Marina 41 Apartments

Continued stupidity by the careless leasing office. I’ve now lost $ 260 worth of frozen food due to not being properly notified of it’s delivery. One shipment was destroyed after thawing, the other I was never notified about until I checked the shipping tracking number. I am fucking livid.

Spent a lot of time touring apartments in the Santa Monica/​Venice/​MDR area and I’m so happy to have found Marina 41. I love that I’m walking distance to the beach and a number of restaurants. Having moved from a big city where everything I needed was steps outside of my door, walkability is very important to me. The staff has been amazing and the apartment itself is very clean. I live in the tower and they must have done a great job with sound-​proofing because I never hear any of my neighbors. I’m also really happy about the gym — I’ve heard it gets busy at specific times (as most gyms do) but whenever I’ve gone to workout, there hasn’t been too many people in there. Plus the equipment is nicer than the equipment at the gym I had a membership with prior to moving in.
Make sure to ask for Heather if you’re planning on coming by for a tour — she is THE BEST!

Took a tour of the community and absolutely loved it. The staff was very attentive and answered all my questions. The amenities were clean and nice. Absolutely love that I can walk to the beach!

This is one of the WORST places I have ever lived! They misrepresented this place before moving in so drastically, it’s absurd! Then they get you in and treat you like crap! I was happy for about a week until I realized how awful it was. I am admittedly leaving under frustrating circumstances but that doesn’t make my review less true. I have hated it here since week 2. And I have have a long log of proof on the problems and complaints, as well as a long list of other residents who agree.
It looks all shiny when you drive in with the pretty fountain but it’s a filthy dump. Things are constantly broken (garage gates, elevators, grills, tennis court lights, gym machines and on).
Security and safety are jokes. Bikes are stolen constantly, cars broken into, vandalism. I don’t even feel safe in the garage at night.
You can’t do anything in the «business center» but use the Internet. Great computers but no word, excel, printer, etc. then when I asked about it, they told me that because they were Macs, they could not have word/​excel (WTF? The fact they they employ someone so stupid to say that is astounding). So I figured I’d bring my laptop for a quiet place to work but they don’t have wi-​fi.
The people in the management office are useless, rude and borderline liars. They do not return calls and do nothing to address complaints, including safety concerns surprisingly. They ask residents to police each other, which is not our job. If they want a policed environment, they should hire security. Heather, who runs the office, is an unethical snake. She made a manipulative agreement about my lease in writing that she blatantly never intended to honor. When I asked her about it, she had every excuse and called me «petty.» Maybe her her lack of principle is unimportant to her but ethics matter to me. I have been forced to consider legal action but also just want to be rid of this residential nightmare.
Then after all that, they raise the rent an average of 10−15%. They say it’s about high demand. My recent rent increase offer for a 1BR was 13%. Other complexes average 4−7% as they actually care about keeping residents as opposedg to the bottom line. They originally told me I could just go month-​to-​month after a year but neglected to mention that would require a 30% increase. It’s a JOKE!
Once again, I fully admit to leaving due to unpleasant neighbor issues (the walls are piper thin and the princess upstairs complains and bangs on her floor for everything! I broke a plate, she bangs; Loud scene in a movie, she bangs; she even banged once when people on the tennis court were loud as I sat reading without a sound). I’m not innocent but I haven’t deserved some of the bs. Whatever my neighbor issues have been, I have hated this place for the entire year I have been here.
RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO OTHER COMPLEXES!!! Mariners Village, Tides, or many others!!!

Don’t even waste your time coming to view these apartments. We called to make an appointment and were told someone would call back. Nobody called back, so we called again. During my second call I was asked what time I wanted to come and when I chose a time, she said they were full the entire day but could squeeze us in. We drove nearly an hour to get there at our scheduled time and were kept waiting for over 15 minutes. When Julien finally helped us because Julie was still MIA, he told us that the apartment we were interested in had carpeting when I had specifically asked about hardwood. We left without even viewing a single apartment.

I’ve lived in the Marina for 4 years, and absolutely love the location. We moved into Marina 41 because we needed a larger two bedroom after our son was born, and Marina 41 seemed like the best deal. We foolishly moved into our unit site unseen, having only seen a comparable unit, and when we got the keys we were already a little disappointed; the kitchen and bathrooms were outdated and small, and I’m fairly certain they just cleaned the carpets instead of replacing them.
Pros:
1) Location
2) Gym has mostly updated equipment
Cons:
1) One Pool and Jacuzzi (which was cold/​not working far too often) for the entire complex
2) Our hallway constantly reeked of weed despite their «No Smoking» policy
3) Management lacks serious organization or urgency. Scheduled move out walk through twice, they didn’t show up either time. It wasn’t until I called after the 2^nd time that someone walked over. Many more similar instances
4) Outdated appliances and fixtures
5) Tried to raise rent 25% after 1^st year and tried to tack on extra charges when we moved out.
We had 3 friends who lived in the tower prior to us moving in, and they have all moved out for the same reasons. I would not recommend this place to anyone looking to move into the Marina, as there are better options for the same price (like right next door at The Shores).

Don’t expect your deposit back. Property appearance, maintenance and customer service has declined since Equity Residential purchased from Archstone over a year ago. They hold a higher standard to their stock holders than their customers which is why you see so many 1 star reviews. Pennywise and pound foolish.

I’ve lived in this apartment complex for almost 3 years and just renewed my lease for an additional year. I worked with Aarion who was incredibly helpful, followed up promptly and made the renewal experience so easy. So happy I’ll be staying in the Marina for another year. The location of the complex is amazing, and I’ve never had any real issues with anything. I live in the tower, and got lucky as far as parking location and apartment location. My dog and I love it here!

Aarion was truly a pleasure to work with from when I was still looking for a place to making my choice to rent at Marina 41 (primarily based on price for space and location/​proximity to work). She ensured all my concerns and needs were taken care of through the process and would ensure everything worked even when she was out and follow up to make sure I was taken care of.

Moving to this place is a disaster!!!
This place will rob you money by various kind of mistakes you may occasionally make. The management is horrible and against humanity.
1. You need to pay your parking, what a ridiculous thing!
2. They will charge you 5% late fee you pay your rent by 1 mins late. That is about $ 150 dollars if you are paying a $ 3000 rent.
3. They even set you up to collect late fees. When I move out, they told me that I need to wait for my last statement. During my waiting, they sent me the last statement with a late fee, because I did not pay the last rent on time!!! So basically they will set you up and let you wait for the last bill together with the rent, and then they charge you more.
I would give this place a negative score if I could. Never come to this place!!!

I’ve had the absolute pleasure of dealing with Aarion Lyons since I moved to Marina 41 in October last year. Being a foreigner, combined with taking over an existing lease and not being able to find the former tenant to sign it over, made the move a monster project. Aarion was a legend through it all — constantly looking after me and answering my endless emails, always with a smile, courtesy and professionalism. If you’re looking for a new home, then Aarion’s your gal!

I have lived here for 4 years. The ONLY reasons I have stayed have been that it’s a pain to move and the location is good. I will not be renewing when my lease ends this time. Here is what I would say to a friend considering moving here.
Pros:
–The location is great. You can walk to the beach, 5 minute Über to Abbott Kinney, easy access to the 90, you can ride a bicycle to Santa Monica.
–The maintenance staff does a good job. They are polite, quick and do a good job. They work hard.
–Fantastic views from upper levels of the towers
Cons:
–The staff at the leasing office used to be really rude. They have recently brought in new people and they are much more professional now.
–The elevators are the slowest I have ever used and constantly broken. Constantly.
–The call pad /​security pads at the buildings are frequently broken or not working properly and you cannot get into the building with your fob or let guests in. It has happened quite a number of times at my building and also the call pad at visitor parking.
–You will hear a lot of noise from other units and the hallway inside your apartment. There is zero soundproofing. The complex is pretty quiet overall but when people make noise in the hallway it has woken me up in the middle of the night.
–The gates in the parking garage are constantly broken. The number of times I have come home from a long day at work and could not get into the garage because the gate was broken and my clicker wouldn’t open it has been too many to count. Sometimes when they break down, they are left open which definitely isn’t great for security reasons but i guess better than not being able to park your car and go home.
–If you have a pet, they will make you feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in your own home. They are the least friendly «Pet Friendly» community I have ever seen. Some dog owners do not do the right thing (it’s unfortunate and they ruin it for the responsible dog owners) but they also harrass good responsible pet owners while the true offenders never get addressed and use zero common sense.
–The USPS will lose your mail here /​give your neighbors your mail. (this isn’t the complex’s fault but it will happen to you if you live here) I constantly receive other people’s mail and neighbors drop my mail at my door because they received mine. Buck up for Christmas time and get ready to lose some holiday packages!
–They will increase your rent approximately $ 200-​$ 300 per year. You definitely feel like they strong arm you into accepting it. It feels like you are cornered and have to choose the least of the bad choices. You will be treated worse than a stranger when it comes time to renew your lease. They place zero value on being a long term, good tenant who always pays rent perfectly on time and takes care of your unit. It feels very transient here and it’s no shocker that people in general don’t stay for long /​renew. They don’t value people and community or use any common sense when dealing with renewals. They would rather offer you a $ 300 /​mo increase and watch you walk out and let your unit sit vacant than keep a great long term tenant.
–Hallways always smell stale because there is no ventilation
–Trash is constantly backed up. It smells and looks bad when you see trash overflowing in the hallway.
–My bicycle was stolen here. It was locked up in one of the bike rooms. When I spoke with the leasing office, they said they had cut all of the locks and moved all of the bikes. They said they were reorganizing the bicycles and it was something the management decided to do! They would not do anything to compensate me for cutting the lock off my bike and causing it to be stolen. They took me to a room where hey put the bikes and said if mine wasn’t in there there was nothing they could do. You think when you use a bike lock and put it in a locked bike room in your own community your bike would be safe but i guess not when management decides to cut off your lock and move your bike without your permission!
My advice would be to go elsewhere. I wish I had. Moving and looking for a new place is a lot of work so trust me on this, put roots in the right place so you won’t feel trapped the way I do. If the location wasn’t so great they wouldn’t be able to fill the units. There are tons of other choices in the same exact area and I wish I had chosen any of them. Overall I would say it isn’t this luxurious place they try to make you think it is and they have some pretty big shortcomings. I will not be renewing my lease this time. It’s a pain to move but i am going to do it because I am tired of the nonsense at this community.

A combination of three things made us not to renew at this place:
1) As a requirement for renewal of our contract, they asked us to be out of the apartment during the day for a week for renovations in the apartment. These were not essential renovations and we asked not to have them but they simply told us no. When you are normally at home with a 2 yrs old and a dog during the day, renovation on such terms is extremely inconvenient.
2) They have started not renewing the contracts of pet owners in a number of buildings in the complex. Our building was not one of them but that is a good sign of what can happen in the future: they can change their rules however they want with no sympathy towards residents
3) They have tried to raise our rent a firm 15% (and they ended up renting the place for less than that).
Overall, it may be ok to live there for the short term: they are going to honor your original contract (It is a place run by a huge corporation afterall). If you choose to rent here, don’t have high expectations and play by their rules. They are not going to go out of their way to assist you but things will get done eventually if they are part of your contract. But if you are planning to live at the same address for multiple years, it is better if you look for someplace else.

Place is just okay. Nothing great about it and nothing too bad about it.
Pros:
/​/​Location to everything in the Beach Cities; easy to get Venice Beach, Santa Monica, ABK, etc
/​/​opposite the flow of traffic
/​/​Prices are better on a $psf compared to surrounding properties. Meaning you get more space for your dollar
/​/​Views are magnificent
/​/​Appliances are new in the tower
/​/​Typically quiet most nights
/​/​Staff has always been friendly
Cons:
/​/​DONT BELIEVE THE NO SMOKING POLICY. It is used for marketing more than substance. My apartment and hallway is usually filled with cigarette smoke or smoke from the ganja. (Some of you may like this if so move here… the rule is never enforced)
/​/​Hallway is not ventilated, so it always smells of stale air (or the weed)
/​/​A Elevator is usually broken once every few weeks
/​/​Parking garage is chaos, dirty and no order. Very Labrynth like.
/​/​showers are tiny! The are a little wider than a coffin is wide
/​/​Rarely an guest parking
Would I recommend this place to a friend: Probably
Would I choose to live here a again: Maybe
Will I be looking for new place upon lease expiration: Absolutely

This place is a complete joke… Leasing staff rude, been here a year and have yet to have a week where all elevators worked (20 min wait for the elevator!) Asking anyone to pay the ridiculous $ 700 raise in rent should be a crime… KEEP LOOKING! THIS PLACE IS NOT WORTH YOUR TIME OR ENERGY!
PS
” Jennifer” doesn’t even work on site!

After searching for 4 months and looking at dozens of places, we landed at our new home here in the Marina 41 tower. Our experience so far has been great. I have read through the other reviews and it seems like a lot of people have bad things to say. Let me reflect on what we’ve experienced up to this point and I will try to update in a couple months to see if things change.
First of all, we visited 5 times over the course of 4 months and called numerous times checking availability and the office staff were helpful every time despite us taking multiple tours of multiple units.
We ultimately decided on an 8^th floor 2br in the tower with an AMAZING view. I’ve been a lot of places in the world and this is definitely one of the best views I’ve ever seen anywhere. Absolutely spectacular panoramic 180 vantage point from Century City to Long Beach and half the coastline. The rent is high, but the apartment is pretty nicely finished with new laminate hardwood floors, black granite counter tops (admittedly not our favorite as they’re hard to keep clean), new stainless steel appliances, nice new carpet in the bathrooms, and a washer dryer in the unit. The washer/​dryer aren’t the most amazing but we’re just excited to finally have laundry in our own place and the laundry room is a good size with extra shelving which is fantastic.
When we moved in, my girlfriend noticed that a lot of the switches and knobs needed to be cleaned as you could see buildup from people’s hands. We called the office and Atoosa sent someone immediately to come clean around the edges (same day) and a maintenance guy to fix a couple minor things (cracked light switch). Atoosa, Tyfanny, and Heather have all been super helpful and friendly so far with the couple of minor issues and even gave us an extra tour of the model unit so we could take pictures to use for design ideas for our place.
We love that the property is now «smoke free» even though we realize it’s not perfect because it’s hard to police. But it’s much better than no regulation at all as we hate having other peoples’ nasty smoke drift in our windows as we’ve had at previous places.
It doesn’t seem like there are the community events like at other luxury properties but that’s not the end of the world. We’ve yet to really explore the amenities fully but I’ve worked out at the gym in the past with friends and hung at the pool which were both pretty nice. I’m excited for my 6 year old son because there seems to be a good number of kids in the complex which will be great for him. The neighbors we’ve met so far have all been friendly and we like that the complex has an online portal with social networking «neighbor profiles». I’ve never had that at previous places and am looking forward to connecting with other people here.
Again, all in all so far things have been great and the VIEW oh my god. We’ll be spending a lot of time on our balcony. Will update in a couple months.

0 stars*
Dirtiest property I’ve rented from, rude unhelpful staff, halls always stink, apartments look nice until the stick on counters and cabinet door covers start to peel off and LOL you can kiss your security deposit goodbye … Was excited about this place and didn’t listen to the reviews assuming that people were just being dramatic from a bad experience but couldn’t wait until my lease was up… You can see that they try to act like they care about people’s concerns by commenting on reviews of people who already left and have terrible things to say and tell them to call and talk about it… don’t expect your concerns to be responded to until you moved out and are so disappointed that you decide to write a bad review.

Dear Unilocal,Why can’t there be ‘0’ stars? Or less.
So things are getting ‘better’. A homeless guy jumped out in front of me earlier this week, in our ‘secure’ garage. Funny, the garage door for UG (upper garbage) has been open for over a week. Coincidence, right?
Tonight I found out where he’s been staying in UG. Right in front of space 1191. Check out the picture.
Can you say ‘deferred maintenance lawsuit’?
Say it together.

I live in the Towers and yes, the apartments have great views but this is not the «luxury living» building they sold me on.
The thing that makes me the most angry is that regardless of the challenges and complaints we’ve had living here they have not hesitated to increase our rent with no room to negotiate nor the decency to even address our complaints. It’s extremely disappointing. I get that there should be some rent increase but when the apartment hasn’t delivered on what we were sold on and in turn wants to charge more for the same apartment it’s maddening. Not to mention, it would cost them more money for us to leave than to stay but they don’t care. They would rather strong arm us into paying a higher rent. Meanwhile people are moving out in droves (of course they will tell you not but we see it and talk to other tenants).
Rent increase was the one question I didn’t ask when making the decision to move in and now I am paying for it! EXPECT it to happen to you! By your second and third year– you will be paying upwards of 400 – 500 more a month for the same place. Plan on it!
For one, be prepared to have non-​operating elevators. I’ve been there 15 months and they’ve been saying it will be fixed and it has yet to happen. One elevator ended up getting fixed but it’s still a mess while the other elevator is now not working. Secondly, be prepared to wait 10 – 15 minutes to catch the only operating elevator on the west side.
Of course, they will tell you «it’s getting fixed» or a «change of management issue» but keep in mind it probably won’t happen when they say it will.
Take note-​the jacuzzi. It’s gross and my boyfriend actually got sick from it. One day I ran into the pool guy and asked about it and he said it was disgusting and one the worst hot tubs he’s ever come across. A handful of residence go over to the Oakwood apartments and use their hot tub. Of course, they will tell you it’s getting fixed, management changeover, whatever!
In addition, dog urine & feces in the hallway, parking structure and the alley is an everyday experience. (Though they are slowly pushing out the dog owners)
At the end of the day, I would seriously explore your options especially if you are looking for long term living.
You can find places similar at the The Villa at Marina Harbor, St. Tropez and Tides at Marina. These places have serious amenities too! One of which includes van drop off’s and pick ups around town and access to bikes, kayaks, etc. I hear there are great apartments with amazing amenities in Playa Del Rey renting for much lower than you will find in the Marina and it’s not that far away.
IF you are new to the Marina– keep in mind it will add an additional 15 – 20 minutes on your drive each way (if you are heading north and/​or east– i am not sure about west) I use to live in Venice and just that 1.5 mile move makes the world of difference on my travel time. Also, on the weekends getting to Santa Monica will take you 20 – 30 minutes and expect Washington, Venice and Lincoln to be jam packed.
I have to say the one person who has been amazing and extremely helpful is Tisa. She doesn’t give the fake corporate crap you get from the management team.
Things to consider.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I am happy to give you honest insight.

Today is my last day here. After 17 years my dog and I are being unceremoniously dumped. I don’t have anything new to say but I just wanted the staff here to know how deeply and permanently they have f’ed up my life. You don’t just rip people’s HOMES out from under them. Do they know what HOME is, what it represents? Do they care???
What this company had done is unethical, amoral, greedy, thoughtless, desperate and outright evil. Evil.