The Harbor at The Barracks — Local services in College Station

Please listen to the 1 star reviews & please be weary of 5 star reviews as they pay people and give points to people who give them 5 stars. To put it bluntly, you can find a much nicer & cheaper place to live with more amenities and a less negligent staff.

The doors have been broken for almost a year, they do NOT lock, and the handle is practically falling off, which is a HUGE safety concern considering all the crime that goes on across the street, and to add onto that there are NO cameras, and the ONE camera they do have was not even set up when we needed it and it is live footage only.

It’s “brand new” and looks pretty, sure. However, the building was so rushed that it is very poorly built and for it only being built barely a year, there is countless cracks and leaks, and have mold on our air vents which is ridiculous for a place that’s barely been built for a year, and things still constantly breaking and them being negligent to resolve said issues.

The water smells FOUL. It smells like rotten eggs and sewage, and is also tinted yellow which the leasing office claimed to be “normal” because the pipes were not in use but I can assure you it is not normal.

The parking is bullsh*t. There are only 4 guest parking spots, and don’t bother paying extra for “covered parking” because half the covered parking is not even covered. Half the time, people who pay to live here cannot even find a parking spot.

The elevator has been broken for a week, and they claim it will be fixed the next week, however, they said the same thing about the door, and almost a year later here we are still with a broken door. There is only one elevator in the entire building, so when you live on the 4th floor, I’m sure you can imagine how much of a pain that is.

Due to the elevator being broken, the valet trash WE PAY FOR have not been able to come and pick up the trash due to the fact that the elevator is broken. Due to this, we were told we had to take our own trash down flights of stairs ourselves, which resulted in the hallways smelling absolutely rancid and like something died, which also resulted in swarms of flies in the hallway. Not to mention, A HARBOR RESIDENT went around picking up everyone’s trash and bringing them down to the dumpster, something THE STAFF should have done. To have a resident do that is simply embarrassing on their end. We have several minutes long of footage of this resident taking it upon himself to fix an issue the office should have done.

Aside from the office being negligent to all the above issues, they lie and promise things that have still yet to happen months later, and then will be rude to you, and don’t answer the phone half the time, they sit in the office on their phones vaping and watching tiktok.

They rushed residents into renewing and basically said we’d lose our room if we didn’t decide within a few weeks although were still extending renewals months later for much cheaper, where is the loyalty there.

Also, there are no amenities. The wifi they brag so highly about is broken half the time and doesn’t work. The “exclusive free access” to the Cove is bullsh*t considering it’s only open 3 months out of the entire year and 3 days out of the week, so it’s not worth it. Not to mention, half the time it’s open people are home for the summer. Also, the gym they brag so highly off is tiny, with little to no equipment and half the time the little equipment they have is broken.

So please save your money that would be wasted by living here. I would not have renewed if I had not been rushed into it, and I can assure you of that. They practically said your room is up for grabs, which was another lie. They promised several things that are simply not true. This is the most unorganized, negligent, unprofessional staff and living environment I’ve ever experienced. Aside from the maintenance men who actually are efficient and do their jobs, the rest of this place is a scam. I held off writing a review simply to give the benefit of the doubt, but now it’s...

If you’re considering living here, please read carefully. I’ve lived at The Harbor since 2022, and I can confidently say it’s been a nightmare. Every time new management rolls in, they promise improvements—none ever materialize. I deeply regret giving this place chance after chance. Let’s talk about the reviews. The overly positive, copy-paste-sounding reviews? Don’t be fooled. Many of them were written by people associated with the staff. You’ll notice they all follow the same tone, praise the same things, and pop up conveniently after bad reviews. The pattern has been going on for years. Maintenance here is nonexistent when it matters. “Quick response times” are laughable. You’re lucky if your request is acknowledged within the month. Emergency maintenance? Doesn’t exist. I was locked out late one night (I bartend and get home after hours), and no one helped for hours. Another time, I came home to a flooded laundry room. I spent the entire weekend cleaning it myself with no help—because emergency maintenance doesn’t operate on weekends. A staff member told me they were “working on it,” like everything else they never actually fix. Requests are only taken seriously if you go into the office multiple times and follow up repeatedly. Management is just as unresponsive. If your problem doesn’t concern them, they won’t get back to you. Still waiting on an email about mold in our unit. They say they’ll follow up—then don’t. Reaching out is a waste of time unless your parents or legal action are involved. (Yes, it got to that point.) And now, the real issue: mold. If you’re okay living with mold, then this is your dream place. A neighboring unit was visibly infested—mold in every room. It sat unaddressed for weeks, door unlocked, with personal belongings being destroyed. It wasn’t until parents got involved that management acted. One tenant got so sick, she ended up in the hospital. Instead of taking accountability, the complex made them sign NDAs and paid them off. ( allegedly ) Not a tenant issue, despite whatever spin the office tries to use—we have photos, texts, and proof. This is NOT the first, or the second or the third and so on unit that has experienced mold. It is a building issue and has affected MANY. Then it hit our apartment. A leak from the unit above ours—which maintenance already knew about—caused water damage and mold in our home too. We weren’t warned. We found out the hard way when we walked into a flooded room. The maintenance guy even said, “looks like the same thing going on in [unit # above],” proving they were aware. Later, management called me a liar and denied the comment ever happened. Odd, considering no one from management was even present during that visit. They also cut into our roommate’s wall without telling her. No apology. No resolution. Just denial. The mold smell was unbearable. We felt lightheaded and nauseous just being in our apartment. So yes—we moved out early, and we requested not to be charged cleaning fees due to health risks and their negligence. Management hasn’t responded. Shocking. update! They did in fact charge us a cleaning fee even after our apartment had MOLD and contractors, maintenance, and other staff were tracking dirt and filth in and out of the apartment. Insane. And I have yet to hear back from their finance department. The Arena Group, who manages this complex, is part of the issue. Avoid any of their properties. I wish I could say these were isolated incidents, but they’re not. And I’m not the only one. Read the consistent negative reviews—they’re telling the truth. Management often responds defensively to criticism and tries to make tenants look unreasonable. It’s part of the cycle. I have proof of everything I’ve stated: photos, videos, emails, voicemails. If pushed, I’ll share them publicly. Don’t be fooled by fake reviews and polished replies. Until the entire management and maintenance system is overhauled, The Harbor is not a safe, livable, or trustworthy...

First, be wary of the 5 star reviews (like the one I originally posted) as they do ask residents directly to do this. I am updating this review as I can't honestly say I wouldn't even rate this apartment any more than 1 star.

I have had issues that I have never experienced with any other apartment i have lived in.

1. there are consistent problems with the fire alarms going off at random times and often don't turn off until the fire department comes & shuts them down. It's annoying at best, and I have woken up a couple times in the middle of the night to it which absolutely sucks. If you have pets I strongly advice against living here because my two animals' anxiety goes through the roof and the vet bills from them getting sick (and not being able to recover) adds up quick. I have seen their stress/anxiety problems worsen as time has gone on and the alarms go off again. I have reached out to The Harbor and filed complaints about this but it was never followed up. This is still an ongoing problem.

2. on occasion, but on multiple accounts, I have had mail/packages disappear and never actually get delivered to me after being marked as delivered by the shipping companies. The mail system needs improvement. My roommate had fought with a company online over something he never received, thinking he lost his money, only for it to show up in a parcel locker from the office a month later. I also lost my air fryer somehow (after delivery) and after 4 months I have yet to see it. After that I do not order anything of considerable value to this address.

Then there are (what I believe to be) single-instance problems. These include: not being notified that with the new lease year, all of our keys would be reset and would no longer work unless we went to the office and set them up again. I work late and had the frustrating time of having to figure out how I would get into my apartment with nobody around. the water smelling like sewage right after everyone moved in (had to temporarily shower at the gym) and most recently: the power has gone out in select areas of the apartment. This is a building-wide issue. The fridge/freezer is one of the appliances that has been shut off and currently weighing the risk of losing all my food for the rest of the month.

Some of these issues I know is not The Harbor's faults, and sometimes things happen. But it does make it difficult when the unfortunate happenings lay on top of the issues that can be resolved/mitigated.

The majority of the time, these apartments are nice. They're spacious for student living and the units already furnished is always nice. I know I would have loved this place as a first-ever apartment. But after having had the time to live in 3 other student apartments, and the price my roommates and I pay per bedroom... honestly I recommend just taking your friend(s) and finding a townhome/house to rent. I can't imagine experiencing the same problems there. But then again I have just never lived in an apartment complex that had these sorts of issues. When the time comes, I won't be renewing...