Before I moved in here, I read the reviews too and saw they were mixed, so I wasn't going to move here. But one day, I had it with my old apartment and decided to start an apartment hunt, and just happened to drive by The Saulet. I thought, "what the hell, it won't hurt anything just to take a peek." I'm always curious about what apartments look like on the inside.

I went in and was a little intimidated at first by how expensive everything looked... and apprehensively asked for an application, figuring I wouldn't be approved for an apartment, but I was. yay!

The leasing agent/concierge, Lauren, was the one who helped me out, and she was really cool and helpful. I can't remember how many times I had asked to see EACH AND EVERY FLOORPLAN that they had, and she never once showed that she was annoyed. I figure if I'm going to be stuck in a place for a year, I'd want to know exactly what my choices were.

I signed my lease, paid my deposit ($200!! Usually renting an apartment in New Orleans means paying for your first month's rent, last month's rent AND a month's rent as a security deposit! My move-in was just a month's rent 200 deposit, 200 application fee, 160 admin fee and 250 pet deposit--- I have a large dog, but they made an exception because I wanted an apartment on the first floor, for easier walks, but they didn't have any, so I got 1/2 off my deposit). The only problem I've had with staff was with the chick in the accounting department. She LOST my rent check and I got a notice about eviction when I KNEW I sent it and she was adamant that she had returned it because I put the wrong amount and slipped it under the door (who slips over a grand under someone's door') and was basically like 'sucks to be you' And as it turns out, she had accidentally filed it away and DIDNT THINK ABOUT IT AGAIN even as she was sending me an eviction notice!. That's my only staff complaint. Don't just drop your rent check in the deposit box, GO INTO THE OFFICE AND GET SOMETHING SIGNED. Don't want for "your canceled check is your receipt. Get something signed when you drop it off. That chick really ticked me off behind that mess!

The rent is expensive... or rather it was. I have the Calais floor plan and pay 1565/month. There's no consistency on how they decide how much different units cost. Like I think they charged me a little bit more because I have a "view." And my "view" is of the parking lot (the CCC bridge is in the background, so I guess that's the view they were talking about). And SPEAKING OF THR PARKING LOT--- my number one beef with management is that I'm a little annoyed because I was all excited thinking that moving in to the second floor would be easy because of the parking garage with walk-across to the apartments. WRONG!!! I don't know why they don't think to mention that if you live on a second floor in the buildings, you don't have access on your floor to the garage. Clearance would be too low to put a walkway there. Also, a moving van couldn't go in anyway, because the clearance is something insane like 6'4".

What I like most about the Saulet is the fact that it is friendly to big dogs. There are plenty of grassy areas on the grounds for them to do their business and there are plenty of garbage cans around to dump the business in. However, it seems like a lot of other dog owners don't bother picking up after their dogs. I'd suggest they put a box out with some baggies in it, but I still doubt that would make a difference for some of the people. It's also nearby 3 parks, and I take my dog out for runs in them pretty often. During the day.

Yes, the surrounding neighborhood isn't the greatest. BUT where in New Orleans do you think you're going to find a good area that isn't surrounded on all sides by bad areas' I actually feel pretty safe walking my dog at any time of day or night around the grounds. Not because I feel at ANYWAY safer because of the gates (I've left my clicker inside my apartment a couple times and had to hop the fence, so if I can do it, anyone can), but because the parking lots and the garages are pretty well lit and there are always residents walking around as well. because it's mostly young professionals and military personnel and service industry workers around, there are people on all kinds of schedules here and people are always there. And they're pretty quiet too, for the most part.

Noise here is... tolerable. I can't hear anything through the walls, it's the people living above us. I can hear people walking in their heels in the areas that aren't carpeted (bathrooms and kitchens) and for some reason it seems like the people upstairs are always dropping bowling balls or clog dancing in wooden shoes, but I've learned to tune it out.

There's a lot of privacy here for if you're really big on that. Having moved from a place where EEEEeeeveryone always knew all your business, this was a plus for me. I've never even SEEN my neighbors on either side of me or across the hall! Love it!

On the issue of pests. I have a SERIOUSLY SERIOUS phobia of roaches, and you know what, I LOVE this place. This is the first apartment I've EVER lived in in New Orleans where I've NEVER seen a roach inside the apartment. I'm guessing the people complaining about roaches are people that aren't locals. Cuz uh... there's like no place in uptown new orleans you can go and NOT see roaches outside. There are some of the expensive mansions on St. Charles ave, and you basically have to wade through the roaches to get to the front doors! Having said that, as a paranoid roach-a-phobe who is CONSTANTLY looking around for them, I have only seen 3. One over by the pool, one in the stairwell, and one in the breezeway. I've been here nearly a year, so this ALONE has me looking at wanting to renew my lease! Seriously, this is a big deal to me. As for mice, I personally haven't seen any, but I've seen tons of traps for them around the grounds, so they must be around. Most importantly though, I've never seen any bugs or mice inside the apartment.

Maintenance: The maintenance staff here is great. my dryer stopped working very well (took 2 or 3 times before the clothes would dry) and they came out and replaced it the next day. I knocked the shower curtain rod out by mistake, they sent someone in to fix it. When I noticed there were no screens on my windows, they sent someone the same day to fix it. When my water heater had a tiny leak, they had someone over to fix it within minutes of my phone call! But better than that, when Hurricane Gustav hit, I was out of town, and I had someone that was supposed to be watching my dog. Well when the hurricane looked like it was going to hit NOLA, and I was trapped in Atlanta and my dog sitter decided to evacuate and leave my dog in my apartment, I made a call to the office to see if they could leave a key under my mat just in case I found someone to come get her who didn't evacuate. Well, a day had passed and I hadn't found anyone, and I was looking into ways to get back into the city to get my dog when one of the maintenance people called me and said HE would take my dog with him when he evacuated!! He took my dog to Mississippi and when I was FINALLY able to get back to NOLA, he brought her to me, perfectly healthy and happy! I don't think it gets much better than that for customer service!

The amenities here are really great... I just wish they were open longer. The gym has everything in that you would get at like Elmwood Fitness Center except for the group classes! My only complaint is that it's not open 24 hours (sometimes I get the urge to workout at like 2:00am, but the gym closes at 11. Also people keep their stuff in the lockers, so it's hard to find an empty locker sometimes. but that's ok since I can just leave whatever I'd lock up in my apartment-- you know, since I live right there lol. I LOVE taking soaks in the hot tub, and a lot of the time, there is some really nice-looking eye candy in there (and working out in the gym too. Lots of hot guys!) And during the summer months, people really utilize the cabana area. People are barbequing, eating crawfish, just sitting around chillin' and playing cards. if you're not a really social person, you might wanna skip that, but I've met some really cool people who live in the complex just from chilling on a lounger with my laptop by the pool. Unfortunately, at 10:00 a police officer always comes around and kicks everyone out of the pool. But if you tell them you will be quiet, sometimes they'll let you stay (you just have to be quiet). There's free wi-fi in the courtyard and in the computer lounge on the second floor. I work from home, so whenever I need to meet with prospective clients, I just make a phone call up to the office and reserve the conference room and have meetings there! No more having to go to noisy coffee shops or meeting in a crappy home office! There's also the clubhouse area on the 3rd floor where you can go and hang out during office hours as long as you don't leave it messy. These amenities are a god send for someone like me who works mobile. I'm not confined to my apartment when I don't feel like being sociable! They are allegedly opening up an internet cafe in the front of the building by the office, but I haven't seen any progress with that since I've been living here and there's also a subway. Oh, and once a month there's a cooking demonstration for the residents... it also functions as a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.

Having said ALLLLL of that, let me just say that I talked to other people who lived there before I moved in and all of them weren't happy with the living conditions, and the common link they all shared was they lived in Saulet Phase II, which is between Race & Annunciation. it DOES look a little shoddier over there and isn't as well lit, the gates never work and it looks kinda crappy. So if you're considering moving here, pay the extra and live in Phase I. You won't regret it! We jokingly call Phase II "the other side of the tracks." It does kind of feel that way. Their pool is always green and never really cleaned, plus it's smaller. It's just different over there, I've heard from people who live there. Another thing I'm kinda pissed about is when I moved in here, rent for my floorplan in phase I was 1565. NOW rent for the same floor plan is 1300!!!! Prices are going down, apparently, and I'm locked into this high price I'm paying. Not cool lol. Another thing someone told me was that before Katrina he used to have a HUGE balcony (all the apartments did) and now most of the apartments have these tiny "juliet balconies" which aren't even big enough to hold 2 plastic folding chairs. The floorplans on the website do not reflect that you won't get a big balcony, so don't be fooled.

I think I pretty much covered all I could in my experience with living in the Saulet. I've referred several of my friends to live here and they love it too.

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EDIT: I guess every other review on here was right, because I recently had an issue with management too and I'm getting the f**k outta there too! When I have more time, I will write out the details!

User Responses
From: andre3412	Date: 12/31/2008
Glad you are enjoying your experience in the new Warehouse District. Greystar was the original developer of The Saulet, bringing an upscale Houston or Metairie development to New Orleans, an extention of the Warehouse District. Believe this was there original marketing approach. Greystar was way in over their heads, thinking they could throw up Warehouse apartments calling them "chic". What was really designed was cheap suburb apartment living in the city. Was there a market? Is the Saulet 80% occupied? Hope everyone grasping some New Orleans living search for those buildings that have been around for centuries, and converted. Not some cheap suburb living in New Orleans. Be Aware! Good luck to those Leasing Agents at The Saulet!
From: jerrywanna96	Date: 01/18/2009
This sounds like a review by a leasing agent or the owner or somebody with way too much time on their hands. Give me a ------- break.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/19/2009
Yeah, I have a lot of time on my hands, but I don't work there. ACTUALLY I'm going to change my review because management recently did something REALLY f**ked up and now I am SO OUTTA HERE too! Guess the other reviews were right, I just, up until the time I wrote that, didn't have any problems. Guess my time came too.
From: Aal113086	Date: 04/30/2009
What did management do?
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/18/2009
Management didn't do anything but evict a tenant that did not pay their rent...consistantly. Yes, I know who posted this. Sounds kinda funny huh? The WONDERFUL management team that kept her dog while she evacuated for a storm, responded to maintenance needs with in minutes of the requset, keep the grounds looking beautiful etc... did something really $%#@*& up! If that doesn't sound like someone mad about being kicked out then I don't know what does. A little peice of advise...PAY YOUR RENT!
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/08/2009
peice of advise... really? Uh, spell check. Ever heard of it?

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