Avalon Apartments

I’m. In. Love.
This place is absolutely wonderful. So when I look at apartments, I look at three main things: location, management, and interior quality.
Location Benefits: 24 Hr Safeway across the street (EXTREMELY valuable), Teabo Boba Place, Nearby Gas Station and To-​Go Chinese Food!
– Avalon is near all the other popular South Davis apartments, so it essentially is in the heart of South Davis!
Management: Probably my favorite thing about Avalon. The management crew fixes everything for free, including replacement parts for the apartment amenities! They finish things within 24 hours and are super friendly. They are flexible with rent and even sorted a payment plan for my friend who had a financial issue. ¹¹⁄₁₀.
Interior Quality: The quality of the apartment itself is very nice. It’s very house-​like and spacious, and for the rent it is very cheap. The area looks really nice and is never too loud like some other parts of Davis!
LOVE IT!

This complex is one of the nicer places to live in Davis! Location is perfect because:
1) A 24 hour Safeway across the street
2) Bank of America ATM and Wells Fargo Bank in the same plaza
3) Coffee shop and great place to study, also in the plaza
3) M and W bus lines run frequently, and the stops are down the street.
4) 2 miles from campus, roughly a 15 min bike ride.
These apartments are more like a town houses, if not a small house. Sharing a room is not a problem because these rooms are big! If you ever need a repair, all you do is report it to the office (which is in Sorrento, across the street) and they’ll take care of it very quickly. And if you see the repairman around, you can even ask him and he’ll do it on the spot.
Avalon has a pool house that MANY people love to rent out for parties. Only Avalon renters may rent these out, but if you’re friends with somebody here it’s no problem. As long as managements gets a deposit (you’ll get it back) and the pool house is clean when you’re done with it, they don’t really care.
One of the best things about this place is online payment system for rent. You can use credit cards here, which will get you tons of cash back or rewards if you have it. Even with online payment, I’ll admit we’re sometimes late. Every management has a late fee, but the latest we’ve ever been late was probably halfway into the month. We never got a late fee lol
To top it off, during final’s week, management sets up a table with a different goody everyday for that week. They even give away scantrons!
I’d recommend this place to any freshman at UC Davis looking for a place to live. Go look ASAP because there’s only 50 units and they get taken pretty quick.
My only complaint: The nasty white sperm trees that bloom in the spring.

well since my boy kenny below (who i do not know) wrote an essay on the topic. i got not much to say. however, i’ve lived here 2 glorious years! the staff is so sick and they’re always willing to help you. even on rainy days, they put bags on their shoes so they could step into your abode. if you’re a party type dude or chick, avalon could also be a place to go into random parties and rock yaself. got a big pool and decent sized poolhouse with sofas and a workout room. we threw a few parties here and it was pretty dope.
once in awhile, Av would throw some foodie events like bbqs and what not and they also provided food, drinks, scantrons, and other resources during finals! how sick is that?
places were spacious and you had a loft upstairs that overlooked the living room and out towards the pool area.
personally i liked Av the best considering the study environment (when yall need to buckle down), the party scene (after yall have buckled down), the friendly service, the housing look. everything was pretty legit. thanks Av for making my last years memorable!
oo yeah like kenny said. pay rent online! and not to sound shady or irresponsible, but even when we forgot to pay rent a couple times, they send out a letter saying we know finals and school have been tough, so pay us within next 2 – 3 weeks! as if Av couldn’t get any nicer.

Simply put, Avalon has the biggest rooms, best management, and one of the best communities college life has to offer.
Sure, there are problems (bugs, parking, mice [eek!!!]) but nothing the super friendly management won’t take care of the same day.
Avalon also has an online rent payment system that lets you pay from wherever you have a computer and internet access, super convenient!
Location wise, it’s prime. i bike to class when the weather is great. There’s a bike trail from the neighborhoods that leads straight into the Olson circle and it is a beautiful scene biking early while the sun is rising and the morning chill wakes you up for work or class. When the weather isn’t great, you can take the bus, which is literally a 2-​minute walk to the bus stop that have buses come every 15 minutes in the school year (M: MU, and W: Silo) and every hour in the summertime. There is also a Safeway, Bank of America ATM, Rite Aid, Office Max, Dos Coyotes, House of Chang, and Commongrounds Coffee Shop right across the street.
Did i mention the management is great?
Baker, Brian, Daniel, and the rest of the Avalon/​Brisa/​Sorrento staff, you guys are the epitome of what land lords should be! Friendly, understanding, and just great people.
This will be my second year living in Avalon, and I look forward to it!

I lived here for a year, and I really liked it.
The apartment itself was very cute, and I loved bringing people over, because the complex was so adorable.
The management is super responsive and probably spoiled me, because now no one will compare to how courteous the repairmen were. They always called to follow up and left packets of popcorn whenever something needed to be fixed.
The parking, however, is wretched. The spaces are comically small, and it’s so hard to find parking. Since Avalon never tows, on weekends, there would be absolutely no parking.
It also gets loud at times because there are always parties in the Pool House. The cops also frequent Avalon, because the parties here are always too loud.
The rooms are decently sized, and I would recommend Avalon to someone, because the management is fantastic and the houses are very cute.

I’ve been living in Avalon for almost a year now. I can say this is probably one of the best apartment complexes in Davis available.
First, the apartment itself is more like a townhouse, it is detached to only one other unit and each unit is 2 story with its own front and back entrance. Some units have balconies even though we don’t even use it at all. The 4-​bedroom unit we had was spacious and we have 6 people living in the house with no problem, we even had a dedicated study/​game room because we all lived in doubles. Each room is spacious in the 4 bedroom unit and you can easily fit two per room. The environment is nice with greens all around the complex and you don’t feel cramped walking around like many other apartment complexes in Davis. The pool seems to be pretty nice and there is also a jacuzzi unit, all behind the clubhouse.
Secondly, the management of Avalon, which also manages adjacent Sorrento and Brisa apartments, is very nice and responsive at most times. I’ve read some other reviews somewhere else about the horrible management before but there has been a new management for a year now. The manager, Baker, is a very nice. he greets you every time by name and you can tell he actually cares about the residents and any concerns that residents might have. Maintenance is responsive at most times and the maintenance guy was friendly and very helpful. The management website allows you to make payment with credit card online in addition to dropping off checks in the office.
Thirdly, the location is convienient, very close to safeway and officemax, within walking distance. Also very close to the bus line M and W to campus. In addition, there is a entrance to the bike path near the end of Valdora st and it only takes about 15 – 20 mins to bike to campus if you like to bike. Also the spacious clubhouse provides residents with a place to gather or study together. On weekend nights, often there are parties in the clubhouse which is a nice if you like to party within walking distance. Generally, there are many house parties throughout South Davis as well.
The downsides of Avalon is the parking, it seems to be a continuous problem, especially for our household because we live in the unit right next to the clubhouse without dedicated parking spaces like most other units. Some units have 4 spots reserved right next to the unit. Another thing that could be a problem is that the rent compare to other apartments is on the high side, but for the quality of service and the nice environment, i think it is worth it. And with enough people sharing the unit, rent usually shouldn’t be too bad.
I will definitely recommend Avalon to anyone in Davis looking for a nice place to live in. We have decided to renew the lease for next year and is looking forward to our new unit with reserved parking spaces.

Avalon is probably one of the most spacious apartment complexes in Davis you can find. Located in South Davis, it is a block or so from the shopping center, which includes Safeway, Rite Aid, Office Max, and Round Table, just to name a few. It is also conveniently located a block away from the M and W Unitrans lines.
Living here for 2 years, I now see the luxury I was living in compared to other apartments in Davis, or your average apartment complex in say Berkeley. Everyone who came to visit would always be shocked at how big and roomy it was. But with that lavishness comes a hefty price. With myself and 4 roomies, our monthly rent was easily beyond 2K for our 4 bedroom apartment. I think I paid around $ 600 just for my room.
As Lori mentioned, the parking is pretty ridiculous here. I used to live in the complex directly adjacent to the clubhouse. Therefore, we did not have our own designated parking spots like some of the more fortunate Avalon residents. Generally we each could find a parking spot right outside of our place without a problem. However, there were also numerous instance where we had to scramble around the whole apartment driveways just to find somewhere to park. This usually occurred in the later evening hours, after coming back from the ARC or something. It was a pain in the a**! When worse came to worst, I had to park outside on the streets a few times as well. That’s how bad the parking was here. We took it up with the management before, and they said they couldn’t do anything about it.
In regards to the management, I don’t believe they liked my household very much. There were times where my roommate would come home, telling us all how he got into a heated argument with the landlord lady over some random or petty stuff. I myself got into an altercation with them once, complaining to them that they had lost my deposit check I had put down to rent out the clubhouse for my birthday. They had said I would receive it back after they inspected the place following my event, but they said they must had misplaced it. I know it didn’t matter since my check was never cashed out (or so I think), it was still unprofessional for them to do such a thing.
As far as the clubhouse goes, I think that was one of the best facets of Avalon. Not only was it big enough to host a party or get together, but there was also a little exercise room with a TV, treadmill, exercise bicycle, and one of those in-​home gym sets. Like I mentioned earlier, I hosted my birthday here and it easily held over 150 people or so. Crazy right?! Also, my friends and I held a few of our annual Thanksgiving potlucks in here. Unfortunately, the main door to the clubhouse was very poorly secured, requiring only a sudden tug of the handle to open it. Thus, we often had random Davis citizens invading our area, more specifically the swimming pool. They were usually Latinos with their 1 093 483 kids, just taking over the property with their fiestas. That is one of the reasons why I think I only went in the pool twice over my whole 2 years there. Although it looked clean superficially, I knew that with all of the kids infiltrating it, it was bound to contain lots of bacteria and other nasty stuff.
Another cool thing to keep in mind is that if you go down a bit on Valdora, right past Avalon, then you can go directly onto the Bike Path that leads you straight to campus in about 10 minutes. The path allows you to avoid that very tall overpass on Cowell (near the Applebees area) and bike behind Jamba Juice and the parking lot near Shields. I wish I had discovered this sooner than the summer before I moved out!
All in all, Avalon was a nice establishment to live in for 2 years, but their steep rent, deficient parking, and poor management induced my roommates and I to move to another place for our final year.

I lived in Avalon for 3 years, sophomore to senior year while attending UC Davis. Overall, it was a decent place to live with a few issues that cost the rating a couple stars.
YAY:
–Location: Avalon is conveniently located right next to Safeway, Rite Aid, and Office Max. Also in the same complex are Dos Coyotes, which I became addicted to, Marble Slab, Quiznos, and a few other things. Also very close by is the W line bus stop, which becomes very useful getting to and from campus.
–Size: One of the main reasons my housemates and I decided to live here was the size of the units. 6 of us lived in a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom house. The rooms in Avalon are considerably larger than most bedrooms in other complexes. Whenever I had other people over, they were always surprised with how large our rooms were. My room was 12′ x 14′ with an 8′ x 8′ extension, plus a bathroom. Having one full bathroom for each bedrooms was definitely a plus.
–Appearance: Very quaint townhouse-​style apartments arranged around the central pool area and community center. Some units even have cute balconies. The circular driveway is shaded by trees and the rest of the landscaping looks nice and kept up. I also appreciated the smaller size of the Avalon complex.
–Pool: The pool area is one of the nicer ones compared to those of other apartment complexes. In fact, I often noticed a lot of people from other complexes trying to get in. The pool and spa are always clean and kept up. There are shaded tables and plenty of lounging chairs surrounding the pool. The white veranda-​like structure also provides a charming shaded area. With the treacherous heat Davis is capable of having, the pool will definitely become your best friend.
–Paying Rent: They now have a website set up where you can pay your rent online. It is very convenient to get payments in on time this way.
–The handy man: When I lived here the handy man was wonderful. He was always so accommodating to any problems we had. This man definitely works hard and is always very friendly. Make sure you smile and wave to him if you live here!
BOO:
–Spider problems: One of my most hated quality about Avalon was the spider problems my housemates and I faced all 3 years living there. Now, I know it wasn’t a problem with just my apartment (#34) because I asked my neighbors and they too had spider problems. The spiders were a problem all year, but seemed to be the worst during warmer weather (late spring, summer, early fall). During those times, I wouldn’t go a day without seeing at least half a dozen spiders running around. Some of these spiders were HUGE. My housemates and I (all girls) had one heck of a time managing this problem. During our senior year, we finally resorted to capturing them in cups… lame I know. Best to have a boy around in situations like this. When I complained to management, they sent out a guy that simply walked around with a broom and knocked down the spiders from the walls. He didn’t even clean them up afterwards!
–Parking: Parking was another major problem in Avalon. Some of the units come with a couple private spots, but most don’t. There are definitely not enough spots to accommodate everyone living there. Sometimes finding a parking spot next to my house was the best thing that happened to me on some days. Parking is the worst in the evenings and into the night. Once everyone rolls in for the day, you pretty much won’t find a spot within the complex. Your next best bet is parking somewhere along Valdora Street, which also fills up. Parking in the summer does get much better though. With that said, if you have the option of not parking under the trees in the back, I highly suggest you don’t, especially in the spring. The reason is your car will end up being filthy, full of pollen and bird crap.
–Initial move-​in conditions: Overall, move in went pretty smoothly but, once we were settled in we noticed a lot of things missing and various hardware problems to report. We had a surprising amount of missing and damaged blinds and curtain rods. Some things like the cabinets were also not in the best condition. My unit was blessed with brand new carpet and freshly painted walls when we moved in but, my understanding is that they replace those things every few years.
Despite some of the problems mentioned, my housemates and I enjoyed living in Avalon. I am sort of neutral with the cost of living here, which is why I didn’t include it in either the «pros» or «cons» list. A lot of people complained about the price being so high, but I thought it wasn’t too bad for the size and location. During the 3 years I was there, the price went up then went down, but on average we paid around $ 2000 a month. The units are definitely large enough to accommodate several housemates so after dividing the cost, it’s really not too bad for what you get.