Montecito Point

The location is perfect for anyone who wants a downtown feel without the downtown noise. Walking distance from my favorite Sushi restaurant *RK Sushi & my favorite Pizza * Bronx Pizza. Alliance Residential took over recently and although they informed me I may have a rent increase at time of renewal, they explained that this is happening throughout most of San Diego. After doing my own research I found this to be true. Heidi the new property manager has been very kind to me and my household.

Very pleased with the apartment and building. Moved into a renovated unit, great kitchen, new carpet, paint and bathroom vanity. Quiet, good lighting and amazing location. Close to food, bars, movies, balboa park all in walking distance

I’ve lived in Montecito Point for a bit over 7 months and I am so happy here. My kitchen and bathroom were renovated right before I moved in, so they are beautiful and work perfectly. The carpet and stonework are lovely. Additionally the AC and heat work perfectly! Also, it is very affordable for everything it has to offer. Other places I looked at before moving in charged much more for far less. I have absolutely no complaints about my unit.
The new management is great. They are so professional. I had a noise issue with a neighbor and the previous manager did nothing about it but interrogate me. The new management handled it immediately and professionally and I have enjoyed peace and quiet ever since.
The building is very secure and is in good shape. I think this is thanks to the excellent staff who respond to any rare maintenance issues pretty much immediately.

It’s a great complex for the most part and very conveniently located to so much. Diane the manager is a great lady to deal with. Our issue has been with the upstairs tenant, they leave there pet unattended much of the time and the animals make so much noise at various times of the day and night, it keeps us from relaxing in our home and from sleeping At times it’s so loud. We did say something and was told they would be moved out possibly by the end of May 2015, that did not happen since last night I was woken after 1 am again with little sleep and had to work early in the morning. I will once again talk with management since this has really become an issue with our quality of life.

New management is not friendly and has increased rent $ 100 for new year lease. I have never had a problem that wasn’t solved quickly at this apartment. I LOVE the location! The kitchen and bath could use some updating though. Would give more stars for location and some amenities. But not for new management and size of apartment. Time to start looking for a more affordable place with more space.

I’ve lived here 3 ½ years, and I’ve had a generally good experience living here. Management was quick to fix the few problems that I’ve had (broken microwave oven). However there’s only one elevator, it’s really slow, and breaks down a few times a year. So I just use the stairs instead.
It’s in a safe part of town, and includes assigned parking in a gated lot. The building feels very safe, although I did hear about car break-​ins a few years ago.
Regarding some comments on thin-​walls, I never hear any noises from my neighbors, even when they’re watching sports games and having parties. I sometimes hear the person above me walking around, but only for short amounts of time.
It’s located on a road that dead-​ends further down, so there’s not a lot of traffic noise. However a few times a month, helicopters land at the nearby hospitals.
Overall, I would recommend this apartment.

The Good:
— Very pet friendly, cats and small dogs.
— Location, walkable to Hillcrest
— Size of apartments is decent
— Decent-​sized walk-​in closets
— Balconies with additional storage off the balconies
— The building manager and property management company are decent.
— Recycling dumpster in the ground-​floor garage and small bins on each floor.
The not-​so-​good:
— Furnishings are basic — laminate countertops, vinyl flooring, low-​end cabinets, white walls, beige carpeting.
— Low-​end appliances. The dishwasher has to be rerun about a third of the time due to low water pressure. Dishes need to be nearly clean before you run the dishwasher because the water temperature is not high enough to adequately wash the dishes.
— As others have noted, the plumbing isn’t good. There have been frequent water outages because there was only a single shutoff for the entire building, so a repair in any apartment required water for the entire building to be shut off. Recent work has put in more shut off valves, so this should be less of the problem in the future. The hot water is marginally hot and needs to be run at fullest pressure, such as it is, to get to that temperature.
— The current building owners are dicks. They go cheap on almost everything, but are trying to push up rents as high as they can. The condition of the building does not justify the rents they are seeking.
— Top floor apartments have vaulted ceilings which is nice for the openness, but the new roof put on a couple of years is ago is dark and with no insulation, the temperature inside the apartment will be about 10 degrees higher than the outside temperature on a sunny day.
— While the apartments have AC, they’re energy hogs. If you need to use it a lot in July or August, it could easily add $ 200 a month to your electric bill. I finally relented last year and got a portable room air conditioner for one of the bedrooms. It didn’t add any more than $ 10 or $ 15 a month to my electric bill.
— If you’re on the west side of the building, you will get a LOT of noise from car alarms in the new parking garage for the hospital. It’s a much bigger problem than noise from emergency vehicles which is surprisingly limited given the proximity to two hospitals.
— Monthly fee for water on top of the rent. It typically runs about $ 45/​month for a 2 bedroom apartment.

My husband and I moved in about a month ago… We really really like this place.
1. unbeatable location, you can walk to tons of restaurants, cafes, shops and bars
2. Very pretty and friendly neighborhood, and the nicest neighbors ever.
3. A jump away from freeway access, we can get anywhere in the city in 15min
4. Very spacious and comfortable layout.
In regard to the paper thin walls… we do have a very loud upstairs neighbor who likes to stomp around but other than that I have never heard conversations or TV of any other apartment on my floor. And yes, although close to a hospital we have only hear sirens twice and the cease immediately.
C’mon these are not the burbs… we are in a trendy, urban area with a nice small town feel… if you want to live close to the action noise comes with the territory.
We are really happy here… the management is AMAZING! Always there when we need them and friendly. And 2 parking spaces! What!?! Awesome!
We plan to stay here for a long time!

I have lived in several different apartment complexes over the years, and this one is by far the worst. Before you rent here, DO read all of the one and two star reviews on here, because they are true. The manager, does a nice job in her syrupy fake voice trying to convince potential tenants of all the wonderful qualities this complex has to offer, however, be careful not to be drawn in.
CONS: the manager is NOT reliable, nor trustworthy. I had water pouring through my ceiling in my shower and that was not deemed an «emergency» during after hours. I had a whole in my ceiling for three entire weeks in the delayed process of fixing my ceiling, after which a poor job was done to even make the repair. I called the manager before a humanitarian trip to Africa over the summer, and never heard from her for THREE weeks about my lease (I had to contact her again), therefore, I was stuck in this place for more time than I would have liked. Completely non-​responsive. There was another incident where they failed to put up signs in the garage about repair work there (there was water all over!), and I slipped right outside my car. I documented the incident but the manager avoided me like the plague for weeks-​she clearly understood she was liable, which was confirmed by a number of lawyers I talked to, but she NEVER even asked if I was ok, never checked to make sure a tenant of hers was ok (basic human gesture, in my opinion). I twisted my ankle and never heard from her. In addition to the issues with a non-​responsive, fake and unreliable manager, there are several functional issues. The dishwasher does NOT work. Everything needs to be hand-​cleaned because the water pressure is so poor. The fridge wasn’t shutting and that too took weeks for her to address (and an ignored email about the same time I was trying to get a hold of her before my trip to Africa). She claims she never received it. As others have noted, the walls are paper thin-​you can hear everything in the adjacent apartment and above. The spa, which I originally thought was a nice feature, seriously works about a quarter of the time. The garage is frequently flooded when it rains, so one has to stomp through a few inches of water to get to their car, the elevator breaks down for no apparent reason frequently (as does the garage door) and the manager takes away the garbage can downstairs because some people leave their dog doo-​doo in there (like a mother taking something from a toddler). The entire place is managed unprofessionally, in a passive-​aggressive manner, without true concern for tenants and the features, due to age and other factors simply do not work!
PROS: safe location overall, although things were stolen from inside the garage a few months back, walkability.
Stay away-​seriously. I have had positive experiences with apartment complexes, but this is not one of them. You think you’re getting a steal-​trust me, you’re not!

I would not recommend these apartments to anyone. Plumbing issues are outrageous… from toilet backing up into the bathtub to water backing up in the kitchen sink due to clogging in the lines below… you don’t have to be running the water in your apartment for this to happen. Just be sure to pay attention to noises coming from the kitchen and don’t be too shocked to find that water is spilling over the counter, floor, etc., with nothing you can do to stop it. Oh, of course the apartment manager says to go to the upper floors to ask if anyone above you is running water in the their kitchen and to stop! Really! At 10:00 p.m. the tenant is told to do this? Unreasonable!!!
I observed plumbing issues throughout the floor during my 1 year I observed numerous plumbing issues by seeing the fans and pumps in the hallway for days. The plumber who came to work on the toilet issue, told the manager the lines need to be blown out several times during the year… she said the owners would not spend money to do that. I will say the lines were blown out just before I moved.
Walls truly are paper thin and the current manager, who recently took over this position, does nothing to assist with excess noise. She informed me when I moved out that there was a very angry person living above me and that she always walked heavy, slammed doors, etc.
Neighborhood noise was only an issue with noisy, partying people living across from the complex night, starting at 2:00pm and going until at least 5:00am. I expected to hear the sirens, etc., living near two hospitals, and that was not an issue.
Although this complex is located in a great walking neighborhood, that does not make up for the issues with the apartment itself.
Security Deposit: You may get a few dollars back, but they do deduct for everything they do to prepare the apartment for the next renter, whether you took good care of the apartment or not. The manager did tell me that I might get a bill stating I owed money in addition to the security deposit, as they estimate high, just to wait until I get the final information. In this case, a small refund was sent to me along with a very confusing list of the charges. For me, not worth fighting it.
Again, I would not recommend these apartments to anyone.

I have lived at Montecito Point Apartments for almost 4 years and really only have a few reservations. First the positive points to the building. Central Air and Heat – this is a big one in Hillcrest since most of the apartment buildings don’t have central a/​c and if they do, the building is much newer and much more expensive. The primary reason the 1 bedroom apartments are in the $ 1,266 to $ 1,400 range (depending on the floor you are on – the higher up the more expensive). is because of the proximity to UCSD Medical Center and Scripps Mercy Hospital. There are a lot of Residents and Interns in the building and this really keeps the prices a bit higher. There and two washers and two dryers on every floor (4 floors of apartments and an underground gated parking lot – 2 levels). Yes, the kitchens are a bit dated, but the management has been very good about putting in new refrigerators, microwaves and faucets when needed. I have done my share of looking in Hillcrest, and for the money this place really isn’t all that bad. Yes, I can hear the people upstairs walking at times, but this doesn’t bother me too much. Also, this apartment takes both cats and small to mid-​sized dogs. In order to get a w/​d, central a/​c, new kitchens and bathrooms in the Hillcrest area you will have to pay upwards of $ 1,600-$ 1,800 or more a month. There is quite a few ambulances that you can hear around here due to the proximaty to the hospitals I mentioned before, but I really don’t find it to be that bad. One of the other positive things is that there is a decent sized (not huge) balcony for each apartment. I’ve lived in a couple of other apartments in Hillcrest and neither had a balcony. Now for the challenging things. The wiring for the internet and cable could definately use updating to get them up to the standards that are required today in this digital age. This is not a huge problem, but it really should be addressed by the owner of the property.
I hope this review assisted someone in making a decision. Just remember, you are looking for an apartment in Hillcrest and not North County or Rancho Bernardo – compare Apples to Apples and not Apples to Oranges.

OMG this paper thin walled/​floored place sucks big time! Seriously jump up & down in your apartment and the building will shake! 80’s dated kitchen, crap appliances and crappy carpet in a tiny 1 bedroom does NOT warrent a $ 1400 month price tag. It is truely the loudest place on earth and I hate everyday living here!!! Emergency vehicles come to this building daily and don’t even get me started on the crap elevator! The management company nickle and dimes you to death. The building manager has some real issues and parking absolutely sucks! If you miss your trailer park back home then you will love Montecrusty Point apartments.

Boring apartment — beige carpet, white walls.
That said, for a 2br/​2ba and $ 1520/​mth, there is great closet space, a storage closet on the small balcony, a dishwasher, microwave, cable, and parking. There’s also a small hot tub and common grill to use.
Not bad in a neighborhood with walking distance to the hospitals, hillcrest restaurants and shops.
Now, *that* said, I dislike the company that manages this building. The initial «security deposit» is non-​refundable in essence. They use it to replace carpets, paint, and everything so apparently you get nothing back — regardless of whether you kept it in the original condition when you moved in. Read the fine print in the lease.
The dishwasher and other appliances are from the 80s — if it breaks they try to fix it with someone in-​house that doesn’t have «much electrical expertise» (not my words). So if your stove breaks, they’ll fix it, but it may explode on you (it did for us). Instead of replacing with a new stove, they just took it out of an empty apartment. Oh by the way, without ever responding to our emergency calls either — we would have been out electricity and a hazardous stove in our apartment.
So besides those two major flaws, it’s a good place to live.
Edit: In resonse to Tom A’s comments, which aren’t really reviewing the apartment — we did look at the apartment and it was the best deal for the price. Which was mentioned in the review above. It doesn’t change the fact that the carpets are beige and walls are white — boring in my book. If not yours, well let me apologize for any offense it may have caused.
We also did read the lease, otherwise we would not have found out it was essentially non-​refundable. If it is indeed illegal, I’d be interested in seeing where it’s written. maybe they’ll stop such practices!
The review above was an honest observation of the apartment and the management, which I believe is what a review should be. I use this site for information and wished to share my experience to other Unilocalers.
Edit 11÷6÷2008: I’d have to subtract a star. I really don’t like the management. They put up these signs about how «we love our residents» but don’t believe it for a second. They have plumbing issues out the wazoo, the 2^nd floor keeps flooding. If you express concern, it is met with defensive reactions and a simple request is met with confrontation. People need to leave their personal issues out of business.