Lake Towne Apartments — Local services in Madison

The place is cheap; it's true. But that's about all it is.

The management leaves much to be desired. The building manager is borderline rude all of the time and acts like the smallest question or request is a monumental inconvenience. The maintenance staff is REALLY sketchy looking and kind of slow.

They will also look for any excuse to squeeze more money out of you (just one example, I had to pay a $100 "subletter fee" to have someone take over my lease) or keep your security deposit by nickel-and-diming it away (example: I was charged $10 because they replaced the 9v battery in my smoke alarm) or charging for routine things like painting the walls.

The neighborhood is AWFUL. There is always noise from the nearby fraternities and sororities at any hours of the day and night. People seemed really fond of buzzing every apartment or coming in and setting off false fire alarms (sometimes at 2 and 3 in the morning). Not only that, but there are tons of break-ins and thefts. The security of the building is terrible. There are no cameras and the security door was frequently left open/insecure, and for a while it was outright broken. I was there for just about two years and there were three times that I know of where someone tried to break into my apartment. I could never have packages delivered there because they would end up stolen. My bicycle also got stolen while I lived there. It was routine to have to step over piles of vomit to get into the building, and for a while there was a pool of blood with a trail leading through the hallway/out the door that wasn't cleaned up for MONTHS.

I could go on. But - bottom line, if you are desperate for a place to live that is slightly more comfortable than (albeit probably not as safe as) a cardboard box, or truly can't afford something else, you can get by with Lake Towne for a little while. But as soon as you can afford it, GTFO of there and...

UPDATED REVIEW After living with Lake Towne as my landlord for 1.5 years, I’m changing my review to five stars. Heidi has been so kind to me, and extremely responsive. I had a situation where the security of my home was threatened and she did more than she had to. She asked me what she could do to make me feel more safe at home, suggested some of her own ideas, and sent maintenance over the next business day to assist. Honestly, I’ve never had a more responsive property manager.

ORIGINAL REVIEW The trick might be to go in with low expectations, which is what I did after reading all the poor reviews. I'm a fairly new tenant and I've had mostly pleasant experiences with Lake Towne. The house I moved into needed a little bit more cleaning but I've never rented a place in Madison that didn't. I submitted maintenance requests for a few things I noticed right away and there was a quick response. A big plus is the rent, which is probably the cheapest you'll find in a relatively nice neighborhood. I'm on the near east side and nothing else has come close to the rent they charge. I've been pleasantly surprised given the many reviews on Google and Yelp about poor services. Heidi has always been very prompt to my emails, and the tenant portal is super convenient and easy to use. Definitely better than Madison...

Not sure why there are so many poor reviews here. After reading them and meeting with Heidi, I decided to give the apartments a shot anyway and I'm so glad I did. Heidi is an amazing landlord. She responds to emails quickly, and is overall a kind and interesting person. Maintenance has always been within 24 hours, and sometimes if a request is made in the morning, they come within a few hours. I haven't lived anywhere with such a professional living situation. Heidi is communicative, and will send out emails every couple of weeks detailing the weather, building happenings, storm window issues, etc. and has never been rude or impolite in the dozen times I've spoken with her. Apartments are spacious and clean, and she had a new kitchen put in for us before we moved in, along with installing a ceiling fan upon request in of the bedrooms. All in all, my experience with Lake Towne has been great, and I will...