Okay, I was VERY nervous signing a lease with this apartment since the majority of these reviews are bad, so I got a lease to look over before actually signing and asked a bunch of questions and I've come to realize that the majority of people with complaints hadn't read their lease very thoroughly.

First off let me describe the location: you're located next to a Subway, Charlie's Coffee, Grocery Wal-mart, UPS, Massage Therapy, Nail Salon, and Frozen Yogurt Shop. You're also super close to Exxon, Circle K, CVS, Papa John's, Winn-Dixie, movie rental store, Cane's, and De'Angelo's Pizza. The convenience is great but with most businesses, there are shady people that sometimes loiter in the parking lot. You're .7 miles from the south gates of LSU and 1.9 miles from the north gates. There are TWO bus stops in front of the complex, and for the LSU bus it's the stop before heading on to campus, so as long as you catch the bus on time you won't have to worry about any other stops before class.

All of their buildings are tarped because they lost shingles in Gustav and decided to cover all of their buildings so there would be no leaking. They're emptying a building at a time for renovations, so if you live here pretty much the worst that can happen is that you're moved to another building, most likely one that's been upgraded!

There is a non-refundable application fee of $35 per person (including roommates and spouses and co-signers - not sure about kids as I don't have any) payable by check or money order.
You pay the rent by the 1st of the month every month - cable and a T1-lan internet connection are included (you can choose to get your own internet via Cox if you plan on downloads) as well as basic kitchen appliances.
You can choose to sub-lease if you need to (I know because this is how I signed with them originally), which is helpful if you sign the year lease and decide to change schools or something and don't want to pay a fine to end the lease early. You just turn the remainder of the lease over to someone else via the front office (subleasers go through the same application process as first-signers).
You may have two pets, each with a non-refundable pet deposit. First pet is $250, second pet is $150. They have pest control (you will be notified of the date before they come to spray), and when they come to spray they can make sure that you are upholding your lease agreements (this is in the lease).

You get one hanging parking tag per bedroom, so if you have a one bedroom, you can have one car, two bedrooms can have two cars, etc. The visitor parking is a bit of a walk, but it IS available, so people really shouldn't complain about the tow trucks, as they are a part of many apartment communities in Baton Rouge and this one is kind enough to provide a decent-sized lot for visitors.

Instead of paying a deposit before moving in, you pay it when you move out, and it's non-refundable. There's a list of cleaning and upkeep services that the money will be used to cover and you have the option of hiring professionals on your own to perform the services listed, so long as everything gets done to the apartment's expectations. It's actually cheaper to pay them to do the cleaning. The money also goes to re-painting the apartment for the new tenants. This is all listed in the lease.

There is a noise ordinance from 9pm to 9am, and if you have a problem with your neighbors you're encouraged to call the police.
There's a 24-hour on-call maintenance service.
There are two courtesy officers that drop by the apartment each night to run a quick check on the buildings and ask partying students to get quiet down or move inside.
The farther back in the complex you live, the darker the area, so if you're a young female you might want to have some pepper spray just in case, but this really goes for any apartment if you live by yourself.
You also have the option of activating your apartment's security alarm through the front office as added security.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/13/2008
This is obviously a biased review from the office staff. If anyone reading this is smart enough, you would give more weight to what has been said by the people who actually live in the complex and have had personal experiences. Personal testimony is always best (emphasis added)not comments by some office staff who is afraid of loosing their job over high turnover.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/13/2008
I'm not office staff, I'm a married college student. I felt like it was necessary to answer all the questions I myself had after reading all of these awful reviews. Two of the office staff who helped us with our sublease did live in the apartments, so even if they were to comment on this site about their stay, I doubt it would be as office staff. You're right, I wasn't living here during Gustav, but I moved in about a month after. We've been here a good two months now and haven't had any problems. I'm in a building with more families than college students though so maybe that's why we haven't had a lot of noise problems.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/13/2008
I'm going to dispell a couple of your own misgivings. First of all, I actually lived here during Gustav, and Highland Plantation lost FAR more than a couple of shingles. Most of the entire building I lived in was actually declared uninhabitable, and I had to find a new place immediately. Highland Plantation completely came apart at the seams in the storm, consider yourself lucky that you are only moving in now that most of the major repairs have had time to be completed. And as for that noise ordinance? You may be the first, or ONLY person who is even aware that it exists. The courtesy officers never once ended a party in my 2-year stay with Highland Plantation - you will probably have to call and complain to get that done. Enjoy your stay at Highland Plantation!!!
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/09/2008
I agree with the previous 2 posters. You can list whats in the lease all day long but it means nothing. They hold us to stupid ---- in the lease but not themselves. There are loud people and parties every other weekend. And the only time I ever saw a pest control guy was after calling the office every day for 2 weeks. The building they are "renovating" was condemned and the tenants were kicked out, after all, that's in the lease.

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