HWH Luxury Living — Local services in Los Angeles

I have been living here for nearly a year with my SO, and while living here started out alright- the façade of "Luxury Living" lasts a few weeks before the true quality of the building's management & staff show up. Most of the 'luxury' features of the building exist actually as cost-saving measures, and do not function like a 'luxury' apartment should.

First and foremost- the valet service. Assigned parking would be an upgrade over the valet service but the building doesn't offer that. (As an update: the valet has been much better in the weeks that have followed this review- I still think assigned parking would be better for the $150 cost per month per car)

Major issue #2 involves how the building has a ton of Air BnBs- there are visitors & tourists staying here constantly. The leasing agent conveniently NEVER mentioned this during the tour or while we were going though the leasing process. Matter of fact, no one who works for HWH has ever mentioned how Air BnBs are located on the premises- and I've only found this out through speaking to the guests personally. The building doesn't even want its' residents to know who they are living with! If we knew that we'd basically be living in a hotel we would have never chosen to live here in the first place. Somehow, the negative experiences don't end there, however.

The next major issue with the building is the happy hour on thursdays & weekends. Another service that seems like a 'luxury' offering- until you realize the only attendees are air bnb guests & residents who by their own admission, "haven't ever been to a happy hour and not ended up black-out drunk." I wouldn't care much about this if it didn't keep me up at night- staff has told me that happy hour ends by 10 pm on weeknights, but this has not been the case numerous times. Sometimes the noise is so bad on thursday nights that I feel like I'm living in a frat house.

Another thing I'm gonna note in this review is how bad the facilities & maintenance crew have been in the months we've been here. Currently, our Nest Heat/AC is completely out (the Nest Thermostat is actually a nice feature of the apartment- too bad it's been broken for 2 weeks) and we've been given no timetable or estimate on when that'll be addressed. Before that, the lock to our apartment broke, leaving us unable to leave the apartment & lock the door behind us. Maintenance marked this as completed, but never even attempted to fix it; as such, we figured out how to repair the mechanism ourselves.

Other maintenance & facilities related problems: -Breakers in the apartment are janky and blow out semi-regularly while surge protectors are in use -dishwasher was improperly installed upon move-in- the issue wasn't addressed for over a month -windows are the original windows from the 1920s: single-paned, and provide ZERO insulation to temperature & noise from the street (obviously this can't be fixed, just something to consider for anyone contemplating living here) -front desk staff is often nowhere to be found in the afternoon/early evening times- you're SOL if you need a package from the mailroom or have a question when they're gone. They sometimes leave a number you can call when they leave, but in the times I've called it, no one answers. -Finally, management is pretty much non-existent. Most of the building staff will not say the name of their direct supervisor when asked & I have no idea who or where to report these complaints to. We have been given a disembodied phone # we can call or text with questions/comments.

Valet & front desk service is mediocre at best, maintenance staff & facilities are laughably bad & communication between building staff & residents is non-existent. The 'luxury' amenities are poorly executed and not worth the price of rent. This building has little value in my opinion as a resident. HWH could be a decent Air BnB, but I do not recommend that...

So, I scheduled a tour to see the property more than a week ago. During my tour, it seemed like everything was broken (i.e., constantly seeing maintenance working on different things). The tour guide (Tyler) constantly had to look at his phone to text or call to know what was available in HIS building. After the tour, I sat with him, he stated they required a $3,000 a month price tag for a mediocre apartment in a part of downtown that is noisy, congested, smells like urine, and before entering the building a vomit like substance a few steps from the entrance. That’s where my hesitation began. Before our meeting I clearly stated I wanted a furnished apartment at no more than $2,500 a month, he said “we can do that and we have the perfect unit”. I understand, he’s probably a busy person and might have forgotten my request but false advertisement is a thing. He states, “Oh, I didn’t know you wanted a furnished unit.” during the tour. Come to find out, a furnished (minimal at that) unit is $500 extra a month! WTH. And parking is $150 a month because “Usually people who live downtown don’t own a car.” We sat down in his “office” which was under construction, like everything else. We haggled a bit (which I didn’t think was possible) because I told him I was interested on a different apartment that was larger, cheaper, and was all inclusive (i.e., parking, utilities, etc.). He proceeded to take away the monthly parking payment of $150. I thought, maybe this is a good deal, right? I placed a deposit on the unit $252.95. He stated that if I was to change my mind the deposit would go straight back to my account, fine. We cheered and he offered me a beer or a truly (extremely professional), but why not it was free, right? A day later I came to my senses and changed my mind and stated that I was no longer interested in the unit. It’s been __ days and I haven’t received my deposit back nor an email response after requesting my deposit. $252.95 will definitely not set me back any and I would not lose sleep over it, but the principle is that if they are doing this to me they are most certainly doing it to other people. So, please, please, STAY AWAY at all cost. There are apartment complexes around the area that are far better quality, at a reasonable price. You...

Let me start off by saying I have never had a better overall experience with apartment hunting to moving in and living here at HWH. I usually do not leave any reviews but my experience with the leasing team and the building itself have been amazing. My Fiance and I were first given a tour of the complex from Jamie and she has helped us the entire way from touring to getting all of the paperwork done to moving in. I must say that whenever we had questions she was always quick to respond and provide any info that we needed. She is seriously one of the most sincere and genuine leasing managers we have ever worked with.

The building itself was built back in the 1900's, and we thought that this might be an issue being an older building. The complex has had a complete renovation giving every room google homes, built in speakers, a ring camera doorbell and a nest thermostat all while keeping some of the original character such as the windows and original flooring. We toured several other complexes within a 2 mile radius of HWH but nothing comes close to everything that this apartment has to offer. Staying at this complex gives the feeling of the Suite life of Zach and Cody with the leasing team being our Mr. Moseby.

After we moved in we met Kerri and Tyler (part of the leasing team) Mike, who maintains the building and Harris, who manages the front desk. All amazing people that always ask how we are doing whenever we see them. If we ever have any issues with anything, they are quick to help and make sure its sorted out. We were told that the apartment tries to give off a family feel and the team that works here really does show that every day by asking how we are doing and always having a smile on.

We were lucky that we just moved in when we did because we have the flexibility to transfer units while the other rooms are being finished. They are constantly adding in new amenities and always have a lot of different events so that the residents can meet other people. If you are looking for a great community with friendly people and a resort feel (the roof is literally what sold us), then this place is worth...