I've been living here for 1 and a half years now. Everything is great, except for the leasing office and the company which manages the building. But then there's this one leasing agent, Sean Quinn, and he's basically the reason why I'm giving this place 4 stars and not less. I highly recommend you try to do business directly with him if you're renting at Chestnut Hall. Sean is a friendly, candid person who really cares about making things work for you, differently than most of his coworkers. Last month my girlfriend and I needed to upgrade from a studio to a 1 bedroom apt (which you would think the management would love, since you're basically paying more for rent), but the experience would have been a total frustration if it wasn't for him. There were so many obstacles and unexpected fees, and I really think we would have given up if he hadn't taken it upon himself to personally deal with all the crap. The location near campus is great, the apartments are generally very good and I personally never had major issues with mice, roaches or noise from the street (I lived in the 7th floor). That said, the rent is kind of expensive for the area. However, because it's managed by a huge company, my biggest frustration is that most leasing staff will treat you like garbage right after you sign the lease. That's why this place desperately needs more good agents. read more

I lived at Chestnut Hall for one year and nine months while a PhD student at UPenn, so this is a review based on real, long-term experience. I'll be honest and fair, and I'll even start with the pros -- but here's the summary up front: do not even consider living here. For this rate, you can get a far better place. The Pros The location is genuinely great: it's right on campus with easy access to the bus and subway. The area feels lively and safe, and Penn security patrols at night. My unit was spacious, with a large living room and a big walk-in closet. The maintenance crew members themselves are friendly, kind, and helpful, and the rest of the staff are respectful and pleasant. The residents are mostly academics, so you won't have trouble with neighbors. The Cons 1. The building is literally a century old, and it shows Pests: We dealt with mice for over a year -- on the sixth floor. I can't imagine what the first floor looks like. We caught four mice in total. They typically came in from behind the HVAC unit. Maintenance insisted the HVAC was sealed, but it clearly wasn't -- I've seen properly sealed HVAC units in other apartments, and this was not one. In the end, I sealed it myself with metal tape and fabric, which made the place look terrible. They reimbursed me for the materials, but then -- believe it or not -- charged me at move-out for the "damage" I caused while sealing it. Constant repairs: Expect to call maintenance at least once a month. The ceiling plaster keeps coming off -- it literally fell on my head once while I was asleep. Even after they patch it, it fails again soon after. Wooden doors break too. "Emergency" maintenance is a joke: The bathroom ceiling collapsed. Twice. Collapsed. Once at 6 PM, right before guests arrived for dinner. We called maintenance and were told it doesn't count as an emergency unless there's an active leak. We had to clean the debris out of the tub ourselves and leave the ceiling wide open -- where anything could crawl in -- which was mortifying in front of our guests. 2. Utility costs and hidden fees Prepare for a ridiculous utility bill -- up to $400 a month. That includes $61 for a mandatory internet service advertised as 1 Gbps that never exceeded 400 Mbps. It also included, believe it or not, a $120 gas charge in June -- and our unit didn't even use gas, except possibly for hot water. On top of that: pest control, sewer, trash, a "service fee," and an "energy conservation fee." It genuinely feels like a scam. 3. Say goodbye to your security deposit The cleaning and damage charges are engineered to add up to exactly your deposit. Ours was $500, and we were charged exactly $150 for cleaning and $350 for damages. Note that we spent two full days deep cleaning before move-out -- the only spot we missed was around the tub -- yet they billed us for a full deep clean. As for the damages, one of their own maintenance staff told us the repairs would cost about $50. We were charged $350. Absolutely insane. 4. The concierge provides no actual security Unlike comparable buildings I've visited -- LVL, North by Northwest, the Town Hall buildings on the Parkway, Olympics -- the concierge here never questions guests about who they are or where they're going. They just sit there. I honestly don't know what the concierge's function is. 5. Packages aren't safe either I paid $55 for Luxer One to keep my packages secure -- and one of my packages was still stolen. read more

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Do not rent here! They fabricate fake charges to keep your deposit! The halls smell with rats and the area is not safe.

I lost $600 dollars from applying for an apartment here with my husband. Their application fee was $50 per person (non refundable)so $100 total + $500 as a holding fee (supposed to be refundable). They are extremely misleading with their "holding fee" ($500), we were told to our face that if we weren't approved that we would get it back. After we applied, we got an email and saw it a day late because it got sent to our spam and it said that we were approved ONLY under certain conditions, like a guarantor, investment statements, etc. We couldn't meet those conditions so therefore weren't actually approved right? We were deemed unfit without having those requirements so what else is there to do but back out. So obviously we were like oh well, we tried and asked for the $500 back like we were told we would receive back in case we weren't approved. They said that we were too late and they were entitled to that money since it took the apt off the market, I'm sure that 3 days just cost them soo much money They already got $100 from us that we were okay with them keeping since it was clear we couldn't get that back. They said we were a day late in deciding to cancel, even though we were never truly approved, it got sent to spam and we saw it late because of that, and we took literally only a few hours to see if we could meet those requirements before calling it quits. In total the process of seeing the "approval" and deciding was 2 days. This timeline is so short and I'm sure it's that way on purpose so you make pressured decisions or they can find a way to keep your money. I was reaching out for weeks after and when I finally could get in touch they gave us no way to resolve it. So shady and unacceptable. Stay safe out there and keep your money close, it's sad but you can't trust places like this. As for us we'll be extra careful next time, lesson learned. read more

We happily renewed our lease at Chestnut Hall for another year. Gavin the community manager made many improvements. The lobby is a lot cleaner. They changed the carpets along to corridor. The maintenance guys are great, especially Dale and Ray. Whenever we have maintenance issues, they address it almost within 24hrs. The team behind the concierge desk is always helpful. It's a great location in West Philly. Near to everything you might need. West Philly has plenty of community events too. The residents are friendly. It's a quiet building too. Pet friendly. We appreciate that they enforce the no smoking environment. read more

DO NOT RENT FROM THEM! My daughter just moved out and they are withholding our security deposit for "Full Paint Studio". She lived there for 2 years and they said they define marks on the walls as "damage". I asked for a walkthrough and they stated that they did not conduct them with their tenants. This is the FOURTH apartment we have rented in Philadelphia Center City / University City and we've NEVER had a security deposit withheld! And there were multiple rats that live in the building...here's one dying in the hallway... read more

Chestnut Hall Apartments - Apartments Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Definitely over-priced for what you're getting. The location is definitely nice and it's close to a lot of restaurants, banks, amenities but the building itself is old and so are the appliances. Apartment layouts are strange and often impractical and they will try to squeeze as much money from you as possible. They literally charge you to receive packages in building lockers and claim not to be responsible if you refuse to pay and your packages get stolen in main areas. They will also try to scam you with utilities since they set the temp in each unit throughout the year. Will also charge you for "apartment damage" and "cleaning fees" after you move out. Avoid if possible- you can 100% find better options for less if not the same price. read more

I wish I could give zero stars. I've had mice, leaking ceilings, shower tiles falling off the wall, got burnt with the water temperature in the shower and have an over priced electric bill. But the icing on the cake was this week. I'll attach a picture of what happened. My cabinet fell off the wall, while I was walking in the door. I'm still waiting to be reimbursed for the broken stuff but the best part was management tried to blame what I had in the cabinet instead of the screws that held the cabinet in the wall (which a worker told me were the wrong screws). I had spices, tea bags, dry pasta and two jars of diced tomatoes. I don't even feel very safe living here anymore. read more

Chestnut Hall Apartments - My cabinet falling off the wall - Apartments Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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The heat is preset for each unit. The average winter temp was 88 in our unit. Our emails were ignored. We had to run the ac to live. Upon move out 2 weeks ago, we were hit with a $100 extra fee for "wall damage". Two years there, over $30,000 in rent and a fee for a dot on the wall. RUN RUN RUN. Better yet, contact me for more info. Mike mtich@gaininsight.net read more

UPDATE: My heater was never fixed. I recently moved out and I was charged a total of $410 for damages. The community asked for my address to return my security deposit but in reality it was to make sure they could charge me an extra amount after my security deposit was consumed by my final utility bill (It was $165 even though I was out of town for most of the month so I don't know how it came out so high) and the $410 move out charge. This is the break down of my move out charge: $250 for painting, $75 for kitchen damages, and $85 for cleaning charges. I spoke to the management of chestnut hall to no avail. Super combative. I told them that I understand the apartment needs to be cleaned but the charges were egregious. The damages they were charging me for were normal wear and tear. I was told when first leasing the apartment that the community understands people live in the units and that they would cover normal lived in conditions/normal wear and tear. The person I spoke to immediately shot back "that's just hearsay, I wasn't working here at the time so I don't know what you were told". Very defensive and never denied that their salesmen tell people that to coax them into leasing. There is so much turnover in the leasing office that management is able to deny with ease that they ever made any guarantees. There is only one way to describe this type of conduct: sleazy and lacking integrity. In addition: During my last 3 months at chestnut hall I had problems receiving mail. I have type 1 diabetes and was receiving care packages from family and the type one community. I wasn't able to reliably receive medication and informative materials about my condition (as I was recently hospitalized and diagnosed with my condition) during this time. I was charged $80 for not picking up my mail even though it was never sent to me. I had to contact the third party (Luxerone) and track each individual package/carrier to find my missing mail. I was refunded the charge since they had opened a new account without my permission using one of my old emails. It was very frustrating that Chestnut Hall decided to start using this third party that was very inefficient and required you to submit your credit card so they could charge you if you did not pick up mail within 3 days (and sometimes charge you for opening an account without your permission). I received mail a month late as a result of this and spent soooo much time on this that I did not have with doctors appointments and studying for a very important exam. read more

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Do not recommend at all. Moved out in July 2020. Cons: - You will never see your deposit and they will try extra hard to squeeze whatever they can from you once you leave. - Apartments are old, layouts are weird, and are things are breaking down in general. The paint from my ceiling used to routinely fall onto the floor (which btw they charged me for from my deposit). - No amenities whatsoever. Don't know how the price is justified. They have a concierge but that doesn't provide any security as no one is every stopped from going up. - Other places around are much better with lesser rent. - Most apartments have a pretty terrible view. - No microwave or dishwasher in any apartment!!?? Pros: - Good for quarantine during COVID times as no one was there. - Location is good for Penn students. read more

The neighbors are still smoking after more than a week since I sent the email as requested. The management team claimed that they have done something to warn them, but I don't care about whether something is done. I only care about whether the problem is solved. Actions that do not solve the problem cannot be considered as solutions. During the office hours, they will respond to only about one third of the inspection requests to the smoking neighbors. However, they tell me they can do nothing outside office hours. While I understand that they cannot completely prevent people from smoking, they at least should have ways to stop people from smoking once they start to smoke at any time, in order to fulfill the promise that the building is smoke free. The fact that they can do nothing outside office hour implies that the smoke-free advertisement is a willful false advertisement. read more

Would give zero stars if I could. The owners of this property are the most unscrupulous people I have ever dealt with. They will literally do whatever they can to squeeze another dollar out of you. You are unlikely to ever see your deposit again, no matter how good of a condition you leave your apartment in. You will pay way more for monthly utilities than the leasing agent will lead you to believe. You will pay monthly fees for gas, electricity, garbage, water, sewer, pest control, insurance, and vaguely defined "fees". Run, don't walk away from this property and its owners Aimco. read more

TENANT BEWARE - DO NOT LIVE HERE. This apartment is overpriced (erroneous fees) and unsafe. We had major apartment issues every other month. The ceiling in the stairwell collapsed due to landlord negligence of unattended mold (there was simply a layer of paint over the mold). I personally could not breath in this building for the entire lease term due to the mold and my respiratory allergies. My wife burned her skin in the shower because the water temperature would change without warning between scalding hot and freezing cold. The soap holder in the bathroom collapsed TWICE because the landlord had caulking over two layers of tile in the shower. My wife almost broke her foot when the tile fell, which could have been an expensive visit to the emergency room. Again, this is an example of negligence by the landlord. The trash rooms were unsanitary (bugs and cockroaches) because the trash chute was blocked off for the entire lease term. We had a cracked window that was not fixed for the entire lease term, which made the apartment very cold in the winter. (We did not crack the window and we promptly notified the landlord in the first month.) Before move-in, the management team was unresponsive, and I could not coordinate very simple logistics such use of the freight elevator, parking, etc. The landlord threw out one of my packages without my permission or notification. The list of issues goes on. This apartment is unsanitary, unsafe, and the management team is frequently negligent. It is unfortunate that Aimco takes advantage of University students in this area. TENANT BEWARE - DO NOT LIVE HERE and please share this review with anyone considering Chestnut Hall. This building should be demolished by the city and the management team fired. Please share this post with anyone who reviews building construction codes. I wish I could give ZERO stars. read more

I am from another country and I am not familiar with the rental regulations here. You need to provide a written notice 60 days before your departure. I was not aware of this rule and they didn't tell me also when I told them orally that I am leaving. A friend noticed me 30 days before my departure and as a result I provided the written notice 30 days before my departure. They charged me an additional $1600 for that. For this experience the score of this place is 1 star. The first day that I came to visit the apartment I asked the realtor about mice and he said there are no mice in the building. This is not true, there are many mice in the building, they usually emerge during late fall and early winter. The pest control does not do anything effective. There is a disgusting odor always coming from the trash rooms. I do not consider living in this place in the future and I don't recommend it. read more

I hope I could give 0 star. They are insanely charging a lot for utilities, and also charged me a lot when I moved out. I was always keeping my apartment clean and cleaned up before I moved out. It was even cleaner than before I moved in. The building is on the great location, but the Amico company is not recommended at all. read more

They charged me $4800 at move-out because I had to break my lease due to a last minute move to California. They have absolutely absurd and out of the norm lease terms which they don't make completely clear when signing. They need a 2 month move-out notice and charge another 2 month's worth of rent as penalty (sublet charge) on early termination of the lease. With all the hidden charges and fees, it seems as if this community is taking unfair advantage of students at University City. On top of the exploitative lease terms and fines they are also pretty low on ethics. Before my move-out I connected them to a tenant who would take over my apartment on a sublease. She ended up not taking my sublease as she wanted to start her lease a month later. So she signed a new lease with them for a similar apartment. But they explicitly made sure she got a different apartment from mine so that they could charge me with 2 month's of rent as penalty (sublet charge). They did that despite the fact that I found them a new tenant. They have warned me that they will report me to a collection agency if I don't pay the balance which is more than $3000 on top of my security deposit. Chestnut hall/Aimco will do anything to extract money from your pockets. I wonder how far they can go with all this bad word they are earning. No wonder they have to hire jugglers on all street corners of Chestnut hall to spin "Now Leasing" boards around their bodies. read more

Chestnut Hall Apartments - Street juggler with "Now Leasing" board - Apartments Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Chestnut Hall management agency tries to grab all of your deposit! They have the contact says: you have to sent a "written a leaving notification" before ***days. 1. They will not inform this to you when you sign the contact! 2. They will not notice you that you should write a notification when they confirm your leaving day with you orally. 3. The leasing agency knows that you will leave, they will not ask you to write a notification. Why??? Because they are laugh that you will pay the punishment fee for you do not write a notification!!! How much will you pay? $450-$500 They are waiting for reburying for deposit! read more

I could not agree more with the other reviews about the deposit. I just moved out and was charged $120 for paint repair fees ("$30 per wall") for what they told me were "scuff" marks. I asked they send me pictures and they did but in a way that I can't even tell if that's my apartment.. but even if it were, it didn't look like it would cost $120 to fix those (see pictures). I had actually taken pictures of my apartment the day I moved out and I actually don't see any of those scuff marks! (see pictures).. I guess in a way I was lucky they are returning 50% of the deposit instead of 0-20% like other people.. I also agree with the previous review that they are sometimes speedy with communication and sometimes completely unresponsive.. For example, I received a referral credit 2 months late only after sending hundreds of emails (that were not answered) and stopping by the office several times.. Yet when I had a fee in my account (around the same time as I was asking about the referral credit), they didn't hesitate to send me an email literally the day the charge posted to say I still had "unpaid balance due". Also - the prices have gone up quite a bit. My studio went from ~$950 in Nov 2013 to ~$1200 in July 2015. Something to keep in mind if you're planning to stay here long term.. Overall, the location is good, feels safe, the maintenance team is great (fast and friendly) and the people at the front desk are usually friendly as well. However, judging from my experience and other people's reviews, it sounds like there's much room for improvement (ie move out process charges, better communication with residents). Chestnut Hall: it would be good to have an itemized list of move out/cleaning charges as well as (clear/good) pictures for residents to see, this would make the move out process better and more transparent for both parties. It would also be good to include in the lease an itemized list of cleaning charges and not just an overall fee of $85 without an explanation of what needed to be cleaned. Just a suggestion.. read more

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If I could give a no-start review to Chestnut Hall Apartments, I would. For absurdly high rental rates, security deposits, AND parking costs you get very little in return. For starters, almost everything advertised on their website as 'amenities' is embellished or flat out false. The 'free-wifi' is only in the lobby and the 'covered parking structure' is actually just an open lot next to the building with no security. They allow random people working in the building to park there all frequently while you are shelling out an additional $200 a month. The '24-hour concierge service' merely organizes your packages for you but will gladly slap on the $75 lock out fee even if for a first time offense. While the maintenance team is amicable, many of their repairs are quick-fixes at best and the problems return quickly. Outside of the lobby, the hallways between apartments and areas around the elevators are cleaned infrequently. Like other reviews mentioned, they are quick to omit important pieces of information so they can charge you later and will charge you for almost anything if you're apartment is not exactly the same (professionally cleaned) when you leave. Moral of the story: don't live here. You'll pay way too much for way too little. read more

If i could give it 0 stars, i would. Do yourself a favor and find a cheaper and better place literally anywhere else. The utilities are scam. They charged me nearly $100 over two months in the middle of the summer for gas when I did not use gas once. They charged me nearly $100 for one month while my heater was broken in the dead of winter, which is an absolute joke. They will immediately charge you $100 for cleaning upon move out, no matter how well cleaned the apartment is. And they will charge $250 for "wall repainting" even for the most minor of scratches and ordinary wear and tear, which is illegal in PA. The company that runs the complex is garbage. Furthermore, the building is in awful shape, the elevators commonly did not work and they had smoke alarms go off in the middle of the night multiple times throughout the year and could not figure out how to fix it. This forced the tenants to leave their apartments multiple times a night on a number of occasions. No apologies or remuneration given. read more

The outside looks beautiful and the agents do look genuinely helpful, but that is only to get you to sign the lease. The apartment itself are mediocre at best. They WILL charge you an absurd amount for heat whether or not you use it or not (something they will not disclose). They reassured me that utility will be averaged 50 in the summer and at most 100 in the winter. However, this is not how their utility works. They charge gas based on the size of your apartment and you can be paying for someone else's use. They have been charging me avg 110 for gas in the winter months even though it was kept off. They are known to keep your deposit money plus charge you for damages even if you leave your place in pristine condition. They will ARGUE that the small marks/scratches you leave on the wall are NOT normal wear and tear. Do yourself a favor and look around. There are many good places on craigslist and trulia that are much cheaper and cost much less. PROS: location, maintenance team (response very quickly) read more

Chestnut Hall is a warm, safe, and cozy living community for students, and single working professionals. Although few families with kids, and a couple of elderly people also live here. The location is one of the safest in West Philly, with excellent connections to public transportation. There are ample food options: one large grocery store, and dozens of restaurants within a block of the building. I hope the cafe in the building reopens, though we have a Starbucks in our block. I am not a student, and was a little apprehensive regarding the noise created by undergrad students. However weeknights here are generally quiet, except for the occasional sound of bikes and ambulances on Chestnut Street. The maintainance guys are awesome, and all requests are taken care of within 24 hours (may be 48, if it is the weekends and the issue isn't urgent). I hope my moveout experience remains as rosy as were my movein! read more

As far as moving in and maintenance is concerned, this was an excellent experience. Everyone in the leasing office was very diligent and helpful. The apartment was very clean and I had some maintenance issues which they solved professionally and fast. I'm not sure why there are so many bad ratings on here. Maybe the move-out experience is different, I cannot comment on that yet. The location itself has one issue if that bothers you, that its very close to undergrad housing and the nights may get noisy. But its also close to penn campus buildings and fresh grocer and many restaurants. read more

Do NOT MOVE HERE!!! (Read my problem and don't regret if it will come to you)!!! I just moved in a few weeks ago. The leasing office gave me a discount and he asked me to sign the contract at that price for off-market and so on. For first month rent, they asked me for higher price!! I am still solving this problem since 3 weeks ago!!! Fortunately, I have his text which he gave me this offer and asked me to sign with a higher price! Now, I am spending my money to hire a lawyer to solve it. Do not move here, they don't care and respect to you after you sign the contract!! read more

Been living here for 2 years now, and it's a hidden gem. Especially convenient for Penn students since it's practically on campus- very safe and right by the Radian- literally 5 min walk from class in Huntsman. Rent is reasonable compared to other places like the dorms and the Radian, and the rooms are big and nice. Obviously be strategic about getting the renovated ones and checking out the room before signing. I have to give a shoutout to the amazing security staff and friendly front desk staff- they rock! Can't stress how much these people make this place feel homier and more personalized!!! Haven't moved out yet so will reserve my opinion on the move out process for now. I will say the leasing staff/management has changed for the better so hoping for no problems going forward. read more

I had a great experience working with the leasing representative, Kyle. He was very understanding of my situation and was flexible and accommodating. He answered all of my questions promptly and was helpful and friendly. I was in a very stressful situation when I was looking for an apartment, and I am very thankful for Kyle for making the process less stressful. read more

One star is one star too many! New tenants BEWARE you can kiss your security deposit goodbye as they will keep your money in order to maintain the building for their next tenants. Yes, after living there for 10 months, you will pay $350 to clean and paint the entire apartment for the next tenant--no matter how clean you left the place. Such a bummer that Chestnut Hall treats good and honest tenants this way. And, the money they keep is small enough that it's not worth hiring a lawyer--and they know that, too. So they continue to get away with this petty racket they are running. We had a fine experience while living in the building and with the leasing folks (who do turnover every few weeks?!), the nice people at the front desk and the responsive maintenance crew---but upon moving out, BEWARE (!) there is another stealth "team" that trumps up reasons to keep your security deposit in order to cover their own costs of painting the place for the next tenant. The photos they eventually sent us as "evidence" of so much damage to the walls that the ENTIRE place needed a full paint job, 1) do not show enough of the apartment to even clearly see that they are photos of our apartment 2)show basic wear and tear scuff marks along the base boards that their own (expensive) cleaning service that we were charged for could have easily wiped it up with a mr. clean sponge. But I am sure no matter how much cleaning was done, that this company would have kept our money. So many reviews on this site and elsewhere tell of the same story--so clearly it's a thing they do here. We also signed an agreement for cleaning for the fee of $85 and they charged us $100---and then they acted as if we did not have a prior agreement with them for cleaning at the price of $85. And to add insult to injury: When we politely reached out to our contact at Chestnut Hall to complain and question these charges, he said, "we can no longer help you as you are not a tenant anymore." We were instructed to call another company in an effort to get resolution--this is a company that is clearly committed to keeping your deposit at all costs. Again, these are not the pleasant folks we spoke with at the time when we arranged our move-out, cleaning plans, and also reviewed and confirmed that we left the place in a good state ( only a few holes in the wall from picture frames he said--which he would charge us $35 to fix) and that the cleaning fee would be $85 (not $100). It is so disappointing to read review after review online about this silly scam--clearly we weren't the first or the last to be ripped off by Chestnut Hall. While attending UPenn, my daughter lived in four different places. She is a terrific and responsible tenant and NOT A SINGLE ONE of the other buildings kept any money from her deposit, nor did they charge for basic "wear and tear" of the apartment. Take our advice if you don't want to lose $500: Hamilton Court across the street is terrific and they behave with integrity, treat people with decency, and don't scam good and responsible tenants out of their deposits. Sad that Chestnut Hall sullies their reputation with such a petty and deceitful business practice. read more

Unfortunately giving zero stars is not an option. I highly suggest to anyone looking to move here to look elsewhere. The only good thing about this apartment for me was the convenience in getting to class at Penn. I had issues from the very beginning. When I moved in the shower head was not working properly and I had to schedule maintenance to fix it. A few days later I had a problem with bugs in the bedroom. A few days after that the refrigerator was leaking. Fortunately maintenance for the building was very resourceful and these problems, and the subsequent maintenance issues were fixed in a decent amount of time. I still shouldn't have had any of these problems within the first two weeks of moving in. The residents in this building are extremely rude. People will not bother to hold the elevator when you're struggling with packages, nor will they speak when you are attempting to be friendly. There was incident back in the spring where some residents thought it would be a good idea to trigger the fire alarm. At 2am. During finals. Really? The entire building had to be evacuated while the fire department came to inspect. This entire ordeal took over an hour to be resolved. Don't bother ordering anything online or having friends or family send you packages. They will be lost in the disastrous mail system. Although most of the people that sit at the concierge desk are very friendly and helpful, no one was able to help me when I had packages mysteriously "lost" more than once. I was very lucky in that I was able to have companies redeliver my packages to an alternative address. This is very inconvenient and management needs to develop a different system for package pick up or be willing to reimburse residents for lost items. Chestnut Hall is a decent building, however it is not worth the hefty price for the condition of some the apartments. Additionally, there is no reason that the utilities charges should be as high as they are. The worst part of this already horrid experience was moving out early, only to find out later that Chestnut Hall is charging me $300 for ridiculous "paint damage" fines, and utilities for over a month and a half that I did not live in the apartment. The apartment was way cleaner than it was when I moved in, I put nothing on the walls, and barely stayed inside long enough to do any "damage". This company is preying on students with the outrageous rents and fees. It seems convenient and worth it at first, but it is not. Seriously, moving here was one of the greatest mistakes I've ever made. I regret it so much and get upset just thinking about it. Please, if you value how you spend your money and the space in which you live, DO NOT MOVE HERE!!! read more

The WORST. DO NOT RENT HERE. I repeat, DO NOT RENT HERE. The leasing office has no clue whats going on and can't explain these "charges" to someone in a simple form, theres all these hidden fees and other random charges that aren't included in a normal lease, like renters insurance. I just moved out of my studio there, which I was overpaying $1250 a month for a 400 square foot apartment. Management sucks, I used to have to waive the guys down in the building and ask them to check stuff out for me because they would never respond to my requests. UTILITIES. You know you basically pay for other residents utilities on the floor. I was charge $110 for gas in my apartment in the month of May. There was nothing in my apartment gas related, no appliances and I never turned on the heat there once since heat flowed out of the vents all the time. When I moved in I was told it would just be a $500 security deposit. Then they said "HEY! its $1750. The residents are all students. No lie, its pretty much dorm living. I was told when I moved in there was going to be a gym on the second floor coming to Chestnut Hall, never happened. The coffee shop was also supposed to come in place in September 2016 and I think went in around March 2017. The living conditions were awful when I moved in, the rugs in the hallway are probably from the 70s or back when it was a hotel and all the AC/Heat vents and shower pipes are outdated and in the worst condition. Please save yourself a headache and DO NOT RENT HERE. Its all a lie on the website and I wouldn't recommend anyone to waste their money on a dump like this. read more

On the surface, Chestnut Hall would probably warrant a 3.5-4 star review if not for the management/$6B market-cap public company that runs the place (AIMCO-Apartment Investment and Management Co Real Estate Trust). The management company turns what could be a 4 star experience into a zero star experience through potentially illegal, rent-seeking activities which, tbh, hurts them much more than helps them in the long-run. With a few key changes, Chestnut Hall could be a great place! But, as it is today, I would highly recommend looking elsewhere for an apartment. The place: the building/facility is in good condition and an excellent example of the 1920s art-deco style. The renovated rooms, soon to be all, are in decent shape (especially when compared to dorms) and the common areas are kept relatively clean. As everyone has said, the maintenance staff is top-notch and will quickly fix any issue you have. There is always a doorman to accept packages and usually someone in the leasing office for any issues during business hours. There are only a few small changes I would make to the facility-1. There needs to be a computer system for notification of packages as such a system is a cheap, easy way to notify tenants of when they get mail. 2. The water temperature for the shower changes WILDLY and without notice which is a huge pain (literally!) as you can go from a comfortable 90F to 150F (1st degree burns!) or cold/ambient temperature perhaps 5-10 times in a 15 minute shower. Chestnut Hall needs a better water heater or something to fix this. 3. The freight elevator/trash chute area needs to be cleaned more regularly + the elevator oiled. Overall though, in comparison to a run-down Penn/Drexel dorm, Chestnut Hall is a much better facility to live in. The management: the management of Chestnut Hall has chosen to charge every single penny they can out of tenants for short-term profit at the cost of creating many a negative experience for tenants/a 1.5 star average review on Yelp which is a terrible long-term position. They did this to me in the following ways- 1. I was quoted $1508 for my apartment when I looked at it, began the lease process. When I got to the contract a month later, it was $1536 instead. They know you aren't going to change your mind for $24, so they hit me with this BS move. 2. Utilities, Utilities. Utilities. Chestnut Hall/their utility vendor ConServ absolutely gouges residents on utilities. They use several different strategies for this. Firstly, they use a "communal" system in which they just divide the total utilities of the building per resident/square foot. This system has many issues. It means that you are paying the utilities of the ~10 staff that live in the building, that Chestnut Hall is paying no utilities on any communal areas/leasing office/lobby etc. instead billing these to residents (very unusual), that you are paying for irresponsible residents who don't report leaking toilets, turn off lights, blast the heat, keep windows open in winter, etc., and that you effectively have no recourse to challenge utility charges as there are no individual meters to look at. Secondly, Chestnut Hall lies to potential tenants that the utilities will be "roughly $100/month". On average, my utilities were $200 and some months it was as high as $400. These ABSURDLY high utilities for a one bedroom apartment are the result of the communal system mentioned above and, in all likelihood, broken/fixed/crooked utility meters. Even with the communal system, the numbers simply do not add up with Chestnut Hall claiming to have monthly utilities of $250,000-$350,000. I have run maintenance for several large properties so I know that the actual figure for the building would be in the five digit range, not six+. This can only mean that either there are huge maintenance issues being overlooked (e.g. gas or water leak) or that someone has rigged the system. Thirdly,to add insult to injury, Chestnut Hall charges YOU for THEIR utility billing provider. In other words, they arranged to have ConServ pay PECO for electric, PGW for water+gas, the City of Philadelphia for trash+sewer, etc. out of convenience. There is nothing stopping Chestnut Hall from either having residents pay these utility providers directly or collecting the funds from residents and doing so themselves. Instead, out of convenience, they have chosen to have ConServ do it. This is their decesion, but they charge each resident the $15/month THEY are supposed to pay Conserv for said deal. Not only is this practice completely unprecedented in the renting market, it is truly adding insult to injury to have to pay for Chestnut Hall's administrative costs on top of a $400 utility bill. Fourthly, Chestnut Hall has the tendency to DOUBLE-BILL utility charges (claiming it was a mistake). 3. Your deposit will NOT be returned-100% guaranteed! They charge $200 for painting, $100 for cleaning to EVERY tenant at move-out! FIX THE MANAGEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Chestnut Hall SEEMS nice when you walk into the lobby, but once you get in the elevator the entire experience changes. The hallways look as uninviting as the motel where a horror film is likely to be set. The rooms are slightly better, but not much. I first moved to Chestnut Hall because I liked the more "home-y" feel of it compared to other upper end apartments in the area. I soon found out that the only homeliness to the apartment was if I was referencing a run-down home in the 1970's. The radiator had a steam leak for at least 3 months despite reporting it to maintenance. Therefore, the radiator did not turn off even in the summer months. Chestnut Hall maintenance believed the solution was to make a failed attempt at fixing this simple problem by cutting a hole in my wall, doing nothing to fix it, and then replace the cut-out with duct tape. The only time it actually was fixed was when the apartment below me started having water leak through the ceiling. This is just one testament to the mismanagement there. The rooms themselves are run-down and definitely do not constitute the tremendous price charged. Also, be very wary of how much you are charged. After signing my lease for a one bedroom, I found out that my one bedroom cost the same as another person's EXTREMELY larger one bedroom. Chestnut Hall will rip you off in every way possible. Therefore, management is not only incompetent, they are also money sucking scoundrels despite the ever so fake smiles they put on. I am sure whoever reads this will likely account the bitter review to a bad experience, but after talking to others in the building, I can assure you this sentiment is shared by others. If you are thinking of leasing from Chestnut Hall, I would advise you to think very hard before signing a 12-month commitment to waste your money. read more

I'm not the kind to write reviews or sensationalize them when I do. Chestnut Hall took our whole deposit upon leaving the building...and then charged us an extra $250 on top of that! Mind-blowing. We asked why. They gave us an itemized list of charges. Some were fair, but they really took it too far by charging us $100 or so to shampoo the carpet in our living room (we didn't spill anything at all on the carpet), $50 for garbage disposal (we literally left two cereal boxes), and $200 for repainting (we left 3 scuffs that were the type you could more or less rub out). They promised to send us pictures of these items for months and never did so, despite our repeated requests. Then they blamed us for dragging the dispute out for so long. They were horrendously rude to us, hung up the phone on us, and refused to let us speak to anyone higher up the chain. They effectively issued us with an ultimatum: pay now or we're sending it to debt collection. Third party debt collection is obviously not the appropriate forum to adjudicate the validity of charges - it's the forum to collect the charges, assumed to be valid. But they know this threatens to damage our credit and are presumably relying on that as leverage. I don't like it when apartment buildings like this bully tenants into giving them extra money on the way out. Absolutely no class at all. This place is obviously run by a bunch of amateurs or people with no regard for customer service. I would advise anyone looking at Chestnut Hall to look elsewhere. read more

The pro's - 4.5 stars 1. Maintenance guys are efficient, professional, accommodating, hard-working, and friendly. 2. Earl (mans the front desk) is incredibly friendly, accommodating, an all-around great guy. 3. The renovated units are an improvement from the older ones. I've lived comfortably in one for 2 years. The con's - 1 star 1. While the renovated units are nicer, they're more $$$, and the rent shoots up a lot each year. Increasing rents are standard, but a bit too much from my POV. 2. Also, despite the renovations, the kitchens, bathrooms, and ac units are still pretty antiquated (read: the handle on my refrigerator was rusty/crusted). I also had a problem one night that I still can't quite explain. My toilet had a crack in it, and I guess the toilet gave out or something, because it leaked allllll night, from 12 AM to 6 AM (yes, I stayed up the entire time to replace towels to soak up all that toilet water, yum). The cherry on top was I had an exam that morning at 8 AM. All in all, these things don't warrant the kind of rent appreciation happening here. 3. It seems like there's a consensus that the move-out fees are pretty ridiculous and don't have sound reasoning; I agree. This is more of a combined experience between me and my friend, who moved out last year. He was hit with lots of fees, regarding the ambiguous requirement to give x-amount of days notice to move out. He was on the phone constantly and said the people he spoke to were inaccessible and bit rude. He warned me about how they'd try to take away my money when I moved out this year. This leads me to... 4. Yet another consensus among the reviewers and previous tenants I've spoken to. They WILL do everything in their power to NOT give you back your security deposit, especially with the paint job fee. I don't move furniture around, I've never held parties at my place, I don't "scuff" my walls. Now, I'm responsible for 60% of the paint job. Maybe it's my fault for not taking pictures of the existing imperfections (*perhaps that's some words of wisdom). And, not to toot my horn, but I've always gotten 100% of my deposit back (in all of the 2 apartments I've ever lived in lol). But here, I'm getting about 20% back. And when you ask for an explanation, it's all a little hazy. They should clarify that it's impossible to expect to receive at least 50% of your deposit back. 5. My communication with the leasing office has been bipolar. They're either super speedy; I got a response within minutes of one of my emails to them. On the other end, they're completely/wholly/entirely unresponsive. Last summer, I wrote numerous emails and called many times about a few inquiries I had; ignored. I do genuinely stand by the pro's I've listed; there are a few great people working there. But the subsubsubsub-par move-out process, including all the aforementioned, is reason enough for me to write this review. read more

Great Place :D Welcoming Agents, maintained place.. the donut shop in building is awsome. I wish they had gym too.

Current Resident: I am a clean person, and in just a few months I have seen two live mice and 6 live cockroaches, and that is just in my apartment. I have also seen cockroaches in the hallways, elevators, and don't even get me started on how many bugs there are in the trash chute areas. Rent is way overpriced: there are nearby buildings (nearby being within a block or two) that are newer and are lower priced (some are lower priced even including rented furniture). Pros: it is close to Penn, and maintenance is responsive. If ALL you care about is convenience, then I suppose its fine. But if you have standards and don't feel like living with roaches and rodents, then I suggest you look elsewhere. This place is a dump. read more

I am from another country and I am not familiar with the rental laws and regulations. You need to notice them 60 days prior to your leaving and they do not tell you that you should do that. A friend told 30 days before my departure and so I gave notice 30 days before my departure and I was charged an additional $1600, Just for a written paper. They know you are leaving but they don't tell you to do that. Unbelievable! Another person here mentioned that the penalty for that is $450-500. No, it is much more than that. For this experience, I give one star although one start is too much, there should be a rating system that includes negative scores and on the range of -5 to +5 the score of this place is minus 5. The place is also full of mice, sometimes they have party. The exterminators do not do anything effective. I was told that mice hate peppermint, so I placed some cotton balls soaked in peppermint, and the next day the mice were playing volleyball with the cotton ball. So beware! The smell of the trash room is also disgusting, just to mention. read more

I lived at Chestnut Hall Apartments for a year from 2013 to 2014. I listed the advantages and disadvantaged of living in this building. Advantages: - The building is clean and safe. - Full Concierge Service - Friendly and helpful staff - Great maintenance team - Near public transportation, grocery stores, and restaurants - Smoke-free and pet-free community - Free Wi-Fi in the lobby - Laundry room on every floor Disadvantages: - The rent is too high. The average price for 1 bedroom apartment is $1400 - The parking lot is very expensive with limited space. That's $199 per month which is ridiculous. You can buy vehicle permit for just $35 per year and park your car on residential parking permit blocks. - Noise pollution! You can hear the siren sounds from police cars, ambulance, fire trucks, and helicopters every hour even with closed windows which is very annoying. Also, you can hear loud noises from central AC unit from outside. - Fire alarm system of the whole building went off several times without any reason which was intolerable. We were evacuated from our homes every time for at least an hour. - We cleaned up our apartment very well but they charged us $85 for apartment cleaning and deducted from our security deposit. read more

Before I moved in, I read many reviews about the apt charging too many fees and keeping deposits. I assumed that these people had done damage that made management keeping the deposit justified - this was a mistake. They kept our whole deposit and charged us an additional $200 for repainting. We had only lived there for 9 months and had done no damage to the walls or to the apartment. Repainting should be done at the cost of management. I asked for pictures of the "damage" and was sent pictures of flaws that were preexisting when we moved in AND of an apartment that was clearly NOT our own. The room in the picture was carpeted.. and our apartment had wood floors. Pros: the building manager was actually very nice and maintenance was speedy, the donut shop is great. CONS: 1. don't expect to see any of your deposit back. 2. overpriced rent considering a persistent roach problem 3. package system is disorganized and they are sometimes unable to locate packages that are confirmed as delivered 4. security sleeps on the job sometimes 5. if you get locked out late at night you have to pay something like $75 just to borrow a lockout key which is absurd 6. our heating broke multiple times 7. no dishwashers 8. mouse problem (it happens in the city but no attempt was made to resolve the problem) 9. They consistently overcharge for utilities, the charges aren't transparent 10. you will pay the cleaning fee at move out, no matter how clean you leave the apartment, so don't even waste your time 11. despite the fact that the lobby looks great, no one hangs out or does work there because there is horrible music blasting 24/7. Obviously, I would not recommend living here when you could pay similar rent at (nicer, newly renovated) Hamilton Court directly across the street. read more

Great location, view is alright, air conditioner is very noisy, nice hardwood floors