I hope to spare someone some misery and money. If you are looking for luxury, don't come here.

I will add some things that the other reviews missed and I would have loved this info beforehand. I did speak to many previous tenants that warned me and told me that I could get a better value elsewhere. I did read the reviews, but still didn t listen. I was swayed by the private setting and the beautiful newly renovated clubhouse. Keep in mind that you will not be living in the clubhouse! Since moving in, I have spoken to some current tenants as well.

There are good points and bad points. Could I do it over again, I would not have moved here. But, until I can afford another move, I am stuck here.

I am sure this place was great in its prime. The grounds are kept very nice. Unfortunately, the apartments have not been updated and it is over-priced. It doesn t appear that way at first, because I think most of us assume that water and trash are included.

Ask about all fees beforehand. I was confused when I signed the initial check. It sounds like you can just move in for a small deposit, which is what I thought I was paying to hold the apartment. Not so.

Also, ask about what fees will be included with your rent each month. I have never had to pay water and trash fees before. This should be included in the current rent price, in my opinion. But, since they haven t kept the place updated and energy efficient, they sure don t want to pay any utility bills.

You will receive an itemized rent bill each month that includes $40-$50 for water. You can pay online, which is convenient. But, it will cost a small fee and new account fee on the first bill.

Many residents don t stay long and money is made off of this as well. After 4 months, you can get out of your year lease for the price of 2 month s rent. They can collect the 2 months rent and re-rent the place right away. Not a bad profit. It pays to keep the outside looking nice.

If the apartments were updated, I could understand the price. I moved from a spacious luxury townhome to save money. This flat costs me more than the townhome did after all of the fees and inflated utilities and it is nowhere as nice. I should have stayed put.

I had hoped to save on utility costs by moving to a smaller place. My utilities are about 30% higher, excluding water, which I never had to pay before at all. My car insurance even went up because it is in a Columbus zip code, not a suburb. So, keep that in mind before moving to the "best value in Dublin and northwest Columbus".

The fixtures are all old (plumbing, lighting, etc.). The appliances are all old energy suckers. The refrigerators don t have much storage space so you can t stock up on things and save any money there. The plastic shelf over the bottom drawer is very flimsy and doesn t support anything that you place on it. If you do, the shelf will sink into the drawer, making the drawer impossible to use. Things placed on the plastic shelf will slide out of the refrigerator when you open the door. What a hassle.

The stoves are old and don t have gas ignitors like newer models so there is always a pilot lit for the burners and one for the oven. This keeps the apartment hot in the summer so the air must be on more.

The toilets are old and run a lot or don t flush the first time. If you get an apartment with a stackable washer/dryer, you will run it constantly because they are small capacity. You will be tempted to just go to a laundromat, but that takes time and more money. Not convenient. There are lots of ways that these apartments waste energy.

Trash is a real pain. The fee is $10 per month, but disposing of it is difficult and they don t tell you that until after you move in. There are no trash cans or nearby dumpsters. You must put your trash in your car (yes, in your car!) and drive it to the trash compactor in the back of the complex. Gross! How are people okay with this' Maybe I have been living under a rock, but I have never heard of such a thing. If I had known, that would have been a deal breaker. Again, not convenient.

The locking mailbox is nice and typical of most apartment communities. You must be sure to return your completed move-in checklist before they will give you the key.

Parking is sometimes snug, depending where your apartment is located. But, I have usually gotten a space close to my apartment. Be sure to put your sticker in your window asap or you WILL get towed and you will pay almost $200 to get your car back. The trucks come around late at night. Probably so that you can t catch them and stop them. Another scam. It does me no good if they tow illegal parkers late at night. I am not usually cruising for a space after 2am. I also think that the towing company should have a current list of resident cars and plate numbers. Stickers can get stolen or damaged. They don t care, though.

Service requests are usually responded to promptly. However, things are not always fixed right the first time. Their standards are lower than mine and they may just look at it and write on their report that it is fine. I have given up on some things and fixed some other things myself. It is a large community and I know it must be hard to keep up with.

There is an exterior storage closet off of the patio/balcony which is nice. Maybe that is standard for flats, but I have never lived in a flat and I think that is a nice feature. For small apartments, they seem to have good closet/storage space.

Amenities. The pools, the lake, the tennis court are all nice. The tennis court was recently renovated and is usually taken. I haven t used the gas fireplace, the racquetball court, or the sauna. The weight room is a waste. Very little there and you must share the 1 available pin for the machines that are there. The ceramic tile in the apartments is old and the grout is dingy. Most of it is in decent shape, but there are some broken, loose, or cracked tiles. All of the cabinetry is old.

You can hear above tenants walk around, run their washer, and definitely open/close their patio doors. But, that is apartment living. The patios/balconies are nice. Don t carry on private conversations, however. You can hear everything as though you were sharing the same balcony. The balcony floors are not solid, so some debris does fall through the planks to the balcony/patio below.

There are lots of pets. If you are not sure that you will be bringing a pet with you, don t mention it. They will ask and they will hound you about a pet fee even if you tell them that you don t have a pet. I guess they think everyone lies about having a pet and that is another way that they make money. The pet fees are high.

Although I have heard stories, the office and maintenance staff have always been nice. I hope it stays that way.

That is all I can think of right now. It is not a bad place to live, but definitely not worth the money.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/12/2009
Thank you for taking the time to write about our community, I apologize for your frustrations that you may have encountered during your residency with us. We strive to communicate all and any fees that you may occur when you first sign the application and up to the lease signing process. We address all major concerns, ie parking. We want to make sure all of our residents have ample parking and to do that we have to enfore our policy, we let all of our future residents know this before moving in. We appreciate your concerns and hope that we can give you contintued customer service and satisfaction while you are living here.

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