OVERALL...

PROS: Space, luxury, location!, safety, leasing staff, parking, fitness facility, pool, beautiful grounds

CONS: Maintenace, some units are a bit outdated, a bit pricier than other Auburn Hills properties (but you get what you pay for in this town...)

One week before our wedding in December 2007, my now-husband and I moved into a 2 bedroom unit at Beacon Hill. We recently left at the end of our 16 month lease, and overall we had a good experience with the property.

First and foremost, Beacon Hill apartments are definitely in the luxury category for the Auburn Hills area - only the Boulevard apartments (next door to BH) are more 'luxurious' (in terms of living space, modernity, and fixtures) but the Boulevard apts are so ridiculously expensive that it's not even worth it. That said - BH ARE luxury apartments and are priced accordingly! If you're looking for a really basic living space for cheap, BH isn't for you.

If you're looking to lease at Beacon Hill, definitely use Scott as your leasing agent. I saw that there were a few negative comments about him, and I really don't understand why. Scott was awesome - a super friendly guy, really helpful, and really willing to work with us to get us a good unit in our price range. We had nothing but a great experience with him.

For our first apartment, space and comfort were our first priorities and price was secondary. We found that BH was really excellent in the former categories. Beacon Hill apartments are HUGE. We didn't have enough stuff as newlyweds to even fill the apartment. The amenities were above-average too: we hate doing laundry and were so thankful that BH provides full-size washer/dryer in unit. The kitchen was a decent size with a good amount of prep area - a must if you like to cook. We also had a lovely fireplace and vaulted ceilings, although these aren't standard in every unit.

If you're an Oakland University student with a roommate (or three), you should definitely think about BH - there's enough space that you won't be tripping over each other and they're definitely more affordable than the dorms if you split the cost with others.

The BH grounds are GORGEOUS - the pool is nice and the fitness facility is really amazing. My husband and I lied to ourselves and pretended like we were going to use the workout rooms on a regular basis , but we only went like twice. Both times though, there were lots of machines free. If you're a hardcore workout person, you'll love the fitness area.

The cons: We lived in one of the oldest buildings, and the appliances and fixtures were pretty outdated. 1980s honey colored wood abounds in these units, the stove was outdated, and the microwave was hilariously old school. At the end of the day though, those things were just aesthetic and didn't really bother us too much. I think they're updating the units anyway, so future tenants may not even see those fixtures.

BUT - we did have a few maintenance issues due to the apartment's age, mainly in the bathrooms. One time the shower door came loose from the caulk attaching it to the wall and fell down, another time some tiles fell down in the bathroom (they were cracked from age), and we had a few minor plumbing issues. I'm only giving BH two stars for maintenance since sometimes it took multiple calls to get a maintenance guy out to our apt to fix these things. Sometimes they were great, other times they were slow. If maintenance problems give you headaches, you should probably live in a newer unit.

My husband and I ended up moving out of BH after the end of our lease, grudgingly, due to the tanked Detroit economy. We had to forgo luxury and space for a really basic apartment across town. I expect that BH has been encountering a lot of this lately, especially being right down the street from Chrysler/auto suppliers. Honestly, the Beacon Hill price point is probably just too high for many metro-Detroiters right now. It's a shame. If/when the economy turns around, we'd be happy to return to BH.

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