Avalon Towers on the Peninsula

Cozy place, quiet environment, nice people, nice staff, professional management, strategic place closes to shopping area. I suggest to management to provide a business/​lounge room for tenant, that would be nice. But now amenities also great

If there is zero, I would rate this apt ‘zero.’
I lived here for two and half years. This apt was so expensive and the rent has been going up a lot even though their service was getting worse. I would say that this apt is totally overrated and over priced because this apt is very shitty in terms of the management service, and environment.
First of all, the management office is very rude and lazy unlike when I moved in. I asked many things, but they didn’t care about it at all. They make mistakes all the time. If you are living here, just take care of everything by yourself. Don’t expect anything from them. They are totally irresponsible for their mistakes, and never apologize.
Also, this apt is always full of the disgusting smell of trash. Also, on the first floor, there are always flies and they were coming into my room.
The location is really good, and this apt seems so nice; however, overall, this apt is totally shitty. I won’t live this shitty apt anymore by paying unreasonable rent.

I lived here for about 6 months and was extremely impressed by the entire team, from the rental office to the front desk to the management staff. Apartments are definitely nicer than other similar places around and it’s a more cozy community than the apartments in the San Antonio shopping center. If you’re looking for a high end rental apartment, you should definitely consider the Avalon.

I’ve lived at the Avalon Towers for almost 5 years now which I think shows how much i love living here. Being able to say I get to come home to an apartment that is quiet, safe, & filled with amazing amenities is pretty fantastic. The maintenance staff is fantastic and friendly. They always respond to my requests the day of & always fix the issue in one visit. The leasing office is amazing as well. Ashley is always there to help you out with a smile. And Thelma is always downstairs at the front desk smiling & wishing you a great day! They also always help me out when I’m out of town by coming to check on & feed my cat and fish for me (They are rockstars for doing this!).
As for the apartment itself, it’s spacious and I can sleep soundly without any noise (I’m very noise sensitive so that is a huge plus for me!). I love the fact that I have two walk in closets and that I have a washer and dryer in unit plus air conditioning. It’s right in the center of tons of restaurants, groceries stories, by the San Antonio CalTrain station, and bus stops which is great for commuting and shopping. For the pricing, it’s on point with the market since you’re living in the heart of the Silicon Valley. You can’t beat the price when you consider all the amenities and perks you get with this place. I love living here & recommend it to everyone. I feel at home here, have meet amazing neighbors, and feel this place is A+.

My wife, daughter and I recently moved in to The Avalon Towers on the Peninsula and have been very impressed with our living arrangments. The apartment facility is visually striking, clean and comfortable. Extra ammenities like the fitness center, pool and spa area with cooking grill and the convenience of secure parking make this an exceptional place to live.
We have a two bedroom with beautiful views and overlook the pool area. The apartment itself is very comfortable with big windows and lots of storage in both the kitchen and bathrooms. The bathrooms themselves are oversized and easily accomodate mutliple users. Granite countertops in the kitchen and bathroom provide a high end feel.
But most importantly the staff is professional and courteous. They have been very welcoming and have gone above and beyond to assure that we have transitioned to apartment living with ease. From the leasing office, concierge and maintenance staff each employee has been gracious and helpful.
While the cost of housing in this area is more expensive than most areas of the country the monthly leasing expense is appropriate and within range for the local housing and rental market. Additionally, the value for rent paid is definitely in favor of the renter. The location is great for walking to shopping/​dining and ideally suited for convenience to most locations in Silicon Valley.
Two enthusiastice thumbs up from us!

I been there twice. The first time, I didn’t make an appointment and the guy sitting in the front refused me to talk to anybody and didn’t provide me any information and even not a smile face, so rude. The second time I made an appointment at 4pm, and again, the guy with that shitty face let me wait there for 20 mins and said no one available? Finally he decided to show me the room by himself and he even didn’t ask me to sit down to take my information, very impatient to answer any of my questions and of cause, with that shitty face. What the… They really don’t respect people. I drove there half an hour and only get those very bad experience. Also I saw lots flys flying around and their rooms are very bad designed, no storage at all.
Very bad experience and don’t go there.

Supporting service facilities are very good, very friendly staff, security, clean environment, amiable neighbors. I feel very satisfied with overall.

worst apartment experience of our lives. we decided to pay more for what we thought would be luxury living. instead we got a nightmare.
Pros:
concierge for safe package delivery
treadmills
close to food & supermarkets
friendly maintenance
Cons:
all the other reviewers wrote truth about the cons.
cold pool sits in between 2 bldgs so it never gets sun to warm the water.
bike stolen in 1 day from the «secure» garage where they instructed us to lock it up. their response? «yea that happens sometimes»
doors not sealed making it cold inside with 2 choices. either wear lots of clothes in your home or pay $ 200 electric bill each winter month. management & maintenance admitted they know this is an issue with the architecture of the bldg and yet new tenants aren’t told nor have they fixed it in the 11 years since the bldg has been built.
very shady dealings as we moved out and they took quite a bit of our security deposit. saying it took them 2 hours to paint one wall.
when we moved in I called to have them clean a stain out of the living room carpet the cleaning lady told me «they had you move in before I could come clean» yet they took $ 90 out of our security deposit for cleaning that apparently doesn’t get done.
shady shady place. I will never rent from a corporation again.

We have lived here for almost 2 years and have nothing but great things to say about the quality of the building and apartment structure, management, maintenance, and office staff! We never hear our neighbors due to the sturdy construction of the apartments and rarely have maintenance concerns! The amenities in the building our fantastic. The price is a little high, but it is market value and fair for what you are getting in this region.

We were looking for an interim place to rent until our remodel in the city could be completed. We had to extend our lease twice as the remodel was delayed. The local staff is awesome but the corp team are nothing but heavy handed thugs.
PROs:
* The local staff is incredibly friendly and reliable. The concierge is very handy for package delivery.
* The pool area is nice with a bbq and eating area. We were able to have a very nice party for my wifes bday.
CONs:
* Your rent will be raised excessively if you extend for a short period of time. Our rent went up over $ 1,000 to extend by 30days.
* The so called“Customer Care Center” is just the opposite. When we received our final statement there were 12 additional charges that we were not aware of.
* Included in those charges were $ 120 in late charges, even though all of our payments were automated.
* The Anti-​Customer Care Center must be paid on collections and were obnoxious, argumentative, arrogant and just plain bullys.
Based solely on the service center and the excessive rent increase there is NO WAY I would ever recommend them.

We have been very happy living here the past three years. We have seldom had a problem with smokers as some of the others posted, and actually have seen a number of notices informing people that smoking on the grounds is prohibited, and a violation of their lease. It has not been a problem for us. Nor, have we experienced dog pee in the elevators as one of the other « Unilocalers» posted and, people seem to clean up after their dogs in the grass. Whenever we have had a complaint for management they have always been addressed. Sometimes the management can be hard to find, but have always been friendly. The grounds are well kept, and the building is very quiet. Love the pool.
The only reason we are leaving is the rent, it goes up and up! Sadly, they have raised us right out of here!

So I’m reconsidering about extending the lease. I think it’s very convenient to live here. The people are nice. Nice pool. Very quiet location. It’s super expensive though. So I guess it’s worth it considering its a very nice and safe area.

Well, it has been a month since my last 1-​star review of this dreaded place; it’s time to update :)
In summary:
— Smokers continue to smoke on the balconies in this non-​smoking building
— Somebody’s dog consistently pees in the elevator
— Garbage shoot is clogged and does not work (thereby stinking up the building) at least twice a month.
In other words, nothing new, same old broken building. Woopty-​doo!

So we’ve figured out that our unit gets extra second hand smoke because we have a leaky balcony door in our bedroom. Management promised to send someone to fix it back in the beginning of Oct. Noone came. They promised to fix it immediately again when we followed up to ask them about it mid October. Noone came. It is now Nov. Nothing fixed. Bedroom still gets filled up with smoke whenever a neighbor smokes.
So, update on the pro vs con: maintenance staff rocks, if you can get past the incompetent management office to them that is.

Great staff, good location, nice apartments. As others have stated, the rent is very high, but if you need a short term lease and have pets, this is a great option. We were very comfortable here for the five months after selling our home and moving out of the state. I can’t say enough good things about Ashley in the leasing office, she was extremely helpful.

I’ve really enjoyed my stay at Avalon Towers. The location is really convenient — there are buses that will take you all over town, and there’s an entire shopping center (Whole Foods, Target) a few blocks away. It’s been an expensive stay, but I feel like it was worth the price. The grounds are really well kept and clean. The free coffee is also a definite plus :)

The worst apartments I have ever lived in, overpriced, neighbors can knock on your door anytime they want for any kind of crap, made a big mistake and as soon as i find another place i’m moving out, even though i’ll have to pay a hefty amount of penalty, depressing…

We lived there for just 1 year. I had use the Avalon in San Francisco (King Street) and was hoping for the same thing, well it was a mistake
Is overpriced and for the price you get outdated appliances too
If you need some peace after a long day of work, well this is not the place! Our apartment is loud and opening a window or the door of the balcony is just not doable due to the noise and dust/​dirty flying into the apartment.
The heater that didn’t work, water issue in one of the room and their front office only care before you sign once you sign you are pretty much on your own…
I will say one thing, their maintenance people and their concierge (the man only) are very nice and helpful, for less price you can get a much better place around the valley.
Glad we moved out
–ls

Avalon Towers on the Peninsula is overpriced, but the quality of the community exceeded our expectations. We had lived in the Avalon at Mission Bay in San Francisco before moving here when our son was born, and while this apartment complex was not nearly as nice as the one we moved from it was home for a year.
When Avalon started centralizing services and management over to corporate (in another state), we started seeing some of the services cut back. Front desk concierge services were cut back, and maintenance calls were centralized. We certainly think there is less value for the price you pay to live here.
PROs:
* The staff is incredibly friendly and reliable. Maintenance is #1 here, although since centralization to corporate, they’ve been unable to excel the way they hard previously.
* The pool area is fantastic, and even if you have a unit facing it, if you’re windows are closed you will never hear anyone hanging out there regardless of what time it is. (With exception to when someone has a party with blasting music)
* The building and property is safe, and viable for raising children.
* Ideal location between Mountain View and Palo Alto if you’re in the tech industry.
* Reasonable appliances (but not as nice as in SF for nearly the same price).
CONs:
* Your rent will be raised every single year by 10%, even if wages are dropping and services are cut back. Value disappears.
* There is only crappy wireless or DSL/​cable here. You can not get a fiber-​based service, although I expect that to change soon when AT&T U-​Verse goes live in Mountain View.
* You live near lots of fast food and shopping strip junk.
If the value returned to the price of this complex, we’d consider returning and sticking around for longer than a year. Until then there are better offerings in Palo Alto.

Been in an 11^th floor, west-​facing, 1bed/​1bath apartment for about a year now, and have been quite happy here. However, it is pricey (you get what you pay for), and we expect they will raise our rent once our lease is up, so we may end up having to move out.
Pros: fantastic views on the top floors, spacious floorplan. Great kitchen with granite tile and counters, and very nice bathroom with ceramic floor/​shower tiles and granite counters. Just like the previous Avalon Community we lived in (Silicon Valley), the Towers has fantastic service (more below). Built-​in A/​C and heat, laundry, dishwasher. Nice pool with hot tub, BBQ area, and space for parties. Convenient location: walking distance to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Safeway, as well as Target and Walmart, and everything in the San Antonio Mall. Easy to drive to downtown Palo Alto or downtown Mountain View. Mass transit: the San Antonio Caltrain stop is within walking distance, and there is a VTA 22 stop on either side of the street, which goes along El Camino.
Cons: Expensive! Appliances aren’t exactly new. The garage is shared with the business building next door, and not particularly secure. No screens on the windows/​balcony doors. Water leaks into the storage units when it rains, no matter what level you’re on. Also, although it’s in a convenient location, walking around the area, especially down Showers (between Walmart and Target) is iffy at any time of day, and I would never want to do it by myself at night.
A note about service: If you decide to move here, even for a year, get to know the people who work at the front desk and the leasing office, as they are extremely nice! The one time we have had a serious problem in the apartment (flooding from the shower pipes), it was dealt with immediately, and fixed with very little inconvenience to us. Even the cleaning and maintenance staff seem to be fairly happy whenever I see them in the halls, and I take that as a good sign.