The Villages at General Grant Apartments & Townhomes — Local services in Marlborough

Worst mistake EVER!!! Thought this was a great place...friendly staff, quiet, etc. Between the HORRIBLE insulation- drafty, and I feel like my upstairs neighbor is going to come through the FLOOR (my ceiling) most days, the rodents that live in the walls, ceilings etc in the common areas & the random STAINS that show up in the carpet from who knows WHAT before you lived there.....it is a HORRIBLE waste of money to live there! The maintenance staff is useless & will make up any excuse in the BOOK for why things can't be fixed or why plumbing backs up REGULARLY, etc. You know it is bad when the MAINTENANCE staff tells you about all the corners the property management and the office staff cut to "fix" things. The office staff is COMPLETELY unresponsive and unprofessional. They turn over their staff REGULARLY, so you seem to be always speaking to someone new who is very "sympathetic" to your plight- for about a week! Shame on the property OWNER and the management company! They run this place more like a TENEMENT than what they portray! The units are NOT updated- most are old & dirty! They will charge you every chance they get, but are EXTREMELY slow to respond to an issue that THEY will have to pay for! Save yourself, your frustration and mostly your MONEY & find somewhere else to live!! AWFUL!!! If I had known THEN, what I know NOW, there is no way I would have ever lived here! So far in the time I have lived here, I've been through a "severe infestation" of Japanese cockroaches (the quote is directly from the pest guy who called it severe)- they were in the front mulch, the common laundry facility, on my living & bedroom floor, in PANTS sitting on a chair in my room & IN MY BED!! (and it took them DAYS to call in the pest guy...I finally took matters into my own hands & purchases chemicals to spray my own home!), a dishwasher that continued to break down until they FINALLY replaced it (they tried to pull one from an empty unit, until I reminded them that the maintenance supervisor promised me a new one if it kept breaking down.) When the dishwasher was removed, I was DISGUSTED by the rotting, molded wood under it. When asked if they were going to do anything about THAT, they said it wasn't necessary, that floors always look like that under dishwashers & simply pushed the new unit in. My bathroom ceiling over the shower regularly grows mold- when called to repair, they simply call in the painter & paint over it... the ceiling in the common laundry area has leaked so long that the awful "fix" job they did on the it (with some sort of TAPE) is falling apart. When I called after hours about a leak (which after severe rains, I thought maybe it was a roof leak) I was "shamed" for calling into the emergency line, because it "wasn't an emergency" & then, when maintenance came to look at it- they put a big hole in the ceiling in the common area, which remains even now over a year later! The wax ring on my toilet has been replaced seven times- each time, within a month or 2, it is leaking again. The last time it was "replaced" & started to leak again, maintenance came out & pulled it off- it was paper thin & completely useless..( no way they actually replaced it!) There has been an accused pedifile arrested in the complex, there has been a SWAT "standoff" (during the end of a school day..and when I called in, identified myself as a resident with children who would potentially be coming home to the middle of an unsafe situation, to find out how serious it was, to try to make alternate arrangements for my kids to get home safely, I was dismissed by office staff) There are a MILLION stories I could share on here, these are a few. What started out as something that was supposed to be a positive turn for my family has proven to be one of the WORST mistakes ever! If this site would let me post pictures, I would post the ones I have gathered of some of the...

Where to begin. At first, it almost appears like it would be a good experience. Staff appears easy to work with, helpful and friendly. Though once you sign the dotted line, you may find it was all a facade.

If you happen to move into the right unit where everything works as it should and no assistance is needed then you'll be fine. However, if you find yourself needing assistance with any issues requiring any sort of skill or qualification such as plumbing... brace yourself. You'll likely need to place several work orders - each time returning to an anecdotal, shot in the dark, attempt at addressing the problem. After you're burned out and explain to the staff the persistent issues don't be surprised to be treated like it is your fault the problem isn't addressed because you didn't communicate the issue or continue to place work orders. I would have LOVED it if they would have let me address their issues for them and send them the bill... but nah, instead they'll likely continue to fling their under-qualified crew of maintenance workers at the problem until they finally tell you the it cannot be fixed. Which is half right - they cannot fix the issues but that doesn't mean it cannot be fixed. (Which no offense to the maintenance guys - likely tenants who are some what handy who get hooked up on their rent).

Although it's great that they facilitate special accessibility needs, the nice black signs they put on the spaces aren't very visible at night - which is generally the hardest time to find parking at this complex. If you don't see the sign at night get excited to see an open space to back into only to find a county cop parked in front of your car the next morning to harass you a bit before you start your day.

Speaking of cops, we could talk about the vandalism to your automobile you might expect to encounter at this complex. You may even find your vehicle isn't where you left it the next morning! Their first attempt to resolve this issue was to send out letters informing us our cars were being stolen or vandalized. The second time was another letter and some scary signs they put up claiming there were security cameras in the lots. The third time... well - as there was a third time I'm guessing those signs are all bark and no bite...

Speaking of bark... I think it's great this complex is so animal friendly. On the other hand, as other reviews have mentioned, this place is a dog poop minefield. The staff is aware and posted these hilariously clever signs, which honestly I probably would have found funny if it weren't these people who were the ones that posted them, that I've attached for your viewing pleasure as it's a good example of how one can expect to be treated / the solutions to the problems you'll experience that they'll provide. (Notice it hits all the marks - Your Fault, Not Theirs - Unprofessional/Rude, anecdotal solution)

We could go on a bit about things such as how they like to pick and choose which bits of their own policies they would like to follow on any given day. It's not to say that there aren't good things and potential about this complex but - I do think a more involved management that knows how to take accountability would go a long way. I was hoping after they got bought out by some company in Colorado that this may change but it's pretty evident the new owners have little to no involvement with this facility - so don't hope to be able to escalate issues beyond the on site staff.

(Don't bother with their canned response to reviews - they aren't replying to actually address any issues with the reviewer but want to appear involved and caring to potential tenants. Pretty popular push among many social media platforms to save face for people who don't know any...

Updated my review 8/14/25

When I first signed my lease for a townhome style unit, I had no intentions of moving out for the next 5-8 years and genuinely enjoyed the complex and my apartment. The staff in the office, especially Alen & Dawn, are very friendly and helpful when you reach out to them directly with issues. The pool is nice and they always have lifeguards staffed, so if you have kids, that's a plus. It isn't the worst complex, but this property has some serious pest and moisture/flooding problems.

Just to name a few issues… water leaking in from the basement (pouring down the walls), roaches in nearly every unit I’ve rented here/been in, mice/other pests, etc. They do not always take care of snow on the property, and it was a genuine safety hazard for weeks after the snowstorm we had in Jan. 2025. Their advice was to just stay home, which wasn’t realistic. Unfortunately, nearly every negative review you read on here is true. These are old apartments and I think they’re in need of some serious updates & TLC.

In my first unit, after a couple years here I got german roaches and mice in the walls (from a neighbor/eviction). Even though I cleaned daily and stored all food in the fridge/sealed pet food overnight, pest control never got rid of them. It got so bad (roaches falling into my bed, fridge, dishwasher, pet food/water bowls, etc.) that I begged them to scrap the 18 month lease I had just signed and move me to a different unit. It took 3 months of back and forth, but they did transfer me to a new unit without a lot of fees, which was appreciated.

During my transfer, they showed me units that "hadn't been cleaned yet" and almost every single one had roaches of some kind... I was meticulous when I moved, cleaned everything that could be cleaned and threw out over 1K worth of furniture/items to prevent bringing them to a new unit. I even stored my furniture in a storage unit (in the freezing winter temps) for 3 months and had it all treated with pesticide multiple times. I got moved to a smaller unit (for nearly the same price with half the square footage) and this building has roaches in the basement too. I had silverfish falling into my bed from the ceiling fan, carpet beetles in every closet, ant problems everywhere in the building, etc. I treated my apt with the same pesticide Rottler uses and it helped, but I had to be on it every 30-60 days or they’d come back full force. Then 8 months later, German roaches showed up in my new building as well despite me submitting pest control requests every 30 days. There was an eviction in a nearby building we share walls with and they said that was likely the origin. They seem to have a lot of evictions.

Overall, if you are looking for a short-term place to live, this complex will do the job. However, if you can’t handle pests, I would look elsewhere. When I met with Susan, the property manager, she was very helpful and attentive and has continued to be helpful throughout the process/asked me for updates if things worsen. STL landlords have a terrible reputation in general and Susan at least puts effort into finding a solution to most issues. If it were not for the roach issues, I would be able to tolerate living here. That’s my personal “line in the sand” and I think it’s fair to not want pests in my unit when I am clean and take...