The Alton Apartments — Local services in Irvine

The best way to describe the Alton Apartments is that it sets the bar for urban living in Irvine. I have loved my experience (one year) of living here and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for apartments in the area. They really do offer the best of everything from the common areas to the luxury features in the unit.

Staff If you are looking for a new place to live in Irvine, I would recommend the Alton to anyone based on just my experience with the team alone. I have had numerous encounters with the very friendly Alton staff, and they are always very responsive to any request and strive to make your home the best they possibly can. I can highly speak of John Kindle in the leasing office. He has continually ensured that everything is up to par and in my opinion, has gone above and beyond what I would expect from leasing staff.

Parking The assigned spaces it hassle-free to park after a long day at work. The spaces are wide, and the spiral ramp is easy enough for my big truck to navigate through.

Packages The Alton has LuxerOne lockers which send a notification (text and email) whenever I get a UPS, FedEx, Amazon, etc. package. (This is also really nice for packages that require a signature since you sign right on the screen! So no missed deliveries here) The mailrooms for USPS are classy and well maintained for a mail room. Overall, no need to worry about packages going missing or undelivered with the system they have in place.

Utilities Being new to California and apartment living; I had no idea what to expect regarding electricity, cable, internet, water, and trash. My electric bill is surprisingly low, (less than $40 a month) - thanks to the energy-saving appliances, lighting, and AC. The facility also offers an AT&T 1GB fiber connection (I pay a flat $80 a month). The water and gas are based on usage. Trash and removal are added to the metered water and gas bills. (I pay around $50 a month combined based on my usage). Though not directly related to the facility, the Alton has really gone above and beyond to make sure everything is first class!

Amenities The two pool areas, common areas, and rooftop are amazing. They offer relaxing areas to chill, cook, and entertain. I’m shocked how little they are used since they are easily the best in Irvine.

Unit I’m a huge fan of the “Hotel” style hallways and overall layout of the facility. My unit had exactly what I was looking for and honestly offers the best value compared to neighboring properties.

Overall if you’re looking for a place that has it all in Irvine,...

I waited to write a review for the Alton because everything seemed too good to be true when we first moved in. It's now a year later, and we still love calling The Alton home!

The management and staff go above and beyond to make this a wonderful community to live in. From prompt and friendly service for repairs, to sparkling hallways maintained by the hardworking janitorial staff, to beautiful landscaping maintained with great care by the groundskeeper, to the leasing office staff who wear smiles (even on stressful days) and take the time to chat (and spoil our pup with treats) when I stop by their office, we are beyond grateful to be a part of this community. (Oh, and did I mention the events with food catered by Common Ground Kitchen? Living here has spoiled me!)

I've had the pleasure of getting to know a handful of our neighbors, and everyone I've interacted with is so kind. I've never had any noise issues with neighbors; and the couple of times that minor issues have popped up (like a curious pup who escaped from his apartment and was wandering the halls), we've been able to talk to our neighbors directly and resolve matters.

As a side note, for those considering to move here, I will mention that this is urban living. We live on the side of the building that faces Alton Parkway, so we have background noise from the street during hours of traffic, as well as general city sounds at most hours; but the double pane windows help lower the noise levels (and there are always ear plugs). The first week of living here took some adjusting, but we settled in quickly. Every now and then the biotech company across the street will make a loud, high pitch screeching sound, sometimes in the middle of the night. This can be annoying, but the lease agreement that we signed mentioned that this area of Irvine is a mixed-use neighborhood, so we knew industrial sounds like these were a possibility. If you are considering living here, the noise is just something that you'll want to factor in to your decision. It wasn't a deal breaker for us, but it could be for others.

That all said, the Alton is by far the best apartment community I have lived in. We have a beautiful unit, access to ample amenities, friendly neighbors, diligent and caring staff - there's nothing more I could ask for. Major props to our community manager, Kellie, and service manager, Francisco, who both work so hard to lead their teams and make this such a delightful place to...

Our overall experience living here was a positive one. The facilities were clean and modern - it really does seem like they make an effort to get the latest tech/services available to residents (automated lockers, modern vending machines, nest, etc.). Our unit was facing the Du Bridge, so with the exception of the garbage trucks everything was quite calm; the complaints about "CrossFit" noises in the morning no longer applies - there used to be an OCFit right across the street with early classes but their rent was increased in SEPT2019 forcing them to permanently close. Management was very responsive, especially Anisa who was always tried to help. The other front office team member were pretty cool for the most part (Dylan seemed a bit strange and aloof but maybe I've just never caught it on a good day). For an apartment complex, the social events were actually quite well attended with decent food, drinks and activities.

On the flip side, rent is higher than other complexes in the area. Equity is a multibillion dollar organization that has price optimization down to a science, so they hold all the cards. When we stumbled upon hard times due to my layoff, COVID-19 was gaining traction and I humbly asked management for assistance. They asked us for our bank statements for the last few months, which was "optional", but we didn't end up getting any breaks in our rent (with parking, our 1 bedroom was just south of $3k a month). Equity didn't show their humanity side, and our financial statements would've just given them more data to optimize their prices without a guarantee of a break. I believe we made the right decision to not give them our finances; anyways, that ask really upset me. Since I had to seek employment elsewhere, we had to move out early. Even with COVID, we did not get any breaks on the fee associated with breaking the lease. Some of the other reviews were quite accurate in that you are charged a cleaning fee and for whatever damages they claim. Since we were not comfortable having them do a walkthrough (again, COVID - safety first), they had a field day when it came to a laundry list of repairs. One more thing, the floors are not Pergo or any knock-off laminate for that matter. They are actually a very soft sticker-type of hard flooring (much cheaper) and very easily damaged. Repairs while you're a resident are free, but you will be charged for every piece of flooring replaced...