I've now lived in Marchwood Apartments for three months. There are some minor things to quibble about, but all-in-all, you certainly get a good deal at the complex.

The rent is less than any other place I've seen in Exton, and the apartments can be quite spacious. I don't know about all the floorplans, but there is specifically a one bedroom, second floor plan that offers a 19x12 bedroom. This is much bigger than it even sounds. After putting in a bed and dresser, the room was practically empty. Filling it in with two bookcases and a small "home office" desk hardly makes a dent.

I dealt extensively with the staff, as Iwas making a long distance move. When you make these kinds of moves, there is always the danger of one part of the move not working out. Marchwood was able to start my lease on the exact date I wanted, even having a unit picked out for me three weeks ahead of time. Most complexes set aside an empty unit at the last minute, eeking out as much rent as they can. I made numerous phone calls and a few visits to get details organized, and worked with a large percentage of the office staff. The staff was friendly, helpful and empowered to get my needs taken care of.

It is a large complex, so perhaps experiences vary depending on where you are, but I find Marchwood to be extraordinarily quiet and peaceful considering it has a very large number of units. Parking is plentiful for me, but I can see some spots on the lot that might be tight for others just due to how buildings face each other. Take control of your rental process and you should avoid this.

My unit had a refinished bathroom which was "single family home" quality. The appliances all work fine and utilities are pretty inexpensive when you consider they don't charge for water/sewer/trash separately. All you have is your electric/gas bill. That's it.

The negatives' The few that I've come across are:

The grounds aren't anything so attractive to write home about. They are sparse, but they are at least maintained! No gardens or flowerbeds or tree lots. And maybe that's just for the better, as complexes I've lived in that are gardening heavy can just leave sticky goo on your cars and leaves everywhere.

The first floor units that have a porch don't have any kind of fence or plant divider to separate the outside world from walking right up to the porch door. A little weird, and probably a 'feel good" thing that doesn't really do anything. One of the rare places where I was thinking second floor from the get-go.

The gym is a bit small for the number of residents that seem interested in using it. That's even only seeing the same two dozen people in there all the time. Toss in my girlfriend and I and it's rare we can get there in the evening without not having equipment for both ready to go. A half hour or hour wait can be required.

The pet deposit seems high, but I've also never paid one before. If you can get a $99 move in/first month special, then the pet deposit suddenly becomes trivial.

The laundry room is run by cards, and the card machine is in the office. To get an after hours key, you pay the gym deposit, which is a little weird. But frankly, with that many residents to manage, I can't blame them for locking the machine behind closed doors. It would otherwise be vandalized. The laundry machines themselves seem to work at about an 80% rate, and the facilities are not always very clean. Sometimes they are pitiful. However, I have found that may be the residents, as one room seems very clean and another very dirty (guess which one I go to). That may not make you happy but is inline with any other complex I've lived in.

When you move in, you expect a few quick maintenance calls. I made them, and they were all resolved quickly, sometimes in a matter of hours.

The only gotcha I can foresee is that management seems to _really_ inspect hard when you move out and charge for what I would consider normal wear and tear. I only say this because an extremely finely detailed list of charges was included with our lease. The reason for this list made sense, as it was stated they find it easier to let residents know ahead of time what they are looking for. It is pretty fine grained though and I do personally feel some of this is unavoidable and normal wear and tear.

So, you have a community that is far enough away from the busy part of Exton that offers 1) a spacious floorplan, 2) cheaper/unpaid utilities, 3) knowledgeable and fast response from management, 4) ample parking, 5) quiet, peaceful surroundings.

As a bonus that's out of management's control, Comcast's cable service and internet service is unbelieveable to this community. As an internet junkie, I have never had faster, more reliable service, and I have paid through the nose for that privilege in the past. Basic Comcast internet is plenty fast here, and the selection of cable channels is good enough at the lowest tiers, even if you want to watch HD and have a DVR.

User Responses
From: wartiart	Date: 08/01/2006
Comcast sucks in this community. I'm glad that you've had a good experience so far, but just wait. Also, apparently this apartment complex is the biggest pain in the ass to Comcast, which is not big surprize since they're the biggest pain in the ass in general anyway.

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