I moved out of Peoria and have now lived in two other rentals since then and each one makes me miss Prairie Lakes so much! I had none of the issues the other reviewers mention. I lived here and worked from home and the internet worked perfectly, I think they use i3 Broadband now because it kept up with everything. My internet now is terrible in comparison and costs $70 a month. Maintenance crews are out at work everyday improving something or keeping up landscaping. I loved having mail right by the walkway to the doors. The fact that every apartment has a lake view can't be beat. Why would I live in a parking lot by a mall when I can have sunsets over the lake. The geese are gross and annoying but come with every body of water in Illinois. The pool area is beautiful and always well maintained. Two huge pluses that I miss the most: FREE HEAT and WATER. I mean the free heat alone is a huge money saver! I just got my current bill at my new place and it's $225 where at Prairie Lakes that would be $225 I could spend on other bills. And free water when you have your own washing machine and dishwasher is amazing too. I always had stellar response from maintenance on any issues. I found mold in my dishwasher when I first moved in and within 24 hours I had a brand new one installed. (I have been waiting 4 months to have mold removed from the sink cabinet in my current place if that tells you anything about other rentals.) They never took longer than 24 hours to answer any requests, large or small. The front desk staff was always super friendly to me and when I moved out the only deduction was for kitchen cleaning because I forgot to clean the oven (and it needed it!). I would move back here in a heartbeat if I could, I just can't believe the difference in Prairie Lakes and what else I have found in a much larger city. I would probably need to pay $2,000/month now to get to live somewhere that nice. read more

me and my boyfriend have lived here over a year, and we love it! it's affordable, we feel safe, our apartment and view over the water is to die for, and that's not to mention the pool!! the community center is a really beautiful space as well, always with free snacks, waters, and coffee. the only complaint i have is the wifi is not great. but the workers are helpful with things like that. read more

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I've been living here for almost 2 years. The customer service and the staff are fantastic and always friendly. My reviews of Prairie Lakes have previously been 4 stars due to internet issues, but Prairie Lakes seems to have taken internet issues seriously by changing internet providers recently (like less than a month ago). I'm really grateful that they took residents' concerns regarding the internet seriously, and I'm hoping the new ISP is far more reliable. Time will tell! read more

Have lived here since 2018 and never had a problem. Maintenance is awesome. Views are beautiful. The office staff more than does their job You can call them or leave a message and whatever the problem is, they tend to it. Thanks to everyone who works here read more

I had been a resident of Prairie Lakes Apartments (Apt 2307) until May 20, 2024. I received my final statement on Jun 15, 2024. In that, they have included a rent due after move-out amount of $481.16 which is non-sensical as I've paid all the rent I'm responsible for until then. I was always prompt and diligent with my payments. As this is a matter of grave concern, I've called the number 2486865300 which is listed on the final statement to check about it, the lady on the call has just quoted that I haven't provided a 60-day written notice and hence you were charged. I did provide one on March 20, 2024 which is before 60 days. The lady on the call was quite rude and when I was explaining this to her, she was repeating YOU HAVEN"T and disconnected the call. How dare she!! Which person employed such a person who doesn't even have the courtesy or professionalism to speak? That is not my bother anymore as I am more concerned about my money now. I have provided my 60 day written notice to Mr. Carson from the leasing office. I do not know what else they want me to do. If that 60 day written notice was not provided, how were you able to finish the move-out check then (someone from your office visited the apartment), how did you put the apartment in your portal after March 20th and had the lease finished by a new resident. I know that the apartment is occupied on May 28th by a new resident. Don't underestimate anyone and try to loot from them for nothing. If you are finding ways to take my security deposit of $500 and think that I'm not going to fight for that $500, I'm not going to leave it that easy for you, I'll fight it out and make it very hard for you. Also I was charged a $55 for carpet damage which is again a blatant lie as the apartment was well maintained during my stay and I have pictures and videos on the same. If you are not going to fix this soon, I'll have to take the legal route and make it difficult for you people. read more

HORRIBLE experience with prairie lakes apartment Peoria, IL. When we moved in people told us that management is really bad and when you leave apartment, they will try to steal money from your deposit with some excuse and see that is absolutely true now. Apartment manager is very rude and staff is also do not stick to their own words. They already did walk through before we left apartment and 3/4 guys from apartment office told us that we kept apartment in real good condition. But we were surprised to see that they deducted money from our deposit and making excuse and not returning money. Extremely poor experience with prairie lakes apartment Peoria, IL and we will NON RECOMMEND them and please stay away from them. We already discussed multiple time with apartment people and they do not care about anything. It is really not fair to take money without any proper reason, extremely unhappy. :-( :-( read more

I've lived here for 2 years and really like it. The view of the lake out my living room is great, especially in the summer when I have the door open. I can hear the water fountain and geese doing geese stuff. The complex is clean and the apartments are in good condition. It's generally quiet here, with exception of my upstairs neighbors screaming at each other constantly - but that is no fault of the apartment or staff. The staff is really good, but are normally really busy with other people. I've been friendly to them, and they have been friendly back. I've only had one issue with my apartment which was not out of the ordinary and they came out the next day and fixed it with no problem. It's very diverse here. That's not a bad thing, except my apartment smelled like curry for 3 months after I moved in. I just left the cabinets and windows open and Fabreezed the hell out of everything until it eventually went away. I love Indian food, but damn. CONS: Slow internet. No regular cable provider. High cost. My neighbor's failing marriage. PROS: Everything else. Like I said I really like it. Live here. Enjoy the quiet breeze and grill something on your patio next to the lake and hang out with your new goose bros. read more

Worst apartments in peoria!!! Best thing that happened was paying the 2g penalty to break the lease. Worst customer service(entire office that sits there and they can't handle a request) , forced internet thats 10 times less speed then any other apartment in peoria that you can go buy at a regular apartment, and they also had the mentenace come into our apartment without us authorizing it, then when we told them about it they denied the entire conversation or crew that came in. I've been in most apartments in peoria the only reason to come here is safety! Any other reason go to another apartment!!!! read more

Lived here for a year or so and the internet struggles to say the least. I actually don't mind living here, but need the internet to work and they only offer it from 1 company - CCI. They are awful. $50/month for the internet and they rarely have ETA's of when it should be coming back up, but when they do, they are way off. Not sure what kind of contract they have with Prairie Lakes, but Prairie Lakes needs to find another provider. May be moving soon because of it. Oh, and I am posting this review while tethering from my cell phone because the internet is out...again. As for the apartments, they differ with what building you get from what I have seen because they were built in different phases and at different times. Maintenance is ok, they are rarely on time though. Sometimes they don't come until days after they say they were going to. I can't speak for the pool or workout center because I don't use either one. As for prices, a one bedroom/one bathroom ranges from higher $700's to $800's. Haven't had problems with people that live around us and the area seems pretty safe overall. Pros: Safe Views if you get certain apartments Cons: Internet struggles Maintenance is hit or miss with timing read more

They don't resolve issues completely when you move in do patch works it is good enough but they charge hundreds of dollars as fines when you move out. Be careful for future residents who are opting this community. if you try to contact about fines then they don't respond properly. The past resident department is so egoistic that they don't want to discuss about fines and say whatever they charge is very reasonable. read more

Prairie Lakes is a cute quite community. The staff is very friendly and helpful. I have many friends who live here and love the activities they put on for everyone. The pool is a huge hit and it's so fun having all the kids playing together and enjoying themselves. read more

Let me first say that I have only lived here for less than a month... The apartment we live in was VERY CLEAN when we moved in, they charge you $35 when you sign the lease to pay for the carpet cleaning. Every unit comes with a full size washer and dryer! All the apartments have a "lake view" from their balconies and patios. The cable and internet situation totally turned me off, which sucks, because we signed a 1 year lease!!!!! The apt complex offers their own cable and internet...which, in my opinion is not worth the money you pay. There are only about 15 channels to choose from and the internet is SUPER slow! We opted to go with Dish Network (DirectTV and Comcast, I was told were NOT ALLOWED here) and a local internet provider. When we got the dish installed, by a technician who KNEW the rules of the apt (given to him by the corporate office) we received a letter from the apt complex stating that we violated the rules of our lease and that the dish needs to be moved (in 5 days otherwise I would be charged $30) and placed within the parameters of the balcony. Now keep in mind, my balcony is only about 7x3 ft. I later found out that everybody in the complex was ordered to do the same... So all in all, the dish was moved to inside my balcony. I barely have enough room for 2 small chairs. I do not suggest moving into this place if you want good TV and a fast internet. The internet cuts out here and there and is slow in the evening. read more

I lived at Prairie Lakes for over 3 years. My entire experience was excellent. The units are top notch, and the front office and maintenance staff was always helpful. These places are one of the best values in Peoria, and I would highly recommend these places to anyone in the Peoria area. read more

Have lived here for 3.5 years. Rude office staff, rude corporate office. A lot of times, they don't even keep the posted office hours. They make a lot of accounting mistakes - ie: "accidentally" turn off your internet, overcharge you in rent (both happened to me, not hearsay). Internet is slow with no other options. Rare enforcement of lease rules - dogs poop/pee everywhere, people speed upwards of 35 MPH through complex. Pool was broken less than a year after being built. Recommendation: Don't get sucked in by the perceived "value" of the complex. Look elsewhere. read more

Never Again. I have lived at Prairie Lakes a total of 3 different occasions and never had a problem with anything until this last rental period of 45 days. I payed $980 for 1st months rent and $980 deposit plus $45 carpet fee and $1130 fee for early termination fee. Now I am being refused return of my deposit for damage to carpet which is was fine. Also, I am being charged for an animal violation and I don't even have a pet. I think it was time for them to replace the carpet. There are huge problems in complex office with communication and accounting and even more with corporate. If you do decide to take on this place, keep all your receipts and take pictures before and after you move in and MAKE someone from the office walk through with you when you move out with a checklist so you don't get accused of ruining carpet or any other falsity. I am a professional and a "clean freak", so the place sparkled when I moved out. I am posting this so no one has to go through the hassles that I am. I now made a claim to the better business bureau because they are fraudulently withholding my monies and may have to take legal action. DON'T GO HERE! Oh and yes the office is staff is way too busy, and there is people speeding throughout the complex , and the windows leak HUGE in the winter so buy some weatherizing kits. Make sure you get into a new one because the older apartments the washers and dryers are loud and so is the dishwasher. Walls are paper thin. Looks nice until you have to deal with the overly busy staff, who really don't care about you or return of your money, just how to get more from you. Oh forgot to mention the goose poop and dog poop everywhere or the horrible internet service and large fees for cable. I will say that the first two times were good or I would not have returned. It was under different management at that time at a lot more manageable size so less room for error. read more

Nice apartments but very stingy management. I almost signed a lease but glad I met a resident who talked me out of it. Their Internet sucks and you can't get ur own. They want to do credit checks on every occupant and would do another credit check if you choose to upgrade to a better bigger apartment within the same project ..which is redicilous. Good staff but the management needs to be more customer oriented. read more

very nice apartments. the community is nice and I feel safe living here. I love that it comes with a washer and drier. beautiful view and huge living room space for the price. definitely recommend read more

Apartments are nice and come with everything I need but the management is extremely rude. I'm young but this is my 4th year renting so I know what to expect. The two girls that seem to be working in the office everytime I'm in there need to work on their people skills and I'm very disappointed that such a nice complex hires extremely rude people to represent them. I went to the office one day with a question about my lease and both the ladies working were incapable of explaining their process and I left the office still confused and ticked off that I was being treated in the way that I was. I'm not an idiot but the ladies in the office sure do talk to me like I am fortunately the corporate office was able to answer my question calmly and kindly and I felt much better getting off the phone with them than I did with any human reaction I've had with the office here. read more

Outlook of apartments is good. But the rent is high and there is lot of increase in rent annually. Staff is rude. Staff will care only before we enter apts. once we are in, they do not care about us. Out of all, worst is the Internet, we pay $50 per month and its not even worth 10 bucks. Apartments doesn't allow outside Internet and the Internet provided by apartments is too slow ( cannot even open a video on Friday night , not on other nights too). If you are regular Internet user, these are worst apartments and they are stealing money. read more

I have moved into a the new building and the maintanence is really bad, it took 3 to 4 months for them do the lawn and no one ever cleaned the dust or mud. When we called the apartments to complain about noise and broken patio furniture they asked me to look out for who is doing it and they took no action. If you want to meet some nasty, disrespectful and unprofessional people just walk into the apartment office and the whole crew is messed up. The manager is not a normal guy. Maintanence people do not show up for emergencies. Just a bunch or loosers managing this place and i totally blame the corporate people for hiring people like these and running a bad bussiness. read more

Absolutely atrocious experience living here. -I have had a maintenance request outstanding since when I moved in (8 months ago) -Even though I am in a new building, the heat went out in the middle of the winter during the worse storm. The pipes supplying the heater froze up and didn't have heat for 3 days. -The internet (which is crappy to begin with) is only available through the front office. They are non responsive to connectivity issues. The internet has been out for 4 days straight. -The walls are incredibly thin. You can hear conversations going on all around you. read more

The TV and Internet situations at Prairie Lakes are absolutely horrible and, as far as I am concerned, a deal breaker. If I had known about these issues prior to my moving here (should have done more research), I would have never signed a lease. 1. For TV, they only offer Dish Network (which is, by far, the worst cable/satellite provider out there), and, on top of it, you have to sign up through the apartment company, so you are not eligible for new customer savings, or even to have your own account to manage online, etc. This means you end up paying upwards of $90/month for even a simple channel lineup, when a new customer through Dish would pay $20-30/month. 2. The above situation is very poorly described until you actually move in and go to set up your TV account (i.e. your address will not even come up on Comcast's website to create an account). 3. The internet is terribly slow and unreliable. Again, you must get internet through the apartment, and they offer you 3 choices of speeds. The most expensive is $50-60/month and, regardless of what they advertise it as, gives you speeds in the 1-5 mbps range (sometimes worse). On top of this, it frequently cuts out and, as with the TV situation, you don't have any account information or anything with which to call a provider and get help or report an outage. All in all, if you like to watch TV or, more importantly, stream online or do anything meaningful with your internet, this is not the place for you. The apartments are fine and I have had good response with maintenance, but nothing exceptional enough to overcome the above flaws, considering it is 2016 and we use the internet for literally everything. read more

My wife and I have lived in these apartments for about a year and a half now and have had a pretty good experience. Let me say that when we came down to Peoria to look for apartments, we weren't at all impressed. But my wife came down while I was away on business and found Prairie Lakes which is definitely nice. We moved into a brand new building and love the fact that there is central air and heating, and they are quite spacious (we reside in a 2 bedroom). The fact that they have a washer/dryer is awesome because we hated carting around laundry all the time when we lived in Chicago. I do have say that the other review was spot on about the cable and internet. I just stick with the basic cable through them because I don't want to get a dish that takes up my whole balcony. As for the Internet, it is truly horrible. The rates are ridiculous, so we went with a wireless 4G internet company called HiBeam. Great rates, great service and speed so thank goodness for them. Internet access is kind of a dealbreaker for me so that solved that. They did just open up a clubhouse with a small fitness center and there is a pool coming in Spring 2011. Overall, the place is nice, but I feel they could do better. I'm still waiting for the day that they let us sign up with Comcast so I don't have to get a dish, which, I won't do any way. I'm not sure how much longer we'll stay here, but since it is one of the nicer properties, we'll stick around for a bit. read more

I wasn't going to post because I don't want to ginx it but, we've lived several other places in the Peoria area and I have to say our experience at Prairie Lakes has been fantastic so far (we've only been here less than a week, but still). We're a young family with two young kids and two dogs so, that's the perspective we're writing from. My husband is an internet fanatic and he is fine with the internet they have here (although, granted, it's probably overpriced). We do not watch or care for cable except for Game of Thrones so, it hasn't really been this huge issue for us. The units (well, the ones we are in) are new, and top floor units have cathedral ceilings; they are very aesthetically pleasing. It's a fantastic community in that it's quiet and as far as I can tell, nobody smokes here (we've had problems with that elsewhere). Other people mentioned the washer and dryer, but I found all the appliances to be great - they are GE, so, top quality. We had problems with the dryer lint thing and the service person came over in less than 48 hours. Heat is included and most of the unit is warm; I guess one of the bedrooms could be a little warmer but the main living areas and 2nd bedroom are toasty. The unit we're in is remarkably sunny, and uplifting. It goes without saying that there's no insect problem here (but, we are on the 3rd floor, and not facing the lake so, I don't know how it is for other units). I was really surprised to find that the gym here that has only two treadmills is actually not crowded as far as I can tell; I've always been able to get on one of the treadmills so, was delighted with that. I am neutral about the office staff; haven't (yet), had any problems. The deductible is high and don't know if we'll ever see it again, but, I would say even if we do it's worth it living here. I guess we're coming from the perspective of having tried to "scrimp" on rent payments the last 5 years by going in "cheaper" apartments (about 300-400 cheaper) and we've had MAJOR problems before doing that - even in low crime area ones. Things we've NOT noticed here: smokers, insect problems, poor building structure, noise, dog poop everywhere, poor maintenance, or (so far) unfair business practices. The other tenants all seem to be employed, civil, and respectful. I'm not trying to be condescending to the people who are complaining about the internet (I'm sure it would be an improvement if they allowed Comcast or Direct TV in) but - seriously you have no idea how bad it can get other places. There are literally places just 100 dollars cheaper a month where the units are old and the roof falls in and the landlord does justabout next to nothing to fix it. For us, the internet is a laughable complaint. After what we've been through, it's not even on our radar. Having a great, clean, safe place to live is. I do feel the rent is somewhat high, but I've come to see it as worth it. read more

Rent is lower than your other "newer" apartment properties, but all of the problems I have had with management, the property and services have not been worth it. Management is slow to respond to any issue - even something as important as your rent; they're extremely rude and quick to blame the tenant for any problem you experience (literally any problem - they were charging me the wrong amount in rent). The internet doesn't work, even for your basic web browsing. Parking is very limited for the village they have going on. My refrigerator handle broke the first week I lived there. The curry smell is unavoidable. Low rent = cheap. Just go live at Grand Prairie; the extra expense is worth it. read more

Worst experience I've ever had renting. The management is awful and they never follow through with anything they say or any maintenance requests. The internet never works and they only let you get it through them, it's terrible. They take forever to remove snow or clear lots/sidewalks after it snows, which causes you to get stuck in parking area. The equipment in the gym is minimal and usually always broken. I would not recommend this place at all. read more

Most of the other reviews have really nailed it, the management is just inept. You wait weeks for the simplest of repair request. Maintenance has no problem coming right into your apartment unannounced other times. Office hours are very loose and their accounting department does a very poor job of keeping track of payments, often accusing you of not making them on time when they simply forgot to mark things. The internet is S L O W; instead of letting a reputable company provide service, they use a shady company that lets them have a piece of the pie instead. They are very proud of this newer "upgrade" that'll max out at about 700 KBps, but believe it or not, this is a huge improvement over the previous system where I'd max out at about 100 KBps. If you like to do more online than check your email, you'll be disappointed. There are bugs and spiders EVERYWHERE; I don't think there is a night I can go without smashing a spider or silverfish on my walls. The parking lot is usually full and parking in front of your building can be difficult, especially given the amount of abandoned vehicles in the lot. There are several in my area that haven't moved in months which can be frustrating when you can't find a spot when you come home from work. Also, I live in one of the older buildings and we do not have outgoing mailboxes. You need to walk about 5 minutes to the closest building with one. I've been asking for an outgoing mailbox and they've promised it is coming...for the last 4 years. Don't be fooled by the nice appearance from the outside, that is really all the place is. Getting your money is point number one for them. read more

In the six years of living in the Peoria area, Prairie Lakes has been the best place of residence for me. It offers an affordable living, spacious apartments, great views, accommodating staff and their great amenities which includes gym access, and well maintained club with attached swimming pool. Their spacious complexes allows the residents that love the outdoors enjoy walking or running in the long stretched walk ways. I opted to a third floor apartment that offers stunning high ceilings, ample amount of closet space and great patio lake view with tall windows that makes my experience personally a great one each morning. It's a quiet place with nice neighbors. Another great thing about living in the Prairie lakes is the accessibility to close by grocery shops, pharmacies , banks, restaurants, etc. Management is nice, friendly and professional and responsive. Some of my friends decided to move into the same complex after visiting my place. I highly recommend Prairie lakes to everyone. read more

Soooooo many annoying re-accuring problems! First off, this is for the new building, BRAND NEW building. There were no blinds on any of the windows for the 1st week after we moved in, which were to be provided by the apartment complex. Problems with the air conditioner leaking freon in the summer. When I would call the leasing office and report no cold air coming out of the vents, they'd send someone up and ask me if I was sure I had the unit on properly and perhaps I should just turn the air down to a cooler temperature. After about a week of them giving me nothing but excuses and talking with neighbors who were experiencing the same problem, they finally called the air company to add more freon to the unit, and I'd have to call every week or so to notify them when the air was getting warm again. Same goes with the water, no hot water pretty much every other week. The first time I called to report no hot water, I was told it just takes a while for the water to heat up. After explaining that I'd lived in the apartment for a few weeks and it wasn't just me being impatient, they came to "fix" it. They've had the hot water heater "fixed" by the manufacturer twice since June, and as of December 6th, I still take a cold shower at least once every other week. Every time I call to report this, I get numerous excuses such as, the water heater company isn't honoring their warranty so they can do nothing about it, to they send someone out every morning to empty and refill them...blah blah blah, I just want to be able to do laundry and take hot showers, fix it. The front door...you can see daylight out of the sides and bottom. I called maintenance to have this fixed and they informed me I might need a new door and they were going to "temporarily" fix it for now. That temporary fix? Tape on the bottom of the door so you can't see daylight anymore and to prevent the howling wind sound. Ridiculous. There were chips out of the cabinets when we moved in, putty smeared in the carpet, on the linoleum, and along the trim, along with random cracks in the linoleum around door frames. Oh, and I have to put a door stop in front of the bathroom door to keep it from swinging closed, which convinces me that the building slants. Good things about this place? It's spacious, that's about it. read more

I have lived in Peoria for a bit over 2 months and have very mixed feelings about this complex. The surroundings are nice, the apartments are spacious with some updated features such as self-cleaning oven and full-size washer and dryer. The apartment is overall quiet which is a huge plus. The down side is the majority of the office staff are inexperienced young people with no business sense. The required cable TV/DVR service is expensive with minimal service at best, one can not use the free market to purchase their own. I pay $25.00/mth for covered parking and return to Peoria following a vacation to find an unregistered to the complex car comfortably parked in my space. Mind you the temp outside is -9 degrees with snow and ice and my new car is parked out in the elements. When I called the office on 1-5-14 I was told I could have the car towed at my expense!! What the heck is that?! This establishment is certainly not customer friendly. I do not recommend this facility for these reasons. Customer service is a huge part of daily living and I would not have a job in my profession if I did not posses the ability to work with the public. read more