West Mill Gardens — Local services in West Orange

My husband and I moved into West Mill Gardens 2/18/2017, about 2 1/2 months now. So thought it was now time to give our Review! I used to live in these apartments over 10 years ago and it was my favorite complex. I only left due to personal reasons and I remembered how kind West Mill was to me during that time. Years later, I got married and now that it was time for me and my husband to move back to this area, this was our first choice. A friend of mine that has lived here for several years told me it was still a great place to live.

We called West Mill and came in on the day they were having an open house, our appointment was earlier that day. We fell in love with the first apartment we saw. Loved the "Renovated" apartment. Beautiful new dark wood floors, new kitchen counters and stove, and love the wall color with the accent white. My husband took measurements before we even went back to apply for it.

It took 1 business day to get back to us and let us know we were approved! The team at West Mill was such a joy to work with! And thanks so much Latoya for answering our questions, thanks to the manager and maintenance for agreeing to let us move in early since the apartment was ready and our house sale got pushed, and overall for making sure everything was perfect and ready for us.

The Apartment: Spacious 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, 1st Floor. The apartment was fully renovated, in great condition, and sparkling clean. We double the living room as an office. The kitchen is large enough to put 2 1/2 large storage towers (our pantry) and has a dish washer. Nice Arch leads to the dining area. Large storage closet in the hallway. There is an air conditioner in the Living room and bedroom.

The grounds: They really keep up with the maintenance. Nice green grass, beautiful trees. They are blooming now. You can walk up the hills or just around the complex. Off peak times are best to do laundry. The complex allows dogs! They have potty bags around the complex. There's a cute playground for the kids, tennis courts, and a pool.

Parking: Plenty of parking here. There are garages, but most are taken, so you have to wait for one to open up close to you.

Winter/Snow: We had a big snow day since we were here. The reviews are true in that people circle around and take spots during the day if you dare shovel your car out and leave your spot. But it's no different than having a home with street parking. Trust me, it could be worst! You'll suffer for those couple snow days. But then all will be well again.

Neighbors: Mostly friendly. Most wave hello and our puppy has met several puppy friends! People do mostly pick up after their pets.

Neighborhood: Across from St. Barnabas Hospital. On Northfield avenue there is a Master's Pizza and the Livingston Diner and they are great with delivery. Further on Northfield is Turtle Back Zoo. Livingston Avenue has several restaurants, Walgreens, CVS, etc. A lot of Churches around. Livingston Mall is close by and everything is on Route 10 (Restaurants, department stores, Food stores, Movie theatre, etc).

Transportation: Close to 280 and major highways. You can drive down to the Park & Ride on Northfield or to South Orange avenue to take the train from there. There is also a bus stop across at St. Barnabas to Newark Penn Station.

Orders: We put our full address when we order packages (xx old short hills road, apt. xx). But we add to the comments the building #.

Monthly Rent: You get what you pay for. It's a nice place to live! It's in a good area! The apartments are spacious, the grounds are well kept. We searched around and this is what you pay for the Livingston/Roseland/ West Caldwell area. These were more affordable. And they take Pets (not every complex does). They were having a special when we signed up. 1 month free that got spread over the 12 months.

Overall, it's been a good 2 1/2...

Lived here for 7 years, and did a 1 month extension only to get charged a pool fee and 2 cleaning fees. Yes, not one but 2. Upon Move Out inspection was told by the super that our "renovated apartment" was never fully renovated, the bathroom floor tiles should've been replaced. Anyway, they charged us $575 in total for cleaning plus $195 for a pool that is not open and we never got to use since the season hasn't begun. We extended our stay for 1 month and paid $200 for that, so I'm still trying to understand why biling would charge us for the pool knowing we didn't resign a year lease. I've emailed them so we'll see if they reply but I'm sure I'll be calling for her to give me attitude like she does. It's no surprise the charges tho, she always gets things wrong so good luck dealing with her if you decide to move here. The nicest person on site is truly Latoya, she's the only saving grace to this complex, always pleasant and understanding. Continued... Our apartment had chipped paint they never refreshed, a ceiling that was never repaired on the inside we had to put up paint tape to stop the leak in our living room, the AC barely worked that they provided, for 6 years we couldn't control our own thermostat, yes 6, they finally fixed that upon year 7, the shower faucet had a leak so our water pressure was always low, they'll say why didn't you call maintenance but I did and they fixed one part of the tub but needed the plumber for another part. The laundry room is much to be desired I took my things to Big Wash because the machines here were dirty. The grounds and neighborhood is fine, if you can avoid the people who don't pick up their dog poop, the pool area is fine. If it wasn't the fact that it was hard to move we'd have moved years ago but finally after that last increase and the lack of repairs and dealing with billing, it was time to go, so lease here at your own risk. It's not terrible if you stay a year or 2 but there are better options out there if you plan to...

We just recently moved out after living there for 3 years. There are a lot of things I'd like to say, and, as anywhere else, there's many pros and cons. I must thank the Maintenance team, they're great - very responsive and fix any issues in no time. Thankfully, we didn't have any major issues during 3 years, so can't say much about the office team or anything else. The biggest issue every year was snow removal after a big storm - 3 days walking through a meter of snow had not been entertaining, just to say it nicely. Another one is thin walls, as mentioned by many people: we had 2 very annoying neighbors (working out/jumping/partying at 3am) and we had 1 great one to compare them to. Just a little respect for your downstairs neighbors goes a long way. Re some people complaining about getting their security deposit back: we just received our full security deposit back with no issues. Yes, even after 3 years, we did leave our apartment in the condition we took it in, and yes, we made sure it's clean upon vacating - but that should be apparent to anyone. Big pro: pet friendly place, and...