice I made. When I called to ask questions about this program, I spoke with Monica (the renewal manager) in the front office, who was extremely rude and condescending. I then went over her head and followed up with Corporate and the Metropolitan Property Manager (Julie), who were very friendly, but were still unaccommodating, especially since I would be remaining a Gables customer in Texas (where I was moving).

So, after that ordeal, I have decided it wasn t worth my time to rent from another Gables property in the future. This doesn t mean that I am saying that everyone reading this should never rent from Gables, but I did have a unique situation and the way I was treated was not conducive to a company I would want to do business with again. I just wanted to share my experience so that if you predict something like my situation happening to you in the future, it will not be in your best interest to rent an apartment at any Gables property.

But, if you are a typical, average resident, then Gables Metropolitan is a pretty good place to live. It is close to everything, traffic isn t horrible (except for now because of the holidays), and it is a great in-between place to live if you don t work downtown (like me), but don t feel like living too deep in the suburbs.

This is a huge complex, with about 1200 residents. There are 120 reviews on here for this property. Remember to keep things in perspective. Even if all 120 reviews were No recommendations (which they re not), that would still be only 10% of the resident population that is unhappy here, which is a pretty damn good satisfaction rate.

So, compare the different places around the area. This place is not the cheapest, and it is not the most expensive. It is a good middle-of-the-road apartment and as long as you keep a realistic mindset of apartment living, you should be very satisfied here!

They have pretty decent specials, too, so I would not rent for market value here because then they get to be a little pricey. If you can get discounted rent and a month for free like I did, it ends up being a good deal for the area.

Hopefully this honest review helps you make your decision (whether it is yes or no). Apartment hunting is stressful, so just do your research before signing on the dotted line!

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/19/2008
If you read through most of the negative reviews, it IS because of the Gables management which is the #1, #2 and #3 reasons to NEVER rent here. Who cares if you have a freaking granite countertop if the management and office staff is the worst ever. Zero customer service, you really want to deal with that because you have a tile bathroom floor or a nice pool? This is the rudest, most unprofessional, and uneducated staff you'll ever come across. It's like they never had jobs before. You could put a bunch of learner monkeys in that office and they'd do a better job. If you have a problem, trust me when I say you are SCREWED because this management team wants to hear nothing of it. So if you prefer a lousy granite countertop over not getting screwed...Gables is clearly your kind of place to live!
From: mlwj1986	Date: 12/19/2008
Yea, customer service is lacking, but the average resident doesn't need to deal with the staff on a regular basis except for maintenance, and I've never had a problem with them. I've had 2-3 issues since moving in, and all have been responded to within a day and fixed within a week because a part was ordered. In my dealings with the staff, I've only had issues with Monica. The leasing agents and Julie, when you can get in contact with her, have all been quite friendly, even if they can't solve your issue. Like I said, you live in a huge complex and they are understaffed. There is obviously an issue with management and staff, which is why I rated them low on that aspect. The complex itself is great. The staff is only a portion of what you rate the complex as a whole. It's up to whomever reads the review to decide what is important to him/her.
From: ericg.	Date: 11/04/2009
Thanks for an honest, level-headed review. I am currently in the process of renting in Phase 3, moving in next week. Some of the reviews here are rampant exaggerations, if I had to guess at it. Being a SBM, I have seen the worst that this city has to offer in regards to apartment living...sounds as though a lot of these contributers are incredibly spoiled and impossible to please. I am sure that there are definite issues to be had with the management staff, but the idea of persistent "thug activity" in Dunwoody is laughable. These people need to dip their heads below North Avenue every once in a while and experience true "thuggery" (for lack of a better term).

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