This page is for archiving comments from 2005-2008 for Almondwood Apartments.
It's in a nice area
2005-10-13 11:33:18 Can anybody living here hook me up on the sauna connection. I have been living in Europe for the last couple years and its something I've really come to enjoy but don't really want to join 24 hour fitness just to go to the Sauna. What do I need to get into their sauna? If you know send me a message on my wiki page or email me. —AaronBurda
2005-11-15 13:41:53 This is the coolest place, but doing laundry here can be inconvenient because there are only 8 washers and 6 driers for 100 units of apt... :-\ Some decent gym equipments for girls but just 1 for guys. As for the Sauna, i've never heard of it. lol.. —LanEvo
2006-03-11 18:32:15 I'm actually going to be living in a 2 bedroom flat with three other guys and we're paying about 275 per person. 350 if you count the Internet and PG&E, which is extremely nice. —TR
2006-04-28 14:30:30 Is there, or is there not a sauna here? —ChuckFrank
2006-05-22 22:05:36 I lived here for four years. This is one of the best maintained apartment complexes I have ever seen. Roger, the head maintenance guy, is amazingly efficient and has lots of great stories to tell. Also, there is in fact a sauna (and shower) in the clubhouse, but they are both currently being used as storage rooms. —BigDave
2006-08-21 10:19:28 Agreed with BigDave—Roger, the maintanance guy, is very friendly and efficient. The property manager is kind of a ditz, but not too bad. Lived there for 2 years. Pretty nice space for really good pricing. They allow pets; I have 3 bunnies and one of my roomie has 2 birds. Pet deposit $300 per animal but they are pretty lax on this. :D —StephPolizzi
2006-10-02 20:14:01 Lived here for 1 year. The management was flaky, always lost documents, and was not approachable. If money could talk; Our deposit was $1680 for a 2Bed Flat. We moved in and left the place spotless. Deposit deduction? $700. Most complexes around here have deposit's that don't even range that high. It might be near a bus spot, but dealing with the dingbat management is not even worth it. Also, be prepared to be shafted. —AtyNguyen
- 2007-01-26 14:30 Your deposit alone can't have been that high. Doesn't that include the first month's rent? I haven't lived here for a year but I haven't had any problems with the management. If you're going to compare most aparments around here remember that most apartments also cost a lot more, thus your deposit may be high but the overall payment is low. —TR
2006-10-05 14:22:53 I lived at Almondwood for three years and loved it. The pool and hot tub was an added bonus. The grounds are nice and the management was very good very freindly and helpful. —JennyMcDowell
2007-01-27 10:21:17 @ TR, if you've done your apartment research you should know the deposit should never be that high. If you compare it to deposits around that area, like Fountain Circle, sure. They're all equally ripping you off, but hell it's your money so I don't care what you do with it. —AtyNguyen
- 2007-02-02 19:55 Fair enough, but you feel you're being ripped off because $700 was deducted. That really does seem like an absurd amount to me. Was no reason given? Also, you're flat out lying about the management not being approachable. I just today went in to talk with the "dingbat" management and had no problems whatsoever. And what do you mean prepare to be shafted? If you're so fed up with this place suggest an alternative area to live at. Also, it seems as if yours is an isolated case, the majority of the comments here are positive, whereas yours is the only negative one, so overall... hey, you draw the conclusion. —TR
- 2007-11-01 And thinking about it, I pay comparatively lower monthly rent than my friends living anywhere else, so I'll take the high deposit any day. —TR
2007-02-02 06:20:14 My friend and I just signed a lease there for a 2 bed flat for the 2007-2008 year. I asked the manager why the deposit was so much and she said if students have a really high deposit, they're going to be scared and keep their apartment clean enough so deduction won't occur. So if we invest more money into something, it's more likely that we're gonna take better care of it. It's just a deposit, we'll get it back.. right?! —KristinaStasi
- Not always; see the Security Deposit Survey for other people's experiences.
- When you move in, check the apartment for any damages. Check everywhere, don't leave anything unturned, if you notice something, have them write it down. If you notice something in the next few days, write it down on the sheet they give you and give it to them. That way they can't charge you for any previous damages (there are always a few). —TR
2007-03-12 21:43:43 According to the person I talked to on the phone, this place does not allow dogs, only cats. —NicoleSams
2007-05-21 23:45:31 AtyNguyen is right...The deposit is insanely high, and they do deduct a significant amount. I don't remember the exact amount, but my deposit on a 3 bedroom was ~$1500 and we had $800 deducted (it's been a while since I looked at the packet they gave us with our return check). I've lived here for two years, and was pissed that I'll get a repeat preformance of this when I finally move out. The reason for deduction was cleaning (which we left the apt. in better condition than when we entered...so makes little sense), and painting (full coat of paint after living there a year?!!?). I asked Julia (the manager) why we were charged so much for cleaning and she said that their cleaning people have a list of things that need to be cleaned...if even ONE thing isnt checked off the list, then we get charged. Despite those flaws, Julia was nice and approachable. Other than that, Roger (Mr. Maintanence Man) is awesome! —KayTee
2007-09-18 08:53:24 I am in a 1-bedroom here, I paid an $850 deposit, and Julia (manager) is a huge pain to deal with for basically everything. At this point, I would say don't expect a lot from this place, even Roger (maintenance guy) quit because of her bullshit. The only good things are location and the huge pool, but rent and deposit are exorbitant and Julia is basically useless —AwtgSpbr
2007-09-23 12:29:55 I'm glad there are people who actually lived there who are in agreement with me. If they keep this up, despite their new coat of paint, no one's gonna want to live here anymore. I mean, c'mon. $800 for paint and cleaning. What's more ridiculous is that it happens more often than none. —AtyNguyen
2007-09-29 23:26:17 Nice place, but unfortunately my neighbor upstairs has no idea what headphones are and how to turn down her bass (her damn speakers are right above my bed). Laundry is also a pain in the behind for this place as well...
What happened to Roger? That guy was totally awesome when I was first checking out this place last year! Did he really quit? —Col
2007-10-03 21:41:46 I lived there for three years and it was great and all when we moved in. The people were really nice and it's a great place to live. The pool is beautiful, but the gym isn't much really. The apartments are pretty roomy and the kitchen has a lot of space :). However, come move out time everything changed. The woman at the office is a total witch (would put the other word, but don't want to offend anyone). She's insensitive and rude and I don't know how she managed to keep that position for so long because she doesn't deserve it with the attitude that she has. The amount they deduct from deposits is really outrageous and they seriously demand too much in their cleaning lists, but what the hell most places do anyhow. Even when you comply with all of the stuff they require of you. they still take a huge amount from your deposit check. Lol, sorry, moving on. Roger is such a great guy! If you ever have time to chat with him... do so! He's a really nice guy and has a great sense of humor. He's very helpful and a hard worker! Yay, Roger! —Ale
2007-10-05 10:53:11 I have lived at Almondwood for four year's now and love it! I have never had a problem with Julia the manager she has always been professional, sweet, and very helpful I have always liked her. I think the people or person writting these ridiculous comments need to grow up and move on! My friend and I who also live's at almondwood are reading these comments and laughing. These comments are obviously comming from an angry person who probably did not get their way and is very bitter. —LLVE
2007-10-08 14:01:56 To LLVE:
Well, obviously!! Why else would anyone write bad things about someone? Sure, it can be out of pure spite but I assure you that these comments are justified. Besides don't ridicule someone's opinion just because you don't agree. So you had a great time with Julia that's great, but not everyone did so don't expect everyone to give her praise. —Ale
2007-10-09 21:54:01 I have lived in Almondwood for ten years and I would like to clear up a few things. No, there is no longer a Sauna...broke long ago and was never fixed, sorry. That was about the time Roger became the maintenance man and many things went downhill from there! The laundry remained filthy, the work out room has not been cleaned since they put it in about 4 years ago and the bathroom never got a soap dish put in, and the lawn and grounds just went to weeds. All his job that he obviously did not do well or rather choose simply not to do. The people who are on here singing his praises are obviously some of the few he played favorites to and let them get away with breaking the rules. The truth is he was a very angry and voltile personality and if you crossed him he made things more than unpleasant for you. (I have talked to others in the complex that felt his "rath". I have never seen Julia the manager be in any way unprofessional and she has always tried to be more than fair. On the other hand I saw Roger be unprofessional on a regular basis and completely unfair. I really can't say too much to the deposit thing, other than the fact that I have worked for other apartment complexes and have had to clean after people who moved out "cleaned". So yes, sometimes it may cost you your deposit if you don't get every little thing. —dancer
2008-02-08 17:37:28 for this year. i am moving into a 2 bedroom flat .. is the security deposit $1300 for a 2 bedroom flat? sounds a lot! :( can someone verify this for me. —ChiYang
I can verify this, it does indeed sound like a lot of money.
2008-06-27 12:53:12 I used to work for an apartment cleaning service. We would clean entire apartments for the turnover. We charged $100 an apartment. Now if Almondwood uses the same type of service for their turnover, then they are trying to say it costs $700 to repaint an entire apartment. Isn't there a law about having to repaint the apartment after every moveout? Why should we be charged for that? I have lived in Almondwood this past year and the management was horrible. Julia is stubborn and treated me as if I was always wrong. She constantly talked down to me. —JackkiCox
2008-09-04 18:31:59 My girlfriend and I just moved out of Davis after 2 years at Almondwood for me, and 3 years for her. We were VERY happy there. We keep to ourselves mostly, so we didn't use the special amenities much aside from the laundry room and occasional visits to the pool, but everything was quiet, clean and happy for the whole time we lived there. Especially, every request we made of the manager was promptly dealt with, maintenance or otherwise. I highly recommend this apartment complex. —EugThinks
2008-12-03 17:11:25 The maintenance crew is so nice helpful, much more so than my last apartment. I've alwasy had my maintenance requests delt with promply and professionally. Julia the manager is also awsome, she is so friendly and actually appears to care about my day when she asks. The deposit is a bit high but not as bad as other places and you'll get it back, I'm sure all the complaints about gouging were by tenants who are vastly overstating how clean their apartments were. My grandparents were landlords, trust me, I've seen apartments where people claimed that they 'cleaned' and then come in screaming for their deposit back when we charged them... lets just say I wouldn't go in some of the units with a Hazmat suit on. I've had a great experience here and have renewed my lease for a second year. —NicoleHuff
