This is an update to my prior review. I am sorry that I updated it a little late. I would say the management team (not the leasing office) are very responsible. They contacted me on the second day after I posted the review. I shared my concern with them and they said they will take action to solve it. Below are the observations: 1. Garage gates is fixed ( but it's almost 1 month later after I talked to them... Perhaps it can be more efficient next time) 2. I was told there is a security guy walking around the community every night, and filing report. But I doubt his working attitude because if he was walking around, how come he didn't report that the garage gate was open all night not functioning for over a month. 3. Just another review added to the leasing office. I really think the staff there need to be nice and helpful to the residence. I asked for an additional parking spot from the middle of Dec 2016 to Jan 20th 2017. I was told the fee is prorated and all I need to do to cancel the spot is calling the leasing office. I called the leasing office before Jan 20th 2017, they said there will be a credit posted on my next statement. I waited but there is no credit. I called the office on Feb 15th 2017, Emily who answered my call told me they didn't process the cancellation and they won't refund me because the billing cycle is closed. Excuse me? So I should pay for leasing office's fault? I insisted that what she said is not appropriate because that was not my fault. Then Emily said If I need credit back, I have to figure out when I made the call. I searched my history and told her it was Jan 17th 2017. She told me she still won't give me the credit unless I figure out who took my call that day. I was so shocked. Is it possible for leasing office to find out who was in office on 1/17/2017? Do customer have to record all details when they contact customer service? Plus, is the leasing office just trying to decline my credit by giving requests one after one? I was told by other tenants that the attitude of some leasing office ladies is not friendly. However, I was still shocked when they really ignored the tenants and made no effort to help the tenants but just saying no. Now the last evidence I can show the leasing office is an system generated email that I received on January 17th right after I made call to cancel the parking spot. The email asked me for signature and I gave right away. Today, I forwarded the email to leasing office and hopefully they won't find another excuse to decline it (btw, can the leasing office find out who triggered this system email to me? That may be another way to find out who took my call for cancellation). This place is overpriced and it is not luxury apartment at all. -The apartment was not clean at all when I moved in. There are yellow oil outside my oven which is very sticky. The carpet is stained, dryer is not working, and the refrigerator is broken (they finally replaced this broken refrigerator after 2 months since I moved in because they were not able to fix this old machine after couple attempts. Imagine how many food I needed to throw away because the refrigerator kept broken and food in the freezer defrost and water leaking out everywhere in the kitchen)! - the residents here smoke, trash garbage in the hall way, and steals your packages if your parcels are delivered in the hall way! There was a time I saw my package delivered outside of the locker. Because my hands were full, so I ran to apartment and then came back to the lockers hall way, but the package was gone!!! Just 15min! It was stolen right away! - the fire alarm is raised extremely frequently. You can see fire trucks come here couple times a week. I live in phase 2, and the alarms broke my night dreams (alarming for 45min between 3am and 4am in the morning!), ruined my early weekend morning, or disturbed my dinners, again and again. I don't know if this is due to the alarms not working well or the residents here are crazily setting up fire everyday. I emailed the management to report this issue. They need to either fix the alarms or do some management and policies with the residents. But obviously, they are doing nothing for this. - the management is poor. The garage's gate is not working and keeps open for almost 3 weeks now in phase 2. I don't know why there is no one repairing it. We pay for a security apartment, but I don't see any security and safety living here now. Very disappointed about this. I chose Avalon San Bruno among many other apartments before I signed contract. This is because I trust it's reputation and brand. However, I have to write down a negative review for my choice because this apartment is really not worth. I very regret that I sign for 12 months. Not recommended. - read more

We lived here from September 2011 and moved out recently. It used to be managed by Archstone and their team was a dream team, since Avalon took over it has become progressively worse. Building When we first moved in the building was pristine. As people move in and out over the years there is wear and tear. The main issue is dog pee, everywhere. The elevators, the hallways. Management refused to put up signs or cameras saying it looks bad on the building to new tenants. I think pee stained everything that stinks and exposure to zoonotic viruses is far worse for new tenants. There is a lot of accommodation for dogs on the premises, they even built a special park for dogs. The other issue is smoke. There is so much marijuana smoking, it floats into your apartment and suffocates you. A new ordinance was passed by San Bruno prohibiting smoking on balconies and public areas, but no one cared, in fact it got worse. They have a locker system for parcels, which does not store large packages and many delivery personnel do not know how to use it. You pay for this system and Avalon management does nothing to manage or maintain it, they ask you to go to parcel pending. Because of the packages left out, there was open theft. There seemed to be cameras in the area but the management claimed they could not see the images and the cameras didn't really work. The sad thing is parcels used to be managed by the main office. They won't even keep a large package for courtesy anymore. Management Management did decline after Avalon took over. However, there were some Avalon Stars, Emily (not the current Emily Fan who loses her temper frequently slamming doors at tenants), Elliot, Cruz and Tim to name a few. They are all gone now. The current team is incredibly disconnected and not so friendly, they lack basic understanding and seem to group together like mean sorority girls, glaring at you if you dare to go to them with a problem and responding with hostile responses. It's likely a lack a training and resources on their part. But they are grown ups so perhaps they should act like it, or hire a management consultant that can help them. Maintenance I can't praise the maintenance team enough. Novander and Mishra are stars and have cleaned that building since we were there in 2011. Cleaning up all the dog pee, people's sick, thrown food. The sad thing is that they are chastised by current management. Both are people of color with families and the current management have shown little understanding, compassion or flexibility for their personal circumstances. Shame on the current management for having the best staff of the lot and not acknowledging them. I think if management was better in the last 2 years, living here would have been nicer. All in all. It's not a bad place to live. read more

So far my experience here has been very positive. I wake up early (6:15) on weekdays and go for a swim in the indoor pool -- there's usually one other person at most there, also doing laps. It's a great way to start the day. The apartment itself is very posh -- we're in the 1051 National Ave. building. The airplane noise hasn't bothered me inside the apartment; you get used to it pretty quickly. When outside (mostly walking to BART), it can be annoying however. There are such great amenities here though -- the gym, pool, media room, and the apartment itself -- that I find myself staying inside a lot anyway (which might sound like a bad thing but really isn't). The staff has been quite helpful as well. Any time a problem or question has come up, it's been fixed or answered within 24 hours, usually much quicker. This is my first year here and after reading all the reviews, I am quite worried about the rent increase as the starting rent was near my upper limit already. As far as the rent I'm paying right now however, I can say that I feel it's worth it; it's very relaxing to come home to what feels like a high-end hotel at the end of a long day at work. read more

Update: the community has since installed a few security cameras, and promises more. On-site management has been more responsive, and it feels like it is mostly corporate that is holding the neighborhood back and pushing for investment in the wrong areas. The newly renovated clubhouse seems to be trashed pretty regularly but they are at least making some effort. Increasing my rating by a star while waiting to see if any of the new measures actually make a difference in the crime. Previously: Theft in the neighborhood is completely rampant, with the community regularly being targeted by pre-planned thefts. Things that are chained down or packages in secure areas go missing all the time. The community management barely responds to requests to do something about it - but they spent a bunch of money on a new leasing office to help sucker more people into coming here and being the next victims of theft. read more

I moved here in November of 2015 from Texas. A long way from home! JEN was super helpful during our search and move-in, since our stuff arrived before we did. She made sure that the right person got the key to let the movers in and effectively move all our stuff in. I've never had movers before so I was a bit nervous about the whole thing, but everything worked out great and the communication was clear and consistent. It was her first week when we went to look at the apartments, but you couldn't even tell. She was very knowledgeable and accommodating to our back-and forth "let's see the other one again" apartment hunt. Her service hasn't stopped there though. Yesterday, we had to pick up a package before the office closed at 6:30 and we were running late, so she had the package taken to our apt so it was waiting there when we arrived and we didn't have to rush home in Cali traffic. After reading some of the other reviews, I can't speak on the rent hike or move-out fees since our lease is not up until the summer. I can definitely say that the apartments are beautiful, spacious and very well kept with stainless steel and black appliances. Nicest apartments I've ever lived in. I have a doggie who loves the grounds and the doggie park directly behind the apartments. I walk my dog twice, sometimes three times a day and I have seen doggie poop left from a resident (not cool btw) maybe twice. They keep the grounds very clean, every day and make sure that the numerous doggie stations are kept clean and in stock of poop bags. Somebody mentioned a pee smell, but I honestly have never smelled that around the grounds. Having a fully equipped gym right downstairs is SO nice. I work out every day now because it's so convenient. Going to the Dominican Republic next month, and my beach bod is gonna be bangin' thanks to the fitness center at Avalon. Weights and cardio and an indoor lap pool. There's no excuse not to get in shape here. Every once in awhile I'll hear an airplane, but it really is a non-issue for me. The view that we have of the San Bruno mountain is beautiful and I love our apartment. I prefer the outward facing views to the courtyard views. Location is great too! My boyfriend loves to surf and we are just a 10-15 minute drive from Pacifica beach. The mall is right across the street too, so anything I want/need is in walking distance. 101 highway is accessible in 3 minutes, which makes the morning commute more bearable. Overall, I've had a great experience with Avalon and if management doesn't up the monthly rent too much when we renew, would love to stay as long as we can. :) Thanks again Jen for all your help! read more

Incredible on going customer service from Sherri Caron, Community Consultant at Avalon. My son and I worked with Sherri 4 months ago to lease one of Avalon San Bruno's apartments. We had several choices but in the end it was Sherri that won us over to lease a large 2 bedroom. We have had a few maintenance issues that were reported with no response and we reached out to Sherri and she professionally and personally handled the situation and has been accessible for continued follow up. She is literally the most (and sometimes the only) responsive staff member at this location. We were trying to reach the office today with no response to voice or email and we reached out to her and got immediate response along with resolution. Thank you Sherri! Avalon San Bruno management, I hope you recognize the star performer you have on staff. We certainly do and she is sole reason for the 5 star review. read more

So I've now been at Avalon for over a year $ a half. I've moved to building 1, which is soooo much larger. ( 2/2B). Love it, but it seems to me that they can update their apartments to " wood like" floors or some other flooring due to the pets. I personally love the fact that this is a pet friendly complex, but why would they put carpet ( especially in main living quarters) when you have dogs? But all is ok since my dogs are potty trained. But visitors tracking their shoes will have to remove them before entering especially since the carpet is very light in color. I'm loving the 5th floor & most of the doggie community are very friendly & join in on " dog greetings" in the evenings!!! read more

Lived here for over 6 months. My experience with the office team is that they are very friendly and helpful. Grounds are kept up, and there is great communication about events around the community. Had a few very minor maintenance items, all were handled immediately. I have a courtyard unit and it is very quiet. There is occasional airplane noise of course but the reality is that only the 4-engine planes are loud enough to notice and only when they are routed over the property which seems to be pretty rare. I expect the rent to increase based on the overall market... it is the bay area... now the most expensive place in the country. The Avalon management team seems to do a great job. Thanks. read more

I am in love with this place!! Everything about this place is amazing. I have a 2yr old daughter so to have an indoor pool and a park in the property keeps her entertained. The moving-in process was such an ease, Jen was amazing! I remember coming in for a tour with no appointment and she still made time and kept contact through email until everything was settled. Comments on weather/airplanes are pointless to read because anywhere within 20miles will have the same problem. Personally I love the weather and I never hear the planes go by when i'm inside. I 100% recommend this place!! read more

Don't plan to stay here more than a year. I've confirmed with family members, neighbors and others in the building who've experienced the same thing: They WILL raise your rent after one year by substantially higher than market (think +$1000/mo from your first year's contract). You can negotiate down, and if you're lucky, get it to only $2-300/mo over your first year's contract. They know the units can rent out decently fast because youtube is literally around the block ... but units end up renting at normal market rates! They're betting you won't bother to move out and would rather stomach the extra $1000/month. (FYI, it only costs $1000 - $1500 to pay someone to pack and move a 2br apartment in the bay area!) If you move out you can bet to find your exact unit available on their website for the exact same price you paid your first year. Amazon isn't always good at leaving your stuff in a locker, and if that happens your package will be gone! And also, every now and then you'll find dog poo smeared on the carpets by the elevators (1st floor). first world problems ..? read more

Ashwa is incredible at his job and such a pleasure to talk to. During the first week after we moved in, he took complete care of us. He told us all about the neighborhood and where we should go to get things done. He came over to the place the first weekend we were here and fixed small things around the house, all with a smile. He is a complete asset to Avalon San Bruno and vindicated our decision to move into this lovely community. read more

This was previously a five star review. But ever since the old staff left or got promoted, the place has gone down hill. They have a no smoking policy they don't enforce, there are cigarette butts everywhere, trash is often not picked up, the carpet in the hallways are disgusting, and then they have the audacity to raise your rent...because 4,100 a month isn't enough. They have announced renovations on select apartments. How about just clean the place and enforce your rules? Thanks to their lackluster ability to handle things, the smoking situation is so bad I now have asthma. And they still want to raise my rent. The interesting thing-is today they sent out an email highlighting how they are taking extra steps to keep things clean...by dusting the garage lights... Seriously?! If you're looking here for a new place to live... DON'T. You can find some place better...and cleaner. read more

Improved experience with Tara and others. Overall they have been quite nice during a very troubling time and I appreciate it.

The price is high when you move in the first time, even higher when you extend your lease. The management is very cold towards existing tenants. They treat you like, "if you can pay the rent we are asking for, live here, otherwise, see other places, we don't bother!" my school was in SF, so we chose to live there, but the renewal offer for a 2 bed by $400 increase is pretty unfair. Gave them a 2 star at first, they again made me change my mind. Wish I could give a zero. We cleaned the full apartment before leaving, there was only a few holes on the wall for pictures. In the pre-inspection they said everything is OK. Later sent us a bill of $550 for painting and cleaning! That is after deducting the security deposit! read more

Been living here for 3+ years now and I can't complain! Prices are very competitive, community is constantly being improved upon with new additions, is super close to BART/Caltrain, convenient location next to Tanforan mall, etc. With that said, what really keeps me here is the amazing service we get from the Avalon San Bruno office staff! In particular, Jennifer Smith has been more than instrumental in how happy our apartment has been here for the past couple years. Jen is always looking out for us! We feel very lucky to have someone like Jen and her office staff providing residents the VIP white glove treatment. Avalon San Bruno is a hidden gem just outside the city. read more

This is by far one of the best apartment complexes that I have lived in. The building I live in is completely smoke free, which makes it really healthy for my family. The amenities are pretty new and the staff keeps everything in excellent condition. They just renovated the Club House and it looks amazing! Everyone in the staff from the Leasing Office to Maintenance are super nice, helpful and they take care of any request you may have in a really short period of time. Yes it is close to the airport but they have made the windows in all the buildings doubled proof and/or sound proof so you won't hear the airplanes as much. Also, they don't fly over all day nor night I guess at SFO they know there is a community very close by and they send the airplanes in other directions. Don't hesitate to ask for Jen, the Sales Manager she would find you what you need at a reasonable price! read more

Hey! I hope you'll consider my experience as more than a one-off crank. I lived here for a year and have three main takeaways: 1. The prices are high: I think honestly we ended up here because we had limited time to find a place. For our next move we were able to properly scan craigslist and we realized that Avalon prices are probably inflated by a few hundred dollars. Take your time and you can find a better place for less. There is a slight wow factor when you visit for the first time with the space and amenities. In my experience though, kids jam shit in the hot tub jets which causes them to break frequently, treadmills were often out-of-order, fire alarms would trigger and stay on for an hour at a time before staff responded. Try to not let it wow into signing a lease! Go slow. 2. Because it is a large complex within an even larger conglomerate, management felt cold. The people onsite were generally nice, but there was not much wiggle room on anything regarding policy. For example, "Notice Of Leave" forms quietly arrived with punishing due dates where it seemed we would've been opted into INSANE month-to-month rates. They also have a terribly over-complicated schedule for calculating utilities which makes it hard to make sure you're not being taken. In short, utilities are charged out of sync with rent and was due up to eight weeks after when they were used. I'm not sure how often this happens but I just caught $175 in errors related to this scheduling on my move-out invoice. In general it felt like they were trying to play out inhuman policies rather than trying to make things easy/reasonable for me. This is a direct result of their size, and that those making the rules are too far removed from the tenants. 3. Perhaps the most frustrating one to me is that they expect things to be move-in ready when you leave. I guess I should have paid more attention when signing, but the security deposit you pay up front is not used to cover damages above normal wear and tear only, it's the money they'll use to get the place ready for the next tenants. So unless you want to "deep clean" your appliances (pull out venting, etc), shampoo your carpet, etc., you're at the mercy of whatever they're charging. A ridiculous policy especially when you consider that we paid pet rent for our cats. Bonus: My bike was cut loose and stolen from the gated garage. They did offer me $250 for the trouble... (unfortunately bikes are expensive). TL;DR Take a deep breath. Give yourself two solid weeks of time and scan craigslist thoroughly. You'll find something better. read more

Several years here. First few years, the average rent increase was $300+/mo. Last year it went up $350/mo. This year... it went up $800, or 25% of our current rent. THAT IS NOT A TYPO. The rent increase for one year was 25%. EIGHT HUNDRED FUCKING DOLLARS. A 2b/2b is now almost $4k. It doesn't matter how long you've lived here. It doesn't matter how exemplary of a tenant you are. It doesn't matter if you keep your place spotless and they don't have to do any work on your apartment for the next tenant. Services didn't improve with the increased costs, by the way. If anything, they got WORSE - less office hours (wtf??) so it's harder to pick up packages, more restrictions on guest parking, INCREASED pet rent (yes, rent. monthly per pet. this is after your separate pet deposit, of course.). read more

- Just received the renewal letter after 10 months living in the building. They want to increase the rent of our 1 bedroom apartment from $2335 to $2660. That's almost a 15% increase!!! I asked the leasing center why they increased the rent so much and they told me that this is to keep up with the market. They should really wake up. This is san bruno, not San Francisco. A (635 sqft) 1 bedroom apartment in San Bruno is not worth $2660... - On top of the rent, you will also have to pay for water, sewage, garbage, maintenance which totals more than $100 every month + $30 to $100 electricity bill. - the lease term is not flexible. You have to choose a 12 months to keep the rent as low as possible. A month to month rent (or short term lease) is outrageous Month to month = $4455 2 months = $4455 3 months = $4230 4 months = $4125 ... 6 months =$3370 10 months = $2855 12 months = $2660 - Building (false) alarm goes off very often to a point where we don't even bother going out the apartment and go outside the building. Management doesn't even bother apologizing for the inconvenience anymore. - Not too far from the bart but still takes a good 15mn walk. - Noisy!! Very close to SFO and between highway 101, 380, 280 and camino real - Dead pigeon stuck in the net above my window for the past 5 months!! I reported it many times. The employee at the leasing center just told me bluntly last week that they will not do anything and will wait for the pigeon to decompose itself. I requested several times to talk to the manager. I never received a call. They just don't care... Other than this... our apartment was actually very quiet (we could not hear the neighbors) and clean. read more

If I could, I would vote for zero star. This is the worst apartment I have ever lived in. Here are the points. Cons: 1) staffs will not be nice any more once you rented their apartment. Yes, they are very nice to you when you want to rent the apartment in the beginning. 2) The apartment is very noisy, because of the airplanes. You can feel the shaking windows when a plane flying across. 3) You do not have any cellphone signals when you are in the apartment. You cannot receive any phone calls, or any messages, not any internet signals. 4) Once you break lease, you have to pay 2 months rent as penalty. 5) When you leave the apartment, you have to pay carpet cleaning fee plus the apartment cleaning fee. The carpet cleaning fee is mandatory and very expensive!!! 6) The indoor swimming pool is not clear, and they seldom do something to clean it. 7) The rent is very expensive, compared with other apartments. 8) The rent will increase a lot if you want to extend the lease. it's quite ridiculous. Pros: 1) close to the bart. read more

I moved out of Avalon after living in the community for around 3 years. Because of the situation I was going through I had to terminate the lease. I was forced to pay a lease break penalty of more than $6000. Initially when I inquired at leasing office about subleasing option (to avoid lease break penalty) I was clearly told that leasing office does not allow subleasing. However I heard from neighbors that tenants were already subleasing- so I inquired again. This time too I was told subleasing is not allowed. Having prepared to pay penalty I went again to meet Elliot and inquire if penalty can be paid in monthly fashion. At that point I was told that subleasing is allowed and I can find someone to sublease. This was very different than last two visits I made to leasing office and I lost so much time to find a tenant. However this was still positive news. Finally I met Ashlyn in the leasing office and this time she informs me that subleasing is NOT allowed. However when I told her that Elliot already informed that it was allowed- she informed if that Elliot did not know what he was talking about. This is surprising because Elliot is a manager at the leasing office. In short the whole management office is unethical and deceitful. They lie all the time- specially the people sitting in the rooms inside. I know for fact they lied because my friend living the same community was provided with a subleasing form. They could have easily given me sublease option but they are so greedy that they wanted to suck lease break penalty from me as well. Now about the community- - Parking is a nightmare. Management converted free parking spots into paid spots (obviously to make more money at the cost of tenants convenience). In fact all the reserved spots are always empty however I still had to spend lot of time looking for sports. To make things worse some of the parking spots are taken by their old and broken carts!! - Common areas are dirty and smell bad. I have seen only one person cleaning the whole building. - Noisy- right next to the airport right below the flight path and next to the freeway. - Elevators are always broken or malfunctioning - False fire alarms sound very frequently Finally Avalon's collection department called me few days back and asked for about $700 as move out cost. In the email I received II was informed that they will report me to collections by 28th if I did not pay. This was around 5 days period after their first call. I asked them details on $250 dollar misc. expenses and I have not heard back yet. That explain clearly how they operate. Overall bad experience and the community had taken a downturn since avalon came (earlier this was Archstone). I will not recommend this community to my friends or relatives. read more

Never sign the lease!!! They increased our rent from 2,800 to 3,400 after one years lease, while the same apartment in the same building is offered on the market at 3,100 - They would rather ripping off current tenants at the risk of keeping empty apartments than retaining tenants. Extremely noisy as it's right next to highway 280 with airplane flying by every 20 min. You cannot sleep at night unless you keep ALL your windows closed. They don't have A/C so if it's a hot day good luck sleeping with windows closed. It takes a while to go to bart in the morning （the mall is closed）, you have to walk around the building. read more

Pros: -decently quiet -near a restaurant for happy hours and pretty good food -mall is walking distance, which has a theater -freeway entrance is right there -online rent payment and maintenance request -take delivery packages for you when your not at home and have you sign out -facility that includes exercise equipment and a decent lap pool Con: -airplane noise. It wasn't a problem for half the year, but the other half...it was like 5 - 6 planes flying really low. You can't hear anyone and the TV. They even fly over 2 am in the morning. -rent increases. Compared to South San Avalon/Archstone, it rent up about 200. But with the noise from the airplane...it wasn't worth it. It seems they need to keep raising it just to fill the apartments that are empty. Note: when I moved in the complex, it was run by Archstone for at least halfway. read more

I decided to move out because they increased the rent more than $300. I do not want to pay $2700 for a 1 bedroom in San Bruno! The management should be realistic. I don't think it's worth living in Avalon San Bruno for $2700! Pros: 1. Close to Bart (15 minutes walk), close to highway 380, 280 and 101. 2. Apartments are clean. 3. Washer and driers are in the unit. 4. Quiet (you don't hear neighbors.) 5. Swimming pool (very cold water) and gym 6. The management takes your packages when you're not home. Cons: 1. Rent increase (more than $300) 2. False alarms in the middle of the night 3. No area reserved for dogs so they poop all the green areas around the complex (don't let your kids sit in the grass) 4. impossible to reach to a manager. (He or she's never in the office and she never calls you back.) 5. Several break-in in the garage (don't leave any valuable things in your car) 6. Air plane noise day and night (It's pretty loud, you wouldn't be able to talk on the phone.) 7. Cell reception is pretty bad. I hope this helps. read more

An apartment community isn't going to be perfect, but it's the people who make the place worth staying. Jen, Emily, and Nancy for always being friendly and even going out of their way to be of assistance, and Ashwa for doing the same when it comes to maintenance. Thank you! read more

I wish I could give them a zero. Forget having packages delivered here EVER. They are the worst at notifying you for packages, then they'll reject your packages from being delivered to your door. There isn't a locker for packages where you receive your mail, so you HAVE to go to the office to get packages. Inconvenient? Find out. Their exact words: "We are no longer received big size package due to office is all packed and we have no room to storage anyone's packages. I am sorry about the inconvenience. Please let me know if you need anything from us." This was copied and pasted. The package was large, but it wasn't heavy. They were some lights needed for a video shoot. USPS said the Avalon front office rejected my package and couldn't give them access to have them deliver it to my door. So what are my options from there? No package locker. No office space. No access to my door. I guess I won't order anything ever. Here's a list of things to keep in mind if you want to live here: 1) Airplanes - the airport is right there, so just expect a lot of LOUD noise. Keep your doors and windows closed. But you should already know this. 2) Keep track of all your PACKAGES. 3) Front office is nice because it's their job to be, so I guess we have to give people credit for doing what they're paid to do. 4) If you have T-Mobile, forget service here. Dead zone. 5) ATT will be your only service for internet. Slow af. But that's the entire San Bruno area, so don't be surprised. 6) Neighbors will party repeatedly, throw water from their balcony from the 4th floor, yell from their balconies and blast their music. You tell the office, it won't matter. The whole world can complain and it won't matter. I guess you have to fight your neighbors to have them be quiet. Well if you get frustrated living here, I guess you can take it out on your neighbors. 7) Don't ever try to call the front office after you move in. It's a waste of time. They NEVER answer the f-ing phone. And you're probably going to call because of your PACKAGE. It's all a mystery from there. 8) Good luck in finding a new apartment. Some good things to keep in mind: Pet friendly, washer and dryer, remodeled and modern. All of this too fool you into thinking it's worth it. read more

We've lived here for 2 years and i have good things to say from when we first moved in... Pros: Staff was AMAZINGLY friendly and made you feel insanely welcome!!!! All of them!!! Apartment was perfect and security was no issue. Cons: You can hear the people above and below you. The slightest walk at 3 AM wakes me up ALL THE DAMN TIME!!! Newer staff makes things difficult and bs you about moving out and barely care. When someone smokes pot, YOU KNOW!!! The hallways, balcony, everything smells!!! Cell reception sucks!!! I have to put my phone by the window or stand outside to talk to anyone and texting is a pain. Our closet, freezer, and disposal have broken and the freezer has only been fixed. Light switch panel broke while moving things around. Like a corner flat out snapped off. Carpeting sucks and nothing comes out. No idea how we'll get stains out when we leave. Clubhouse rental is a RIP OFF!!!! New apartment deposit is 60 dollars, avalon is avout 500 plus more per extra hour! People break into the pool constantly. Someone had their baby and a glass bottle (whiskey i believe) all together, the child POOPED in the hot tub and they left the bottle, floater, and dirty diapers around the hot tub. Loud drunk people between NINE pm and THREE am! I've been woken up to people yelling outside on the playground constantly!!! The post office is RIGHT around the corner and somehow packages get lost until you call to yell but still get hung up on. Oh, and mail boxes have been broken into and some doors don't even have locks! And yes, people steal from them. It's been this way for TWO YEARS!!! People refuse to control their children and I've tripped over toys in the hallway plenty of times. People let their cats run through the complex and leave their doors wide open... then complain about break ins. (Cause and effect) I'm beyond happy to leave!!! The rent increase is unbelievable!!!! A 650 sqft apartment is NOT worth close to 2500-4000. OH! And my personal favorite... BUGS HAVE BEEN FOUND INSIDE OUR APARTMENT!!!! There are pinchers, random spiders, and some weird bugs that i have NEVER seen before!!! We just had a baby and somehow bites have appeared on her hand and under her lip. It's a nightmare!!! 9 days left here and no, we will NOT recommend this place or company to ANYONE!!! read more

We love living here because of the location and amenities. Our one major frustration is that they switched to using Parcel Pending boxes for mail delivery, and many carriers do not use them. So about 20% of the time, we don't get our package. Sometimes it shows up a few days later, but many times it's simply lost and we never get it at all. I don't feel like we can safely have anything of value shipping to the apartment :( read more

The rent increases are no joke. We just got our renewal notice and rent has gone up almost $500 a month. It did not even go up that high so quickly when we lived in San Francisco. read more

OMG, unbelievable worst place ever! DON'T EVER LIVE HERE! 1, Airport noise, 20 planes at least fly on top of your head every day consistantly! Even 3am at night! 2, They increased our rent by $800 after a year we lived here from $3100 to $3900 for a 2bedroom apt. 3, They promised us to have 2 parking when we moved in, one is signed and the other is who come first who get it spot. Then later they just turn those who come first who take spot paid spots : everyone to pay $100 for those spot and only left the free ones very limited numbers. So, people have to park no the street even those paid spot are almost empty everyday. 4, THE HORRIBLE MANAGEMENT TEAM!!!OMG! When they are under Archstone, it was better, now, they hired really non-professionals to be the managers there in the leasing office and also a temp. When we called at the work hours, someone told us something, later the MANAGER HEATHER told us that was just a temp and he doesn't know anything. Come on, then why hire a temp doesn't know anything to represent your brand? read more

We moved in right before they switched to Avalon and have been here for about 2 years with two long term leases. There are a lot of conveniences of living here but the cons just outweigh the pros for us now and we've had enough. CONS: 1. Rent increases -There is no rent control in San Bruno. At the end of our first lease we had a two bedroom that they raised the rent on but we were in a position where we couldn't really justify moving. After looking around we chose to downsize to a one bedroom with them to keep costs down (instead of moving further away and accruing commuting expense because at the time we walked to work in SB). This year they raised our rent $500! A 20% jump! I think not! Avalon is all about the profits for their shareholders and don't really care if there is a high turnover. We even went in to speak with a leasing agent to discuss options but they were unwilling to budge claiming it was market value and that anywhere else would just be poor quality in comparison. Which is not entirely true according to our own research and footwork. 2. LOW Quality Flooring -This only applies to the wood vinyl flooring. If you see it...RUN AWAY! It's the roll out type and its absolutely HORRID! Not only is our floor uneven, it ripples and puckers at the slightest bit of moisture. They warned us the day we moved in to wipe things promptly when spilled. We had no idea it would be soooo bad. We would still have ripples in the amount of time it took to find the paper towels sometimes! Not to mention this stuff is in the kitchen! I don't always notice a drop of water when doing the dishes! When we spoke to them about the low quality and asked if it was just a poor install. We were told "No, that's just the way they are"...Really? Why would you knowingly put in or continue to allow such a moisture sensitive floor in a bay area apartment that is pet friendly? Slobbery dog? Elderly dog? Guests staying on pad in the living room for a weekend? Sneeze? That flooring will pucker. It's a nightmare. 3. Security -It's not as safe as it appears. Don't get me wrong, I don't fear for my life in any way. It is a nice complex in a nice area. Just don't be fooled into thinking your car is relatively safe. I know Avalon isn't directly responsible for the car break-ins this year but for a locked and twice gated parking structure to get hit multiple times...not good. No cameras..nothing. The police literally had nothing to go on except my stolen cards. (My stupidity for leaving in car but please note that the cards were concealed in a center console. They were not visible) We were not happy and we had to deal with a lot of expenses and credit and bank fraud for months after our car was broken into. Never heard a peep from Avalon other than mass emails. To their credit, I do believe they have been making steps to improve security with a new company for paroling etc. So I hope this issue improves in the future. HOWEVER, this was a major issue for us this year. PROS: 1. Commuting - Easy freeway access, walking distance to BART, Airport etc. This is a huge pro for us since one of us now works in SF. 2. Convenient Location. -Close to shopping, food & theater. 3. Pet Friendly. -finding apartments that accept multiple pets is limiting in the bay area -dog park within easy walking distance as well. 4.View -In our second apartment with them, we were lucky to be high up and facing the ominous grey government archives building to the west which affords lots of privacy. Sitting down and all we see is sky, trees, and a bit of the archives which has very few windows...so even if you're lower down it's still pretty private. We loved it! 4. Friendly Staff -They are truly really nice and I have no complaints with maintenance, leasing or any other staff members :) It has always been a pleasant and friendly interaction and my list of cons and bad experience does NOT reflect on them in any way. OVERVIEW (if you read this far!): Lovely complex with all the amenities and nice things. Lovely staff, good community, convenient location. A nice place to live HOWEVER you must be willing to deal with certain annoyances and in my opinion major cons. Avalon is not a favorable environment for long term tenants. Avalon as a company is all about profit and shareholders etc. thus high turnover is a non issue for them. You may get a decent lease your first year but expect considerable high leaps in rent increases each year. Also for such a high quality establishment they have some major issues with security and low quality cheap vinyl flooring in certain apartments. For us this was the final deal breaker. As we did not feel the 20% leap in rent to fairly reflect the apartment quality and what they considered to be market value. If these are non issues for you I highly recommend! After 2 years It's just not going to work for us anymore. read more

My experience with this building has been terrible. Terrible may even be over complimenting to Avalon! The place is not soundproof at all when its location is right next to the airport. It feels like rooming with a super server all the time... The management here is worse than the sound. Once I needed them to fix something, it took them roughly 3 months... I'm convinced that the office here is racist when me and my friends walk into the office, our needs always got ignored. read more

I give them a star for the condition of the apartments, which are in a good stage. The apartments are only 3-4 years old. I like spacious rooms and bathrooms. Everything else is terrible here. I've been leaving here for the past 4 years and i can't wait to move out. --The location is extremely noisy ! The staff is not helpful and not telling the truth. Before moving to this apartment i specifically asked people at the office if that back side is quite or not and one of the ladies from their office (who also lived in the same building ) said yeah it's pretty quite in there. I was having a 5 mo baby and she literally would wake up every time because of the noise from outside. Specifically this was the noise from the garbage cans , they hit them pretty hard to the garbage car and this starts at 7:20 am in the morning ! - right in front of our windows. The other crazy noisy is from the leafs blowing machine which is terrible to hear right next to your windows as well starting at 7-8 am in the morning. So if you are planning to have babies or already have them think 10 times before moving to this apartment complex. We went and talked to staff numerous times, nothing has changed. Another thing is the staff is changing pretty often, so even if you talk to someone once and you think it will be taken care of in a month you come back and you have to start it all over again. even if they price dropped 50% i wouldn't stay here ! -People don't clean after their dogs, so the surrounded area smells pretty bad. - When exercising in the gym, the cleaning people would come with the cart full of chemicals and cleaning staff and would leave it there ... while i was exercising i was smelling those chemicals! -used the dry cleaning service two times. first time was not happy and decided to give them another chance. the second time i gave them my brand new skirt to dry clean and they ruined the skirt. Now i am trying ti get a refund for my skirt. This is just terrible! Don't move here if you have another choice! you will be running from here as soon as you experience all of this. oh and by the way the AT&T connection is saks here (we had to get a booster) as well as their internet connection is. The two floor apartment only has internet on the 1st floor, the second floor doesn't have internet at all. There is no Comcast in this area. Every year they would raise your rent by $300-$400. This year they proposed us new lease with almost $500 extra for new lease. When i checked the price on their website exact same apartment was renting for $550 less. We went to the office to check with them what's going on and so that they honor the same price for us.. Unfortunately, the staff couldn't explain the reason or help us with that. -oh and of course when you move out they will try to charge you as much as possible so they don't have to refund your deposit! read more