the metropolitan west chester 300 East Marshall Street, West Chester, PA 19380

"Ceilings are made of paper. I can hear my upstairs neighbors walking 24/7 throughout the night and day. It sounds like an apocalypse/earthquake is happening, it is very terrifyingly loud. I have several videos in my camera roll of the insane creaking sounds (that are louder than thunder) that i have to endure nightly and daily. You can hear absolutely EVERYTHING above you. Coughing, talking, doors slamming, insane creaking that sounds like the ceilings are about to break, and even when they move in their bed slightly it creaks the floor so loudly. This is not normal, the extreme lack of sound insulation is strongly preventing me from renewing my lease next year. For someone who is in college and deals with insomnia, these un-insulated paper thin ceilings have been an extreme nightmare. I would understand some slight creaking here and there, but this is cringe-worthy, the extent of how loud and unprofessional these ceilings are. These ceilings have to be worse than a homeless shelters insulation. I hear constant banging and creaking. I know the upstairs neighbors can hear me too, because whenever I let out a slight cough or turn my TV on, they start stomping like petty babies. This happens ANY TIME that I turn my TV on or face-time my friend. I didn't know I would have to whisper to be living here. Bugs are additionally an insane issue. 1,000s of gnats swarmed my place with no trash around. They bit me while I slept and while i was awake for weeks. 2 full bottles of raid and breathing issues later, they still managed to reproduce, thousands flying in my clean kitchen and bedroom, sucking me for my blood. Baby cockroaches were additionally found in my shower, kitchen sink, kitchen counters, and even my night table next to my BED. It was absolutely traumatizing considering how clean it is here. Hundreds of gnats ended up in my shampoo bottles in my bathroom and around the bathroom sink. They even invaded soap bottles in my kitchen which all had to be thrown out, full of dead gnats. I even found dead gnats IN MY REFRIGERATOR and in food that I was saving (and had to toss.) They even fly towards my EYES in my bedroom at night because they are attracted to my phone light, and i've had to smack them with my bare hands. Cant keep enclosed trash in my kitchen, because they somehow get in through the shut trash can and swarm it. I have to take all trash out to the dumpster daily and it still doesn't improve anything. When I cook food I cant enjoy cooking because gnats emerge from my cabinets and start biting at my arm and laying on my food ingredients. My front door doesn't stay shut even when barricaded with chairs and locked. It somehow pushes slightly open, even while locked, letting the winter cold breeze (10 degrees) straight into my apartment for weeks now, freezing the place up and preventing the heat I pay for from working at all. Speaking of heat, when I first moved in, the A/C system would not work at all and I had to live in 80 degrees for days. When maitenence came, they said that the building is old so it can only cool down to 72 degrees and not any lower unless they "charge the system up like a gas tank on a car." My shower makes a heart-wrenching, loud, beeping noise every single time it turns on. It takes me time and effort each time to move the drain stick to make this loud beep go away. Doors slam all day everyday in the hallway which shake my place every time, but doesn't compare to the thin embarrassing ceilings. Every time I have had a friend over to here, they ask me why my upstairs neighbors are rupturing the ceiling so loudly, and it is so embarrassing. If this place wants a successful future I suggest fixing these ceilings sooner than later. I wont mention the thin walls, the ceilings are just more relevant to me and my situation. I am glad to see I am not alone with experiencing ceiling and sound issues here, after reading other reviews. When I moved in they also warned me that my fridge might shut off- and that I would have to watch make sure it stayed on. I had to throw out fresh food several times."

"If I could give zero stars I would. I pondered over sharing this review for some time. This place is NOT luxurious in any way! Upon moving in we were notified of there being plenty of parking and that parking is enforced to residents only (absolutely not true). People park in the lots all the time making it nearly impossible to park there (I’ve had to park at other parking lots near by and walk which is beyond ridiculous and dangerous!). The office consisted of people who clearly didn’t care. Pools were not cleaned well or often, and the place overall is pretty dirty! Our apartment was filthy when we were moving in (we found nail clippings and dirt so we vacuumed and shampooed because the office refused to do anything). We kept encountering bees and other bugs entering our apartment even though all windows were closed… the office claimed that is normal because the windows are single pane. Additionally we kept smelling people smoking marijuana and when reporting it to the office if there’s anything we can do to stop the smell of others smoking from entering our apartment, I was informed there isn’t due to the gaps in the flooring. There were awful drafts with these windows to the point the curtains were moving constantly, and both the office and maintenance staff claimed there’s nothing wrong with the windows, there’s no drafts. Drains constantly backed up and drained poorly. The office sent notices monthly that they needed to enter apartments for inspections which became beyond frustrating and annoying. The fire alarm was going off regularly (sometimes several times a week). The water gets shut off often with minimal to no heads up. The doors (specifically the side doors) do not get secured allowing any random person to enter the premises… also the security cameras do not work, they never have, they’re for show (found that out when I had a discussion with local police). Packages tend to get stolen from the mailroom, which is typically secured with a coded door, but that tends to be left propped open. Additionally the pet deposit they take is not similar to a security deposit. They will attempt to charge the fee even if you have a service dog or ESA. When you move out they will avoid returning your security deposit back and charge additionally (I don’t know a single resident that has left there that didn’t experience this). Also, the rate of which they increase the rent every year is beyond appalling and truly unrealistic! When (not if) your A/C stops working, it’ll be several days before they get it working again. One of the heavy lamps fell out of the ceiling and no one was as shocked or worried as we were (we had a small child at the time so we were terrified for their safety!). They have a dog park, and when a resident’s dog attacked our child, the office did absolutely nothing about it! Which speaking of dogs, watch your step as owners are not good at cleaning up after their dogs. I can keep going on about the issues we encountered, but if I could sum up our experience… I would describe it as AWFUL! I would not, and will never rent from here again."

"This apartment complex is only good for the reusable bags received as a welcome gift upon move-in. Parking is scarce. Maintenance requests need submission every other week for faulty drains / sinks, leaks / clogs, light outages. To add, emergency maintenance line has no empathy or regard for your maintenance situation. We had an emergency maintenance situation in the early morning hours following the Fourth of July holiday… a leaky A.C. Unit. The A.C. Unit was left to continuously leak for 72 hours. Complete maintenance negligence. Front and side entrance doors are not secure and they’re unreliable. If a resident does not make an effort to pull the door closed behind them, forget about it… your building will be accessible to non-residents all day and all night long. Leasing office staff has no customer service skills, empathy, patience for residents or their concerns. Whenever you reach out to them, you’re seen as a bother. Consider this “tolerable” living, not “enjoyable” living."

"My time living at the metropolitan was certainly not enjoyable. Firstly, the leasing office has zero customer service skills- they always seemed to be bothered when any concerns or questions were brought to their attention. My roommate and I had to submit maintenance requests every other week- clogged drains in the shower and sinks, bugs, oh and not to mention our AC unit that was left leaking water for 72 hours and unusable on record hot days. Safety at this complex is a major issue- front doors are never locked properly leaving them accessible to just about anyone. They label themselves as “luxury” but can confirm that is far from the case. The units are very outdated as well as the amenities- but still rent was increased each year. I can genuinely say my quality of life has improved since moving out of this complex- do yourself a favor and choose to live elsewhere."

"I found many issues with this place while my mother was living here. The fire alarms would go off randomly without any notification or reasoning why afterwords, sending her in a panic while she was out and her dog was home. It was far from luxury and not at all worth the price for the quality that you got. Interaction with the staff always felt snooty and never took accountability for their flaws. They grab your money every chance they can and charge you for every little thing, yet their apartments are far from luxurious. I understand paying high prices to get higher quality, but that was never the case! So glad she finally took my advice and moved out!"