The Accolade on Chestnut — Local services in Philadelphia

If you're thinking about staying here, don't. This place has been nothing but problems from day 1. To start, the dryers did not work correctly for the first few months of my stay here, until they finally sent somebody to fix the issue. On top of that, the heating and cooling is setup so that only one can on for the entire building at a given time. Because of this, my room as constantly in mid 80s throughout the winter because I could not turn on the air conditioner. There are also general cleanliness issues, where garbage will pile up in the cardboard room and the elevators are frequently dirty. There is a very good chance that at least one elevator will stop working when you go to use one. There have been times where all 3 elevators were out for almost an entire day and I had to walk up a tone of flights.Then there is the restrictive visitor policy, where you're only allowed 6 visits a month, so unless you plan to sit alone in your room for all but those 6 days, don't expect to have anybody over. And lastly, the issue that motivated this email. Due to a large number of bad reviews, the building owners decided to hold town hall meetings for people to let them know their concerns. In these meetings, we were told that we would get some money back, but we have since been informed that we will not be getting anything now. So I guess that was just a false promise to shut us up. And it makes sense that their promises are meaningless, given the myriad of other issues yet to be resolved. Every time I think things are getting better, something else happens to remind me how truly awful and unwelcoming this place is. I would strongly advise against staying here, unless you have no other options, in which case, I'm sorry.

Update:

I’m not sure why, but the owners of the building have been much much more strict regarding their guest policy recently. They claim it’s for our “security”, but given the owner’s track record of not caring one bit about the residents here, my guess is that they want to keep students from letting their parents stay during graduation and using more utilities. As a result of this, security guards have been extra vigilant and will stare at anybody walking in the building as if they’re a hardened criminal. It’s feels like I’m constantly treated as a suspected criminal when I just want to walk to my apartment. I’ve intentionally used the phrasing “my apartment” instead of “my home”, because every day this place feels more like prison that I cannot wait to be free from. Personally, I’ve never felt threatened by the guests of my fellow residents, but I do constantly feel threatened by the homeless people who constantly roam around the building, sometimes screaming at the air and sometime laying passed out on the side of the building.

I also received an email recently saying that packages left in the mail room for more than 24 hours will be thrown out, which begs the question: what happens if I go on vacation or stay somewhere else for more than a day

Despite the constant promises to make improvements, all we’ve gotten is changes help the building owners cut their costs while inconveniencing the residents who live here. And since the lease agreement is a scummy catch-all, it allows them to make changes at any given moment, essentially making the lease agreement a useless piece of paper. I am literally counting the days until this horrible lease ends, but even then, it seems like I’ll still have to fight for my security deposit given the reviews...

I am not one to leave negative reviews, but this place, in short, is awful. As many of the reviews have mentioned, it is way too hot in the building and there is no way of adjusting the temperature. I have had to keep my window open in my apartment 24/7 to stay at a normal temperature. I have nearly passed out in my bathroom because of how hot it is. Due to the heat of the building, most of the common spaces are unusable. There doesn’t seem like many steps have been taken to resolve this issue.

Mail is inconvenient. Even if your mail has been delivered, unless you have received notification from the apartment complex itself that the mail is here, you cannot access it. You literally cannot enter the mail room. If you’re caught entering the mailroom without entering a username and password, you are treated as though you are a criminal stealing mail. The system notifications are incredibly delayed. This has led to issues with me getting perishables, expensive items that I would prefer not sit in the mailroom, and even at times medication. The mailroom is also overall poorly organized. I was under the impression that they were going to have a Luxer locker system. This was never installed and instead the mail is poorly organized by floor in a very hot room. Additionally, they do not allow you to use carts to carry heavy packages because they say it’s for “move in only.” I have had to struggle to lug water and furniture up to my room.

Studios are INCREDIBLY small. I haven’t seen the size of other apartments, but if you are considering getting a studio here, don’t do it (especially if you have pets). There are some vehicles with larger interiors than the studio apartments here.

The worst part by far is the trash system. For months, the trash chutes were not set up and they kept saying that they would figure it out. The trash chutes were eventually ready—but make sure you read the section of the lease about trash before signing! They have all sorts of pedantic rules about how to properly dispose trash. Working and being a student is stressful enough and takes enough time. Mental health issues make it difficult to even be motivated to clean. Then, add on top of this having to literally calculate proper sizing of trash so it can fit the tiny trash chutes, and having to take cardboard to an outside trash that is nowhere near the apartment. You are fined if you do not follow these rules, as though the rent isn’t crazily high. On top of the fine, a man will pound on your door until you answer it and berate you about the trash.

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention were the dryers. I have to run my clothes through the dryers 2 or 3 times before they are dry, which is super annoying.

In conclusion: I would NOT recommend this building. For the cost, there are TONS of better offerings in...

I would like to sincerely share with you some of the unpleasant experiences I am currently experiencing with this apartment. All tenants are required to pay a deposit of $1,615 before moving in. It has been a full month since I moved out of this apartment, and I still have not successfully received the deposit that was supposed to be returned to me. What needs to be stated is that I followed the formal procedures for reletting in accordance with the apartment contract, and meticulously restored the room to its original appearance before handing over the keys. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the apartment to return the full amount of $1,615 to me.

Since the day I moved out of the apartment on December 8, I have been actively discussing the deposit return with the apartment in various ways, but what makes me very anxious and disturbed is the apartment's response and processing speed. All extremely slow. As long as I don't contact them, they will never contact me. Because I am no longer in the United States, I can only communicate with them through emails and phone calls, but the staff seems not to want to follow up on this matter at all, and they are constantly passing the buck to each other. Until now, I have no idea how this matter has been followed, because no one, whether the front desk, the manager, or the accounting department, can inform me of the exact progress. Is it because I can't talk with you in person that you don't plan to return the deposit to me at all??? For every international student, this is not a small amount of money!!!

I question the entire apartment's attitude towards the refund of the tenant's deposit. No matter it is the front desk, manager, or accounting department, no evidence allows me to see the apartment's willingness to actively face this matter. I have completed the relet following all the requirements of the apartment, then how can you deprive me of my legal rights as a tenant in this way? I suggest all students who are considering renting the Accolade on Chestnut to consider it carefully. After all, facing such an apartment with chaotic procedures and complete disregard for tenants' rights, what I am experiencing now is endless...