If you've been on apartmentratings.com for a while, you know by now that 90% and higher approval ratings are uncommon, especially in desirable places where the landlords are often less compelled to keep their current tenants because they're confident others will soon replace them. In Rosemont Plaza's case, the approval rating is definitely warranted and NOT management trying to fluff the ratings. I've been a student forever and I've lived at many places, including a few on the Main Line (I left all of them in good standing and on my own terms), and I was truly convinced that the word "good landlord" was an oxymoron - at best, you never saw them and they never saw you, and once in a long while you could find an honest one. So when I moved in, my expectations were low. The manager, Anne Garnett, gave a long talk about the lengths they would go to in order to make my stay a good one, but I was pretty cynical and thought that was just pre-lease lip service. That was far from the truth. After a year here, I'm a believer and I'm sad to have to leave now that I'm finally done with school. This really is one place where you can't miss.
I wouldn't expect you to believe me without examples. The first one involves their efforts in helping the tenants. I didn't get info about my job after tons of interviews until late March and therefore, I had to tell them I would be moving out past the 90 day deadline for my lease (a pretty standard stipulation in all of my Philly area leases) and they had every right (by the lease, at least) to hit me with a bill for full June rent despite the fact I'd be long gone. Anne looked seriously upset when telling me this and told me she'd do everything to try to get a tenant in early. This is where most stories end with them charging you June rent, and I thought that was the case when I got a very early morning letter from the higher-ups at University City Housing the next week saying, in effect, that. But get this Anne called me *before* I talked to her about it that same day, when her office opened, saying she heard about the letter as well as apologizing and saying she had already found a tenant and not to worry. Who does that' I'm not saying she can magically do this for everyone, but I am saying she really will try and not just give you lip service like most places. Monetarily, she had no benefit in getting my rent or the new tenants, and theoretically if she was less ethical she could've easily gotten both rent payments as she knew I *had* to leave but she helped instead - that's really who she is and what she's about.
Of course, this wasn't nearly the only case of kindness I saw from staff. From start to finish, they were universally nice and open. Want to see the lease' I was crazy paranoid on signing day (who isn't after a couple years of renting') and she actually let me leave with it and look it over - get another place in the area to do that! It was the first time in years I didn't have a manager 'accidentally' omit or neglect to tell me some of the more strident parts of the lease - Anne and the staff were straight shooters, rare in my travels. I never had to haggle over conditions of the lease either - it's reasonable and seems like a standard copy for all tenants. You won't get the runaround ever from the office about questions or maintenance issues, and they have somebody there pretty much 8 am -10pm every day of the week, far outstripping most 9-5 Monday-Friday places. If they have to come into your place (which is not frequent, usually for seasonal radiator changes etc.) they will give you proper courteous notice. I had few maintenance issues - my stove fan and a slow drain were fixed within 24 hours of my complaint. The bottom line here is that staff competence, friendliness and especially honesty is one of the hardest things to find in a place, and you will find them here in spades. Many of the staff working under Anne lives on-site and you'll see them around, just hanging out, when they're not on duty and even if they're off-duty they'll talk to you about concerns with a smile and get back to you.
While I think staff is the number one factor to look for in a place, I want to talk about facilities too. I've seen a couple of complaints about noise on this site I can say that I have heard my neighbors less than 10 times the entire year. They have a baby and I've heard a couple of its particularly loud squeals but none of its usual crying. The walls aren't thin unless maybe you're comparing them to super solid plaster walls in a very old house - relatively, the walls and floor are very good. I heard some stepping above me less than 5 times this year, pretty solid if you ask me. The street noise is going to be anywhere you'd rent on Lancaster Ave., but it is a good deal better at Rosemont Plaza because the apartments are around 150-200 feet of the road itself - it never bothered me, and all I usually heard was either the occasional big semi using its engine brake or a fire truck/ambulance/police siren, which weren't a problem (and I'm really picky about that). The facilities weren't brand new, but were at least as good as any other apartment I looked at, and certainly very good for the price. I see a small number of complaints about security on this site I mean, there isn't a guard like you have in Center City that sees you every day for a year but still menacingly stops you and asks for ID every day, but after five the doors are all locked, they're solid, and again as good or better than other places I've rented in the area. Also, there is generally someone there from staff till 10-11 pm who keeps an eye on things. I also saw a couple people talking about the parking in their reviews here, although I wonder if they've been Philly area tenants before. Here, you have free parking, and yes you may have to walk up to 150-200 (lit with floodlights) feet on occasion. The fact that parking exists is an asset in the area, and the fact it s free is amazing. The lot is huge and I can guarantee that even if you have to walk, you *will* always have parking - the more distant last 25% of the lot never filled up all year. Also, unlike some other more greedy management companies, they don t rent their additional spaces out to outsiders so you won't be competing with many non-tenants. If the situation bothers you, you can get a garage spot for a fair fee, $60/mo in our cases, as my girlfriend did without a problem - totally worth it for her, but not necessary. A set of cameras are also strategically placed for added security, and they're taped in the office. All in all, management took a lot of measures to make you feel safer that would be laughed at in other Main Line management offices. The year before, I had to walk twice as long to park outdoors and paid a fee for much shabbier parking, and my management rented out (saw them posted on Craigslist, heh) the spots they didn't have leased out with tenants so that you always walked forever and your visitors were screwed on parking. And many places just don't have a parking lot. In summary: Parking here is solid. Also, the heating and A/C are *awesome* in Rosemont, and free despite the fact that they have low/med/high settings you can control. They really work. It's committed A/C in summer and heat in winter, which may lead to 1-2 hot or cool days during the switch as seasons change, but they're sensible about it and I only spent one day kinda cold this winter when the weather was a step ahead of maintenance. Also, they have a committed cable/DSL modem service (Hotwire) but it's good - you get 80 channels including several from HBO - and it's dirt cheap (cable plus internet was free the first three months, seriously!). The internet is fast enough, even for large files (usually 150-225 kb/sec when I was there, songs downloaded in about 30 seconds). I actually am looking into getting Hotwire in my new place after having it that year. One of the complaints I saw here about the hallways being dirty wasn't the same for me - they were pretty clean and I saw them cleaning them on a few occasions throughout the year. There is a pool that I hear is nice, although it costs a fee to get in and I never went in it because I'd just hop over to a park to swim. There is a laundry chute, so you won't need to walk outside at night or in the winter - a little thing that turns out to be a big help. The only thing that I would change if I could was that my neighbors must have ate pure fried onions by the smell of the hallway in front of them, but the smell didn't linger that much past dinnertime and rarely made it inside my room - and to be fair I never complained about it to anyone. The coin laundry/dryer facility is more than sufficient and is 75 cents a pop - ridiculously low! And with three elevators, you won't have to wait long for them if you don't feel like taking the stairs.
The location of the Rosemont Plaza is also right up there with staff strength as a top draw. I walked < 5 minutes in the morning to the regional rail for the 25 minute trip to Philly (worth the commute for me...I disliked the Center City experience after a few years and the cockroaches the size of hamsters on Market Street downtown). There's an awesome park across the street, complete with an asphalt path, that's great for running. I never had any problem with bees, hornets, or wasps, and outside of a couple spiders in the room I never had a problem. There's Villanova down the road, so you get walking distance to the events and pubs if you want to get your drink on while the kids are just far enough away to not bother you all night. You re a mile off of I-476 if you're a commuter as well, which makes this place much better than places such as Narberth or Ardmore, where it can take much longer to get to the freeway.
Another nice aspect of the building is that most of the people in it aren't 18/19 - they have to be grad students or older. So you're probably not gonna have a 4am dance party on any side of you. However, if you plan on having a lot of those parties you may want to look at something more student-oriented - at Rosemont Plaza they keep the place quiet and you'll probably catch too much attention with a big party. That's maybe the only way you'll catch flak from management is by making neighbors upset with too much noise.
One of the coolest things Anne did happened after I left. She saw that there was a mail notice on my door and that I had a few things in my mailbox and brought it to my attention via a phone call and made sure I had changed my address and forwarded the things in my box (I had changed addresses but a couple things sneaked past the change). It was funny because I had talked to a post office worker about this the same day and they told me they'd call me back - yet Anne took care of it without me notifying her before the post office did. This is after she knew she wouldn't make another cent off me, and she still followed through. You can't buy that kind of management anywhere else. It's a good mix of a cool on-site staff and a head management company wise enough to know that they make more money keeping the place chock full with happy tenants writing recommendations like this than they do nickel-and-diming all the tenants and causing a number to leave. If you're working or going to grad school anywhere in the Philly area, you should give Rosemont Plaza a look - you really can't beat it, especially for the money, and it has a great atmosphere. I'd go back in a second if I was still in the area, and my girlfriend completely agrees. If you're looking for a place and they have an opening, take it - you won't regret it.

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