Tivoli Gardens

I’m updating my review. I now have cockroaches that won’t go away. Spraying monthly does nothing. My dishes are in plastic containers. This is no way to live. Plus the staff isn’t that great. They aren’t very motivated or efficient.
I love my apartment and I think it’s really cute. The management is nice and attentive but can be a little on the slow side. Sometimes they just don’t get what I need done and if the maintenance guy doesn’t understand the request they’ll just cancel it without telling you. So yes, the staff could be more professional, but they are nice and the actual manager cares. About bugs, I haven’t seen any. Crossing my fingers. I also feel very safe and have never had an issue with men loitering. I’m really not sure where that came from. I mean, you really can’t get a renovated nice sized studio for the price you pay here. So yes, it’s worth it.

I have lived here for over a year. I feel I get a pretty good deal, considering the square footage for the price. The kitchen and bathroom had new appliances and fixtures when I moved in, so it looked modern and up-​to-​date. Overall, I really like my apartment. Building management and maintenance is usually always responsive and prompt in their response. The winter has been trying though because the heat is often turned either off or very low. I called maintenance countless times because the heat is either totally off, or it’s on so low that it doesn’t warm the apartment. I also didn’t have hot water on multiple occasions during the winter months. The building management solved the issue and deducted money from my rent, but it was still a hassle. The laundry room often has washing and dryer machines that don’t work and the maintenance doesn’t seem to monitor that at all.
On the plus side, they have an electronic notification system if you’ve received a package, and you can pay rent on their online system, along with voicing any maintenance issues via their online system, which is really useful and convenient. The building is usually kept pretty clean (the weekends can be an exception). The neighborhood is pretty shady, but I do feel safe in the building and in my apartment. There is a security guard during the night and weekends that sits in the lobby.

This place is kind of the pits… I have not hated living here entirely, as it was the first home shared between my fiancée and I and the price is not entirely bad for the neighborhood and amount of space you get. However, you get what you pay for.
Here are the serious problems:
1.) The men that hang out in the lobby and outside of the building (usually drunk) and down right sexually harass females that come within a 15 foot radius. Even if they are not drunk and there are only a few of them they are usually intimidating.
2.) Security guards who give no fucks about their jobs (with the exception of one, the lady with the ponytail). Glued to their phones and oblivious to ANYONE that walks in and out of the building. I’m from Woodbridge VA, so I understand what urban characters are like and what not but this level of non-​security is ridiculous considering that we are paying for this with our rent.
3.) COCKROACHES. We have read several reports about bed bugs and pray that we can get out of the building before our apartment is infested.
4.) GENKO TREES ALL AROUND THE OTIS BLOCK. THESE TREES HAVE BERRIES THAT EMIT A VERY HORRIFIC VOMIT-​LIKE ODOR WHEN THEY ARE STEPPED ON OR CRUSHED.
5.) Laundry room machines are often broken, and not many of the residents believe in detergent or something because the dryers often smell like musty B.O.
6.) –this was the last and final straw– PACKAGES BEING STOLEN. The total deal breaker was when the property management refused to take any responsibility for their system that does not work. I do not understand why security guards cannot atleast sign for packages that are left.

The management office is courteous and responsive until they lure you into signing the lease, and then it’s all downhill from there. They rarely answer the phone from residents; my calls during business hours have always been directed to their «answering service.» The office hours are 9 – 5 on weekdays, which means it is pretty much impossible to pick up packages until Saturday. I asked if they could place my packages inside my apartment like comparable building in which I previously lived, and was told flatly, «we don’t do that.»
Some other things you should be wary of if you decide to live here:
They impose a $ 35 fee if you ever lock yourself out. As in, the maintenance guy who lives on-​site will walk over in slippers, taking his sweet time, and refuse to unlock your door unless you pay him.
Termites. I wasn’t aware it was an issue until I got a notice that an «emergency treatment» was being done.
Trash chutes are always overflowing. Always.
The security staff, if I can even call them that, are usually nowhere to be found. On the rare occasion they are sitting at the front desk, their eyes are glued to their phones and not a fuck is given about who walks in or out.
There are constantly drunk and disorderly people loitering outside the entrance and around the building. Security does nothing to disperse them.
Bottom line — decent building, shitty management.

I am following up with you all about my experience with bed bugs at Tivoli Gardens. They did come in and do treatments including a heat treatment, weekly for over a month. It was really annoying because we kept having to wash EVERYTHING in the apartment and move everything away from the walls blah blah blah every single week. It felt like we living in a hotel because our stuff was everywhere. We ended up moving out almost a month ago and a few days before our actual move I still saw a bed bug hanging out in the empty coat closet. I get that some apartments don’t have the issue but unfortunately ours was one with the nightmare situation.

The entire building is infested with bed bugs. Be careful when deciding to live there. You may not have bed bugs in your unit but as other unites are treated, the bugs eventually make their way to another unit to invest. I went 2 years without bed bugs and they eventually made their way to my unit inside of my bed, couches and closet.

I’ve lived here for a year, (fall 2011 — fall 2012) and I like it. I’ve never gotten any bedbugs and there’s a pest guy that comes for weekly sprays. This place used to be managed by someone shitty, so when you google the address stuff comes up about bed bugs in 2010 and 11. But since Borger Properties bought the building in Spring of 2011 (I think) it’s gotten way better. In the past year they’ve done a lot of painting and renovating. My apartment is a recently renovated studio for under 1200. It’s 560 sq ft and it’s spacious for a studio. The location is prime, there’s a laundry room that’s ok, and we don’t have to pay heat or water. The utils we do pay are super super cheap. There’s occasionally kids in the hall and a little noise but it’s not too bad at all. The management is extremely accessible (you can email them if you need something and they’ll come to fix it the next day) and they’re friendly too. If you are looking for luxury upscale living, this isn’t exactly if, but if you want a place in this area for a good price, you might like these buildings.