Sendera Barton Creek

I would give this complex 2.5 stars. The common areas are lovely. The maintenance and management team are efficient, friendly, helpful and welcoming. The biggest detractor for us is quite upsetting. We chose a lower level apartment and found that the sounds from above are very disruptive. We can hear our upstairs neighbor do everything, from walk across the floor, use the fan in the kitchen, flush the toilet and even speak. As a result we would not feel comfortable having guests over to our apartment. We have taken to wearing earplugs every night as the neighbors keep different hours than us. If the sound problem could be fixed, I would rate at a 4.

This isn’t the worst place to live, but it definitely isn’t what they market it as. This is definitely not a resort style.
–Valet trash service in mandatory, so this means everyone leaves their trash out from 4pm onwards. When you get home you often have to walk by smelly trash. When the garbage guys pick it up, they drag it. Sometimes this breaks the bag and you get that sticky nasty smelling garbage juice on the walkway/​stairs.
–They have something called «towel service» where they put towels by the poolside and in the gym. However the only time they really do this is around Friday/​Saturday when they are showing the apartments off. They usually aren’t there.
–All the gym machines have a large screen on them, however they are not plugged in to the cable. So you just have all these blank tv screens on the exercise equipment. It isn’t horrible, but it something that shouldn’t happen at a «resort community»
–The service/​repair guys are a little slow (take about 2 – 4 weeks for a repair). This isn’t the main issue. The bigger issue is that they just don’t know what they are doing and they are very inconsiderate of your belongings. Many of my work orders have needed to be resubmitted because they do not fix what is wrong. An example of this is one of their appliances leaking (you would think management would worry about the resulting water damage). They also leave a mess, I have found a couple screws, and saw dust. Sloppy work with their painting and such. If it was a cheaper place, these items would be easier to overlook.
–The office staff is extremely polite, however they are not able to solve the most of the issues. I am not sure if they do not have authority to do so, or purposely let items go unaddressed.
–Neighbors: this is why I gave 2 stars and not 1. The people that live there are great. Most are older people that are retired or about to retire. It is generally quiet and many are at home all day.
–Rent must be paid by check or autodeduct (by you providing your bank account info to them, not the other way around). Do a check. They have messed up their billing in the past and you don’t want them to forget to withdraw or over draw. The late fee is a $ 100 plus $ 15 per day. If you pay by CC there is a $ 50 fee.

I’ve really enjoyed the last year here at Sendera. I have not had any issues with management at all, they’ve responded to all of my maintenance requests promptly and professionally.
The parking is not too bad, there is some guest parking but it can be a tiny bit sparse at times. The amenities are well kept, the grounds are insanely gorgeous, the wildlife is abundant, and it is super quiet here.
Only bummer: upstairs neighbors are noisy, but that it typical for any apartment. Rent is a tad high, but that is due to the impeccable location. Only downside of the location is a lack of über close shopping and restaurants– but that is why is it perfectly quiet out here. I keep windows open at night and have never been woken up by noise outside– can’t say that anywhere else is Austin.
Can get to downtown in 20 minutes at 7am, about 40 minute drive once it hits 7:30am. There are not a lot of options to avoid traffic getting back from downtown at about 6pm, best bet is to stay downtown later if possible until about 7pm. (Grab dinner while you’re out downtown, because there isn’t a WHOLE lot of options super close.)
I would say the best part of this place is how serene and quiet it is, as well as the top notch quality of the apartment itself. I’ve never felt any part of the unit was lacking. I’ve truly been spoiled here.
Closest grocery store is maybe a 10 minute drive (5ish miles?) and that is where a few fast food options are (chick fil a, hat creek, and p Terry’s. So decent options in my book.) There is also kerbey lane and Lupe tortilla (would recommend) in the same shopping area.
There are two farmers markets nearby, barton creek mall on Saturdays (20 minute drive) and the ones at the galleria on Sundays (17ish minute drive)
Gas here in the area is about 15 cents above Austin usual due to high income area.
I don’t have kids, but have heard the schools are phenomenal– it’s right by a catholic private school (seriously walking distance)
But yeah! I would recommend living here, especially if you want absolute quiet and great quality.

I’ve lived here for about a year now and sadly I will be moving out in June 2014. I initially chose this location due to the close proximity to my office. However, as a 26 years old, the general area leaves a lot to be desired for someone in my age group. That said, the surrounding area is gorgeous. It’s a bit out of the way from the city center though.
Anyways, the staff at SBC is just awesome. The assistant manager at the time, John Roy was extremely personable and helpful when I came into the office for the very first time to look and ultimately sign a lease. Unfortunately, he is no longer with the company. However, his replacement — Danielle Palmer is equally awesome. She is always enthusiastic and smiling, and very willing to help. I haven’t had much experience with the other office staff members.
I have only had a single issue during my time at SBC. My blinds fell down and broke at one point. I put in a service request and it took 20 days to rectify the situation. I understand that the blinds had to be ordered, but honestly — I felt that 20 days was a bit excessive to have a huge gaping hole right into my living room. Other than that one instance, maintenance was pretty on point. Most issues were resolved within 24 hours. The pool area is always well-​maintained, as well as the grounds in general.
The people in the apartment complex were pretty nice. No loud or rude neighbors in my experience living there. There ARE some pretty obnoxious barking dogs. I can’t blame the apartment complex for that though. I just wish dog owners would take more responsibility. On the topic of dogs — the complex also has a dog park which is really nice.
All in all, i had a good experience living here and would definitely recommend it to others. Good luck!

Apartment Home Sweet Apartment Home. I lived here in ²⁰⁰⁶⁄₂₀₀₇ under different management company and moved back 5 weeks ago for the quality of the apartments, the garages, and the size of the bathtub. Oh, and they have chocolate chip cookies in the front office sometimes — warm chocolate chip cookies (and don’t laugh when I sneak a second one).
This doesn’t feel like other apartment places I’ve lived — more like condos on the west side of town. It’s well kept, the maintenance guys are quick and nice, and everyone has dogs. Although I miss being smack in the middle of central Austin, this area is beautiful and quiet at night with deer wandering through the back of the property. Great places to walk in the neighborhoods and again — a big bathtub for soaking after eating those warm cookies. If only they had milk…

I have only lived here a little over a month but so far it has been an absolute pleasure. The management were very accommodating to my situation. I live right across from the dog park. What a great location for my dog and I. They keep the plenty of bags for you to pick up after your dog and they empty the trash can regularly. I love that everyone is so friendly and I have met so many other dog owners. This past Friday night several of us met with our dogs in the park and had pizza and wine while the dogs played. I love it!

One unique practice of CWS properties (the company that manages this property) regarding deposits is a «Sure Deposit,» in which the resident is offered the choice between paying a refundable deposit of $ 150 or purchasing a non-​refundable surety bond for a lower amount. They offered me this option when I lived at Marquis at Caprock Canyon, a sister property, and I took it, not understanding this alternative in its entirety.
This surety bond holds the resident responsible for paying damages that can far exceed the $ 150 deposit (if memory serves correct, I believe there is a $ 500 ceiling on this). In other words, you decide whether to pay an upfront amount of cash, or hold on to that money at the risk of greater loss in the future. It’s up to you. Fortunately, I left my unit spotless and had no outstanding charges, but in the event I didn’t, I would have had to reimburse the bonding company rather than CWS. Either way, you don’t get the price of the bond back, which isn’t that much less than the actual deposit.
This is an awesome arrangement for property managers, because they don’t have to haggle with tenants over deductions; they just submit their expenses to the bonding company and get paid. Unfortunately for tenants, they can no longer deal directly with CWS if they don’t agree with the charges.
The legality of this practice is unclear — in some states such as California, landlord-​tenant law dictates that all security deposits be refundable, but Texas landlord-​tenant law, which tends to favor landlords’ rights, might be different.
If you can, try to pay the security deposit in its entirety so that you can challenge any disputed deductions with the landlord directly. Please see the following article for more details: