Serena Vista Apartments — Local services in Fountain Valley

This review is for the Service Director, Jose! This man is definitely what keeps this complex in shape! He CARES about the apartments and the tenants! I had a problem at the end of December with the apartment I reside in. After the rain we had the week of Christmas, I ended up with a leak in the roof/ceiling in the apartment. On Christmas Eve this occurred. The office was closed, and there was not notice on the door, nor email that stated the office would be closed! Fortunately, when you would call the number for the office, there was a phone number to contact number, in case you had an emergency. Well, Jose was kind enough to come to the apartment, on Christmas Eve to try to get the issue resolved for us. Since there hadn't been any notice of the complex being closed (I have resided here for over 5 years, they never used to close in Christmas Eve, and the norm was to advise residents of when the office would be closed!) So, this problem ended up taking almost 3 weeks to get repaired. It was not a fun time when this occurs in the bedroom and you have to have this giant machine running 24/7 to draw all the dampness out of the ceiling, but Jose stayed on top of this issue and got it taken care of! I have to say, without Jose at the Serena Vista as the Service Director (believe me it almost appears when he has had personal emergencies arise with his life, the place seems to fall apart) this Man is a dedicated committed worker to his job! He definitely deserves a...

There are much nicer apartments in much nicer areas for a similar price, especially if you look into renting from private landlords. We moved to a gorgeous place in the Woodbridge area of Irvine for only $50 more a month. We wish we had spent more time looking into nicer options before committing to Serena Vista.

A few considerations:

The area is much sketchier than it used to be. Many people live in creepy vans on this block. When you park far away--which you have to, because parking is so difficult--you often have to park near these vans. Homeless people often rummaged through the dumpster right around the corner of our apartment. I was once slapped by a man in broad daylight. I felt unsafe being out alone after dark.

We had mice and a major water leak from the ceiling in unit E-4. The on-the-ground maintenance team was great and handled these issues as best they could, but the issues were extremely unpleasant to live with nonetheless. The buildings are old and require tons of maintenance. The water is frequently turned off for hours at a time on short notice.

The 2bed/2bath layout has very little natural light; we commiserated with neighbors about feeling like we lived in caves. My mood improved greatly upon moving somewhere with more natural light.

Leases are only 9 months, after which your...

I spent all of my early years of my life there; up until I was 8, and overall it’s a nice place to live in; you’ve got nice luxury and beautiful gardens surrounding you. Not to mention that the pool and the jacuzzi are great, as well as the gym and let’s not leave out the picnic areas; there’s no doubt at all that you’ll not have a terrible day in these areas, that’s for 100% sure. I had magical times there, though there were some times when the neighbors and even the people who were in charge of this place forgot that there were a bunch of kids living there and playing around like they always do, which caused some inconvenience for me and my friends, especially while we were in the middle of our play, since we were also pretty much causing some inconvenience for the older people who were spending their lives there. Eventually all of my friends (which consisted of quite a lot) as well as myself moved out of Serena Vista Apartments within a few months, which was obviously wanted and accomplished by the authorities of this place. Basically, this may not be the place for people of all ages, but you’ll still manage to live a good and pleasant life there, since like I said before, it’s a nice...