Le Montreaux Apts

I applied to live in this complex after a messy situation and the leasing agent violated my privacy by revealing that I was moving into this complex to the very person I was trying to get away from… this was back in 2009. To her credit, the agent called me promptly and admitted her mistake and returned my security deposit and application fees.

I want to say that first and foremost, I ALWAYS always always try to give people and companies the benefit of the doubt whenever I have a bad experience somewhere. It’s just the way the world goes. You can’t expect everything to go right all the time. Unfortunately, Le Montreaux literally got nothing right and sometimes made things worse when they tried to fix them.
Unit: NO LAUNDRY IN THE UNIT! This was really really terrible after a while… The units are very very old. As in, appliances are falling apart, ceiling are stained or dipped in from water. Our doorbell stopped working after the first week. Our stovetops stopped working after a month. The water pipes for the shower started sounding like Miles Davis playing the trumpet during the winter. Drains clogged up almost instantly. Carpets have years and years of stains and smells baked into them. We had to request two separate cleanings for our carpet due to a pungent aroma that had been left from the previous tenant’s cat. Finally, we had to request a carpet removal and replacement to fix the problem permanently. Also, the trees in the complex are nice, but they also block alot of sunlight from coming into the units. Therefore, you can expect little-​to-​no natural sunlight to actually get past your window. A/​C unit sounded like a propeller turning on a Cessna airplane. Everytime it cranked on or off, I thought someone was trying to start a lawnmower in my house. It never failed to wake up me, my wife, my dog, and my neighbors dog. One day, I came home to find red «DANGER» tape all around my balcony and warning signs on every door in my unit claiming that there was a hazardous condition within the home. There was absolutely no warning that anyone would come into my home, nor was there any explanation as to what the danger truly was. I found out later that City of Austin had inspected the buildings and my balcony was at risk imminent collapse due to structural flaws. Another time, I came home and found thousands of ants crawling all over my bed. I had to get an exterminator to come and I slept in a hotel that night. Le Montreaux refused to pay for my hotel, but they did give me a $ 150 Visa Gift Card as an apology for all the crap we went through.
Parking: You have to pay for reserved parking, otherwise it’s first come first serve. Unfortunately, the office is TERRIBLE about maintaining parking contracts and actually enforcing parking reservations. It became a weekly ritual for me to track down the individual who had parked in my reserved spot, politely ask them to move their car, or else just bite the bullet and let someone park in my spot that I pay for. This happened DOZENS of times. Guest parking is essentially around the corner from every unit. Guests park in front of the pool and walk over. This was a small inconvenience, but thats pretty much standard for most complexes these days anyway.
Community/​Amenities: This was one of the only cool things about Le Montreaux. They have some very unique services that they offer residents. The whole complex is lined with huuuge oak trees that make the place feel really magical. It’s a fabulous walk around the complex anytime you’re looking for some fresh air. They have a free range chicken coop where you can pick eggs fresh anytime they are available. They have an herb garden where you can select and cut your own fresh herbs. They have a nice pool that was mostly kept clean. Grilling areas around the pool. Event rooms at the clubhouse. The community is also gated, which is nice. The residents are pretty random in terms of ethnicity/​age. There are young families, old couples, students, young professionals. You get the impression that everyone came there for the same reason: nice neighborhood, quiet complex, cheap rent, convenient location. There’s no discrimination here.
Office Staff: These women are the nicest, friendliest, most incompetent people I have ever met. No one was EVER rude to me. I want that to be very clear. But nobody ever seemed to be able to solve my problem. For instance: I called two months after we moved out in order to inquire about my deposit that I never received. Temara is the lady helping me. She tells me that they do not handle the release of deposits, and that their property management company handles that stuff. I ask her for the contact information. She tells me they don’t have the contact information for their property management company… (doh!). She then tells me I should perform a Google search for Premier Asset Management in order to find their contact info. Guess what? There are alot of companies called Premier Asset Management. None of them have a listing in Austin either. This is just one of many cases where the office staff left me hanging and had zero competence when it came to assisting a resident.

«Waste of money and went downhill quickly»
I’ve been meaning to do this review for a while.
First off let me say that when I first moved into Le Montreaux, I lived with 3 other girls in one of the four bedroom, 2 story townhomes. It was spacious, besides the downstairs «bedroom,» which was more like the size of a closet. Then there was the odd design of the living room ceiling fan in the corner, completely pointless. The patio was nice and spacious, but the kitchen was tiny for the size of the place, and who puts washer/​dryer hookups in the already miniscule kitchen? Well at least this had hookups, because their 1 and 2 bedroom apartments do not even have hookups. YES, you heard me right, no washer/​dryer hookups! Forget using the laundry rooms because I had items stolen in there (namely underwear and towels), odds and ends. And no, I’m not irresponsible, I went down before the timer was up and things were taken.
It was coming time to renew lease or leave since two of the girls were moving out of city. One of the girls and I decided to stay in the complex (mainly for convenience) and get a two bedroom. Then, the management changed the same weekend we switched units. Go figure, and one of them in particular, was completely clueless with what was going on. The process took forever. They even disregarded the fact that we were trying to move in and went to show a space.
We got to our new place and the A/​C wasn’t working properly (of course it was the start of a lovely Austin summer too), the carpet looked disgusting, and the tile was sticky. It was appalling. When they finally came out, the reasoning behind the A/​C was that you had to close certain vents partially or all the way to let the air flow better in other areas. Say What??? All of the ladies were continually rude throughout us living there. Not to mention they brought they’re kids into work and ignored people when they walked in. They try to screw you over with «admin fees» and hidden deductions from your deposit. Even if you clean the place to a T. When I finally went to drop off keys to leave this place they didn’t say a word.
The fact that parking is horrendous and the new management decided to put up these posts saying «Reserved Parking,» wherever the hell they deemed necessary. Which just happened to be the only accessible parking areas close to buildings. One thing about this complex is it’s roughly small (but numbered in a strange way so no one can ever seem to find a building number). At least it didn’t take long when you had to park on the opposite side of the complex because everything was taken near our building. Walking across the complex in rain is terrible though because they have zero drainage, so it floods, along with the grass areas that they insist on irrigating right after the rain has already flooded it.
The perks of living here was the neighborhood and the location. Location-​wise you can hop right on mo-​pac or 183, or even go through the neighborhood down Spicewood to get to 360. The neighborhood had nice people, great schools, and tons of trees. so it was nice to walk my dog.
I’ve lived in some great apartments and rarely have so many bad things to say about a place, but this is not either of those things. I would not recommend this complex to anyone.

I’ve enjoyed living here over the past two years. The easy access to Mopac is awesome for commuting and there is a nice family atmosphere here. Good place to have kids since they’d have so many other kids to play with. Parking can be bad at times but its nothing too terrible. Service is helpful and they always know me when I walk in the lobby. None of my previous apartments did that before.

Update: Since I last posted this review, there is new management, which ups it one star. I have had a better response time with my apartment repairs.
The random forcing us to switch internet providers and then the random turn-​around was very bad business. I went ahead and cancelled with Time Warner, ever the rule follower, without getting a new provider because of the additional costs I would have to pay. Then, a month later, a tiny sign in the mail room appeared letting us know that we can keep Time Warner if we used them before. Thanks. They need better communication with residents.
Benefits: Good location, quiet, nice pool, chickens and communcal herb garden. Cons? See below. It’s basically what you get anywhere with a standard apartment in ATX.
Le Montreaux represents all that is awful about apartment living. But, perhaps I should be grateful! Things I have learned/​will soon find out:
How to clean my own carpets! That’s right, why settle for already clean carpets when you move in when you can learn all about the joys of foaming stain remover! It works like a charm. Just spray along the border of your carpet (you know, where the steamer they used couldn’t get to) and a few minutes later wipe up the hair and dirt that is lifted from the carpet.
Do power lines cause cancer? This is an awesome opportunity to find out! I can literally grab the power lines from my porch!
Does sun exposure cause cancer? Well, without any way to get shade on the porch you are literally baking when/​if you sit out there. There is no overhang on the roof, so forget about hanging anything to try to protect yourself.
I now stay in early! If you want to find parking past 9 p.m., you are out of luck! Why would you reserve a spot? Because everyone else has, and now there is no open parking. Some people reserve two spots for their car, and it’s a gated apartment, so you see where this is going!
Will I get MRSA from the gym? You just might! It is so dirty/​sweaty and there is no way to clean it unless you bring your own supplies.
I’ve learned to be crafty too. They don’t give out the gate code, so you have to import your local number into the system so your friends can dial you. It’s a pain in the ass.
Yes, so basically this apartment is old as sin (smells like it too) and is too big for its britches, i.e. too many cars not enough parking. The concierge service is a joke too. So, you pay more for well, nothing.

I stayed here for a year and a half and really enjoyed my time while here. The staff is very friendly and nice and honestly did not have any major issues.

I really enjoy this apartment complex. I found it through an apartment locating service, but they frequently have openings for all types of apartments. The first thing to be said is that the staff is always so friendly and helpful. They have an open door policy, and are super cool with discussing things you might be afraid to talk about, like animals or things you broke in your apartment.
The owners, whoever they are, also seem to continually take care of the complex and make improvements. This summer, we got a new pool basically, new gym equipment, etc. and there are always people working on the grounds to keep trees taken care of, grass cut, gardens kept, etc.
And they often plan community events for the complex, like just today there is free Mexican food and free live music by the pool so we can meet new residents.
It’s very nicely located — HEB and Randall’s within five minute drive, Walgreen’s down the road, lots of churches around if you’d like to walk to church on Sunday mornings, and the 19 bus comes to the front gate. As a UT student, I wish there was a UT bus that came closer. I drive to the Far West area and park my car there to take the bus to campus, which is kind of a pain.
Other perks: small gym on site, laundry facilities on site (I have a one bedroom and there are no hookups, but I think some of the larger apts have them), movie rentals, great pool and bbq area, limited security, and a nice, safe neighborhood. I would definitely recommend living here.

I really enjoyed living here. The area is really nice and I like that it’s relatively close to a Taco Shack, HEB, Randall’s, Subway, and other establishments. Love the location. (on the bus route)
This complex offers a work-​out room, a clubhouse with movie theatre seating, a pool that is cleaned daily, a dvd rental library and concierge services. (Thus, the prices are a tad higher)
The ONLY thing I really disliked is that some of the units (one bedroom) do not have washer/​dryer connections. Thus, you have to use the washrooms. However, they are always pretty clean and people are rather cordial.
Tips when renting here: Ask for the 5% discount. (They give you a discount if you work somewhere that has more than 200 employees)
Go to the meet and greets they host at the complex. We had a nice time at the wine-​tasting.
Overall, this place is great. Great office staff. Kathy rocks. (Not sure if she is still there.)