Avoid at all costs; they scam me out of my security deposits, it's dangerous (murder & carjacking), the internet is useless and expensive, there is no sound insulation at all, it has an awful smell, and the gas bill is expensive!
They charged me over $400 to replace the entire carpet just for tiny bleach stains in the carpet, which were there when I moved in. I sent them photos taken when I moved in showing the stains were there already, but they kept coming up with excuses and would not budge. It felt as if they were delaying and trying to waste my time and hoping I'd just give up fighting. They also charged me for a bunch of nonsense things; they weren't expensive enough to be worth the time to fight.
Also, in a group chat asking for housing recommendations for new employees, the chat was flooded with never go to beacon hill or great oaks; only one person had something neutral to say. Many of my co-workers had a worse experience than me, from rampant carjacking and a dangerous environment to a murder being committed right outside an employee's apartment. Also, when I was moving out, my neighbor congratulated me on getting out of there. There seems to be a strong sense among the neighbors to get out as soon as possible.
As for the apartment itself, I was in one of the nicer apartments available in beacon hill, but it looked far worse than the photos and the apartment they showed me. The apartment they showed me seemed specifically kept for tours and looked much better as it's right by the front office to trick renters. Also, beacon hill is a lot nicer than great oaks, which is not saying much, so if beacon hill is this bad, then great oak is even worse.
Smell: The apartment has an awful smell that sticks to all your belongings and can't be reduced no matter how much you keep your windows open. It smells like smoke combined with something old and awful. After I moved out, it took a few weeks to get the smell of my clothes.
Noise: the floors had no insulation, so if you have an apartment above you, you'll hear every quiet step as if they are stomping, as if the floors amplify their footsteps. Luckily, my upstairs neighbor was very quiet, and their noise didn't keep much up that often. If you are not as lucky as me and get a noisy upstairs neighbor, you might as well give up on sleep. The floors make the quietest foot set to sound like a stomp.
Internet: The internet is expensive and extremely slow and cuts out every few minutes for a few seconds to a minute, making using it extremely frustrating, if not impossible. Also, the internet rarely goes down for the whole day, which is highly frustrating. Worse, you can get any other providers you stuck with the marketed-up provider they have. Also, note that these problems remain unchanged after they switched to a new company at the end of 2022; they seemed to worsen. I wanted to cancel my internet plan and use my phone's data as the internet was so slow and spotty. However, the cell service is better but still a bit spotty, so I was stuck with their crappy, overpriced internet.
Power and Utilities: I haven't had any problems with the electricity or gas. The electricity is reasonably priced, but the gas company charges you a ton even if you don't use any gas, like during the summer. During the summer, I rarely used the gas, yet it was almost as much as my electricity despite me running the AC on high all the time. I heard some co-workers paying almost $200 a month for gas despite not using much gas in the summer; luckily, my gas bill was a bit lower.
Bugs: I luckily did not have too many bugs in my apartment, and it was manageable. When I first moved in, I kept finding tons of beetles coming into my bedroom and turns out my window didn't close properly, and I had to put some tape on it so the beetles couldn't come in.
Move-in: The apartment was not as clean as I had hoped; the windows were filthy with dead bugs and a dirty slurry. The rest of the apartment was a bit of grime (especially the kitchen), but with some paper towels and Lysol, it wasn't too hard to clean up. read more
