PALMERA APARTMENTS — Hotel in Deerfield Township

I would not recommend Palmera apartments. My wife and I have lived here for a little over a year and our experience was terrible. One of the most common issues are the spiders (because of the Nature Preserve). We had to have our apartment sprayed multiple times and also killed countless spiders in our home. We also had really bad allergies, which we found out through maintenance that was one of the top complaints due to the nature preserve.

In the first 6 months of our lease we dealt with an 18 year old who had his friends over and were wrestling late at night. After dealing with this for 6 months of our 12 month lease they increased our rent. We felt that wasn’t fair given the first 6 months of our lease was terrible. My wife and I even requested to see a 3rd floor apartment in our current building so we wouldn’t have anyone above us. We toured the apartment but were told we couldn’t move into that one because we hadn’t given a 45 day notice. We understood that was the policy but given our situation we were hoping they would work with us. They told us we couldn’t move into the unit (2) floors above us, instead we’d have to move to another unit in a different building that was more expensive (after they already just raised our rates).

We now have new neighbors above us and we hear loud, heavy noises that make our shades, lights and dishes shake and rattle. We have reached out to the property manager about this and she has told us there is nothing she can do about it. Very disappointing to say the least. I am extremely disappointed not only in the construction (or lack thereof) of the apartments but also in the way our concerns were handled. Our experience was far from the kind of experience Hills Properties claims they provide. We also reached out to some friends of ours who also live in Palmera and they recently went to a first floor and have had had a similar experience as us in terms of noise.

My wife and I would not recommend Palmera Apartments to anyone. In short, the apartments are built poorly and behind the competition. There is no doggie park, car wash, or movie theater, and the gym is outdated and undersized. The pool is also severely undersized for the complex – you can hardly get in on a Holiday or weekend. The apartments don't have granite throughout (only the island) and most of the appliances are original and out dated as well. There are better options out there that offer more than what you get at Palmera. They recently sent out an email asking people to post reviews about what they love about Palmera in order to be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card. If I had something I loved about it I would have posted it but with an experience like ours there's not much to...

My family were residents of Palmera for approximately 18 months and would like to highlight a couple points of concern that any current or potential resident should be very aware of before moving in or out. While generally our experience over the course of the 18 months was favorable, the very negative move out situation has left a very negative cloud over our overall experience

-Shortly after moving in we requested that blinds be hung and had all the hardware available. I submitted the ticket with a low/medium priority as it was not a critical issue. After several weeks of hearing nothing my wife stopped by the leasing office to inquire about the ticket. The response of the leasing office was to hand my wife (who had my infant son) a drill so we could do it ourselves.

-We provided our notice 60 days in advance of our move out date. As part of the move out process we were provided a date of 30APR for a move out inspection. I took the day off in order to be available to support this inspection, however nobody showed up. I even stopped by the leasing office and made several follow up calls the following few days inquiring about this move out inspection and received no responses.

-We moved out a week in advance of our move out date as it was communicated that it would be very helpful to the complex to allow them to prepare the units for new tenants. Despite accommodating that request, we were charged for a variety of items after our move out. While some of the charges are valid, we filed a formal appeal over a month ago asking for clarification/evidence supporting the additional charges. To this point the only communication we receive are from the "Billing Concierge" who are not particularly helpful and continue to ask us to pay without addressing the appeal/ticket that we were specifically told to submit if we wanted more information.

-Had the office been more responsive and communicative during the move out process, we would have been able to coordinate a more substantial cleaning or address some of the items that we are being charged for, however due to the lack of responsiveness we are being charged for items after the fact with limited objective evidence supporting their validity.

I would advise any current or future resident to be hyper vigilant around move out, as the questionable charges we are being asked to pay are likely not...

Look around before settling at Palmera because that is exactly what you are doing.... settling.

The apartments have a feel as if they were built as fast as possible with very poor craftsmanship or care put into the development of the property. Neighbors can be heard very easily from the sides and above you. I experienced the fridge light going out multiple times, damaged blinds upon moving in, ruined appliances upon moving in, plumbing issues, ants, and a community that does not take care of itself. There is very little to be impressed with after you see how much your money gets you.

The grounds are kept nice by the contracted landscaping business but sadly pet owners are not kept to standard and as you walk along the "scenic" nature paths the only thing to observe is the numerous amounts of dog feces throughout the property. On trash nights the single dumpster is packed beyond what it can hold leaving trash ranging from spoiled food to furniture laying outside creating an ugly sight when paying over $1,000.00 a month for mediocre apartments. The fitness center is OK if you are not looking to do anything but maintain or to give yourself the impression you are working out. The clubhouse is very nice looking but is expensive to rent even after paying over $1,000.00 or more to live there.

Finally - The staff at this complex has changed numerous times whether that is from a job transfer or just leaving. They are unorganized, unprofessional, and lacking the ability to run a complex such as Palmera in a decent manner. When you finally have had enough and you choose to leave, check your statement because there may or may not be added charges, charges that exceed a reasonable amount for "damages", "forgetting" to include your deposit towards your account as well as other unfortunate business practices.

Really think about the money you are about to spend before throwing it away at an apartment complex such as Palmera. There are many options in the surrounding area that offer higher standards of living at...