The Blake Apartments — Local services in Savannah

As a start, I would like to say that I would genuinely give this place 0 stars if I could. When I first moved in I thought The Blake was super nice, however, upon move in I noticed many issues. Unbelievably dirty carpet, with clear stains and lack of cleaning or replacement. Scuffs on furniture, flooring and walls, broken cabinets and kitchen equipment, loose faucets, terrible drainage, and much more. Another thing I noted early on is the cheap pain used throughout the apartment, easily scuffed and peeled after a few days (they had just painted when I moved in). All things that were annoying to deal with, but could be overlooked. I noted all of these issues on the move in sheet and took some photos of my room/kitchen/living space upon first move-in. To start, the first issue was with maintenance, after the 12 months I lived there and multiple reminders of our stove burners being broken, it never got fixed. But I guess the part was just on back order right? It also took forever for our other requests to be addressed and fixed. Honestly, if I were to write this review when I was fixing to move out I would give The Blake 4 stars. The staff is nice, mail is easy to get, parking wasn't an issue, and I enjoyed my room. But this 4 turned into 0 after I moved out as saw the big picture of the Blake as a company. A few weeks after I moved out. I was hit with $1000+ in cleaning charges. $350 for the carpet. $350 for General cleaning, $250 for Bathroom cleaning, $50 for "trash." I am going to put this as simple as I can. Did I leave my room COMPLETELY spotless, no, did it need $1000 worth of cleaning, HELL NO. Remember how I said the carpet was terrible when I moved in and I noted it. I know for a fact they aren't cleaning or replacing that carpet anytime soon, they just leave it dirty and charge the next unsuspecting guest. The $350 worth for "general cleaning" included the walls and cabinets that had slight dust and general wear/tear and a few scuff. $350 worth of cleaning/paint though? Nope. $250 for the Bathroom, yea ok, I guess to them missing the dust behind the toilet constitutes $250 worth of cleaning. I admit I did leave an empty box or two behind which I guess takes $50 to break down and take downstairs. Let me say first, I understand general cleaning fees, someone just moved out of the apartment, need to clean it for the next guest, I get it. But what service needs $1000 to do that for a room that is no more than 100 square feet in total. After getting this charge I sent an email about the fees. They sent back images of dust on the corners the furniture, some scuffs on the wall, a singular pencil on the ground behind the desk, and some other dust/"dirty" spots in the bathroom, specifically behind furniture/toilet/etc. They said I had to pay it in full since it was clear in the lease they could do this. I let them know that I had a full understanding of the rental agreement, and I knew there was nothing I could say which will get me the money back. I let them know how shady it is to charge me based on the pictures they sent. I also noted that as per a standard code ethics, the charges for cleaning should be proportionate to the actual cleaning required beyond normal wear and tear. Any respecting business or operation would see that. I was clear their code of business ethics needs a rework. However, what brought this from 1-2 stars to 0 was because of this. Upon move out I let them know I was looking for a relet to take over my lease. However they took matters into their own hands, and moved someone into my room, that I was still paying full price for, and didn't feel the need to let me know. They gave a half assed apology but didn't care to make it right beyond that. No refund for the month that I had payed for someone else to live in my room. Do not live at the Blake if you have any other options. They are a money hungry business with a clear lack of ethics. Good luck if you live there, take videos of everything at move in and move out. Don't bend to their bs fees, and live anywhere...

The Blake Apartments: Review

As a person that just moved out today I’m going to go through everything of note about living at the Blake Apartments. Pros: Convenience, it’s in downtown and close to several scad buildings, bus lines, etc. That’s it that’s the only pro I have from the last year of living here! Cons: Staff: they do not care about you or your living situation. Unprofessional from the top to the bottom. Some of the maintenance guys are cool enough but upper management knows this place is subpar is trying to keep it a float. Hidden charges: when it comes to your rent. They charge a convenience fee if you are using a credit card, which could make your rent $100 more expensive. This facility is beat to hell: stains, infestation, bugs, dents, cracks, appliances that do not work, and will not work, A/C outages, rampant WiFi outages. When it rained my ceiling leaked profusely for several days. Charges and fines for everything: Me, and my roommates were so paranoid of it we didn’t even use the trash Butler system out of fear of getting fined. God forbid you forget your key fob after hours and have to call them, just for them to fine you. Again out of fear of being fined I would call my roommate to let me in if I forget my key fob. Homeless issues: several homeless people loiter the property. Crime: the facility had a massive broke in resulting in several resident’s vehicles being damaged and broken into, still the individual was never found. This property is adjacent to a high crime area. Employee turnover: I have seen the front desk person change weekly, whether it be from being fired, quitting, or otherwise this place is not a sustainable workplace and it shows. Parking: if it’s not during the a quarter parking on the road is fine. During academic quarters good luck if you don’t have a decal. Also there is an elementary school located right behind the property so whenever school is in or out that road is clogged with parents trying to pick up their children, making it almost impossible to get out. Sound: The Blake is located next to Interstate 16 which gets incredibly loud, especially with the in windows provided at the Blake. Communication: If you don’t know your roommates good luck. Try communicating with them as best as you can. Mail issues: sometimes they will mix up which resident has what letter room resulting in loss of mail, especially Amazon packages. Predatory: especially towards our foreigners. Which is why this review will be translated several times. Room layout: layout is misleading each room is not the same . If you have the room that has the bathroom you have more space. If you have the other room you have to walk all the way out to use your bathroom which leaves very little privacy. You cannot see the room before you move in. RED FLAG 🚩 Paper thin walls: If your roommate has a partner/significant other good luck. If someone is partying down the hall good luck. Safety issues: This place has key fob doors, you cannot get into this facility without a key fob even during emergency situations whether it be a fire or a crime. Those doors will delay emergency services and law enforcement from entering the property. Conclusion: I tried to be as fair as possible to this property, but they made it extremely difficult for me. I would say if this is your last resort, try to find somewhere else to live. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. The fact this place is still in business is mind boggling. it’s not worth the heartache. College is expensive enough. Take your time find a better place to live. If you’re gonna try to live here approach with caution, have everything in writing, take as many pictures as possible before you move in, as you live here and when you move out! Document...

I moved into the Blake when they first opened because I transferred to SCAD. Didn't really know much about the Savannah area and I saw that they were student housing. When I finally did move in to the so called "Brand new Luxury Student Living", The floors had scratches and paint, walls had marks and holes, cabinet busted on corner, fans had nasty dust, screen door broken, granite counter tops weren't sealed and my door to my room didn't lock. I immediately made a request to have them fix everything. Cause I am paying $1000 a month for a 3 bedroom, so it better be nice. It took them a while to get back which I understood with everyone moving in. Finally they came to check. The guy walked in looked at everything, and that was it. I told him my real concern is my door lock. I had two random roommates and since I didn't know them I didn't like not being able to lock my things up. He said he would replace it immediately....well that didn't happen for 3 months. I called almost every week asking about my door, sent emails, went downstairs and asked. Nothing, until I got my parents involved. All the other problems I had, they just left alone. That wasn't the only problem I had with the Blake. Rarely ever picked up the trash and when they did, never on time. The say between 6pm-8pm and it would still be there in the morning. Probably why the place smelled horrible. The building is only a year old now and it is falling a part. Nails popping out of the walls, wall paint splitting and cracking, mold in the lights on the ceiling which came into out cabinet above our microwave. One of the smoke detectors randomly started to have water leak out of it. And when we called the security guard, he said no ones on duty so they will take care of it in the morning. Apparently fire hazards are that big of a deal to them. Not to mention, its suppose to be tobacco free... so many people smoked. Went to the pool once, a girl who worked in the office was there and a guy was smoking weed and cigarettes... of course she did nothing. I brought all these issues up to the manager and people who worked in the front and nothing was done. Even tried to call corporate and no one would answer or return my calls. Oh but they did call me a month after i moved out to tell me I owe them $138 in electricity overages. Which to my understanding when I signed the lease the Blake pays $25 per person and then we pay the overages. Fine, that's fair, but when you ask to see these overages they don't give it to you. For a 3 bedroom that's $75, our place wasn't that big and we were very conservative so i don't get how we went over it. I live in a house now in the historic district and for 3 people its $120 for electricity. Its an very old house and the Blake is a brand new apartment complex with nice insulation. So I said I'd pay when I see what I'm charged for. They were so rude to me, said they give it to me, then said they can't, said that's not how they do things and bill. After almost 3 months of going back and forth, they call me and say here in the lease it says they don't have to provide it. One, i have never read that in my lease so they must be changing it without my consent and two she waited 3 months to tell me that. So basically no one actually knows what they are being charged for when it comes to the electricity. You would think that if they aren't scamming me they would have very easily showed me the bill. All in all, I will NEVER recommend and/or use this company again. They are scammers and treat people with...