First off, the staff at the Avalon had this review removed as they felt it contained "personally identifiable information". So now, I present it without any of that (although the staff member I mentioned was actually named in a positive light...guess they didn't want the rest on there!). You should know about a lot of the pluses and minuses of the complex before committing for a year or longer.


I lived there for 12 months a year ago. I don't recommend the complex for a couple of reasons; but the primary one is the building staff. Of course, they could change soon and things might get better. That's been the US stance on Castro in Cuba, too, and we've seen how well that's panned out over the years. Anyhow; if you're considering Avalon at Grosvenor, you should probably know---

The Good:

Decent building construction, despite some of the other reviews on here.

It's not Soviet Bloc concrete soundproof, but not bad. I didn't hear the metro although I lived quite close to it.

Ample parking-- never had trouble finding a space in the garage, and since my apartment is quite near the garage entrance, it's only about 100' from parked car to the apartment door. Parking near the mailboxes is a different story, and people like to park on the no parking street and clog it up.

Quiet neighbors above us and a generally mellow, very yuppie crowd. I feel bad since we oftentimes participated in loud activities at odd hours and I'm sure it disturbed some folks. So it goes. I never heard any loud music, shouting, etc and I felt generally very safe.

Nice amenities--- 24/7 fitness center & business office. They run special community building programs and such; but I don't know what kind of turnout they got for these. If they had an email listserv; there'd probably be much more community built than with a pool party once a year.

Convenient to the metro (about 1min walk for me, I-270, and I-495 (when there's no traffic-- see below).




The Bad:

Utilities. The leasing staff told us that utilities would run $140 max for our 1BR. Like heck. We don't shower much or cook, but our gas bills were constantly $100 . We asked to have them reduce the hot water heat temp to our apartment, and the office staff just looked confused and claimed they couldn't do that (despite the fact that each apartment has its own heater). Additionally, the toilet had a slow quasi-leak and they refused to fix it ("it just does that") which made our water bills $75-100 a month. On the bright side, the A/C was fairly efficient. If it weren't already $1500 a month, it'd be one thing, but to tack another $250 in largely preventable utility bills on top...

Location-- although if you're familiar with the area; you know what you're getting. Nice "strategic" location; which really means it's a heck of a long way from everywhere, especially when MD 355 is jammed with traffic (every day 7-10am and 3-8pm). Then you get to the Beltway or I-270, which are both at their narrowest points. Enjoy the wait. Normally, you could just walk to the store or whatnot, but there is literally nothing of note within two miles of the complex. You are on a suburban ark, albeit one run by fools (read later).

Rat Dogs-- there was a barking rat chihuahua down the hall and everyone in the place seems to have a little ankle biting yappy thing.

The Ugly:

The staff was (with only a few exceptions) utterly and completely incompetent. Worse, though, is their arrogance and absolute refusal to assist residents in any way, shape, or form. If you're not signing a lease and increasing their commission check, you are wasting their time. People looking to sign a lease are walking dollar signs; those who already have are the lowest form of plankton known to man.

One would think that in a complex where the majority of residents are paying $1500 , that they'd be able to hire people with at least a modicum of customer service skill. Apparently not. It's one thing to be disinterested in your job, but it's another entirely when leasing office agents show active displeasure in helping residents. I don't know how many times I dealt with this or saw it, but I would guess that it's in the hundreds over the course of a year. No matter what request a resident made, it was viewed as a horrible, awful, sinful tax upon the precious Minesweeper time of the office staff.

Typically I would not single people out in anonymous forums, but since I no longer live in Maryland (and wouldn't want others to have to deal with the same crap), a certain one agent was responsible for the majority of this. His attitude,unfortunately, is contagious and several of the receptionists (seems like they went through a dozen in a year now) have picked it up.

A typical conversation:

Tenant: Hi, I need to pick up a package for Apartment #####.

Office rep: Oh, ok (rolls eyes; takes slow, laborious steps toward package room).

(cursory look at large room with hundreds of unorganized boxes)

Office rep: There's nothing here for you.

Tenant: I received a slip in my mailbox from USPS saying that there is.

Office rep: Oh. You must have picked it up last week.

Tenant: No. I was in Zimbabwe last week. It should be here.

Office rep: We don't have it, I looked.

Tenant: Would you mind checking a little closer'

(shuffling in the back room)

Office rep: We don't have it, I told you.

Tenant: Umm, OK. Why would the Post Office put a slip in my box for a package I don't have'

Office rep: I don't know, that's not my job. The post office does their own thing (alternate excuse: has a new driver; alternate excuse 2: didn't come here today; alternate excuse 3: shouldn't have told you you have a package which we don't have)

(Tenant leaves, prints off detailed tracking information with signature confirmation, returns)

Tenant: Hi, I have a confirmation that shows that you received this package today.

Office rep: Uh,who signed for it'

Tenant: You did.

Office rep: They gave me a number of packages at once (alternate excuse: It must have been the secretary; alternate excuse #2: No I didn't. I wasn't here.; alternate excuse #3: That's just not possible).

Tenant: Can you please check again'

Office rep: I don't have time to do this. Go check yourself if you care that much.

Tenant: OK

(30 seconds later, at the bottom of a bin of unsorted crap, lo and behold,the package is discovered).

This is the family rated version of the story, where everyone lives happily ever after and the packages are found. In the alternate endings (all of which I have experienced), they are lost completely, returned to sender, held at the post office, refused. and left outside.

Let me clarify that this is just a typical mail exchange. God help the person who wanted to get a second parking spot, change apartments, have maintenance done, etc. Once, we tried to turn in our parking pass before paying our rent for the month. After turning in the parking pass, we were informed that the rent had increased via a letter. Now, I'm not dumb, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the logic was here.

If you for some reason decide that you will never have contact with the office staff (good luck arranging that, but if you are moving back to Zimbabwe and just need a storage space, it might be possible), you may find the complex to be to your liking. Honestly, apart from the plethora of rat dogs, its surrounding suburban nothingness, and atrocious staff, it's not a bad place to live.

Of course, you could get the same location, lower utilities, and better staff by going across the street to Grosvenor Towers or one of the other complexes in the area (Parkside, for example, is not a corporate community so may well be more 'friendly' and is right next door).


(hint: if you do decide to sign a lease with them, deal with the complex manager and no one else. Also make sure to get everything in writing, just in case one of the less honest staff memebers gets ahold of the lease later)

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates