U Club Binghamton — Local services in Town of Vestal

If you have any other choice - DO NOT LIVE HERE. Live downtown or in another apartment. If you are thinking about living here, here is a list as to why you shouldn't.

The worst reason. Management decided to rip up all the floors in the middle of the semester. They were supposed to provide movers for all our items and also 48 hours notice, but they changed my date and I had less than 12 hours to pack up everything. They did a terrible job with the renovation, damaging my wall, leaving dust everywhere, and splatters of glue all over the floor (which they better not charge me for). They also gave me back someone else's furniture, including the toilet, from another room (since they did multiple rooms at once) and it was absolutely disgusting. If this isn't enough reason not to live here, here are a few more.

Work orders are done poorly. I had a towel rack that was broken when I moved in. It took me three work orders before they would fix it properly. They would just prop the towel rack up just so it would stay up and leave, and as soon as you touched it, it would break again. I also had an oven door that fell off and they did the same thing for that.

Amenities don't work. For a place that charges premium prices for amenities, it is disappointing to see that a good amount are not available for use. There is a small gym, with treadmills in it that were broken for multiple months, despite numerous emails to management to fix them. When they did "fix" them, they were broken again within a week. Follows suit with the way they handle apartment work orders. Additionally, they have a pool table and ping pong table, and if you ask the front desk for the paddles or balls, they don't have them. Same thing with the golf simulator. Printers are out of paper pretty often, especially during busy times like midterms and finals. You know your tenants are mostly students, yet you can't send someone around once every few days just to put a little paper in the printers? How can you charge over 1k a person and promise all these amenities when you literally can't even use them?

Trash rooms are never emptied. The trash rooms in the apartments are emptied barely even bi-weekly. This causes the halls to smell like rotting garbage, and it seems like some of it seeps into the air conditioning and heating, causing the rooms to also smell like trash.

The clubhouse sells more parking permits, than they have spaces. When unauthorized vehicles park in the designated spaces, all they do is slap a sticker on the window telling you have 2 days to move it. Then, the people just come right back after peeling the sticker off. This means me, paying an additional $50/mo for a parking permit, cannot even park outside my apartment. Management only sends out emails telling people they will be towed, but like the stickers, they are empty threats.

If this hasn't convinced you not to live here, I don't know what will. If you do end up living...

I would never live here again.

The place is... fine. "Fine" meaning that the walls are like paper mache and you can hear everything, and I mean everything, that goes on in your roommates rooms, and the neighbors running around like wildebeests at all hours of the night. The kitchen equipment WILL break on you, the couch WILL shred to bits from normal use, and the the communal areas WILL NOT be maintained. But the rooms are decent enough size (my room was about 1.5x bigger than my roommates, for no reason or difference in price), and everyone has their own barely functioning bathroom. The heating pipes above the outside rooms would emit a very, very, very loud clicking sound precisely at 6 am (and random other times), stopping randomly, most likely after you are already wide awake from your built in alarm. Having decent food and a gym in walking distance is a big plus, and the bus comes just regularly enough that you will walk to campus half the time. But if you really want to live off campus and can not be bothered to do more than 2 seconds of research or do not want to interact with a local landlord than it is technically livable.

The company however, is dog shit. They will constantly impose random changes to make the place worse, such as replacing the outside locks with a shitty phone app that does not work, when we still had to keep the same key to get into our apartment. They will also kick out for whole days a time with less than 48 hours of notice so they can install whatever the hell they want. If you want to keep your keys when you go home for the summer because you still have to pay through the summer, they will try and charge you $300+ to send them in by mail. The shuttle they advertised and you pay for just shut down one day and never returned. They upcharge you on rent payments if you try and use a credit or debit card. They do not enforce any kind of parking regulation despite them making you pay for it, so there is quite literally zero and I mean zero parking spots if you get home late at night. The management is completely dismissive and often unresponsive to any complaints.

I lived with Jake Shamash, also read his review for more details.

Overall I would highly disadvise moving here. The company takes a great housing location surrounded by good businesses and tries to run the margins as thin and shitty and possible. Do an hour or two of research, find a local place, and you will save money...

I’ve lived at U Club Binghamton for two years, so I feel qualified to give an honest review. Unfortunately, my experience has been mostly negative.

Cleanliness & Maintenance: When we moved in, the apartment was filthy and clearly not cleaned beforehand. Some stains on the floor seemed beyond cleaning, and the dryer was poorly maintained, with lint buildup that poses a fire hazard. The hallways are stained with grease and what looks like animal excrement. Rust in the bathroom is also an issue. The top of the kitchen cabinets had never been cleaned, and due to poor ventilation in the kitchen, about a millimeter of grease had caked onto the top of the cabinet. It took about an hour to clean that up. I also advise being very careful on the couch. It is so cheap that it started falling apart and we will likely be charged for this.

Management & Policies: One of the worst experiences was being forced to move out in the middle of the semester for a floor replacement, with no alternative accommodations provided. This left us essentially homeless for a day, and I had personal belongings stolen or misplaced due to the move. Additionally, they charge for utilities even when no one is living there, which seems to violate the lease agreement.

Living Conditions & Amenities: The walls are extremely thin, making it difficult to have privacy—this can be a nightmare if you don’t get along with your roommates. The gym equipment is barely functional and never cleaned. Parking is another major issue; despite paying for a parking pass, enforcement is inconsistent, and spots are often unavailable.

Positives: There are a few redeeming qualities. The fire alarm system is well-maintained, central heating and cooling work effectively, and the rooms are a decent size. The kitchen is one of the best aspects, offering plenty of space and functionality.

Final Thoughts: U Club might be a decent choice for someone who doesn’t want to deal with searching for housing, has no budget concerns, knows their roommates well, and values a good kitchen. Otherwise, the high cost, poor management, and lack of privacy make it difficult...