The Biltmore — Local services in New York

Here is an unbiased review. I would have rated this building as 4 stars six months ago, but now I think it merits no more than 3.5 stars.

Firstly, the positives: the building is well-located with convenient transportation, and the facilities on the fifth floor are well-equipped for comfortable living. The other residents in the building are also very friendly; whether it’s buying or selling furniture or needing assistance, responses are always swift. The amenities within the apartment, such as the dishwasher, oven, and in-unit washer and dryer, are all top-notch. Most importantly, the maintenance staff are very professional and skilled, able to fix any issue quickly. In particular, a person named Ruft (I hope I've spelled his name correctly) is highly efficient and enthusiastic, and I consider him the most professional person in the building. He is the main reason why I think this building deserves a 3.5 rating instead of 2.

On the downside, I believe the front desk, management team, and parcel reception are run by three different entities that seem to lack effective communication, although this was not an issue six months ago. The front desk staff on weekday evenings are extremely unprofessional and rude, unable to resolve any problems. Additionally, there appears to be a significant lack of communication between the parcel area staff and the management team, sometimes resulting in parcels registered in the system being unavailable for pickup. Furthermore, all services booked through mobile are generally about half an hour late, although the professionalism and efficiency of the maintenance staff somewhat mitigate this lack of punctuality. While the elevators often break down, their repair is relatively efficient. Another point concerns the internet; when we first moved in, we couldn't install Wi-Fi due to damage to the building's infrastructure, resulting in a week's delay before we could get online.

In my opinion, the Biltmore was nearly perfect about a year ago, with a professional front desk and management team capable of solving all issues. Now, aside from the maintenance team, which has consistently worked here, the other departments seem less professional. However, the facilities are good, and I am personally...

Since the management has changed, it’s been abysmal. Two months in, they accidentally charged my rent twice in one month, refunded two weeks later and then charged me a late fee. A few months after that, they accidentally credited my account so my auto payment didn’t go through, since the system was credited. I then got an incredibly hostile phone call demanding rent, which I paid, in addition to a late fee for their mistake, yet again. No apology from them. Rent has increased since I moved in, but only through loopholes they’ve exploited; instead of directly increasing rent, they’ve added additional “fees” for as many things as they can think of. This is all just the tip of the ice berg.

The Biltmore is deeply troubled with Greystar. There have been frequent visits from the police regarding a domestic violence situation, also. You’ve probably read all the reviews about elevators not working, too. They’ll probably tell you that they do events each month - there’s only yoga to be honest, and that’s on Saturdays, but not really that great either. No one uses the amenity deck or game room because of the new associated fees and also because they’re just not all that useful. There are plenty of luxury apartment buildings nearby that charge the same and also offer dog daycare or a resident dog run or a swimming pool. If you’re looking here, I would advise you look at Sky with the Lifetime gym instead. Or anywhere else, literally anywhere else.

I also just found out that while rearranging my apartment and going through a grieving process, which in itself is a unique and complicated process, they discarded my brother’s ashes from the hallway closet without notice. I can never get my brother back now.

These are money-hungry, nasty people. That’s only a dent into describing how bad of a management company they are - how bad a group of people they are. It’s not worth the time to delve in more. Just...

I've been a co-tenant here for 3 years. The reviews for this place is mostly bad. And while the guys up front are indeed friendly, the management is distressingly unavailable when you really need maintenance. The only time you will hear from them is when they want your rent and it comes in the form of an automated message, not a person.

I honestly cannot recommend others to stay here. You are paying a high price for a partially-functioning box to live in. It will take weeks for them to fix your bathroom light, the elevators are consistently in repair, and all the management can think about is remodeling. If you are going to work at one of the banks in the area, note that while this place is indeed close the poor state of the elevators and repairs will hold you up so long that you might as well get a cheaper and better serviced place elsewhere and get the daily walking in. You will still arrive at work faster than this place on average as long as you are within 20 mins walking distance door-to-door from your work.

I own my own business and UX has been what keeps my customers coming back. But what do I know about real estate? Maybe the model is to churn, remodel, do the least amount of service as possible, and repeat. And since the Biltmore is only concerned about remodeling and not their tenants during the COVID-19 crisis, do yourself a favor and find somewhere that the apartments are well taken-care of and have the business sense of maintaining existing customers (or cash flows, if the manager is reading this) instead of banking on future ones that will still take a while to materialize given the crisis. It is stressful enough to live and work in NYC and you...