Lauren M.
Yelp
I would give this place a 2 or a 3, if the owners weren't absolute imbeciles. The CitySuites owner and his son are both disrespectful and rude (in person and via e-mail). They complimented me for seeming like a "well educated and put together young woman," but after the son of the owner (and our property manager) showed up late to our meeting (but thank God he got his bag of pretzels and Gatorade from 7-11) and was on his phone the entire time, my perception seemed valid. The son did not talk much during the meeting, and each time he did, his father seemed to cut him off before he said anything. They are entirely unhelpful, and it was the worst experience I have ever had. Although, the owner did repeat multiple times that they were receiving an award, but when you are a part of the same neighborhood for 60 years, I would hope that you win an award at some point.
Incredibly High Electric Bills -
We had electric bills up to $598.67 for 1 month. On average, our bills landed between $300-400 for electric.
Property Manager -
The property manager was the son of the owner. He was unprofessional and rude in his e-mails, and was even worse in person (showed up late to the meeting, accused me of moving a stack of files - which a woman who I believe to be his mother moved 5 minutes prior, was eating pretzels and gatorade throughout the meeting and was on his phone the whole time ---I believe he was an adult.) He also accused my roommate and I of abusing the apartment door that was broken after a string of realtors entered our apartment for a showing 1 day.
Unannounced visitors -
In the first year in the apartment, I was in the shower, and I heard someone moving around the apartment. I was terrified at this point, but when I put on my robe and walked out...it was the maintenance guy. He was there at 9:00pm on a Friday night, unannounced. This happened a second time (after we asked for noticed) when I came home for lunch, our front door was wide open, and the lights were on. I was a bit freaked out, so I grabbed an umbrella that was outside the door, peered around the corner, and again, it was the same maintenance guy and his partner. Lastly, during the showings prior to us moving out, we received as little as 1 hour notice for a showing. When we asked them to give us a bit more notice, they replied and said it is how it is. I was in the middle of cooking dinner when they showed up, and Zach B (Core Property Group) engaged in an argument with me and my friend, who was on the couch, because the 2 girls looking at the place asked why I was moving. I told them all of the positives, but I said I would like a better property management team and something more updated with windows that opened/worked, and not ground level. I'm not going to repeat everything Zach said here, but I would absolutely never work with this company again (I have before) because of him. (Oh yes, and he is best buds with the owner's son...go figure.)
I can't say enough about our experience in this apartment. Our first year was much more positive than the second, which was when the oner's son took over as property manager. I would never rent an apartment that was owned by City Suites. I have a multitude of photos of the suspected mold/mildew, as well as some of the damage done to our apartment by others, but the owners wanted nothing to do with "documentation." Be careful if you are working with this team. I know that others may have had fine experiences, but I would never work with this company ever again. I have moved in a new place down the street, with another property management team, and they are incredible! We are much happier, and it looked like City Suites had to drop the prices of our apartment by $450 and didn't get it off the market until 10/1.
Again - just our experience, but ask questions before you rent!