The Duchess — Attraction in North Bergen

Update - (11/23/23): -1 star. A few weeks ago the palisades fell on my car (aka major rock slide) while parked behind the Duchess. Even though I pay $250/month for outdoor parking, they did nothing besides permanently removing half of the spots! Not even a refund for that month...LIVE HERE AT UR OWN RISK is the motto of bldg mgmt!

Edit - (9/28/22): changed my 2 stars to 1. All amenities broken at present. Pool no longer has salt water. Duchess going downhill FAST.

First off, it's beyond me as to how this place has such a high average rating...

Perhaps it’s because they have mastered the “bait and switch”. Meaning, when you first come by for a tour, they make sure to only show you the things they want you want to see, avoiding or ignoring the negatives. For example, there’s a pleasant smell that is continuously pumped into the lobby, tricking your senses into thinking, “wow, this is a nice building!” Another tactic you will surely notice (but do NOT fall for it) are their concessions – I now realize that management has to offer 1-2 months off in order to make their expensive rents seem like a good deal. Except of course, the concession will be long gone when it’s time for you to renew your lease. As if the fake discount isn’t enough, they also hire very skilled leasing specialists who know exactly what they’re doing (selling you), and the concierge truly is top notch – that part is for real. But that’s about where the good stuff ends abruptly.

I’ve only been here a month so far, but it’s already painfully obvious that the super cheap wall units (so much for luxury!) do an extremely poor job cooling the place, and it’s only mid-May! This is an even bigger problem since I work primarily from home, so I’ve had to run the bedroom AND living room units plus the ceiling fans pretty much 24/7. Can’t wait to get my first bill from PSE&G, I am certain it will be horrific (like everyone else on here says). Even still, my unit is never actually as cool as I’d like it to be…oh, and my unit faces north lol. I very much pity folks with an east or God forbid, southern exposure. Forget about comfort…

Furthermore, the common areas are poorly maintained, and amenities are spotty at best. The hot tub was one of the biggest selling points as they assured me it was open year-round, which sounded too good to be true! Except that it was – the hot tub has literally not worked for one day since I’ve been here (photo attached), and management pretty much ignores this fact, providing no rationale or updates on when it might be fixed. The “fire pit” was a really cool area too, except that it was halfway broken when I got here (see photo of where it used to be) and now has actually been removed from the premises entirely.

In addition to the poorly maintained common areas, parking is EXTREMELY expensive and to make matters worse, NOT at all secure. Read that again: they make you pay almost $200 a month in addition to insanely high rents for an OUTDOOR spot in North Bergen, NJ that is not enclosed or gated whatsoever. Come on now…if, however, you're really ballin', for only $250 they will let you park inside. Woohoo. Such a steal…

Oh and lastly, there is a tiny dog park located to the far side of the property. Except, no one bothers to walk all the way around to the sub-par putting green of a dog run. Why would they, when you can just go directly out the back door and let Fido rip? Talk about convenience... Before you even get to the garage, you can smell the terrible stench of dog urine wafting through the air. Quite the opposite experience of what you get when entering through the opposite (front) side into the lobby! If you make the poor choice of stopping by for a tour, ask them to see the back entrance as well so you know what you’ll be smelling for the remainder of your lease!

In summary:

The Duchess is far too expensive for what you get - a subpar living experience. If I had to come up with their new slogan it would be something like, "The Duchess, where luxury prices meet budget accommodations -...

If you think of living here, please see my reviews below. I lived here for 2 years, and finally moved out from here due to so many cons.

Parking Fee When I moved in here in 2019, the indoor parking fee was $195. Compared to other Apt, this is still expensive or similar, but I chose The Duchess since this is a newer building and has great amenities. However, the management suddenly increased the parking fee to $250 for my next lease. Can you believe that the parking fee is $250? I never saw this number in NJ even though the Apartment is new and fancy.

Guest Parking In 2019, 2020, and 2021, there was no guest parking fee, and it was very flexible. However, from 2022, the management changed the policy, and they started charging $10 per one guest parking. Okay this is fine with me, but suddenly from this Summer, the management didn't provide any guest parking spots, and if we do have a guest, they charge us $50 overnight. Thus, the management never allows us to have our guests in this apartment. Can you believe that this management does not take care of our guests? They asked us to park somewhere around this apartment, but that is not free, and we might get towed.

No Window Bug Net This is very annoying. This is a new apartment, and I really don't understand why they don't provide any bug net for windows. In Spring and Summer, you will encounter so many bugs like mosquitoes, flies, bees, gnats, centipedes, ground beetles etc. We need to install the bug net ourselves, but this apartment window is very annoying as well. You can open the window ONLY 10 degrees, and you should pull the window to open, NOT Push the window. This is very annoying, and it is very hard to install the bug net. The windows are so ridiculous.

Pool/Jacuzzi In 2020 and 2021, the pool and jacuzzi were great. The management cleaned them frequently, and we enjoyed them. However, from 2022, there were so many changes. The pool is so dirty, and the management does not clean it frequently. I saw the pool and there were so many bugs and trash. 2 weeks later, I came back, and I realized that it was still not cleaned... For Jacuzzi, it never works right now, and there are so many flaws here. In 2021, we really enjoyed it, but we will never use them from 2022. And, the management limited the time to use the pool and Jacuzzi. It was 24hr in use before, and we really liked it and moved in here. But, they changed the policy from this year, and we can use it only from 8 am to 10-11pm. I always receive this email, "Hot Tub Out Of Service Until Further Notice!" I used to receive it every month.

Apartment Event In 2020 and 2021, there were enough events in this apartment. The Duchess opened 1-2 events every month. But from 2022, no events at all. There are only food trucks which serve very expensive food, and the management does not open the event anymore. I really enjoyed the brunch party last year, but no more from this year. I saw one stupid event like Verizon Fios something (July 14th, 2022). The management introduced this event and asked us to come to the lobby to sign up for this service. Are you making money from your residents with this sponsorship? Is it not illegal? And, if you open the event in the future, why don't you change the time? You always have an event, 4pm-7pm. Then, who's going to be attending? Only kids? or job-seekers? For workers who work in NJ or NY, they are not able to attend this event. So, what is this event for exactly? Workers can't join this event at all? Or, you should make a weekend event. I saw only 1 weekend event before (2021) and it was a brunch party, and it was very amazing. But, no more from 2022.

Marijuana So much smell of Marijuana all over the building. Some residents do weed or Marijuana in their units. You will feel it once you come up to 5-9th floors. Kids can't live...

Forgot to add that noise complaints have never been resolved - 7 months into the lease. The neighbor spit in my grocery delivery and continues to make threats - despite building management being aware and having video proof. Nothing has been done.

updated 4/7/24

I really wish the duchess would reply to my emails instead of posting replies on my google review. I have been dealing with noise and harassment from the neighbor next door. The inaction and lack of experience of the property management to handle the issue has escalated it to a legal matter between neighbors. The concierges, the property management, have all acknowledged the noise. Yet they say the tenant ignores them and they can do nothing about it. Are you kidding me?? Do your jobs and enforce the lease for your property. You have 4 months of documented events.. it’s really not rocket science. For $5000/mo and a resident for 3 years- I expect better treatment.

Post brothers will not uphold their lease agreement with you. They are penny pinchers and the nice apartments are poorly constructed.

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Paper thin walls. I’ve been a resident for over 3 years and this place has declined a lot during that period. I moved following the collapse of the rock wall to a different unit on a higher floor, where I currently live. I’ll start with the rock wall collapse and then expand on the paper thin walls…

The collapse was terrifying. My unit was directly impacted by it.. in fact I was not made aware that the units surrounding mine had already been vacated at the building managements request. In fact, I sent emails asking if I was still safe in my unit and had no response. I will assume now that the answer should have been no since others in the vicinity were told they weren’t and were asked to vacate. I remained in my unit for an additional 4 days following the collapse and until moving day - when the hallway was taped off to restrict access for safety reasons. (I’ve attached photos of what I opened my door to immediately after the collapse… rocks and glass everywhere. A few even indented the walls against my unit!)

Now, the paper thin walls. I’ve since moved from the unit pictured to a different unit. It’s larger but I have not been able to use my master bedroom because of the noise from next door. It’s been about a month now that I have sent emails and there hasn’t been a resolution. The neighbor’s base causes the hangers in the closet to clatter and reaches all rooms in my 2-bed unit.

The construction here is poor. I suspect my noise issue is not just that I have a loud neighbor but because the walls are too thin and also his living room tv is mounted up against the wall of the master bedroom. Also, the layout of the units is terrible for this reason and so this kind of noise problem will be unavoidable in most cases.

What this means is - save yourself the stress and don’t move here. I’m an optimist so when I read about noise - I think it’s just a matter of poor luck to have a loud neighbor. For the duchess, it is a matter of poor construction and layouts/floor plans that are...