Fenway Triangle

DISGUSTING! NO STARS! I stayed here when I was dropping my 17 year old off at Berklee College of Music for the summer program. We chose this space because of the refrigerator and concierge since I have multiple sclerosis and have medicine that needs refrigeration and plenty of rest when I feel bad. Boy was I HORRIFIED!!! We couldn’t even find the front desk since the address Churchill gives you is on the back side of the building and you need your key to access it (the key was in the apartment, we were told during the process of reserving the suite). When we finally found the front side, by sheer luck and they led us to our room, we noticed an odor worse than any dirty diaper or vomit from any of my children wafting down the hallway. There are no windows in any of the corridors so breathing in this stench after 11 hours of travel was disgusting. After passing the dirty sneakers that were lined up in front of our neighbor’s door, we were let inside. Here is an itemized list of what was wrong inside:
1. The floors were buckling and we all tripped on them on our way in
2. Both televisions did not work and both remotes had no batteries. THE WHOLE TWO NIGHT STAY!
3. The wifi did not work (another reason we chose this place. We have kids! What do you do with kids and no tv or wifi in a strange city?!)
4. There was a long black curly hair in my bed (I am blonde and straight haired), the sheets smelled like burnt hair and the pillows crunched like they were covered in plastic wrap. I had to wash my sheets before sleeping in my bed; at midnight.
5. There were towels wrapped in plastic (towel, hand towel, and wash cloth sets) like I would receive in the hospital to shower. They had zero absorbency so we all sort of air dried ourselves, since there are no hair dryers either.
6. The walls were paper thin and you could hear everyone walk down the hallway.
7. The courtyard became a playground at any given hour (probably since there was no wifi or tv!)
I wrote the Churchill Suites and they responded by saying they would refund us $ 75. The room was $ 400/​night and the parking is $ 36 a day, or $ 45 on a game night (which we were) so that didn’t even reimburse us for the parking fees we were not pre-​warned about. I wrote again and explained all that had been wrong and why we deserved a better refund if not a full one. I received no response to that email, nor did I receive any refund. Not one dime.
DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, UNLESS YOU ENJOY DORM/​PRISON LIFE DO NOT STAY HERE.

We (my wife, child and myself) have lived at Harvard @ Trilogy since it opened. Although the staff is helpful to a degree, it is the tenants that have made it a somewhat less than livable experience. If you are looking for a community to be a part of, forget it. What you will find here is whatever the opposite of friendly is.
The majority of the people here are Harvard Medical students, but certain behaviors make you think that some are just going to college for the first time. Although people have been told not to vent their burning toasters into the hallway, most do, which means fire alarms go off sometimes several times a week, usually at odd hours. Once, a guy on our floor, in a drunken stupor, thought it would be funny to spray the fire extinguisher all over the hallway, causing the fire alarm to go off and costing the building thousands to clean up. Oddly, he didn’t get kicked out. So if you want to wreak havoc without consequence, this place is for you!
We’ve seen vomit and human excrement deposited in common areas, the most recent incident being someone throwing up all over Christmas packages in the mailroom. I really feel bad for the maintenance guy, a truly nice person who has to clean up these terrible messes. Yes, the stuff gets cleaned up, but nothing is done to thwart the behavior. I guess Harvard is waiting for someone to get sick and have a lawsuit slapped on them before they do something about it.
I once found a man passed out face down in front of my apartment door at 6 a.m. He had no idea how he got there. The main door of the building, which requires a key pass, is easily accessible by anyone wanting to gain entry. When I told the staff about it, they seemed unconcerned and did nothing about it.
Twice our apartment was flooded by our neighbor, who let their bathroom sink overflow (when I confronted the dude about it, he said: «I was washing my delicates.» Um, OK). Speaking of water overflowing, someone once tried to install a bidet (for real), which set off the fire alarm and activated the sprinkler system, flooding half the building. There was also another incident where someone set off the sprinkler system … they managed to smack the sprinkler head in their closet, again setting off a torrent of water throughout the building. Since then, the entire building’s sprinkler system has been refitted to prevent some moron from pulling off the same trick again. Do I think that’s solved the problem? Are you kidding?
What else? Don’t bother having a newspaper delivered. The absurd sense of entitlement that exists here means that if someone spots a newspaper in lobby, well, it must belong to them.
When people move out, they often leave behind open and/​or half-​eaten containers of food in common areas. I just have to wonder what the thinking is behind that. «Look, we couldn’t be bothered to finish this … we’re leaving it for you.» How generous. Along the same lines, tenants often leave behind an entire apartment’s worth of furniture when they move. So be prepared to find your trash room stuffed with belongings during annual move-​out periods. I was told that one former tenant didn’t even bother to toss out their food … it was all left on their counter and in their sink as if to say, «Clean up after me, peasant!»
The cooking odors that waft through our hallway and into our apartment have to be smelled to be believed. Someone apparently loves to fry what seems to be the stinkiest fish you’ve ever whiffed in your life. Extremely unpleasant.
Also, Harvard says it is committed to being green, and they’ve even hired «green» representatives for the building, but other than a lightbulb exchange, they’ve done nothing. Recyclables are constantly tossed into trash bins even when a clearly marked recycle bin is strategically placed. In the gym, the lights and TV are usually always left on when people leave, and the windows are left open causing the heating and/​or air-​conditioning to work overtime. The overall vibe is: «Let someone else take of it … I don’t give a crap.»
If this all seems a bit insane, well, it is.
The Fenway does have much to offer: free concerts at Ramler Park, green space, museums, the Victory Garden, subway access. But it has changed dramatically in the last few years (I’ve been in the area since ’97). And many of the people moving in now don’t seem interested in making it a better place or creating a sense of community. And because money does not seem to be an object for many of them, rents are skyrocketing. Yet one more urban village destroyed by greedy developers and thoughtless residents.

I’m sitting at my desk, it’s 1:12AM right now, and there are little children running, yelling, and screaming in the courtyard. Management does nothing to stop this.
Need I say more?

I have stayed here for 6 years. Disregarding the fact that it is overpriced, it is an okay apartment building. There are a lot of middle eastern people here. They can be unruly kids running around in the lobby or middle aged men sitting around in the lobby all day out of nothing better to do. Also college kids party here and it gets loud during red sox season. The reason i gave it 1 star is because of this douchebag called Dan who works as a doorman at the front desk. He pretends to be nice to you with a fake smile but he is actually an asshole. He is rude to people who he thinks are non-​residents and mocks people because he thinks he is the shit. I seriously dont recommend living here unless he gets fired.

Nice building and apartments. Very overpriced. The staff (Malinda, Inesita) is helpful and nice.
Downsides: LOUD!
–AC is EXTREMELY loud when turns on/​off during the cycle, to the point that wakes me up at night
–the wood floors are noisy– my neighbor above me has very heavy steps and I can hear everything from my apartment. I tried to raise this issue to the management so they could ask him to be gentle when walking very early in the morning (he is up at 6 on the weekends) but it did not happen
— crazy people screaming on Brookline ave during Sox games (although it honestly doesn’t bother me, but might bother some people)
— construction noise entire evening from the building they are putting up on the corner
In summary, if you can live well with ear plugs, and can afford a high rental, there are no many other negative things in my quiet opinion.

Okay my previous review has been filtered, I don’t know why. Anyways I must tell you that STAY AWAY from this apartment!!!
I finally got my security deposit check after waiting 6months and the amount was significantly reduced. When I asked why, they told me that there was a floor damage. That is very surprising because that wasn’t my fault. There was a flood a year ago which was caused by the stupid neighborhood who left his sink running when he was out. And the maintenance told me they will fix the floor but obviously they never did. And now they are charging me for that damage! This is very upsetting and they don’t try to listen. So please please please stay away from this apartment. It is too pricey for what you get.

FTT has a great location, but the building is overpriced, noisy, overpriced, vibration-​prone, overpriced, and showing signs of age (eg frequent appliance breakdowns).
And did I mention it’s overpriced?
The owner, Samuels, is currently (2013) constructing a 15 story building a block away, and is about to start work on a 22 story building next door. Meanwhile the Army Corp of Engineers is «daylighting» the Muddy River (a block away), which will take two years and cause traffic re-​routing. This neighborhood is going to be a dusty, noisy, vibration-​inducing construction zone until about 2015.
I’m looking forward to moving when my lease is up.

I have been living at the Trilogy buildings for the past year and we are considering moving out at the end of our lease for the following reasons:
1. There is a lot of outside noise from the street (ambulance, police, traffic and game night crowds)
2. During the warm months, the building and the garage smells like garbage
3. The «luxury» finishes of the house are breaking up constantly and you will become good friends with the maintenance man.
4. Parking is very difficult on game nights and in the mornings
5. The common room is not so common after all. It is eternally occupied by a particular group of foreigners who lurk there from early in the afternoon until very late at night. They are only males, eat, drink, are barefoot with their feet on the furniture and shoes all over the place, yell, have screaming children with them until late at night and when they finally leave, the room and the corridors are very dirty and smelly.
6. Unattended children are running and screaming in the corridors constantly and when you talk to them they will pretend not to understand English
7. Smoke is coming in the apartments from the central ventilation system, so we are exposed to second hand smoking.
8. We have informed the building management for all of the above reasons several times, out of which they replied only once with a two month delay and of course they did not do anything about it.
So before you move into the Fenway Trilogy visit the common room in the evening and and hang out for a while, so you can discover what really awaits you here!

DO NOT live here if you are a professional or have a family. The residents of this building have made this a less than desirable place to live. I could write books about the issues with this building, but here’s a quick summary:
–spoiled rich college kids partying at all hours (the walls are very thin)
–foreigners with no respect for their fellow residents
(essentially most residents are temporary and dont treat like a home)
–residents leave garbage anywhere and everywhere (empty coffee cups, etc)
–smokers disobey the rules and smoke in the courtyard and In doorways to the building
–our private patio was vandalized 3 times in one month by fellow residents and management couldn’t do anything to protect us
–the hallways, lobby and elevator constantly smell of garbage
–if you live in 150 or 1365 there’s no concierge so for three years our guests or food delivery would have to call us to come down and let them in since the concierge at 180 never seems to be there to answer the buzzer
–the plumbing is terrible, for three straight years suds and water from apartments above us overflow and soak our apartment, management has not been able to repair this
–residents from the apartment above us apparently removed their window screens and their kids threw all kinds of items out the window onto our patio (luckily we were never hit by these items)
–the foreigners that live here do not watch their children. There are 5 yr old kids running around the hallways, courtyard and common areas after midnight, usually screaming.
It has only gotten worse as time has gone on. So unless you are a college student whose parents have money to burn or a middle easterner with money to burn who doesnt want to watch their kids and let them loose in the building, I would not recommend living here.
Moving out next week and can’t wait!

Unfortunately I have to agree with all the negative experiences listed and expressed by others here at Fenway Trilogy.
My husband and I have been living here for the past 6 months and it’s looking like these next 6 will be the last (we only signed a one year lease — thank god!).
The building is extremely noisy — from kids running around (at one point we had toddlers running the halls chasing soccer balls!) to college students partying and playing loud music at random times in the day/​night. We’ve complained to security on many occasions — they address the issue at the time — but the problem is never fixed permanently.
The walls/​doors are extremely thin and you can hear EVERYTHING. As I write this review, I am hearing a child screaming in the apartment across the hall from me and the neighbors below are playing the drums!?!
I just want to say, if you are looking for a peaceful/​charming building, I’d definitely recommend somewhere else.

PROS:
–granite countertops
–central air
–washer/​dryer (old)
–nice kitchen appliances
–gym
–near fenway Tstop
–floor to ceiling windows
–recycling available
–near hospitals
–Vaz (maintenance) helpful and fast
CONS:
–smell of garbage in the 1365 and 150 lobby/​mail room. everytime i open mailbox, have to hold my breath, ew!
–trash room smell seeping into the hallways
–neighbor cigarette smoke seeping into bedrooms/​closets
–smelly elevators
–loud unsupervised children runnning around throughout courtyard/​lounge/​gym waking neighbors up in the middle of the night
–very expensive rent that they try to increase by a several hundred per month upon lease renewal
–loud ambulance sirens and screaming red sox fans when you need to sleep
–fire «false» alarm going off every couple weeks, also waking you up in the middle of the night
–doormen/​women that dont open the doors but prefer to eat or talk on cell phone (with the exception of Dan and Isabel who are wonderful, the late Jerry was also wonderful)
–no personal parking spot available in garage, have to hunt for a spot during the day and red sox season ($ 225/​month)
–limited food options available, no clothing shops other than REI
–lots of college students even though the building claimed to be anti-​college-​student when i signed the lease…
Summary: this «luxury» building needs to step it up asap to make the cost of rent worthwhile. Unfortunately, when you tell them about these problems, they tell you that you can move to another apartment rather than fixing them.
Unclear why the rent here is higher than luxury buildings in the symphony and backbay areas which are superior neighborhoods
(note: ATT = no cell phone reception in the building, need Verizon to get reception, not sure about other cellphone carriers)

I have been living at Trilogy for over three years. Up until a few months go I loved the building even though I noticed that the standard of the building has been deteriorating. The rent at Trilogy is very high and until a couple of years ago I felt that it was worth it.
The building used to be very clean and perfectly managed — you would see cleaners everywhere in the common areas during the day. Now the elevators always have some sort of garbage on the floor. The carpets in the elevators in the main building are filthy and needs desperately to be changed.
The building used to be very selective in choosing its tenants. Now there are families with bratty kids that make a lot of noise, hang out in the common areas and leave a mess everywhere. Basically there is no standard as long as someone can pay the very high rent.
I have spoken to many other residents that feel the same way and several are either planning to leave or have left the building. This is definitely not a luxury building anymore and rent has gone up considerably from when I moved here three years ago. Apartments are now going for $ 500-​$ 700 more per month they were three years ago.
I plan on leaving Trilogy at the end of my lease.

I received a check today for 18 bucks for 5 years of a $XXXX.XX security deposit. It arrived with no explanation of the cost to .0001% of interest I supposedly amassed. Seriously? I could have given this money to my 5 year old niece to hold onto and earned more interest. Totally sketch. And still no proof that my security deposit was ever placed in a separate interest bearing account. Um me thinks something is awry here. I’m grateful I live in MA, basically a state that doesn’t put up with these sketchy practices from landlords.
Again, I can’t stress enough… rent from these people with caution!!!

My wife and I have lived here for a little over 11 months and this place has been nothing but one disaster after another.
To give you some perspective, we are both 30 year old medical residents nearing the completion of our training.
Despite the allure of «luxury» living trilogy entices people with, this building promises to be nothing more than an overpriced, trashy college dorm.
The first day we tried to move in, there was not a single staff member to hand us our keys. Instead we were met with confused concierge that thought it was funny that we had movers waiting for us to have the doors open while we waited in the lobby.
Our neighbors have largely consisted of spoiled college brats who’s parents have paid large sums of money for them to smoke weed, booze up the hallways and party well till 3AM in the morning.
In the winter, because nearly every other apartment has a smoker that thinks it’s a great idea to light up indoors, we all get to share in the second hand smoke that wafts through our interconnected and defunct air vents. The result: our clothes, furniture, and towels wreak of cigarettes. My asthmatic wife has the pleasure of getting up at 1:30 in the morning to request concierge to have the smoking stopped.
The «business» lounge is comprised of loud and obnoxious foreigners that think reading and studying equates to making loud jokes and slapping each other on the back.
I could go on but I will get back to packing for our expedited move from this place. We have three weeks left but looking at the packed boxes give us respite that this «luxury» living won’t haunt us much longer.
If you are a young professional, particularly a medical professional in the Longwood area, I’d HIGHLY suggest you look elsewhere.
Unless you have grotesquely rich parents and have a hankering for booze and loud music at midnight, STAY AWAY!

For $ 2700 a month, we get the pleasure of having cigarette smoke pouring through our vents (b/​c apparently smoking inside and polluting our air is acceptable), college kid parties waking us up in the night, and plenty of hidden charges once you decide not to renew your lease for obvious reasons. Don’t be fooled – this is not a place for young professionals. Rich college kids abound. This apartment building, albeit with fabulous concierge folks, is not worth ¹⁄₅ of what we are paying and cannot wait for our lease to run out.

Trilogy has exceeded my expectations since I moved in here a couple years ago. Fellow Unilocalers have criticized the staff but I’ve had nothing but good experiences. A staff member named Nick even helped me mount my 50 inch flat screen the first week I moved in.
Pros:
Granite Countertops
Central Air
Washer/​Dryers in each unit
Private gym
Courtyard
Proximity to Public Transpo
Proximity to Fenway Park
Chipotle & Starbucks Downstairs!
Cons:
— My neighbor plays the grand piano sometimes early in the morning (who allows someone with a grand piano in a rental?)
— Traffic during the Sox games can be tough but I plan around it
Overall I’m really happy living here in Trilogy. Trilogy will always be home to me here.

I lived in Trilogy for 1 year and was not particularly impressed. Bottom line: look elsewhere before spending the money to live at Trilogy.
The good:
Close to the T.
Quality of construction/​appliances was good
Responsive to maintenance requests
The bad:
Parking and traffic during Sox games is a nightmare
The management and concierge staff are incompetent but mean well
The building is full of busy medical people and rich BU grad students (why else would you pay that much to live in that neighborhood?). The students contribute to a dorm-​like atmosphere, playing loud music at night etc
The gym is okay, but not as nice as I’ve had in other luxury buildings.
They deducted $ 180 from our deposit for no particular reason when we moved out without informing us.
Some people like the neighborhood. I don’t, especially after the restaurants on Peterborough burned down.

Unreasonably posh for people who have far too much money to waste on luxury rentals. My friend has an apartment here and it is ridiculously nice, but for almost 4k a month it better be.
It’s also a very good sneaky place to find reasonably cheap parking in the area. Shhh, don’t tell anyone though.

Wow. sounds like Chris had an awful experience. I suspect the problem is that Trilogy was overwhelmed by rentals over the summer. They went from 50% to around 90−95% full from June to October, and they’re probably just not paying very close attention to new rentals anymore, as they get ready to start leasing at 1330 Bolyston. (Not an excuse, obviously.)
You could have actually parked in the Trilogy garage. The leasing office can validate your ticket. But you’re right; there’s no way for you to know that ahead of time! They *should* put up a sign, but again, with so few people leasing these days, I don’t imagine they’ve thought about it. (Also, they don’t own the garage, so they may not be allowed to; technically, the apartments and the garage are both condo owners in the building.)
And yes, the marketing web site is horrible. (The actual site for residents, which is the only one you’ll care about if you move here, is fine — the typical BuildingLink site, with all your maintenance requests, package notices, resident bulletins, etc.)
FWIW, I moved into Trilogy six months ago after having lived at other luxury apartments downtown. The building itself is pretty good, although it’s more luxur-​ish than luxury. (The cabinets are «cherry look» laminate, not cherry; the kitchen «wood» floor is Pergo; the windows are cheap; etc.) It’s «the nicest quality you can still find at Home Depot». The finish level is slightly lower than, but comparable to, Watermark or Archstone Boston Common.
The concierge staff has been very friendly; there’s nobody who’s rude, but some (especially Dan and John) are definitely more attentive than others. (We actually had an amazing guy, Ed Welik, who sadly passed away a few months ago; you may have met his trainee replacement.) Likewise, the maintenance staff is great and incredibly personable.
I, too, expected Fenway to be a big problem; I hate crowds and traffic. I wouldn’t suggest driving anywhere between 4 and 6 on game days, but other than that, it’s not bad. The noise isn’t really an issue; there’s some honking, but honestly I hear more honking from parents picking up kids at the movie theater. Yes, there was some noise after the World Series, but how often is that gonna happen?
The neighborhood isn’t sketchy, but neither is it inspiring. Samuels (Trilogy, 1330 Boylston) and Abbey Group (Landmark Center) have actually done a great job of spiffing it up over the past few years, with a good retail mix, and Samuels has been buying up other chunks of real estate along Brookline Ave. I think in 5 – 10 years it will be much nicer. The empty stretch of car repair shops on Boylston makes it feel a bit lonely on that side, though. And certainly, having a ²⁴⁄₇ Star Market across the street (even a pathetically small one) is wonderful.
The big reason I’m moving before the end of my lease is noise; specifically, ambulances. I work from home, and usually in silence, so I’m very sensitive to it. Trilogy is down the block from five hospitals and two paramedic/​EMS stations, which serve the whole Back Bay. Every single ambulance must pass right by Trilogy to get there and back. At times, they’re passing every 3 to 6 minutes. It’s maddening.
It’s not bad at night; you won’t notice it if you work elsewhere. Just something to consider.

I am planning on moving closer to the downtown area, and am looking at luxury apartments that include all the amenities. I was not too keen on checking out Trilogy because I had heard bad things, and think leaving that close to Fenway would be CRAZY on game days (if one has to get up early the next day for work).
BUT, I thought, «Let’s at least check it out» Right?
So I scour the website, looks good, apartments are expensive, but seems like a good amount of square footage. Maybe. The amenities sound nice, and I think it would be great to be able to walk on a nice sunny day right into Back Bay/​Newbury St.
HOWEVER, I can’t find any information on the leasing office or when they are open. All they have is an area for you to put your contact information in, and I didnt want to do that.
So, I think…“Well, I’ll call and see what their voicemail says. It must have the times.” So I get a message all in Spanish.
«That can’t be right» I think to myself and call back. English this time, but NO HOURS LISTED! So this should have been my first clue.
So I guess… hey, it’s Saturday, most places open at 10am. I’ll just pop in.
Okay, this is small thing, and I know it’s a bit trivial. But there is no «Future Resident Parking» area there. So you have to drive around and around and find parking on the street and feed the meter, or pay to park in the Best Buy parking across the street.
Second clue/​strike against them.
I go in to the lobby. It’s after ten and the girl for the leasing office has not arrived yet. What?!
So I go across the street to Best Buy to waste some time. 30 minutes later (its now after 10:30) I go back and the super friendly security people (sarcasm) tell me she is STILL not in, nor has she called. So they gave me her card, tell me the office closes at 3pm on Saturdays and then proceeded to ignore us.
No one in the rental office to help anyone when they should be open. Three strikes!!!
Fine, let’s go shopping, and come back.
So I decide, partly to be a bitch, because I didnt appreciate the service I had already received, to call at 2:30 and see if I can get an appointment to view an apartment at 3:00pm. LOL! (Evil grin)
I finally get a hold of Kendra (wonder when she actually showed up to work?) who tells says «Well, uh… uhm…hmmm. Well what were you looking for?»
«I need a one bedroom, for mid April. I know it’s early to look, but I was curious about the building.»
«What is your price range?» Kendra asks.
«Maxium…$ 2400» I say
«Well…uh…hmmmm…I don’t know. Well, I dont have a one bedroom model to show» she says.
Which I’m thinking… she doesnt want to stay past 3pm to show me an apartment… right?!
So then she says «I can show you the building»
And I’m thinking «Well Ive already seen the lobby since I waited half an hour for you to show up. What else are you going to show me, the gym and the parking garage»
And then she tells me «Well maybe you should call back closer to April»
Thanks Kendra and Trilogy for your super attentive customer service. I’ll take my money to a different apartment community, with better service and more attentive employers… like the WaterMark in Cambridge.
And this whole time I’m thinking «If it’s like this to just look at an apartment, imagine the level of service you must get once you move in. Ghastly I’m sure!!»

Trilogy is one of those up and coming new ‘one stop’ apartment complexes with a few shops and a huge garage (all the rage w/​the baby boomers).
This is for the Trilogy Parking garage, I LOVE it. They charge $ 10. for the day if you get in before 9am (I am not sure what the cost if you get in later)
and leave before 5 or 6pm. They have a little kiosk on the ground floor that accepts credit cards and cash, or if you ‘forget’ to pay there, you can insert a credit card into another machine at the exit gate. how convenient. My car feels safe and happy here.