The Venue on Guadalupe Apartments

Don’t let this be that one Unilocal review that you force yourself to ignore because of how enchanted you were by your visit. I spent years at The Venue – for the convenience while going to grad school – and I still cringe thinking about it.
While The Venue isn’t the worst apartment complex in the world, it’s absolutely not worth the rent.
It’s the type of place that cleans the property for a single month, just long enough to get a few people to sign an overpriced lease, then immediately jumps right into months of pure neglect, investing all resources into spamming its residents into renewing with referral prizes and «early bird specials» where your rent goes up by ONLY $ 300/​month.
All of the key management and staff is located in the sister property, The Villas. They’ll sell that to you like it’s a perk, and tell you that you «have access to all The Villas amenities,» but you have no more access than any rando walking the street. With that said, they DO NOT care about The Venue property.
While there are a few nice employees who obviously have no control over the problems, many of the main people in charge lack any form of respect. They seem to assume that every resident is 17 years old, and you’re sure to get tired of patronizing tones and power trips very quickly.
The little patch of grass that the entire property is forced to take their pets out to (unless you favor the park nearby) is seldom mowed and absolutely ridden with dog feces. Assuming most people were too afraid to walk through a field of «land mines,» I asked the management (twice) to move the doggie bag dispenser closer for easier access, but nothing ever happened.
The gym isn’t just small, it’s completely ignored. You don’t realize how bad it is until you actually use it. ALL of the rusty, nasty equipment has sat broken for over TWO YEARS: the elliptical has a broken arm that is always either missing or dangling, one of the two treadmills sticks, the resistance machine sticks on both sides and has a missing handle, none of the 3 benches lie flat, none of the TVs work correctly.
The elevators are broken about every other week, and sometimes remain broken for weeks at a time. The garbage chutes are often stopped up and overflowing, there’s sometimes vomit in the halls and/​or urine in the staircase, and the garage (where you pay $ 85/​month for parking) is poorly regulated and chock full of spots that most cars won’t ever be able to fit in.
Maintenance is so straight-​up lazy that it’s almost laughable. Half the time, they would mark off work orders as complete that they did not even address — it happened so many times that I just gave up on some things being fixed and prayed for my lease to end. For some «emergency maintenance» calls, they would say they were coming and never would.
Whatever the case, make sure you RECORD every single maintenance phone call you make, because management tried to convince me that they could possibly charge me for my CEILING bubbling up with water– my upstairs neighbor’s fault — because even though the maintenance guy walked into my apartment after an emergency phone call and looked at it — the work order (and apparently my neighbor’s mistake) «was not logged onto the computer» and «phone calls don’t count.»
Of course, there’s also the classic: «Afraid that’s mold? We’ll throw some paint on it.»
***And a warning for everyone moving out: after reading so many horrid reviews on Unilocal,I called Greystar «just in case» to see if I had any unpaid balance. I DID. Even though The Venue pesters you for a forwarding address when you move out, they never sent the bill to my new apartment.
Just stay away.

First off, I NEVER write reviews. However, The Venue has officially pushed me over the edge so just wanted to inform everybody to not make the same mistake I did and pay way too much money for an average, if that, apartment.
The office and staff is not accommodating, the garage gate works sometimes, elevators broke at least 5 times this past semester, hallways are not kept clean (we had ketchup smeared down the whole hallway walls for over a week), and the fitness center is terrible with many things missing and the one and only elliptical broken for the past 4 months. Really thought they would do a better job of keeping this place nice since rent is so much.
Wish I could write more but have to go finish moving out. YAY!

Read your lease agreement carefully.

This place has been pretty great for the year that I have lived here. I have had very few problems, and they are all small ones. The elevator breaks pretty frequently, but I’m not sure how that can even be fixed. The only other issue I have had is with service requests. When I do put in a service request with just one item on it, it is fixed quickly. However, when I use the online form and ask for several things to be fixed (light bulbs in two different rooms and the drawer in my fridge) they only fix the first thing listed. I don’t think it’s intentional, it seems like it has more to do with the reporting system. Just be sure to submit multiple requests if you have multiple issues. As far as noise goes, within the building there isn’t much of an issue. My apartment faces into the pool which means it also faces Guadalupe which is where most of the noise comes from, in the form of traffic. This is a non issue for me but is something to consider if you’re concerned about noise.

Alright, so I contemplated for a while about writing this review on The Venue, but after much thought I feel like people should know about what they are signing into for a year.
At first, I was extremely excited to live at The Venue, for it is an «urban student place to live.» I liked the fact that it looked pretty luxurious, nice granite counter-​tops, wooded flooring, carpet, nice bathrooms, having a garage parking lot and an elevator that helps when caring loads of things.
Well, the first week in, I knew living here was going to be a heck of a ride.
On my floor there were guys claiming the hallway as theirs, screaming at the top of their lungs rolling down it with their computer chairs. Within a month the elevator broke down. MAY YOU BE CLEARLY AWARE OF THIS, IT BREAKS DOWN EVERY TWO MONTHS!
I mean, I get the whole «don’t be lazy and just take the stairs» idea, but seriously, let’s get real. After a hard and long day when all you want to do is plop onto your bed you have to climb stairs to get to your room because the elevator is broken again. Other days when you have groceries to take to your floor and your dreading it because the elevator isn’t working.
Anyway, enough about the elevator.
Let’s talk about the other negative occurrences I had to live with.
Again, on my floor these other dudes and maybe even the same ones, smoked pot every week to where the whole floor could smell it. It gets pretty annoying having to smell pot remnants.
On top of dysfunctional elevators, frat guys yelling down the hall/​smoking pot, you have to deal with CRAPPY front desk assistants and PAPER THIN walls.
1. The acoustics within each apartment are ridiculous! You can hear everything from the outside, and you can hear everything going down in the hallway. If your neighbors are loud enough then you can hear them in their own apartment. Seriously?
You probably won’t have restful sleep when ACL or SXSW are happening. The Venue is right across the Spider House. A venue for music/​poetry/​comedy and also a coffee shop. It’s great for when you are in the need of a cappuccino or latte but stinks when all you want to do is sleep at night.
You get your own private concert alllll night long. You also get to hear all the delightful poets slamming their words away into the mic and into your apartment. IT’S GREAT… Oh man, and when bands play, they play.
Even when there are no events going on, the loud people from the villas (apartment that is sister to the venue) that are out and about are louddddd! You can hear all their screams and shenanigans.
Anyway, I think you get the point. It’s LOUD, and you aren’t even living in West Campus.
On top of that you have the MOST FRIENDLY staff at the front office, so excited to hear your question with a smile…
There have been countless times where I have gone in to ask questions or receive packages and the only thing they want you to do is get out ASAP so they can go back to probably looking at their NEWSFEED on facebook. I definitely believe they need training in friendly costumer service and maybe more sleep in general.
So you get all this for 1,024 plus parking per room. WHAT? yes, I share a room and have to pay about 500 plus utilities.
Good things about the Venue you ask?
Well, I can say that I DO like the fact that the apartments are hotel/​dorm style looking WHEN it comes to the set up of the hallways because you do get to have the safeness of that setting. Everyone has an access card to the facility which is pretty great.
Its nice to have a little personal gym. iT’S NOT GREAT, but it’s useful.
The walk isn’t too bad to campus.
And… well. I guess a nice a spacious living room.
Other than that, I think you are better off getting a place in hyde park (north campus) or west campus.
Good riddance to the Venue!

DO NOT sign a lease here. I am begging you!
They’ll take you on a little tour and show you how lovely the place is. The units are nice, they have great amenities and a perfect location but it is not worth the money you will be paying every month. There are apartments across the street that are just as nice but they are almost $ 200 less! I feel like I’m getting robbed every month. I’m not sure of what they’re doing with all that money. They’re certainly not using it to maintain the apartments that have thin wall & broken appliances. Now that I think about it, I think they used a lot of it to update the leasing office. So sad.
In addition to that, the management is HORRIBLE. Once you sign that lease all that love and affection disappears and all they want is the money. If something is not working out, instead of trying to fix the problem they will say how great the place is compared to other apartments in West Campus. They don’t communicate with one another and half of them don’t know how to do their job. They are actually kind of mean. It’s so sad.

I wholeheartedly agree with the reviews by J.C., Bill H. and Darren L. At first glance, the units appear very luxurious, but I have had major issues with my apartment, with the common areas of the property, and tenants – such that I would not recommend the Venue to my worst enemy! The property management is beyond awful.
Since I have lived here, one tenant set off fireworks and discharged a fire extinguisher in my hallway (requiring evacuation in the middle of the night). Other tenants were using the closed in hallway as a hot-​box for smoking marijuana; I repeatedly complained and was told by Venue to call the police; I did several times, and in retaliation, the residents showed up with a gun to intimidate me. Most recently, two inebriated tenants had a screaming match in the hallway in the middle of the night, one saying the other had threatened him with a knife, and saying he was going to go get his 12 gauge. I filed police reports following all three of these incidents, but Venue staff refused to investigate or do anything to the residents. After the gun incident, I threatened to sue and to assuage me, cameras were installed on my floor. The wires were torn down by other residents and when I requested they be repaired, Venue refused. The cameras are still up, but non-​operational. Two of my neighbors have had packages stolen from in-​front of their doors since then, and have also expressed a desire to have them reactivated.
In my unit, there was an extreme mold problem that required the drywall to be cut away in large sections around two air vents. I had to take pictures, screamed to high heaven and threatened a lawsuit for the repair to be done properly. They did not tarp the area, so I had drywall and paint-​spray particles all over all my stuff. As another testament to their maintenance staff’s lack of professionalism, when I complained about my dryer vent being clogged, the staff came in with their gas powered leaf-​blower and blew the lint out with it – the whole unit smelled like gas and the walls near the dryer has a gas-​residue that I had to clean up myself.
I agree with the review that says this place is slapped together like a cheap mobile home. When you go to replace the air filter, you can see splintered 2x4s behind the drywall, and no insulation. My unit is just next to the trash chute, and when the trash gets backed up, the smell drifts into my unit through this space in the wall! The hallways also echo to such a degree that I am always awoken at 2:15 when my drunk neighbors get home from the bars. My fridge’s water-​dispenser has never worked (complained numerous times), and there is no water pressure for the hot water in my bathroom sink (cold has great pressure, but who wants to wash their hands in cold water?).
If you are considering renting here, I strongly suggest you visit the property and walk around both towers during the middle of the semester, since they tend to keep the common areas in good repair around the beginning of each term when they are getting a lot of potential residents visiting. After the semester begins, maintenance and cleaning of common areas falls off a cliff!
Here are just a few of the things you can expect to see: broken glass bottles and eggs thrown from the second floor pool deck to the front sidewalk (poorly swept up if at all), beer bottles and cans strewn about every Thursday, Friday and Saturday (which are never cleaned up until Monday at the earliest), dog poop never removed from the dog park on site (I walk my dogs across the street near Spider House for this reason), DAILY spills in the elevators that make the tile floor sticky and disgusting (this is mopped about once a week), and garbage and broken glass regularly in about half of the garage spaces. The gym has never had any cleaning solution provided, so the equipment is sweaty and gross (and not regularly cleaned by maintenance). Months ago, some idiot broke glass in the pool, and I have since been too afraid to swim in it (it was reported to the Venue, but the pool has not been drained, so beware!)
For nearly $ 1K monthly per bedroom (with parking, water, trash and pest fees), I expected a lot more. When my lease expires this summer, I am out of here!!!

If you do not enjoy peace and quiet when you sleep, by all means live here!
When the trash chute gets filled with a certain amount of trash, the machine will NOT stop making noise until it is cleared. The single greatest flaw is that all of the trash is compiled into one area from the entire 5 floors, which is unfortunately right next to my room on the 2^nd floor. The machine makes a high pitched noise that is irritatingly loud and impossible to tune out. I have lost many hours of sleep because of this in the past already.
I have already filed several service request/​complaints on the website and no one has bothered to respond to me since the new management has taken over. I even posted on their facebook page and they proceeded to delete it without voicing my conerns. I called the front desk about my problem and the girl had the audacity to say that «only I have been the one that has been complaining», and that «she went and checked and nothing was wrong». Does she THINK I am deaf? I also do not want to believe that just because there is only ONE person complaining about a situation that it is NOT important enough to fix? What kind of reasoning is that? What kind of impression are you making as a management to your customers?
There will surely not be any more business from me or from anyone I know from the future due to the low quality of customer care services. You would expect higher expectations of a place that markets itself on «high quality student living». I also would have thought that maintenance would be available on weekends, but I guess not.

When I first moved in here, the place was great because it was under the management of BMOC and the main guy Jon; service was good and they generally got our repairs done and I could handle the noise. But now this place has changed management and it’s been an ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE experience afterwards. I have literally filed 5 service requests and they have done nothing; the one time they sent a guy over, they had to «order the parts» and now it is 2 months later and they still do not have the parts. Calling the front office is like talking to a machine as it seems like there is a new receptionist every 2 weeks and they generally don’t do anything except recite company policy.
Furthermore, they have not only increased our rent for the next year, but no longer allow us to split the rent in an uneven manner between myself and my roomates (aka everyone has to pay the same, and WE have to split the differences ourselves afterwards). I also can no longer pay my rent online like before without a $ 20 service charge, which was never the case before using the exact same website and payment procedure. What’s even worse is that they did not notify anyone of this and when I tried to pay my rent at the end of the month, only then did they say «oh by the way, extra $ 20» and when pressed for a reason, they hide behind the good olé’ «it’s company policy sir». Really.
The gym has not been cleaned in at least a month and pretty much you have to go to Gregory if you do not want to feel disgusting afterwards. The front door on the south tower has been broken for 75% of this semester and they have hired new cleaning staff that does not clean nearly as often as before.
All in all, the apartment itself is really nice with granite countertops and a spacious living room, but everything around it and all the circumstances surrounding my lease here have made it an unpleasant experience. If I am going to be paying top-​dollar for an apartment, I would have expected much much more. Come on Venue, it’s called customer service; you used to know how to do it, but not anymore — safe to say I will not be returning here next year. The new Greystar management is horrible — STAY AWAY!
(p.s. the new management is the same management that owns the villas and they are painting the nice silver venue building the same ugly 4 shade color as the villas, which I personally think looks hideous)

I lived here my last semester of college and loved it. Granted, I never could have afforded it not for the fact that I wasn’t paying for it myself, had a roommate, and had gotten an awesome deal on the place.
If you have the money to spend, you get the best. Granite counter tops, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, spacious room plans, giant windows, and garden tubs. Not to mention the fact that the grounds itself have a very nice gym, rooftop pool, elevators, underground parking, and electronic access for extra safety.
I never had any problems with noise, and the few incidents that did take place were dealt with by the leasing office with grace. I love the guys in the front office. They find that boundary between professional but still friendly and down to earth.
All in all, I have very fond memories of The Venue. In fact, I even gave a mom and her two daughters a tour of it when the office was on break once and highly recommended it. As a student, it was the perfect balance of both worlds– close enough to campus that you could still walk to class but far enough removed that it was chill and not in the middle of fraternity row.

I love living at the Venue b/​c:
1) if I ever have problems, the staff is SO QUICK to help! They are really nice people, and they aren’t in it just for the money like many other apartment complexes close-​by. I have many friends that live in West Campus and they are always complaining about how it would take weeks for something to get fixed.
2) The garage is safe. There are problems with the gate every now and then, but this is an underground covered garage. They also have security that takes rounds.
3) The complex is safe. You have to scan a pass to get into the garage and to get into the complex. If you have guests over, they have a nice system so that they can call your cell phone and you can give them access via your cell phone. That way you don’t have to walk all the way down to get them.
4) Location. Trudy’s in the backyard. Spiderhouse in the backyard. So many restaurants, CVS, a grocery store in the backyard, and close to campus. I wish there were more buses that ran to campus. I usually take the 1L or 1M or 22 if I need to get somewhere on campus. Or I walk to campus and take the 40 acres.
5) The staff. A very responsive and friendly staff. They always give courtesy notices well in advance, they set up a continental breakfast for all the residents during final exams, and they keep the entire apartment so tidy and clean. Smells like Lemon Pledge all the time.
6) Price. I pay $ 850/​mo (after electricity, water, etc.) for a ²⁄₂ that is like 1050 sqft. That’s pretty big. 850 sounds pricey, but that includes internet and cable and a washer/​dryer. It isn’t great, but it isn’t terrible.
I don’t love living at the Venue b/​c:
1) it’s not West Campus. It’s North Campus. If you’re a social bug, then you probably wanna stick with West Campus where there’s more activity. I don’t really care for that b/​c I can invite friends to Trudy’s and we can share some drinks.

A very nice place indeed. Sure it’s a little pricey, but it’s well worth it. It’s just a 5 minute [slow] walk from campus, and it’s on Guadalupe street [a.k.a. the Drag]. It has free internet and cable, 24 hour fitness center, free tanning, a rooftop pool, central air conditioning with apartment control, large garden style tubs, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and REAL wood floors. Additionally, it’s a gated community with a security guard to patrol the premises at night. It’s actually a pretty quiet complex even with the parties that go on. The management, Josh and Clifton, are really friendly and get to know their residents on a first name basis. The maintenance is great because it’s not like ‘the Block’ because it’s a smaller complex (75 units or so) and the company that manages it does not have other buildings to manage here. Greg, the building engineer, takes great care of the residents by fixing things in a timely manner. I think there was only 2 instances where my stuff wasn’t fixed the same day I sent in a request – it was fixed the next day. This place is a diamond in the rough that is West Campus and I recommend it only to those mature enough to stay here. And yes, I’ve already renewed my contract for next year.