HillCreste Apartments

"This place is a bit of a nightmare. The facility is clean and has nice amenities, but this does not make up for the fact that the floors and ceiling have no padding, whatsoever. As mentioned in all the comments below, you hear literally everything going on in the apartment above you. Not only is it loud, but the sound coming from above actually shakes and reverberates throughout your unit, startling you or waking you up. There are times where I could not tell if the noise was my upstairs neighbor or someone trying to break down my front door. My old upstairs neighbor was a night owl, so he'd wake me up in the middle of the evening. At first I thought I had a sleep issue and even got a sleep test, but my marks where all normal. Eventually, I realized I was walking up due to my upstairs neighbor's foot steps, conversations, arguments, moving things, etc. You can completely hear the people above you having sex and the people below you can hear you. I cannot tell you how many countless nights of sleep I missed as a result. My new upstairs neighbor is a morning person. So now, instead of being woken up at 2:00 a.m., I'm instead woken up at 6:30 a.m. by their dog. I can hear it barking all morning and when it drops a chew toy or thrashes against its cage, my whole room vibrates and I get woken up. If peace, quiet, and sleep are important to you, this is not the place to live. The facility also nickel and dimes you with fees. Each month, I'm forced to pay a fee to receive my packages in the mail room, which is neither secure nor practical. I recently saw signs that they are going to be charging guests for parking. Of course, that's not all that surprising as I also pay monthly for my parking spot on top of my prime LA rent price. If you are moving in, demand to be presented with all fees so you know the real rental price before signing. The management will tell you they are doing their best and some guy will respond to this review with some corporate speak but, at the end of the day, the management / ownership are aware of the issue and will not do anything about it other than raise your rent."

"One of the worst apartment management team we’ve experienced. Even prior to moving in my roommate and I required a revision to our potential lease and experienced poor responsiveness. The leasing agent did not notify us she went on vacation while reviewing our lease and had to locate another employee for help. Moreover the lease was revised less than ONE WEEK before our lease was scheduled to start. After moving in we have experienced even more poor communication with management as they are severely delayed or just don’t respond at all. When detailing lease violations they conveyed an unwillingness to help and even put the blame on the reporter. Not sure if they require a larger headcount or better employees in managing this property as it is nice on the “outside.” However please beware of management."

"The BEST place I have ever lived. It has been less than a week that I moved out (to another city) and I already miss everything about HillCreste. I miss the spacious bedroom, the amount of cabinets in the apartment, the beautiful and easy to clean floor, the large windows, the silence, the nature around us, but more importantly, the crew! Jennifer and Diana are always there to make your life easier and are very responsive. Teddy, always dressed up, is monitoring the property with an exemplar work ethics, being always kind to all the residents and guests. He made me feel super safe at the building all the time. Chavez smiles and brings joy to whenever you arrive at the gate! He gives us a sense of community with his so charismatic approach! Marina maintains our building super clean, and is always there for whatever you need! Hugo and Manny and Alfonso (who is now in another Aimco property but is truly memorable for me) are always on top of EVERY maintenance, going above and beyond to ensure your apartment is exactly how you want at a very fast speed! And, last but not least, the course patrol guys were always responsive for the only 2 times I had neighbors going a bit too festive into the evening. :) On top of everything, the location is absolutely central and you can go to Santa Monica or the Valley very easily. If I could, I would bring the HillCreste to all cities in the US! Thank you everyone for making my almost 3 years at the building very memorable, and calm! From breakfast to sleep time, I was always happy to be there."

"After reading reviews, I was hesitant to check these older apartments out. I stopped by unannounced on a weekend to see how noisy/busy it was there. It was quiet and people seemed to be enjoying the pool (1 is open the other is scheduled to be reopened the end of Aug). There were a few people in the gym which was clean and there seemed to be enough equipment. I scheduled a tour for 2 of the units the following week. Thanks to the reviews below, I felt ready to find any hidden fees and flaws. Diana is WONDERFUL to work with. Yes, there are additional fees to consider (parking, packages, etc..). Every cost/fee was shown to me, put in writing and explained. Elevators/Entry Gates/Garage Gates all worked perfectly. I toured 3rd floor Premier units (Premier means it was refurbished). The one I picked was so well refurbished, that I would have sworn that nobody had ever lived there if it wasn't for the previous furniture (minor) markings on the flooring. The appliances seem brand new, not a scratch. The paint on the shelves/cabinets is great (no chips or peeling as some reviewers encountered) and the entire place was spotless, no dust, no debris. I checked all the plumbing joints, water flow pressure, fans, windows, and the two "move in repairs" I turned in were: 1. Mst bedroom window wouldn't open. **It was fixed immediately** 2. Fridge water filter needed to be changed. Yep, that was all that I could find. Diana has been fantastic via email, text, phone and in person. I seriously cannot say enough good things about her. The renter portal is pretty awesome too. You can submit maintenance requests and schedule guest visits and all kinds of cool stuff. Yes, this place is pricey but it has a lot more amenities than I expected. It is serene and quiet so far, I'll update if the trash truck or anything else is an issue. The neighbors I've met are kind and helpful and there seems to be a wide range of ages living here. So far (fingers crossed) it seems like people pick up after their dogs. If I could request anything additional, it would be nice if 1 of the pools was "Adults Only", and it would be great if they had more EV options available. They did just get some beautiful new pool furniture. The only issue I had was the lounge chairs are black and they were way too hot to touch, even with a towel I had to curl my legs up off the black fabric. The buildings are older and some of the hallways (exterior) show their age. The gym is small compared to other complexes. Hillcreste is a great choice for me. Come say "Hi" to Teddy the super nice gate guard who helped answer all of my delivery access and guest questions and I highly recommend contacting Diana and scheduling a visit. ***UPDATE**** After living here a bit I can say they they have the BEST maintenance crew here. Shout out to Hugo and all the folks that respond quickly and are super friendly and fast. One challenge that we do have is a SERIOUS lack of EV chargers, and for us, there aren't many other options near by. If you have an EV vehicle, this may not be a good choice for you."

"I recently moved into HillCreste and honestly it's amazing and such a quiet community. The security has been upgraded and my partner and I got a lot of help from Jennifer and Diana. We commited for a couple of years so very excited to watch the community develop."