The Villas at Camelback Crossing — Local services in Phoenix

My spouse and I lived here for 2 years, starting 9/11/2015. After having spent 2 years at The Villas, it was definitely time for a change. The only real positive I can say one gets for what they pay for is the complex's location. If you're a fan of Westgate (which our roommate was), or like what the west side of the valley has to offer, its proximity to the 101 is solid.

Other than location, I can't honestly recommend this place. It's old, and the units are in desperate need of a face-lift. I can't speak for the appliances in other units, but ours were dated and could stand to be replaced. Our dryer, at times, seemed ready to rattle its way out of its enclosure. The cabinets and counter-tops are worn and very much resemble something that might have been nice in 2002, but now--especially compared to nearby apartment complexes--are ugly. They've started painting the buildings about a month or so prior to us moving out. I don't know who picked the color scheme, but...yikes. I can't help but feel that if one is going to renovate, one should start with a higher priority, like the inside of the units themselves.

Also, the carpets (as is typical of apartments that mindboggingly still utilize them throughout) are of the cheapest, thinnest quality. On our initial walk-through and move-in date they were cleaned, but you could tell they'd wear and tear very quickly. Sure enough, a week or so after we settled in, stains began to show themselves. Parts of the carpet near the entryways to the doors began to shred. When you can't vacuum your floors because the carpet is so bad it just unravels, well, that's a problem. We asked for new carpets upon renewing our lease last year, and had been told (on two separate occasions when asked) that they'd need to inspect the carpets first. That never happened. We could never get anyone to come out and look at them.

Be warned: you will have to keep on the front office staff for any and all requests you make. They removed the option to request maintenance via their online portal (it's 2017, why the heck remove such efficient functionality?) so you either have to walk into the office to request it, or call them. And don't expect your first, or second, or even your third request to get the job finished. It took almost a month to get maintenance out to have our leaky sink fixed.

The grounds at the back of the complex are not kept up very well. Tons of trash deposited wherever people feel like it. Too often beer cans and bottles were left in stairwells or tossed in the rocks near our building. A tenet on the first floor had four or five small dogs she let roam without a leash. These dogs would poop wherever and she wouldn't lift a finger to dispose of it. It's a common sight throughout the complex. Even after management had poop bag stations installed (wonderful addition), they do little good when other people refuse to utilize them.

Parking is a nightmare. A complex this size should have open parking, especially since so many covered spots seem not to be utilized. They took away a whole row of open parking earlier this year to make room for more tandem parking spaces. These spaces allow two cars to be parked, but you have to give up your covered space for them. There is no option to pay for an additional covered space, but you can pay out the ass for a garage. If you're by yourself, or don't go out much, the parking won't be a problem. Otherwise, be sure to claim a spot before 6pm.

Gates (walk-in and automatic) seem to break at regular intervals. If you're going to deal with anyone in management (especially Candace) be sure to record, or get whatever exchange is had in writing. They have a tendency to claim "I don't recall saying that" or "that's not what was discussed."

I'd avoid this place altogether. For the price, the complex next door might be worth it. Or any of the ones right by Westgate. Paying $1000/month for the nonsense that happens...

My experience here has been pleasant for the most part, but it didn’t start out that way. When I first moved in, I had done my walk through and the apartment was NOT in good condition. Door handles completely covered in paint, more paint on every outlet (couldn’t use the WiFi due to paint covering each coax outlet), on the desk and cabinets, windows, the toilet, and on the floors. Vanity chewed completely, a giant oil stain on the outer cabinet. Dishwasher smelled like it was going to catch fire, washer made a weird sound, and the laundry room door was COMPLETELY broken. I went to the office absolutely fuming. They sent the maintenance manager (shoutout to Chad) to my apartment and he deeply apologized and promptly made it right. He and his staff got EVERYTHING cleaned up QUICKLY. He genuinely cared and made it right FAST. A few things couldn’t be done, (the vanity (they were able to tint it), and the coax outlets). The dishwasher took awhile to get fixed, but did eventually. My washer still sounds absolutely crazy, but functions. Maintenance IS VERY helpful here though. Super nice, and they get everything done within a timely manner. I don’t think the painting was done by the guys who do show up to work, because they really are nice and do keep the complex as clean as they can. Given the fact that there are NASTIES here.

My first four months living here I couldn’t get the mail, due to the mailroom being broken into. So I had to go pick up my mail downtown. The gate is almost always broken in some way regardless of what the front office staff will tell you (I’ve been told I must have had the wrong code even though I’ve lived here for a year now and it never changed lol), whether it doesn’t open even after it beeps you in, stays open, or maybe someone decided to run into it (which HAS happened numerous times), it does invite unwanted guests into the apartments. I’ve seen sketchy people checking doorhandles to see if they’re unlocked (I’m on the third floor), packages are regularly stolen, mostly by other tenants which is unfortunate, and cars are VERY often broken into and/or stolen. If you have a Kia or Hyundai, I HIGHLY recommend getting a garage.

The kids in the apartment complex are bad. Some are just kids being kids, but there’s a good chunk of kids who are just BAD. Breaking light posts and other amenity equipment, screaming, saying inappropriate things to people, breaking peoples doors down (which was caught on ring cam by another tenant) and absolutely trashing the pool.

I do miss the old office staff. Celeste, Katie, Jordan, and Jessie. Jessie is the only one who remains. They were personable and a joy to see when you came into the office. I feel like they genuinely cared. The new are nice, but I’m bias because the first group was so great. They do things for the residents, like gift card draws, and they have a sushi fusion truck that comes every now and then. Ice cream truck makes his way through as well.

You WILL spend $230+ on electric in the summer even in a one bedroom. The A/C units just cannot keep up with the heat, and run 24/7. My apartment felt warm most of summer even running it at 73° (would sometimes be 80°).

Overall though, the apartments layout is cute and comfortable. The natural light from the bay windows is genuinely my favorite thing about my unit. My neighbors for the most part have been pleasant. I have NOT had a bug or pest problem. An occasional silverfish, or spider, and I think I have seen ONE roach in my year of being here. The apartment itself is affordable for the market right now. I wouldn’t deter someone from moving in because there is MUCH worse out there and it hasn’t been all bad. It’s affordable and cute. For the most part a quiet, comfortable neighborhood. Just keep in mind the area, and know that it won’t be perfect. And for the most part, that has nothing to do with the...

Ok so this is gonna be a long one: As most of you know I moved to Az recently for my new assignment. When I got here I checked out a place called the Villas at Camelback Crossing located at 5150 North 99th Ave Glendale, Az 85305. The place looked doable and they had a quick move in date, making my life so much easier. However when it came time to move in, things turned sour fast. August 28th a manager tried to have me sign my lease before inspecting the actual apartment. (First red flag 🚩) I declined and we went to view the apartment around 3:00pm. Upon entry I noticed one dead roach, that’s it everything else besides a few dents in the wall from previous wall mounting and a crack in the kitchen floor looked acceptable. We went back to the leasing office where I signed my lease and I left with a friend to celebrate. After dinner and shopping for necessities for the apartment we returned after night fall, opening to door to see roaches scattering to hide from the light. As y’all can imagine I was super mad. For those thinking I should have inspected better, roaches are nocturnal and hide in walls, I wasn’t going to see them until it got dark. I contacted my leasing agent immediately (around 8:00pm)to inform them and they apologized and told me I needed to speak with the manager Alyssa in the morning. I extended my stay in my hotel. The next morning (Wednesday August 29th) they told me they could have an exterminator come out on Friday to treat the apartment if I wanted them to come any sooner I’d have to pay a 35 dollar fee. That’s insane to me. Why should I pay for something that should’ve been taken care of before I even stepped foot in the apartment? I asked to see records of when the last tome the apartment was treated for pest and they told me that was confidential information. I told them I had furniture that was supposed to be delivered Thursday and they said that’s all they could do. I called orkin and had them come look and they said it was a bigger problem than I knew or could see. They said they could kill the ones in the apartment but they would keep coming back because they were living in the walls. I then asked the manager to move me to a different apartment and I was lied to an told there were no vacant ones. (I had a friend call and ask about availability and they were told there was a first floor available, my apartment was on the third) Finally I told them if that was the case I’d like to leave to live somewhere that doesn’t have roaches. To which they said I’d have to pay a lease break fee of almost 2000 dollars. I’d already paid first months rent of over 1200. This was an additional fee they wanted me to pay. So over 3000 on a place I didn’t spend one night in. Not gonna happen, I went and got another apartment. The point of this post is to expose the business for their shady practices, and to warn anybody looking for their next place to stay in this area far away from them. Their own exterminator said the apartment was bad and “definitely needs treatment” which would be over the course of two weeks during which they expected me to live in...