Stratus Apartments — Local services in Seattle

We've lived in Stratus for almost three years now and have just renewed for a 4th year. And after nearly 20+ years of renting in the greater Seattle area I can say that Stratus is the best apartment we've lived in, and Windsor is substantially better than any property management company around. They strive to make you feel like you're welcome and at home, and not just another revenue stream like most property management companies do.

Geoff, Kelton, and the rest of the Stratus staff have consistently upheld Windsor's mission of creating communities where people feel cared for, and their customer service is unrivaled. The concierge team and maintenance staff are very courteous and helpful, and if there are any issues or maintenance requests they're resolved in a timely and professional manner. They periodically host building wide events like movies nights and meet and greets with food and drink, which is a good way to get to know your neighbors.

The Stratus building itself is elegant and the amenities are excellent. The community entertainment spaces are gorgeous, and the construction planning for the entire building was well thought out. The gym is great and has nice modern machines and weights, and is well kept. The appliances are high quality and the cabinets, counters, and flooring in the apartments are beautiful. Most of the floor plans are well designed and maximize space, including storage space. I believe Stratus may have originally been built to be condominiums, so the building specifications are better than most apartment complexes (e.g., sound proofing between floors and shared walls, etc.). When we first moved to Stratus, we immediately noticed an improvement in hearing the next door and upstairs neighbors versus the previous places we lived.

There are occasional issues but, in most cases, they are caused by tenants and not anything Stratus can control, even though they try their best to mitigate issues before they happen. For example, Stratus periodically informs tenants via e-mail correspondence regarding trash/recycling disposal do's and dont's. Yet some tenants still manage to have a lapse in common sense and put large objects in the trash chute which cause it to malfunction. When this happens, staff works quickly to resolve the issue with as minimal impact on the other tenants as possible. This is not an issue specific to Stratus, as we've lived in previous apartments that had this same problem much more frequently without any communication to tenants. Stratus staff does a great job of providing transparent communication via e-mail/app if building wide issues occur, and they provide workaround solutions to minimize the impact as much as they can, which is commendable.

They do a good job of maintaining the cleanliness of shared common space not used for entertainment (e.g., shared hallways on each floor, elevators, common area bathrooms etc.). If there happens to be a spill or a tenant's pet has an accident, maintenance staff works quickly to clean it up. An elevator may occasionally be locked for use (e.g., tenant moving in or out), or will be slower during peak traffic hours, but this is not an uncommon experience in high-rise apartment complexes.

All in all, Stratus is a fantastic apartment that is managed by a customer-focused property management company that makes you feel at home. The Stratus staff are professional, very friendly, and consistently go the extra mile to make sure the tenant experience is as comfortable as possible. The lease renewal offers take into consideration current economic impacts and 'Seattle proper' rental market prices to make sure they offer competitive lease agreements. I recommend Stratus to anyone looking to live in the downtown Seattle / Denny Triangle/ South...

If you love Star Trek, you would love living here at Stratus, which I have called home recently.

Stratos was a beautiful city in the cloud in an episode of Star Trek. Like its name sake, Stratus Apartments is light, ethereal, and beautiful. It even has a set of stairs, that descends into a modern reception area that illuminates this other worldly aura, just like the set of stairs that we first saw Droxine as she descended in an impossible redolent dress as if it were made from stars to meet Captain Kirk for the first time.

My apartment is truly special. My jaw dropped the first time I surveyed it. The material used to cover the floor and the kitchen cabinets is made from a greyish wood that seemed to have been salvaged from a beach that had weathered many a Pacific Northwest storms. The architect even thoughtfully slightly set off the kitchen cabinet from the ingress of the door so that one may place a small bench at the entryway to put on shoes or take them off.

The backsplash and the countertop are covered in a marble like material that is glacially white with occasional veins appearing in it.

The appliances are top notch. The dishwasher even has a cutlery tray like those you would see in high end German dishwasher. I love the faucet that is so elegantly minimal but loses no functionality as the spout can be pulled away and extended to reach places and simple buttons hidden away on the spout can be actuated to change the velocity and the communication of the water.

The bathroom is iridescently in white set off by the greyish cabinet and a no curb shower encased in a glass box which is positioned so that one can see themselves in the mirror during shower.

My bedroom directly views South Lake Union but it also views continually to the entirety of Capitol Hills. I have lived here in Seattle for most of my life but I have never seen sunrise from Capitol Hill, which is arrestingly magnificent like an alpine glow from a shy pink to holy Buddish yellow. Nor have I seen so many white sailboats on Lake Union on a bright sunny day which looks like butterflies tasting salt by the waters after a long wintry journey.

The bedroom windows are superbly designed to fit width wise a queen bed and it traverses from ceilIng to floor. In the morning, when the dawn of Capitol Hills awaken me, I would look down at the city below me and see a lonely car driving on Denny Way, a construction worker with his hard hat and Coleman lunch boxes and thermos walking to his site, and an older Asian lady performing martial art near the lake, and a Kenmore float plane arriving on the water off the lake.

But the piece d’ resistance is the windows of the living room which expanse the entire width and height of ceiling, floor and walls. It is as if am living with Seattle days and nights—the majestic various mountains and ranges that are still snow capped in the distance, the ugly snake that is I5 and the slow digestion of cars, trucks and other vehicles through its belly, the politeness of Seattle pedestrians who obeyed the lights and the exasperation of outsiders who don’t.

Lastly, I will mention a few modern amenities of Status that I like or use. There is a band room for those of us who dreams of being a Seattle rock star where you and your band can be loud and it would not disturb a light sleeper in the building.

There is a vegetable garden next to a yoga studio. The gym is amazingly well equipped not just the usual cardio machines but free weights with a Lifefitness cable station. An outdoor theater with modern couches.

On and on. What a great...

My girlfriend and I lived in Stratus for a year, and I am giving my most honest feedback here. I hope this will help anyone considering Stratus as their next home.

Pros: This rental apartment has one of the best Amenities in the Seattle SLU area. The concierge is generally friendly and helpful. We had no issue with receiving packages. I got to say the package storing system is very well-organized. Their maintenance team is 5 stars – we usually get our home appliance/plumbing issues fixed within 24 hours Our unit (35+ floor, unit number 04)has a fantastic layout, gorgeous city & lake view, which is rare elsewhere.

Cons: The rent is expensive compared to other rentals, which I expected. However, the leasing office & management team doesn't operate like any other luxury apartments – I have to admit that I have high expectations for the group given the rent I paid to stay here, and I was very disappointed on several occasions –

They double charged our rental insurance for six months until we found out about it and contacted them for a refund.

They overcharged parking fees for several months ($35 extra per month). At first, we were told that our parking spot was an E-charging spot, thus the price difference, but then we realized it was just a regular spot with an electrical outlet. We did get a refund later on, but that was after rounds and rounds of time-consuming communication.

After the parking incident, they promised to move us to the E-charging spot if one was available, but they didn't keep their promise. We've never gotten notified about the new available spots while we saw other residents who moved in after getting those E-charging spots.

Bonus story if you are still reading – We signed a lease before we could look at the unit because it was not vacant at the time. The leasing agent told us to sign the lease first, and they'll allow us to change to another unit if we don't like the one we chose. However, when we finally got to do a walk of the unit and discovered that there was construction going on next to it, the leasing team changed their promise immediately. They rejected our request to switch to another unit. After rounds and rounds of negotiating, and luckily we have written proof about their first statement, we finally get to switch units. But as you can imagine, the whole negotiating experience was very time-consuming and energy-breaking.

All in all, I think their management team is not competent in dealing with things that they are not familiar with, thus pushing the responsibility to the residents. You'll have to speak up firmly and fight for your rights to resolve things, which is exhausting and not a delightful experience.

In short, Stratus is a great place to live if you don't have to deal with the leasing/managing team. If you don't care about that or are a great negotiator, I think this will be the right...