Waterbury House — Local services in Minneapolis

Positives: Malika was exceptional (tremendous loss when she left), concierge team was professional, kind and always helpful for the most part, beautiful views, and safe small community.

Major Issues for $6500/month:

Pest Problem: Severe flying bug infestation made rooftop pool and grills mostly unusable. Couldn't open windows , the screens were ineffective keeping the bugs out, woke up to hundreds of insects after my first night in the residence. Management promised pest control would be addressing but never happened.

Maintenance Problems: 2-3 months of major water leaks disrupting mine and other tenants living situations. Eventually requiring temporary relocation while they tore out plumbing. Dishwasher never worked properly always left dishes with a foul smell and the water atleast 5D time would just of and need to be turned back on, internet constantly down, garage doors broke 10+ times trapping residents causing delays to get to work. The resturant is also a pain with the valet and all the noise it makes. They also get upset when visitors park in resturant spaces but not an issue when resturant customers take up a visitor spot. OH AND YOUR 6500 DOESNT EVEN GET YOU A COMMUNITY COMPLIMENTARY COFFEE MACHINE, BUT YOU CAN PAY 8 BUCKS FOR COFFEE AT THE RESTURANT. THE ICE MACHINE IN THE TOP FLOOR ALSO BEEN BROKEN AND NOT WORKING LAST 2 MONTHS. After Malika left, service requests took weeks to address.

DISHONEST PROPERTY MANAGER COLLEEN - MAJOR RED FLAG:

Colleen contacted me offering compensation to move out early for another incoming tenant. I said it would be tough but would update if possible, so i did try and secured movers. During this time, we discovered a water leak ofnsome sort next to guest bathroom which I immediately reported (they took their time addressing water damage). But surely they would have to address before the new tenants move it right?

I fully moved out, returned keys to concierge, and sent Colleen email confirmation on the 15th. Despite having email proof, concierge knowledge of my move-out, and returned keys, Colleen LIED claiming she never received notification. She then pulled a classic bait-and-switch, citing "fine print" that compensation was only for days the new tenant occupied the unit, and conveniently the new tenant "decided not to move in yet."

Most insulting: She claimed that because some items were left in the apartment (despite keys being returned and having no access), they "thought I hadn't moved out." So concierge testimony, returned keys, and email confirmation weren't enough evidence?

This dishonest manager cost me $2-3K through deceptive practices. She deliberately misled me about move-out terms then used technicalities to avoid payment.

Bottom Line: For $6500/month, you get maintenance issues, pest problems, and dishonest management that will find ways to cheat you out of money. Document EVERYTHING.

Future tenants: BEWARE of Colleen and read every word of contracts.

PS you can keep that money, whats taken from you will always be replaced with...

Overall, we enjoyed our experience at Waterbury House and appreciate that they offered shorter leases at the time, which solved a need while our new house was built.

The building staff are great, especially Malaika, the manager. Everyone is helpful and kind and we really enjoyed everyone from the concierge to cleaning people, to management.

The public areas are lovely as well and we especially enjoyed the pool deck in the summer and community room. Apartments are very nice with decent finishes and nice appliances including Wolf cooktops or ranges and wine fridges in some homes.

Some of the upsides were also downsides for the apartments, at least in our unit because we chose a smaller model because it was going to be for the short term. The large Wolf range and wine fridge look nice but took up too much valuable space that could have been used for storage in our unit. The open shelves should have one more shelf to be able to store items because storage was limited. The tub with glass doors was a poor design choice in a small unit because it was difficult to get in and out of or clean. These are all minor gripes though and are mostly based on our experiences and expectations owning vs. renting. Overall, the apartments are some of the nicest in the Twin Cities.

Rental prices are too high in my opinion. By the time you include base rent, parking, a pet fee, and a fee for a small storage room, our cost for a tiny one bedroom home was just under $3,800 / month. Larger units or those with views are quite a bit more expensive. In comparison, you could buy a condo in the $500K range and own for about the same cost. I'm obviously biased toward home ownership but your circumstances or needs may be different and in that case, I would recommend...

Service 5/5. Ambience. 5/5. Food. 1-5. Cocktails. 1/5. Flavor. 1/5.

On ordering 3 Caio e Pepe’s with proteins, all came without ‘pepe’ & flavor. With all of us coming from out East or West coast lives, we empathized with the table next to us. We gave them our “cacio” y “sal” dispensers. Our waitress was AWESOME, but alerted us the kitchen chef said “There was pepper on the plate.”. After we had requested “más cacio y flavor….” The kitchen staff seemed divisively unaware yet insulting, to those of us who have lived or ate overseas. “Tell them i put pepper in the cacio….” Said the kitchen staff, which was a weird request….

The GM was awesome.

We almost laughed at watching the two tables near-est to us look for pepper and salt, as we gave them both for our table.

My “Red Snapper” tasted like a dry wafer. It was disgusting and tasted like cheap stream trout cooked too long. If I wasn’t born in New England I’m sure I would have been impressed. . If I wasn’t born and bred out east - maybe the polenta - grits - imitation citrus-foam - too citrus-gel-e - would have tasted more complementary. Maybe.

If we weren’t non-locals, I’m sure this would have been dealt with differently.

Sorry Minneapolis. This isn’t the new spot. Despite the lovely service we had.

Service was 5/5.

Food for MSP was a...