The Beacon at Waugh Chapel

I have a love hate relationship with with place but I’m not supper happy. I really wanted to wait to I move out before I write this review but I feel this needs to get out now so other people will not have to deal with what I am!
Let’s start with the good things! This apartment has a great staff everyone is very nice***and will say hello to you all the time. Maintenance team is amazing and will address any and all issues. They have monthly events for residents, a club house, pool, gym all nice things.
***But the leasing office staff is fake very fake in my mind. They will say hello to you but sometimes it seems fake. Some of the people who work in the office are very immature and need some better training. The young staff are young drama and gossip queens in my mind. Case and point I was at the holiday party (one of the events) I got my food and then went up for seconds. They told me there was not enough food left, I was like whatever and walked away. My sister who they do know was in line behind me. Once I walked away she heard them say I can’t believe that fat ass came up for seconds! (Maybe not these exact words but it was bad enough my sister told me!) Yep very professional!
This place is nice on the outside, but there is a lot of issues that you won’t see to you live here for a while!
My issues begin the first day we moved in! Me and my fiancé spent the day moving our crap in then went out to dinner to come back to our new home to see someone smashed a hot pocket all over our front door! That should of been a sign…
So what are the issues here! It is noise and inconsiderate butthole neighbors. From the beginning I’ve had a issues with people playing loud music, the people above me running around at all times of the day. Random people knocking on my door at 8:30 am on a Saturday asking if I can help move something.
I’ve contacted management and they basically told me quiet time hours are 10pm to 8 am and if it is not between these hours nothing can be done about it. But when I told them it was happening between these hours they said they would do something and write the person an email. But even after they tell me that these things do not stop. There is still always some kind of music or someone stomping around or someone making some kind of damn noise ²⁴⁄₇ around here!
Really we have not been able to sleep in for months now on the weekend (our days off) because like clock work the person who lives above me does their house cleaning at like 8 am on Saturdays. We will hear the vacuum cleaner nice and early. Once again if it is not quiet time there is nothing that can be done. So basically our designated sleeping times is now 10pm –8am. This is just bad.
You can’t have your windows open here for many reasons. I have a smoker in the unit below me an anytime my windows are open my whole apartment will fill up with cigarette smoke. Other reason I can’t have my windows open is because of loud people in the parking lot at all hours of the night. So if you plan on moving here and are the kind of person who likes to have your windows open when you sleep you won’t be able to due to this!
I feel this place needs security but they do not have any. I have witnessed at least 3 fights in our parking lot (I have a video of one of them message me I’ll send it). They claim they do background checks on everyone here but I witnessed a raid by the FBI once! That was very scary.
We pay a lot of money to live here over $ 1750 a month plus $ 25 for trash removal (Utilities not included) It is not worth it at all (we only have like 800 square feet). They claim this is a luxury community. But I am starting to question that, because there is some really worthless people living here (some are extremely ghetto and you would think they should be living in downtown Baltimore not here).
Right now we are waiting for our lease to expire so we can get the hell out of here! If we could break our lease without any consequences we would.
Another issue I have is how it is impossible to cook anything here without the smoke alarms going off. You will hear smoke alarms going off on a daily basis here!
Remember it is a nice place, and we don’t hate it. Just between all loud music and loud neighbors, People smoking it’s just not worth what we are paying (really we looked around and found some houses that cost about half of what we are paying now). If it was cheaper here that maybe a different story. This just not working for us! We will live out the rest of our lease and enjoy all the things they have to offer, but once our lease is up we are out of here! We will be getting a house after this! We can’t deal with other people around us anymore and the constant asinine B.S. of apartment living!
Good luck on your search for a place to live!

I really do enjoy living in this community. They really do an amazing job with the extras. They always have great events for us — which give us a better sense of community.
The staff is professional and wonderful! They are always very helpful and happy!
5 stars from me!

My husband and I are newlyweds and we were looking for a place to call our own. We had previously viewed some apartments in PG county, were impressed but felt there had to be a little more offered for our price range in other areas. I did a google search for apartments in Bowie and surrounding areas and the beacon came up. Now, I had never heard of these apartments, but was familiar with the gambrills area. I made a call to the beacon and from the first conversation until now (6 months later) we are BEYOND satisfied! The office staff is outstanding and possess the highest level of customer service! The maintenance staff is so friendly and helpful and always available! We love how quiet the area is and the non-​parking pass parking rocks! We truly love the shopping center right next door. And last but not least our apartment is beautiful!!! It’s sooooooo modern and classy!!!

Bed Bugs and Poor Management
Don’t be fooled by all the pretty pictures! It was love at first sight, but the honeymoon ended shortly after moving in. Our 9-​month stay was about 8-​months too long and was emotionally draining for our entire family.
Our unit (B120) had bed bugs. After 5 treatments, their pest control company still couldn’t get rid of them. And the pest control company verified that there were at least 3 other units in the building with active bed bug issues. No one can explain how much of an emotional toll fighting bed bugs can take on a family.
Our upstairs neighbors were hard of hearing and walked very loudly between 11pm-​3 am daily. Several complaints to the management team and we were told it wasn’t «excessive». The final straw was when we were woken up from the light fixture falling from the ceiling onto the tile floor from the upstairs neighbors walking so heavy. When we called the office and said our «non-​excessive» neighbors had jarred the light fixture loose, we got a lot of sympathy from the maintenance team, but not management.
We were able to exit early without a fee due to all the emotional issues we were having because of their poor management practices. Fighting for your own rights is a constant battle and expecting the leasing office enforce the same standards to all tenants is too high of an expectation. Our quality of life as a tenant was very poor and we would not recommend this property as a home, short or long term.

I’ve given it a few months to get a good feel for the Beacon before I wrote a review and here’s what I’ve got! First, I’ll note that I’ve lived in apartments in Texas, California, and now Maryland and The Beacon is by far my favorite place to call home. We moved here in May {no I am not looking forward to the winter months!} and my husband and I have had nothing but great experiences here!
We signed the day we toured with Stephanie and moved in just a few days later. We had just completed our cross-​country road-​trip-​move from San Diego over the course of 6 days, so saying we were exhausted would be an understatement. We looked at about 7 other complexes in the area the day before, but the Beacon won hands-​down!
When you walk through the lobby doors, it’s like you are about to check-​in to a fancy hotel. The décor and amenities throughout the complex are just awesome. Have you seen the pool? There are fountains. Not just one fountain, but two! There is even a wading area for the kiddos — just in case you are looking for family-​friendly apartments.
Even the hallways are beautiful! And they have a great maintenance group who are very prompt and extremely polite. I don’t think there has been a time where I’ve come across one of them and they didn’t say «Hello» or «Good Morning!»
If you have pets, this is a fantastic environment for them. Although, it would be nice to have a little fenced-​in area for the pups, it’s still a very pet-​friendly place to live. I haven’t seen much pup-​poop lately, but even if there were, it’s really more of the pet owner’s responsibility to clean up their fur-baby’s messes. They have «Yappy Hour» for the pups around the complex to socialize and run around, which I’ve heard is a lot of fun. We’re planning to attend this month’s and we are very excited!
The office team is super helpful as well! I’m the kind of girl who has a lot of questions, and they always seem to be available for anything. They are even great with our pup, Cody, and all of the other pets around here. They call him by name and spoil him with treats! He’s loves going to the office!
Our floor plan is open and we feel pretty fortunate to have such a great view of the pool. HUGE windows in each room and the kitchen is gorgeous! Yes, that’s the second time I’ve used the word gorgeous. see where I’m going with this? Of course with any apartment you live in, noise is always going to be an issue. They do have quiet hours we are all supposed to abide by, and everyone seems to be pretty good at keeping the noise to a minimum. I live right by the pool and rarely ever hear anything from outside.
There is so much within walking distance, and by that I mean like practically right next door! There’s plenty of restaurants, grocery stores, retail shops, and even a movie theater you can reach in like 2 minutes. And Yolavie! We’ve never had so much frozen yogurt before we lived here! :)
They have plenty of events to keep residents entertained, just went to a Wine and Canvas event and loved it! I absolutely recommend the Beacon if you’re looking for a new place to call home. We love it here!

My husband and I have lived in two other Bozzuto properties. I realize each have their own rules and regulations. Waugh Chapel Beacon seems to have the most lax rules.
Pros; The maintenance staff are outstanding. You couldn’t ask for a more attentive and knowledgeable group of gentlemen. The events are fun and clearly for the enjoyment of the tenants and our four-​legged family members. The staff is friendly, although I must point out that it seems this community is more suited to the young population. Perhaps an older person on staff and an offer to deliver heavier packages to their door would be helpful.
Cons: Noise is definitely a problem. Although I wouldn’t expect the staff to let potential tenants know about the race track, it is certainly a deterrent. The emphasis of the staff seems to be on the rules distributed to the tenants, rather then other issues that have come up which are of concern to tenants. For example, tenants hanging laundry on railings, storing any and everything on patios and balconies, dog feces everywhere, bikes piled up at all entrances, both elevators being used for moving at the same time.
For the high rent (which BTW includes a non-​optional VALET trash for $ 25) this complex is rather lax in how tenants are allowed to maintain this beautiful area.
We most likely will not be renewing our lease if things do not change. Sorry.

The Beacon is one of the best apartments that we have lived in.
When you walk in you are greeted by amazing staff that knows everyone by first name. You can come down, get a cup of coffee and have a conversation with them. They are very pet friendly, we will bring our dog down everyday after his walks, they play with him (even though he sheds a ton on their black clothes). They give him a treat and since he is a little snobby about which treat he gets, they have a variety of treats :).
There are monthly resident events to meet and mingle. The events range from yappy hours to trivia nights. There was even an event for when we were snowed in. The other residents are great, well most of them. Ranging from young professionals, couples to families.
We live right by the elevator and stairwell; we only hear it occasionally. The most sound I have heard from the outside was during the snow when the sidewalk and cars were being cleaned. The maintenance staff was awesome during the large amounts of snow that we got, in front of each garage was cleared, the sidewalks cleared and salted and the roads were plowed, sometimes even before the shopping center. They are building new town homes right across from our apartment, but we knew this was going to happen for a year now. The sound from the work that has started is not that loud, you can just hear the machines.
The amenities are very nice. They gym is adequate if there is not a whole lot of people there, it can get crowded easily. They are working on getting sports lounge open for longer hours for the residents. The outdoor seating and grilling area is wonderful during the summer and the pool is relaxing with the fountains (which they keep on year round). It is beautiful to look at.
For our apartment itself, is beautiful. It is a smaller apartment, but for 2 people is perfect for us. Lots of windows and natural light. Enough closet space. We can occasionally hear our neighbors above us, but not often. The kitchen is big enough for both of us to work in with lots of counter space. There is not enough usable cabinet space, but we have figured it out. There is carpet throughout and tile in the foyer, kitchen and bathroom. Balcony is small, we can fit 2 normal size chairs and a side table.
To sum up we love it here, we will be staying for a while as long as nothing changes. We love the staff and maintenance team. If you ask for something they will try to get it done. Thanks Beacon for making us feel at home!