Christina L.
Yelp
My partner and I lived in One Henry Adams for a year. We were the first that lived in our apartment and moved out about half a year ago.
Warning - this is going to be a fairly detailed review, but keep in mind that I lived here in the first year of the existence of One Henry Adams, and there were road bumps that may no longer exist.
Move in process:
We were assisted by Emmy through the move in process. When we did our walkthrough before moving in, we noted that there was mud on the ground of the bathroom, and Emmy assured us that it would be cleaned up before we moved in. It was not cleaned up when we moved in a week later.
Despite having an email trail that noted what time we were moving in, Emmy was surprised when we showed up and had misplaced my renter's insurance. I had to resend it before she would give me my keys.
Throughout our entire experience at One Henry Adams, the apartment complex would regularly have trouble letting tenants know that the elevator was reserved for people moving. The tenants themselves would have to guard the elevator and tell other tenants to go to another elevator.
Our apartment:
We lived in the south building in a one bedroom. First off, there was a ton of noise from our upstairs neighbor, who played the saxophone regularly. We would also regularly hear our upstairs neighbors fighting and screaming "fuck you!" at each other. If you're the type of person who needs quiet, I would consider living somewhere where there is more insulation.
There isn't a vent for the stove, so if something was smoky, you would immediately have to open the doors and windows. The fire alarm is VERY sensitive - our next door neighbors set it off nearly every single time that they cooked.
The laundry machine area also didn't vent well, even though we got it checked out by management multiple times. We could frequently smell other people's laundry detergent wafting into our apartment.
There were also little things that bothered us. The Juliet balcony door was hard to secure and would let in cold air and noise. The bathroom sink faucet was set too far back. Oh, and there were mosquitos in the hallways at a certain point. Management called pest control a few times while we lived there, so this was an issue experienced by many people.
It was, however, lovely to have AC and heater control in an apartment, a rarity for SF. The maintenance people were also consistently kind and helpful.
Now, let's talk about the apartment facilities:
The Luxer package system:
While it seems convenient, delivery companies would regularly have difficulty with it, and One Henry Adams staff had a hard time keeping up with tracking the packages, especially around the holidays. Unfortunately there was no easy way to get a new code except to continually email One Henry Adams staff, sometimes multiple times in a row.
Especially since tenants regularly wouldn't know if packages were there because the delivery people didn't input them correctly, we did sometimes struggle with package theft - something that this secure system is supposed to eliminate.
When it did work, the Luxer system was very, very helpful.
The gym:
Overall the gym was a great amenity - it was mostly the other tenants that would make using it difficult. Some tenants had personal trainers who would come, and when there was more than one personal trainer/trainee combo, it made for a very crowded gym. The wet wipe dispenser would also frequently be empty, and even if it was stocked, most tenants wouldn't clean the gym equipment.
The gameroom:
Most of the time my boyfriend was able to play a game of pool because it was mostly unused on weekday nights. Overall the cleaning staff kept this area clean for residents to enjoy. It was a great spot to hangout with friends over.
Management:
Management was a mixed bag. Communication definitely wasn't great. There was very late to no notice from management when rooms or the roof patio were reserved. Once, there was a massive party on the roof deck that disrupted everyone, and an email only went out after I went and complained, along with many other residents of One Henry Adams.
There were multiple building evacuations for fire alarms, but we never knew what the cause was or if it was safe to go back inside. We had to go ask the firemen directly if we could go in.
But when management was helpful, we had a very good experience.
TL;DR: One Henry Adams is not the perfect apartment complex. If you're looking for a new building with good (not great) amenities, and if you work in the area, this is a great place to consider. But if you're looking for consistency, good communication, and quiet, you may want to consider living elsewhere.
