The Belle Meade at River Oaks

I lived at Belle Meade (BM) for a year and moved out after my lease was over. In summary, this was the worst experience, completely not worth paying $ 2500 monthly rent for a 1 bdr/​1 bath apartment. I would not recommend this place to any of my friends. The details are below for all prospective tenants.
Starting with Pros:
1) Small community (only 119 apartments) with trying to be on the high-​end finishes. When I moved to Houston in 2013, BM appeared to be one of the better places available. The building had that North East brown-​stone exterior look and flat finishes on the interior walls. In 2014, the rental inventory has been expanding and nice places are becoming available more and more on the market.
2) Residents are mature, professional, retired, families with kids. No crazy parties.
3) For those who work in downtown, BM’s location provides an easy commute (~25 min).
Now Cons:
1) Any issue I reported to Veronica or Terry was always answered starting with either «well, that’s just Houston» or providing some irrelevant background/​information. I had to constantly argue to get things done. Unacceptable.
Issues happen — I get it. But I want them to be resolved quickly and not hear explanations or excuses. The silliest example was with a shower head and water pressure. It took me 6 months to convince BM to change my shower head b/​c continuous repairs were not solving the problem.
2) Bugs — silver fish were pretty much my roomies for the entire year. They were everywhere — even in my clean laundry basket. I complained and was put on the pest control visits list, but these bugs never went away. Again, I was told that it’s just «Houston». Unacceptable — when I am paying so much money in rent, I’d like to live in a bug-​free apartment.
3) Crime — on average, car break-​ins (those parked in the gated garage!) were once a month. Luckily, my car was never broken into, but I got my $ 1000 bike stolen from a bike cage. In order to get to the cage, you’d have to go through 2 sets of gate security locks, know where the cage is located, know the code to access the cage. My bike’s lock was cut off too.
When I asked for the security tape from a camera that BM supposedly had in the cage — I was told that it’s too much footage to go through because last time I saw my bike was 2 weeks ago and I didn’t know the exact date it was stolen. Of course, BM wasn’t responsible for anything and didn’t do anything. I later learned from my neighbors that they had 4 of their bikes stolen.
The only time during that year that BM took any preventative measures was when a thief somehow managed to get to the residents lounge on the 2^nd floor and steal BM’s flat screen TV. The management then had a 24hr concierge for a few days in the building.
4) Sloppiness — once I returned from my long overseas trip at 2AM and found the door to my apartment not only unlocked but OPEN. I didn’t find any maintenance notices, etc. in my apartment. I emailed Veronica, who, of course, replied that either her or a concierge was on my floor earlier that evening and didn’t see an open door. I had to follow up with her several times until she told me that it must have been pest control who forgot to close the door.
Another incident — I came home from work to find lights in the bedroom and bathroom on, closet doors are wide open, my things are moved around, dirt and stain on the carpet. No notices found. Veronica’s reply — it was pest control.
5) Constant electricity and water outages (on average once a month) — after a while I felt like I was living in a 3^rd world country, not Houston. Outage notices were not provided ahead of time, by the way. Post the very first outage, water in my apartment was dark brown for a day. BM’s reply (after I sent them pictures) was keep running it and if it doesn’t get better, we’ll send someone. My «favorite» outage times were when I was in the middle of taking a shower while getting ready for work. Electricity would disappear and take water with it. Needless to say how late I’d be for work.
6) Make sure you understand what’s included in rent because BM has its building pre-​wired for Comcast (Xfinity) cable, so they charge you a $ 50 dollar fee as part of your rent, regardless whether you use cable. Gas is allocated per resident (not metered per apartment). So, you’ll end up paying for gas you are not using.
7) Make sure to fill out the «move-​in» form and list every little issue you find, otherwise you’ll be charged for it post move-​out.
For example, I had my apartment professionally cleaned post move out, and yet I was charged for the stain on the carpet left by pest control (mentioned above). Only because I failed to mention it in the email to Veronica when pest control made a mess in my apartment.
BM wants to be a luxury apartment, but they have no idea what «luxury» actually means. A rent for an apartment like BM should be in the $ 1500/​month range not $ 2500 and up.

It is a bummer to Google «Belle Meade» (as I did recently when I was looking for the phone number) and to have a negative review top the results. So let me fix that, or at least offer another perspective on the review from Jan 2011.
I’ve moved into the Belle Meade two months ago, so I speak as a new tenant. Therefore, I am not in a position to confirm or refute the assertions of unreasonable fees/​grabbing for money at the end of one’s tenancy. I sure hope (and have been assured) that the former review represents a one-​off, isolated incident– and I hope that I will be able to confirm as much if and when I ever move out of this beautiful property. I will certainly update this review at that point.
For now, everything I have to say is hugely POSITIVE!!! Where to begin? Here are a list of things I love about my apartment and about the Belle Meade in general:
— The ultra-​friendly, super responsive staff. Veronica, Terry, the concierges, and the wonderful maintenance crew are all just so professional and so pleasant! I find myself stopping by to say hello to them sometimes, and they are also a great source of advice on all things practical (need a good masseuse? a recommendation on which rug to buy? the best cupcakes in town? I kid you not, they will help with anything and everything, and do so with a smile). Any maintenance issues are sorted out virtually immediately (not that there are maintenance «issues”– I’m referring, for example, to when the battery needed changing in my smoke detector, and someone arrived to change it within 15 minutes).
— The property itself. Everything is extremely well-​maintained… hallway carpets shampooed, garage floor pressure-​cleaned, gardens tended, pool spotless. The BM knows that its tenants have high standards, and the management aims to fulfil these (and it does so, exceptionally well).
— Little perks. Besides the well-​equipped gym (free), there is a library with two computers, a printer-​fax-​scanner (so handy!!!), and (my personal favorite), a variety of magazine subscriptions ranging from Runner’s World to National Geographic, from Travel & Leisure to People! Seriously, something great to read for every mood or while working out at the gym!
— The apartment. Modern appliances, deep bathtub, large shower. Extremely well insulated so literally zero noise from neighboring apartments.
I am so happy with my decision to move into the Belle Meade. As long as they do not cut back on any of the services mentioned above or (as I have heard rumored but believe is not true) ask for an extortionate rent increase when my term is up, then I’d love to remain here for a long time to come!!! I recommend the Belle Meade unreservedly and will look forward to meeting you at one of the BM’s regular socials (which are yet another great perk of living here) should you become a tenant too!

The worst place to live in any part of Houston! If your comparing it to Gables then don’t think twice choose GABLES. I signed a lease with Camden when they were running the complex then by mid lease a switch in management took place and the building company took it over. They then proceed to hire the manager from Gables making it a much better managed complex then it was I’m sure. So not only was our electric meter messed up and smart meters put in right when management changed, which once the old meters are gone the evidence is gone. So one down we lived with three months of ridiculous electric bills, THEN the water spiked more than 200% and the lady from their corporate office I believe her name is Cindy tells us that the city raised it’s rate and I’d get an e-​mail of explanation shortly. OBVIOUSLY that was incorrectly so ONE MONTH later they recall that and refund the money back NO APOLOGY just a single line statement in the bill, hardly noticeable. The management group faces it’s first move out… US. So for everyone who has ever lived in an apartment complex and thought you knew what the procedures were forget those they are delusional. When you move in state EVERYTHING I mean even a hairline scratch ANYWHERE, which we didn’t do because us having gotten to know and liked the previous management were told to do all the things that stood out and let them know about little stuff later. Upon move out they decided they wanted to uphold us to their standard which they claim is less stringent and cheaper than Camden. BULLSHIT, 350 for PAINT DRIPS on walls we thought we were nice enough to touch up for them. 2 quarter size spots on the carpet contained in a 3’x3 square to them means REPLACE THE WHOLE CARPET, wow really you’d think they never realized carpet is commonly joined and the whole thing doesn’t have to be replaced. ONE TILE in the bathroom is scratched, but oh not that means a $ 1050 repair bill because the WHOLE BATHROOM needs to be redone. I mean they are reductions. The management company is a joke and are trying to enforce unlived in conditions and brand new for every new tenant. So what I thought was a nice apartment wasn’t worth the headache in the end. Even friends at Gables enjoy their new management now that their terrible untrainable manager is gone to torment the belle Meade residents. Their off their rocker to think that just because people have good professions and choose to pay their rent that we will stand by idling as they try to rip us off. I hope all current residents read this now and claim everything in sight so they don’t try to milk the situation for all it’s worth. Oh and they don’t do anything out of the kinds of their hearts like put up or take down ceiling fans, paint,…etc. Everything has a cost which wasn’t the case with Camden or next door at the gables.