Stonesthrow Townhomes & Cottages — Hotel in Meridian

Our review of Stonesthrow was mainly a good experience! I've left a longer review for those really deciding where to move in the Valley!

Pros: Clean, Convenient, Cozy! - you can't really beat being in the center of Meridian. It can get a little hectic getting out of the initial area since it is around Eagle, but it is very convenient and we valued that. The townhomes are also not very old so provide a clean/cozy feel we enjoyed! Also has nice little workout area, pool, and volleyball.

Cons: Some ant problems in the warmer weather, more forthcoming in their fees/deposits (if they raise rent obviously as renting goes you have little say), and the other obvious as renting goes you don't know who your neighbors are and are subject to them if they are loud.

To explain the last couple: I never understood why they didn't advertise a total amount with all the fees- parking, WST, etc. Anticipate an extra $100-125 a month or so for fees with the rent price. Same with the advertising with deposits. It's more clear later you pay a smaller deposit (unless you pay pet deposit too) because they use almost all of that deposit to clean the place when you move out, despite if you hire a cleaner or clean it yourself. We only lived there a year so it was a little strange for us. I think this is more on the owners than the managers, as it was just a strange process.

As for the neighbors we lived there a month and then got some pretty rowdy neighbors who liked to party. We had to go back and forth for a time with a lady named Emily who no longer works there. It was handled somewhat at the time, but was a weird situation. Even though we were told to mention if there were disturbances, the Emily lady ended up questioning us if we had lived in apartments before. I said yes for 8 years- general noise isn't the issue, parties at 2am are ha. Luckily our neighbors calmed down a bit and maybe did it once a month or so. Maybe its an unusual experience/neighbor, but again you don't have much say if they are loud, you hear it.

Concluding, even explaining all that, as we said it was still a nice place to live and we enjoyed calling home- those little things would've just made it a 5 star. The staff is helpful and Eva the main manager is pretty straightforward but always helpful and we appreciated her. Overall even though we own now, if we ever needed to rent as long as we had a bit better neighbors, we would and do...

I have mixed feelings about living here. The good things are reasonable and expected for the price and others not so much. First the good- The leasing staff is very response to email and requests- typically same day which is awesome. The grounds are great and very well maintained, although there are issues with residents cleaning up after their dogs.

The gym and pool are a plus. I had a unit on the greenbelt and enjoyed that except some owners and their dogs aren’t friendly in the shared space. I like the vaulted living room ceiling and built in bookcase / media center. Ceiling fans are necessary 24/7 due to cooling issues. Thankfully they are installed in the master and living but not my spare room. There is also ample storage. The cons- the units aren’t well insulated and gets hot in the summer so AC bill seems high. In the winter it’s fine. The cabinets are old and my appliances seemed old. The cabinets aren’t soft close and slam and I can hear my neighbors slamming cupboards. Again, it might be insulation issue. This is near Walmart and a graveyard. Expect some limited thru traffic on the main road. The pool has an abundance of extra crowding on some weekend and non resident visitors.

I never got a tour staff claimed there wasn’t anything vacant to show back in June 2023. Many vacant units were coming available so I found it odd there wasn’t one place to see as an example.

I recommend seeing it on weekends when staff isn’t around as some individuals might take advantage of that fact so there is more potential to witness the good, and everything in between.

When I had concerns about an odd male neighbor and eventually reported those concerns (as recurring) the office was dismissive and didn’t address it professionally but talked down to me.

I moved into a place with old carpet and it was noted. I had no pets but they are charging for a shampoo. Also, I’ve never been charged for touch up paint as I understood fresh paint is standard for most properties. The deposit was only $400 and they conveniently massaged the numbers to make touch up paint, carpet shampoo and cleaning to equal 400 exactly. A bit crooked...

I love the location, even being this eerily close to a cemetery. I have enjoyed living here, the place is very cute. But for what you are paying, it isn’t worth it. Me and my hubs are walking distance from work and that is why we stay here. But for others, I wouldn’t recommend and here is why:

1. This places were built super quickly and cheaply. I know a thing or two about this kind of thing and looking for studs in the wall I found that it was built with 1 bys and not 2 bys. So that is sketchy. It’s also extremely drafty through the doors. They don’t even touch the ground all the way.
2. Basically nothing worked when we moved in and no one seemed to care. We moved in the dead of winter and had no heat or hot water. For 2 weeks at least. Then after that it was on and off with the heat working. Come summer time, same problem with the AC.
3. Everything damages super easy so I’m certain I am going to have forfeit like all my deposit when we move out, even though I’m not the one who put cheap cheap materials in the place. No joke- pushed a door open too hard and it made a hole.
4. You have to pay all your own utilities but this place costs a fortune. It is cheaper to have a big 4 bedroom house. It’s not efficient and your power bill will always be high.
5. BUGS. Because of the doors and such, there are so many bugs. Right now it’s ants. Everywhere. If there is even one crumb on the counter it’s covered in minutes. When it isn’t ants it’s beetles and giant spiders.
6. With Boise booming right now, there are so many options for housing. This is priced extremely high for what you pay for. Like I said, the place is adorable. Close to everything. And it probably was a great concept, just no follow through. You pay a lot less for a lot better.

I hope that was helpful on determining if this is the...