HillTop — Attraction in Austin

A lot of the reviews on here are definitely paid reviews, so here is my experience from a genuine resident. I stayed in a 4x4 at HillTop from 2021-2022.

Pros: • Modernish interior. The furniture is somewhat contemporary looking. • The bed is fairly large and comfortable. It's almost as big as a queen-sized mattress i think. • Room sizes vary, but I had the biggest room in my apartment with an attached bath. All roommates pay the same rate, so if you know your roommates beforehand, you can discuss which room you want. • Residents are generally pretty nice and not too loud. It's not filled with frat/sorority kids like some other West Campus apartments. • Maintenance was actually pretty quick, surprisingly. Whenever I submitted a request, it was usually addressed within the next day or two. • The gym is above-average for an apartment. It's got a decent variety of workout machines. • There's a free printer in the study lounge which was super handy. • The filtered water bottle filler in the lobby was super underrated. Used it everyday. • The 642 West Campus bus stop is like a two minute walk down the street. • Their community rewards thingy was also nice because it let you earn free e- gift cards. • Generally speaking, management was fine. Didn't really encounter any issues with them.

Cons: • Price for the distance. HillTop was definitely about a solid 10 minute walk to campus. You get used to the walk pretty quickly, though. It's just they are charging the same rates as other West Campus apartments that are much closer to campus. However, if you sign your lease in the spring or summer time, they will have a lot of discounts off the rent (same goes for other apartments). We signed our lease in late July and managed to secure the last fully vacant 4x4 for $950/mo. Still kinda pricey, but it was $300 off the rent. Utilities ended up being about $25-35/mo on top of that. • The internet is included in the rent cost, but it's your classic MyCampusNet ISP. It works fine for the most part, but occasionally has its moments. I do a lot of cloud gaming and basically had to only play in 720p quality because the network was pretty congested. • Noise was another annoying factor in the apartment. The walls are pretty thin and there's a decent gap under the bedroom doors. You can hear your roommates talking or walking around pretty clearly, even from a couple rooms away. The trash truck also comes right in the side-alley almost every day at like 5 or 6 in the morning, and the noise definitely woke me up every time. • Sometimes, if you and your roommate are showering at the same time or if they just finished their shower, the water might be cold. • The fire alarm went off at least like 2-3 times a month to the point that residents just stopped evacuating because it was always an issue with someone burning their food. • Not really a big deal, but I just have to say that their marketing emails were so cringe lol

Overall, I did enjoy staying at HillTop. If you're able to get a good rate, I would still recommend the apartment...

When I signed to live here, they persuaded us by claiming that the empty building below would become a restaurant/bar by the time we moved in - It’s been 6+ months since move-in, and there has been no sign of that happening. They also claimed to open a separate BBQ/concession stand, and there is a space for it, however there have been no moves to make that happen. I don’t even care if we have the BBQ and restaurant, I just don’t like liars.

If you order a package, there is about a 50/50 chance you get it because there is usually no one is at the desk to take the mail and put it in the mail room.

Once everything went back to normal after the winter storm, management decided that it’d be a good idea to leave the garage doors open, so there have been a ton of break-ins. It’s like an NFL team benching their perfectly healthy offensive line for a bunch of 4th graders, anyone can get in. Management hired a towing company to prey on cars that are double parked, and sometimes parking on the line is the only option as the spaces (which were advertised as being large, by the way) are hardly large enough for a compact car. I was towed with no warning, and had to pay $200+ to get my car out of impound (on top of the $150 parking costs per month). I had to go get it out of a lot where the lot operator lived in attached trailer, and I’m pretty sure she was huffing paint before I got there because she had paint on her mouth when she came out to get me my car - that has nothing to do with Hilltop but it’s important that you know.

Don’t live here if you’re 7’0 tall, the ceilings are low and you will probably scrape your head a lot, which would be infuriating to have in your own home. As for the room itself, it’s not worth what you’re paying for - I have a well-sized room with an en-suite bath, but I’m sure you could easily find an equally nice space for $200 less. The windows don’t open, so be prepared to smell whatever you cook for a week straight. Don’t cook fish. All throughout the semester there have been problems with appliances and utilities that require maintenance requests - lights, water, you name it, I’m sure I or someone else in the building has had to deal with it. Also the internet sucks.

I’m probably coming off as whiny little brat and I understand that there are a lot of poorly managed places in West Campus, but for a place that’s advertised as “Luxury Student Living”, you could do a lot...

Do NOT stay here. I repeat, DO NOT. Walls are thin; ceilings are thin. You get 0 privacy. I've stayed at many places before, and this is the worst experience I've ever had, no exaggeration. You can hear voices and people stomping at all hours from the floor above because nothing is soundproof or at least even a little bit, and I stay on floor 6. It gets 10x worse during the weekend. The people above me aren't even trying to be disrespectful either - it REALLY is that thin. I hear footsteps, walks that sound like stomps because the floor echoes, drawer slamming, furniture movement, etc., around the clock. I can hear the Facetime conversations of the roommate in my unit with her door closed. I can hear my other roommate and her boyfriend get it on every night. This past year at this complex, I literally had to live with my headphones in. Also wifi is super unstable here.

The place prides itself on being modern, well-kept, and pleasant, but when I got my room, it was filthy. It's also located right next to bars/clubs so if you're into having no privacy, a terrible environment to study in, no quiet time to yourself, unstable wifi, and you're into partying then this might be the place for you. It's gotten so bad that I sleep at my boyfriend's now. I will not be renewing my lease, easiest decision ever.

I posted this same review on Yelp and Google, but it looked like they tried removing it on here so I'm reposting it so that everyone is aware. They tried to reply with "We have been unable to locate anyone who has resided at HillTop with the name "Trish V" and would appreciate you reaching out to our team for clarification." Trish is what I go by, and my legal name on paper with Hilltop is not something I'm going to disclose on Yelp or Google. I told them to reach out directly to further discuss on Yelp and they never did. I'm convinced that most of these positive reviews are fake and that their employees...