Verona Gardens 471 Acalanes Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94086

"Lived here for a year and just renewed my lease. Great location (quiet and convenient), beautiful complex, with very reasonable rent and renewal rate. The staff are great that they are willing to listen and understand my situation, and offered me the flexibility that made my moving and renewal hassle-free. I would recommend Verona Gardens to anyone."

"I have lived at Verona Gardens for over a year now. I have read the previous reviews and they do look scary, but my stay at Verona Gardens has been really good so far. I work from 8:30 am and get home at around 8pm, so my time spent within the apartment is limited. Here are the things I enjoy about living here: -The management team (Maria and Tanya) have been great in terms to communication, availability, and providing details on time -The apartment itself has hardwood floors, nice appliances, and a cozy balcony -The common area has a bbq and pool, I do want to note that I don't really use the pool much All in all, I read the reviews on multiple apartment forums and I wanted to stand up and provide my review for the management team and the Verona Gardens itself. My time spent here has been great so far, and I do plan on staying here for the next foreseeable future."

"Lived here from 2012 to 2014. The first thing you will probably notice is this newly installed sign in the front of the complex that shines at night with the ungodly brilliance of the brightest search and rescue LED light. It would be highly recommend to advise the management to make this appear less like a tacky brightly lit gas station sign that is meant to be seen from miles away. More a less a tasteful ambient glow is what is needed. The draw to the newly renovated apartments is obvious as they are decently modernized on the outside and inside, but after residing at the residence for over a year it was probably the worst renting and living experience I have had in the bay area. Most of the issues were due to the fact major construction and renovation occurred while all the units were being occupied. This included, but not limited to obstructed/sealed doorways and windows at unscheduled times, constant noise from jackhammers, scraps and hammering while redoing roofing / walls, and continuous construction projects with untimely notice (over the course of 6 months). Probably the worst event was having the windows and door all taped over with plastic during 90+ degree weather without AC in the middle of summer, while also not giving any notice as to this prior it it happening (nor when it would be finished.) At one point going back to and from my apartment during the day I had crawled through scaffolding, cut a hole in plastic, and had to clean paint off shoes before I entered my unit. With the high price you will pay, you also not have any air conditioning. It becomes quite uncomfortable for about a month in the summertime. Avg indoor temp of 80 degrees + during the day in summer. The fake wood flooring and granite counters look great together. How ever the bathroom tubs do become horrendous after about 6 months as the paint chips away revealing the original tub surface. This problem was identified by others and seems to reoccur every 6 months or so. The onsite staff there were not responsive or helpful in answering basic questions about issues that were often asked. Many additional issues also came up such as not putting up wet paint signs after painting and having it rub over clothes when accessing a common walkway, and not having an online rent portal to pay after a year of living at the apartments, the list could go on. There were a few things that were positive about the place. Onsite laundry is fitted with debit/credit card washer /dryer which lessens the burden of trying to find change to operate. Again, the inside of the units are updated and do look nice. The flooring and flooring were great and the ceiling fans are quite modern than most relics you find in common apartments. However the rent increase is unethically justified with renovations that were not worth the toll they took on living in the apartment. If you plan on living here more than a year, expect the maximum increase allowed in rent year after year. ($100-$300 a year increase). I could not in good faith recommend anyone to live here as the company in charge of taking care of the tenants did a terrible job of maintaining a good quality of living for anyone there. If you find it that most of the construction is taken care of, I would highly advise not residing at this community due to the poor practices of the management company. Even with construction finished, the idea of not having any respect as a resident is something that could carry well on into the future management of this place. I therefore could not recommend anyone ever living here under this management."

"1. The interior was renovated in Summer 2013, so all pretty new and nice, hardwood floor, new kitchen, location not bad either, close to 85/101. And those are the main reasons I chose it in the first place. Though there is no fan in the bathroom... So if you are like me, who would take a hot shower in the morning, but then wouldn't be comfortable leaving the windows wide open when you go to work (I live on 1st floor as well), the bathroom windows and corners can get a little moldy easily over time... 2. The first two months I moved in, I suffered the cockroach issue as well, which was really annoying. Luckily the property manager then at least responded fast, had people came in and extinct it, which was not convenient (I just moved in then, unpacked everything, then had to clean everything out of my kitchen again for the extinction, which were several rounds over months), but at least it worked and I haven't seen any cockroaches after. Yeah, there have been all the renovation over the past year as well, painting, tearing down the old doors, not super convenient, but since I don't stay home during the day most of the time, not a big issue. 3. The biggest issue I have with the apt is the very poor sound proof of the building. Though the interior is all new, the houses were old, and the fundamental structure is just probably really bad and not so solid. So, if you happen to live on the first floor, you can hear every single step of your upstair neighbors, and it feels like right above your head. Not much a problem during the day, since I will be at work and barely at home. Though, I do have a rather late sleeping schedule, usually go to bed around mid-night or pass mid-night, and get up on the late end as well (7:30-8), and I have a family that lives above my bedroom, that gets up usually an hour earlier, around 6:30 to 7:30. Waking up by steps running right above my head and an hour early before my alarm, and not getting enough sleep over the time has really bothered me. (I tried to shift my schedule to match my neighbors, but due to work and many other reasons, it was hard for me to make to bed early everyday.) -- The neighbors are good people, not they are being noisy and disturbing on purpose. I think they have to get up early since they have young kids, and they've told me that they've always told their kids not to run around t home, so I do understand and appreciate that. --If you are an early person, might not be as a big issue for you. But I was really bothered and couldn't wait for my lease to end. 4. Though there is a new website for the property now, including service request and stuff, as I found out from google searching when looking for a phone number for the manager, as a tenant, I wasn't aware of that until now.... Maybe it's just setup and still under construction for future tenants? At least all the time I lived here, no website I could use for such direct requests and communication. I had to talk to my manager and talk to him for all my maintenance requests most of the time, which I don't mind, just sometimes when I have something to be fixed, but I'd leave for work before the on-site office opens, and comes home after the on-site office closed, it is a bit annoying and not so convenient. 5. With all the pros and cons, the current price I am paying is already definitely not cheap. But without any change and improvement on the fundamental issues, but just newer exterior paint, another $300 per month for next year? I am out of here... I understand the whole bay area housing market is going crazy and out of control, and to find a satisfying place we all probably have to pay a bit extra than it really worth, but this one is getting a bit ridiculous... Personally, I need a place to stay where I will use it mostly for sleep, and hopefully enjoy some quiet time when I am off work, during weekday nights or weekends, which I found I cannot get at verona gardens, so I think overall it is okay, but I personally won't live here any longer..."

"Rent here if you enjoy roaches, your car vandalized in the parking lot and having your rent increase $300.00 per month per year. Over the last 18 months we have endured constant construction, paint fumes, water shut offs, and intrusions due to the "improvements". Let me tell you, you can put lots of lipstick on a pig, but it remains a pig. They are doing what many old complexes in the Bay Area are doing and that is painting the place to "justify" rent increases without adding value. I would take responsive management over a stainless steel range any day. These people do not return phone calls and the "on site" manager is no where to be found if there is a problem. Work orders are either ignored or put off for months. If you have a family, the seedy neighborhood that was at the far end of the street has encroached. Yeah, it is "close to everything", but most of it I wouldn't want to be close to. Be sure to add about $85.00 per month to your rental budget, because they have passed along the cost of running the "common" utilities to renters. I can't tell you how many times I've nearly killed myself getting to my car at night because the lights are off in the common areas. Not sure who didn't pay the bill - I did."