Pala Mesa Apartments

It’s been almost a year here, and I have no complaints. Quiet complex for the most part, extremely convenient location, maintenance that is really prompt and thorough. For anyone complaining about bugs, folks — it’s Arizona. They spray here weekly, and I really haven’t had much to complain about — and I’m in a ground floor unit. Keep your place clean, patio screens closed and you’re good. Have not seen a roach yet. The grounds are beautiful, with a great dog park to exercise my guys and meet other residents.

I love living here. Yes it is not the fanciest property but the staff is prompt and pleasant. Maintenance is quick and does a great job. The grounds are always very clean. I was so happy that they put the dog park in! The gym is large and with a squat rack which is awesome and rare. Our rent went up when we renewed… I assumed that would happen! I even love that they let us paint! Our due date out is October and the only reason we are looking to leave it to get a house!

Bugs bugs bugs here! (I live on the first floor). They have a pest control company that comes out every Thursday to spray if you need it but it’s never done anything for me. The guy comes and sprays but I continue to get bugs because they somehow have a way in. I have had hundreds of crickets, found earwigs, roaches when it’s raining and encountered 6 scorpions so far. At least the warm season is over so the crickets have finally died down but I know I will have to deal with it again in a few months. There are also a lot of cats running around if that matters to you. Other than that, there are no other problems. I think if I lived on the second floor so I wouldn’t have this bug problem, then these apartments would pretty much be near perfect. The complex is quiet and clean. And you can request maintenance and pay rent online which is convenient.

The light rail is very close by.

I’m happy for the one person who likes this place but honestly my biggest problem is that out of $ 500 deposit I got back $ 2.33! They painted every wall in the place. I was there for one year, I didn’t put up art and I don’t have a kid to draw on the walls. Why did they spend half of my deposit to paint the walls?!? If they even did, its not like I could verify that it was actually done. That’s why Pala Mesa sucks. Also, they’re in the ghetto, just FYI, and they’re expensive as hell for the location. Light rail sure, but also hooker motels, tweaker trailer parks and constant police copters overhead looking for criminals in the area.

**UPDATE 06/​01/​2014**
I’ve lived here since June 2012. I’m leaving because the rent went up again, they decreased my student discount, and increased the utilities. Pala Mesa isn’t worth it. There’s no club house, theater, dog park, basketball court, tennis court, water dispenser, the amenities are basic, nothing extravagant so I’m not sure why they’re increasing the price. There haven’t been any changes/​upgrades with appliances or carpeting in the units just the community cosmetics. There’s nothing new here that makes me want to stay and pay more. I have noticed new light covers for the entrance way, but it’s looked like this for about 2 – 3 months and they’re still not finished. When I didn’t have a light for my apartment entrance they replaced it with the original style, not the new one. The lighting for the community is inconsistent, they told me there’s an electrical problem and that it was put on hold at some point but the electrician was going to get it taken care of. The lights were fixed for about a week.
The SMS notifications always change. I’m enrolled in rent reminders, movie reminders, package reminders, everything and then I log in to my account and none of its available anymore. It’s happened several times. The very least they’ll have is a rent reminder but I don’t even get that as a text message, just email.
They don’t have a drop box for rent anymore which has really affected me since my work schedule is inconsistent. The office is closed at 6 so that forces me to go to the bank, deposit my check, wait for the funds to become available in 2 days, and then finally pay my rent. I paid my rent online on the 3^rd early in the morning let’s say 3am and got a late fee that same day but not until later that morning when the office was open so I’m pretty sure they apply it to the account, it’s not automatic. I know when the drop box was there I could just drop off my rent and not get a late fee because the office wasn’t open yet. FYI they don’t take Visa credit cards! That was another headache. They take MasterCard and Discover, the convenience fee is $ 29.19. They also take cash/​MoneyGram, $ 3.99 convenience fee. Electronic check is free.
I took a look at a model and noticed the countertops don’t look the same in the units. Maintenance is inconsistent. My window wouldn’t stay open so I had to put in a work order twice until anything was done. I basically got a temporary fix since the part needed isn’t available anymore and of course they’re not going to fix it until absolutely necessary. He gave me a window lock (I haven’t seen these around in years!
)
I am not sure how often the gym is cleaned but it seems every time I go, there aren’t any sanitizing wipes for the equipment, the floors are DIRTY, and the bathrooms aren’t kept up and restocked. Just the other day I was at the gym and the restroom was flooded! The locks don’t always work on the doors for some reason and they were just replaced. I would just hope someone was at the gym already just in case I couldn’t get in since I usually go at night.
Yes there is a problem with scorpions in this community. I HATE IT! I love that they have pest control though. There is also a problem with spiders. Cob webs everywhere, especially on my entryway light that I share with my neighbor. They clean it like once every 6 months, but I think they cleaned it recently because I just got a new neighbor.
The pool area is nice when it’s clean. I was told by an employee they only clean it if there are 2 of them in the office. The hot tub doesn’t work a lot of times and the pool furniture should be updated. There is Wi-​Fi by the pool, but its hit and miss, very weak. Also the gate doesn’t always work either.
Don’t bother calling 30 minutes prior to close, they will not answer. I am actually trying to call them to talk to someone for clarification for moving out, but I’ll probably have to go to them personally.
Rachel, the last property manager, was very sweet, welcoming, and genuine. There was a Cuban maintenance man (I forgot his name) that was great at his job, I haven’t seen him around but I suppose he quit. I haven’t moved out yet but I gave my 30 day notice already. I’ll update my review after I move out about the security deposit and walk through. I’m probably going to be moving to a Bridge Property Management community.
7÷1÷14
Walk through was ok. I wasted money on paint though. I bought the color paint the representative in the office told me I have on my walls. Touched up the paint myself. Stacy told me when I signed my move out papers that I could just buy the paint and give it to them and not get charged for touch up. That story changed during the walk through though.
Bottom line: Pala Mesa isn’t worth it, Weidner isn’t worth it & you don’t want to deal with their inconsistency.