Ambassador Apartments,

111 South 49th Avenue, Omaha, NE 68132

"While this is a lovely building with beautiful apartments, it is extremely over priced and very, very poorly managed. We paid for parking but since they give out more parking stickers than they have spots, spots were always taken and we had to park on the street. The management did nothing to enforce parking and my car got broken into while parking on the street. The management is hard to get a hold of and when you do they’re rude and make up excuses about things or hang up on you. If I could give zero stars I would. Save your money and rent somewhere else. There are places just as nice for less expensive and better managed."

"When I first moved into this apartment, our first heating bill was $368. I told Cherie, one of the owners, that I was spending money out of pocket to winterize my unit. She told me to just save the receipts and I would be reimbursed. When I approached her about reimbursement, she denied saying that. Bob, the other owner, told me he would help me put plastic on the windows. In the storage unit, they have these big wood-framed plastic inserts for windows. He said I could use those--for a fee. He never told me how much and he never came around to help me with the plastic. I feel one of the main reasons for losing heat is that the windows are large and multi-paned, and the windows and all the panes are framed in metal. We were paying $1,225 a month for the unit. Two sconces in the master bathroom were in dire need of replacement. One was very rusted, the other had a broken globe. I requested that they be replaced, along with a broken-off porcelain towel hanger. Cherie refused to repair or replace the towel hanger, say it would be too much trouble since they were grouted onto the wall. So that broken piece stayed and the rusted-out sconce and broken globe weren't replaced for many weeks. That did not make me feel prosperous in my unit and made the master bathroom look very trashy. I had slow-draining sinks and bathtubs that I elected to deal with on my own rather than deal with these problematic owners. We had toilets that ran for weeks on end. I pleaded with the owners that the constant running was driving me crazy and that I was an environmentalist and wasting so much water was bothersome to me. I also let them know that I like to meditate and that was interfering with my quiet time. That's when they finally fixed them. We also had problems with mice and with hundreds of flying insects. Bob told me that pictures were only to be hung with wires connected to picture molding or to use Command picture hangers. I talked to Cherie, who said that I could hang them using regular picture hangers and nails, and it was no big deal because the painters would take care of it. I asked her if this would be considered normal wear and tear, and she said yes. But Bob emailed us to inform us we would not be getting any of our $400 deposit because of the nail holes that his wife said were okay. This management team has very poor communication skills. If I had known we would lose our $400 deposit, I would not have put a single nail in their wall. In my opinion, they are quite defensive. In my opinion, they are the most dishonest, unethical people I have ever dealt with. I would just would like a little justice and fair play, which I feel I'll never get from these folks. I am working to forgive them and move on with my life. I wish for the good of all and work for the greater good. That's why I'm offering this friendly advice to anyone considering these apartments: RENTER BEWARE."

"Communication: The Ambassador Apartments are beautiful but are managed by individuals who have poor communicational skills. I pay 1150.00 for rent. A pretty price for a pretty place but when it comes to my concerns and issues with my space I am hit with resistance. When paying that much for rent you figured that the relationship between your landlord and yourself would be pleasant and a mutually beneficial alliance, but this is not the case. I believe the property would be better off if they hired an individual that could communicate properly. It's unfortunate that the people who own this building have poor communication and lack of perspective because The Ambassador is one that will eventually be hurt by this. I do not like conflicts. I do like open communication and conversing with my landlords. I like hearing perspectives while my perspective is digested as well. This does not happen with these individuals. I feel as if I am a burden to them rather than a resident who pays good money to live here. Many times conversations are approached unprofessionally and later ended with cheeky comments. Security: The first couple weeks I lived here, my girlfriend's 600.00$ Bianchi bike was stolen. The landlords failed to send emails to other residents as we had agreed would be done to check for other stolen property and to notify them of the theft. I was told by one of the owners that I might have been watched carrying in the bike and that is why it was stolen or that I didn't slam the back door hard enough because of the faulty lock it had. (shortly after this this event i talked to another owner who told me personally he didn't know why that lock hadn't been replaced yet) Eventually I talked to another resident that told me this wasn't the first time the building had been broken in to and wasn't the first bike stolen. This was the first red flag. I noticed the back door was not a deadbolt lock because of said "fire regulation". I had to talk to the actual locksmith when he was here a second time to insist the idea of putting a guard plat over the lock. Initially they had just left by back door the same until I assessed the situation again only changing adding a lock to the communal storage area in the hallway to my apartment. (this lock is the same type of lock that was just broken in to)???? Heating: The first month I lived here, during the month of December my electrical bill was 340.00. The next month the bill was 280.00 during January. I was told by one of the owners that I should keep my thermostat at 63 degrees. This would make sense if the building retained heat at 63 degrees but it does not. If you're looking to live in this building be prepared to factor in a substantial amount of money in to your costs of heating your place. It truly is very cold in here during the winter time. Be expected to have your heat at least at 75 degree and that will not heat your bedroom. This is considering that I paid over 300 dollars with my heat going and a space heater as well. When mentioning that the bill was extremely high I wasn't met with a hint of understanding but the opposite. I was blamed with my over usage of heat and my failure to understand that winter months are more expensive. I have stayed above dirt floors in the mountains of Peru and I have also lived in building in Omaha with no heat. I am completely aware of what seasons do in regards to managing bills. Communication with them is always on the defense like -why something I do is making the situation arise. This is all very unfortunate because it's a truly beautiful building."

"I had a terrible experience while living at the Ambassador apartments. Many items, especially plumbing, broke. I lived with paint falling off my ceiling and walls in my main bath and my extra bedroom for weeks before I finally moved out due to the people upstairs plumbing leaking and the management made no effort to fix my unit or offer me compensation for the problem. Also, my heating bill in the winter went to between $300-400. Apartment was always cold no matter what I did...I got blinds, curtains...but because of lack of insulation my unit was always cold. I ran a space heater in my bedroom at night just to stay warm. The walls in the winter were very cold to the touch. The windows let cold air in. I was not alerted that the utilities for this apartment would be so high. Smoking was also an issue. I was told it was a non-smoking building but they allowed smokers to rent which left cigarette buttes all over the premises and you could smell the smoke. Parking was an issue. I fell twice in the winter on the ice from snow not being removed as did other tenants. Bicycles were stolen off of cars parked in the lot. Repairs on units seemed low priority. I had a running toilet that ran for several weeks without being repaired. Not well insulated ... I could hear my neighbors above me...this included just walking in heels...let alone talking or other things...you might not want to hear. Please check your utility bills if you are planning on moving in so there will be no surprises. Granted these are beautiful apartments but they do have their issues."