Hardrock Canyon

I am moving out of hardrock canyon and I going to miss it! My fiancé and I both work downtown now so we are moving to avoid traffic, but it wasn’t an easy decision. What I love most about this place is the quiet. The apartments are condo spec so we rarely hear our neighbors (and we lived with a baby downstairs for our entire leasing term.) We were lucky enough to have a canyon view which meant ultimate privacy and a lovely view. There is lots of wild life around like deer and squirrels and birds which we loved to observe. Most of the apartments have huge windows to let in a lot of light.
The pools are large and usually empty. They even have a lap pool. The gym was just redone and has some good equipment.
Some things that we didn’t enjoy were the tiny kitchens. We cook a lot and there really isn’t enough room for 2 people. That is probably our biggest problem with the apartment. That being said, the stoves are gas which is great for cooking. I think my indoor cats have also gotten fleas from this complex, so that sucks.
The staff are nice and they have long hours for picking up packages. The maintenance has always been speedy and we have never had any major apt issues in the past 2 years.
If you want outdoor space, the balconies are huge. You can definitely work on a diy project with all that space.
There is nothing «cool» or «hip» about the location, but it is SO convenient which I have enjoyed. You have HEB, Sprouts, Randall’s, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods within walking distance for groceries. There are also lots of restaurants like La Madeline, Manuel’s, and firebowl and stores like Costco, PetCo, Target, Michael’s you can walk to. We often walk to the regal cinema 8 across the street for movies! You also are only 2 traffic lights away from access to all major highways (Mopac to 71 and 183 to i35.) 5 minutes from the arbor walk, Anderson road, and the domain.
Overall I will miss it here!

Lived here for a year and have since moved south. But wanted to make sure to give a good review. The on site staff were excellent, the maintenance staff were excellent, the pool was kept clean, and neighbors were most always quiet and courteous. Lost a star because the 1 bedroom floor plan was small and didn’t fit my furniture very well with the layout. And 3 floors are dumb. But I would recommend this place, rent was comparable to other apartments, it’s close to grocery, fitness, food, and freeways. Another plus is that there are 2 pools so they didn’t seem to get crowded

I did not live there, I actually went to check it out because the website looks amazing and there are great reviews on Unilocal.
I must say, I do not know when they took those photos for the website, but it looks nothing like it does now. The place looks very rundown. The pool wasn’t clean (we visited in the afternoon) and the volleyball pool looks like a joke. We couldn’t even find the lap pool. While there are trails throughout the apartments, the grounds look very un kept. There is a huge pit in the middle for flooding which is un attractive and they really didn’t do any landscaping to hide it. I don’t think I’d want to look out my window at a pit all of the time. I have no idea where these «Hill Country Views» are at, as I only saw one building that overlooks what I suppose is the «canyon» and you’d have to be on the third floor to really appreciate the view. Also, the «UT Shuttle» is called the Capital Metro and it’s a bus. I’m not sure why it’s advertised as an amenity, when it’s just a bus stop near the apartments.
This place is going from 1200 – 1300 for a 1 bedroom right now which is ridiculous. I live in a 1 bedroom a little further north (I’m taking a 5 minute drive on mopac) with a much nicer pool, landscape, etc. for $ 850.
Don’t be fooled by the website, especially if you’re out of town and thinking about moving to Austin, ask for some current photos.

Lived here for one year, with very little complaints! Nice, quiet apartment community. For the rent you really can’t beat it. The amenities could be updated a bit, but the maintenance staff was always very quick to fix anything that had issues. One thing to be aware of is that the leasing office is often short staffed, so if you need to speak to someone, pick up a package, etc., you may be waiting a bit.

As someone who is in the process of looking for a new apartment in a new city, I’ve noticed that 90%+ of all Unilocal apartment reviews are overwhelmingly negative and nitpicky. With that in mind, I thought I’d leave a review to help the next person who’s trying to find an apartment in North Austin.
PROS:
— Great location. You can’t beat the proximity to 183 and Mopac, as well as the large number of grocery stores, restaurants, shops, etc. all within walking distance.
— Large spacious apartments, with super thick walls. I don’t think I heard my neighbors through the floor or wall a single time during the entire year I lived here. Pretty unheard of for an apartment building.
— Nice amenities. The gym is ²⁴⁄₇ (although I can’t say I used it as much as I should have…), there are multiple pools on the grounds that are never crowded, and several Car2Go spots outside the leasing office.
— Friendly staff. With the exception of one woman (whose name I don’t remember…), everyone who works here full-​time is very friendly and eager to help you out.
— Isolated, safe apartment grounds. We never felt unsafe walking around the complex in the dark late at night.
— Prompt maintenance request fulfillment. The maintenance staff is usually very quick to respond, and they do a good job. I can only think of one time that I had to ask for something to be fixed twice before it was addressed.
CONS:
— Everything in our apartment broke while we lived there. I know it sounds like an exaggeration, but during the year I lived here, my A/​C broke (in the middle of summer), my heat broke (in the middle of winter), my dishwasher broke twice, my garbage disposal in the sink broke, my refrigerator quit running, and we started experiencing a nasty smell coming through our vents (we were ultimately told that it was mildew that had gotten into the vents somehow). Fortunately, as I mentioned above, the maintenance staff is very quick to respond.
— Neighbors aren’t always the friendliest. If you’re looking for an older crowd (lots of retirement-​age people and small families) that keeps to themselves/​minds their own business, this would be a good fit for you. If you’re looking to meet new people/​make friends/​do fun things with your neighbors, you might want to look elsewhere at somewhere like the Domain or the Riata.
— Hard for people to visit you. The call box located at each entrance is not very intuitive and the buttons/​screen don’t light up at night. We had visitors frequently, and it was often hard for them to get in unless the gate was already open. On a similar note, for some reason it’s impossible for Über and Lyft drivers to find the complex… There was not a single time that they found it without having to call me and get me to explain where it was located. This is a pretty minor detail, though, and not Hardrock’s fault. Just something to keep in mind if you take a lot of cabs, etc.
Overall, I’d probably recommend Hardrock Canyon to anyone looking for a spot in North Austin. If I weren’t moving across the country, I’d likely renew my lease when it ended.

My husband and I lived here for about 9 months and don’t have one complaint! When we rented we did everything online and via phone. The staff was so helpful that we felt confident committing without ever having visited the apartments. Now that our time here is over we can say that we were very happy with the rental process, staff, maintenance, facilities, apartment layout and over all look of the apartments. We even had to break our lease early, and they made the process painless. I’d definitely recommend these apartments to anyone looking.

Blasphemy!!! Who gives an apartment complex 5 stars? actually it is 4.5, I’ll explain the ding of the half star. But unlike the other times where I give a 4, and explain it is a 4.5, I rather feel, and deservedly so for this complex, to do it the other way.
About the complex itself, all building are 3 storeys tall, solidly built, condo specs. Expansive grounds, dull alley lighting, pretty clean. Facilities include a lap pool in the back, a water volley ball pool up front. Gas grills on both pools. Pool are clean during hot weather. There is also a car wash in the very back. Decent gym with a smith machine and free weights. They need to check it more often to replace moist cleaning tissues and check for wear and tear.
The views, oh the views. I was in the 3^rd floor with an expansive view of the canyon and the golf course, beautiful sunsets. I’m actually jealous of the people who rented by apartment. The apartments are not all with modern appliances, they are retrofitting them (mine was when I left), just a comment not a compliant, also, a data point if it makes a difference to you, it didn’t to me.
The 4.5 star, yes, the make or break of any apartment, the staff! It all comes from the leadership of the manager Barbra. She leads from the front in her commitment to not use the rules to screw residents like 99.99% of A*&^%les (including my present accommodation) do, but on the contrary, does everything she can to help residents while still courting the rules. Her actions rub off on the staff, Ed, Marty, Kara, all extremely helpful. When I say staff, I have a bit of the grouse with the maintenance, who at times, don’t read written instructions from staff on work requests, when they take out something to fix something, they don’t put it back. You can see where my half star goes… But here is where Barbra does what she can. I lived in a high ceiling apartment and had cobwebs which were 15ft high, I asked the maintenance their ladder to clean the same. They rule booked me with liability etc. Barbra disagreed with them, and had them clean the cobwebs. Also, I wanted to extend my lease from 11 months to 12, Babra helped me with it, and let me leave in between my 12^th month without penalty.
I moved out, because I wanted to downsize and be in the city. I wouldn’t have left otherwise. So, if you are planning to rent, do so, while still complaining about high rent everywhere in Austin, but be cherished that what you pay for is completely worth it at this place.
And Hardrock Canyon, please, please keep up the good work, don’t turn into other places. And take my other feedback on the gym and maintenance as opportunities.

Just moved in here 2 weeks ago and I feel like I have to let everyone know how great of a place this really is…
–Have lived in a lot of apartment complexes and this one is by far the best.
–Like quiet… holy cow this place is condo spec’d so there is literally NO noise at all. I slept like a baby from day 1 until now. So many apartments are so noisy! You have no idea how annoying it is hearing a drunk kid at 2am on a Wednesday night. I’ve been in some nightmares and this has been a dream.
–HUGE patio. Love the quiet outside area and I can seriously put a ton of patio furniture on this thing if I wanted too.
–If you get a newly renovated unit like ours, you’ll get good quality appliances. Quiet dishwasher, nice fridge, beautiful gas range, nice faucets and toilets.
–The maintenance is super on point. Like vacuum the pools everyday on point. Cleaning the grills, fixing things right away.
–The whole complex is made up of townhouse type construction. It has trees like everywhere and provides tons of shade.
–Our AC hardly runs, very quiet too, and stays cool well into the late morning.
–We love our new apartment and I don’t think I’m going anywhere anytime soon. I could probably add a few more things. But as Austin goes, this is the best there is. Have lived in 2 places downtown and have been to a lot of apartment buildings. What a gem. Go to
, helps a lot, but beware of low reviews and ratings, they make them up a lot.

Great apartments. They won a few awards when they were built for eco-​related stuff but what matters is this: responsive staff, quiet units that are VERY well insulated (cheaper utilities) and wildlife abounds (deer, fox, coons, etc).
The units are very well built — I highly recommend these guys.

The thing I like the most is the fantastic location; HEB across the street and the restaurants and stores of the Arboretum are within walking distance. I lived there since august and never heard anything through the walls, I either have very quite neighbors or the insulation between the apartments is great and pretty sure its the latter. When it comes to maintenance they send the maintenance guy promptly the next day. The complex overall is quite and family oriented which suits me and always have monthly events. The amenities are great: swimming pools, gym, computers. Now that I mentioned the things I like most I’ll tell you about the minor things that I don’t like. First, they do not clean up the leaves in the parking lot often enough which I find annoying but not big deal. The second, the convenience fee for bills its a very small amount 2 bucks or something of that sort, I just find it incredibly odd that they charge you for letting you know how much you owe them, it just makes no sense!
Other than that I enjoy living in Hardrock Canyon and not planning to move out anytime soon.

I’ve lived here for over 5 years. If you ever need help, just ask for Kandice. She is polite and extremely helpful.

When I moved out, I paid all fees in advance and signed a ‘your all good’ contract. Yet, After being told I had a clear balance I was charged more money upon move out that was not related to my deposit.
I left the place spotless… better than when I moved in.
During my stay, the staff was unreliable and unresponsive to phone calls and emails.
The place would be an okay place to live if the staff was more reliable and kept their word (it was a contract afterall)
But just happy to be moving on and up and out of the Hardrock Canyon Apartments.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION… close to so much i have lived here since june, and i also moved here from living in a house. the last time i lived in an apt was in 1975, so apartment living is a new experience for me. i was a little apprehensive about apartment dwelling, however living here has been a beautiful experience. the grounds are just lovely. it is so quiet. the apartments are lovely. the staff is freindly and always accommodating. maintnance is johnny on the spot. the only cons i would have is there are some residents who will not abide by the rules of pickingup behind their pets, but of course that is on the residents, and shame on them. i complained to the staff and they addressed this issue. thank you hardrock for making this a wonderful experience. i would recommend hardrock to anyone looking for a great place to live!!!

I have lived here for about a month now and I would like to say that I think some detractors just have unrealistically high expectations of apartment living in general. I have lived in 6 other complexes since moving to Austin and this is by far the best.
Another reviewer stated he thought that the fact that the place was built to condo specs didn’t make much of a difference. I really disagree, but it could just vary from area to area in the complex. The first night I laid down to sleep in this place I was shocked by how quiet it was. My old complex was pretty noisy in general with plumbing, etc, but I’ve never even heard my neighbors moving around above me here.
I like all the activities they have here. In some complexes I could see that stuff being really lame but they put some money into making sure they are nice. I just went to the Yappy Hour event (dog party at the dog park) and they provided dog treats and toys as well as pizza and deserts for the people. Looking at the event calendar it looks like they do stuff like that as frequently as 2 or 3 times a week which is pretty stellar.
And as far as the physical complex and athstetic, I really have no complaints. My unit looks just as nice as the show one did, which is pretty surprising. I walked in to high-​quality carpet, crown molding, fresh paint, etc. Small detail but I like that my unit doesn’t have the popcorn ceiling I’ve had at every other complex in Austin. I like the modern look of the flat ceilings. My patio is enormous and looks out over a semi-​private wooded area. Amenities (pools, fitness center, laundry center, car vacuum, business center) are a step above what I’ve had in the past. Everything is as promised when you are signing your lease and I really appreciate that. Oh, don’t forget the ice-​maker and gas stove. I love having both of those in my unit.
In general I like the staff a lot. They are really friendly but I have had one or two instances where I walked in and felt like I could have been helped by staff who instead chose to socialize in the office. You can see into the office so that was a little irritating, especially if you are in a hurry. If there are 3 people in the office why exactly do I need to wait for the 1 guy who is obviously busy taking care of a potential leaser? Maintenance is great, no complaints.
But honestly I’ve had so many weird problems with other apartments in Austin, I’m not going to sweat the small stuff. Good price for a good apartment in a good area.

I’ve lived here for just over 2 years and when I move out in September, I will have been here for a full 2 ½.
Thoughts:
+1 — Units are very quiet. Built to condo specs with good insulation.
+1 — Pet friendly, complete with a fenced in dog run area.
+1 — Lots of trees, which help reduce electricity bills.
+1 — Gas heating and cooking! Love it.
+1 — Very eco-​friendly w/​recycling centers and recently installed programmable thermostats.
+1 — Location is great– you can walk to grocery stores, gym, and several restaurants.
+2 — I live on the 1^st floor and I have pretty much NO PROBLEM with bugs.
+1 — Maintenance requests are responded to very quickly– usually within 24 hours or less.
–1 — Gates had problems for the first year and a half that I lived here and were ALWAYS open. They FINALLY got a new system installed and since then, they’ve been closed 98% of the time.
–1 — Parking is not great for some buildings.
–1 — Kitchens and bathrooms are outdated and could stand to be upgraded.
–1 — Rent is a little high for a complex that doesn’t have upgraded kitchens & bathrooms.
Overall, I’ve enjoyed it here and would probably stay longer, but I’m getting married and we need a bigger place once we move in together.

So I just moved out of this place after living here a couple of years, and I guess I was fairly pleased with the overall experience. First let’s get something out of the way. This is an apartment complex. No matter how nice a place may seem, it’s still going to have some of the problems that a complex has. Depending on where you live in this complex, parking can be quite a pain. Also, for the majority of the 2 years I was here, my A/​C was always on the fritz. I think I probably had to have a/​c repair come out 8 times over the course of the two years. Also, the gates NEVER work. I really fail to understand the point of having the gates if you’re always going to leave at least one open. This leads me to the next problem, crime. Sure it looks like a nice place to live, but my car was broken into towards the end of my last year, and when I informed the management about it so they could warn the other tenets, it was simply swept under the rug. I later found out that this is a common problem here. Also expect the usualy yearly «either you sign another lease at a higher rate, or we’ll charge you 30% more a month» scam. This complex has really fallen out of touch with where they stand though, because even though the Aboretium is not longer the trendy yuppie mecca that it once was with the new Domain opening, they still tried to up my rent. I ended up moving out of my 1 bd. apartment here and into a nice 2 bd duplex with a garage and a yard that’s closer to central Austin for $ 50 less a month than what they wanted me to pay.
Now that I have that out of the way, there are some nice things about this complex. First of all, they do an excellent job in keeping the complex looking nice, and all the old trees make for a very aesthetically pleasing environment. The units seem to be built a bit better than your normal apartments, so you don’t have to worry about hearing everything your neighbors are doing. Also, they do nice little things like giving out free breakfast at the gate once a month, and so on.
So in closing, if you need to live around the soulless Arboretum and insist on living in an apartment complex, you could do a lot worse than Hardrock Canyon, but just remember that no matter how nice an apartment is at the end of the day it’s still just an apartment and in this housing market, you can do a lot better for your rental dollar.