Berkeley Apartments – Touriel

I stayed at this apartment from 2010 to 2011 as a student… and after experiencing other living situations, I feel like I can give a fair review.
First of all the good things: This place is pretty flashy, like all the other buildings that are part of Berkeley Apartments. The building is tucked in between a restaurants and cafes and located on top of a flower shop. There are some convenient places nearby like Trader Joe’s, 24 Hour Fitness, various restaurants, BART, bus stops, and other things. My apartment faced West so I got a lot of afternoon daylight that really heated up rooms during the summer but everything about this building was about looking nice and new. There was even a space on the roof with chairs and benches that had an okay view of downtown and the Bay. Bills were also paid in an online system which is convenient (but I think there may have been a small fee, I don’t remember exactly).
Some things that I didn’t like were the pricing. The cost of the apartment for the size is definitely higher than what most students would be used to. It’s understandable that you are paying for the location Downtown and for conveniences nearby, but as a student with a certain budget, I realized it would have been better for me to rent somewhere else. Of note is that aside from electricity and gas as a utility we had to pay for, the water and garbage was also our responsibility. This made the utilities bill very much higher than what I had somewhere else, and I felt like there was no real way of confirming how much water we used. It was based on whatever bill they sent us so I’ve always thought that was a little strange and perhaps easy to exploit. Also there wasn’t much of a community on our floor of apartments, the hallway was particularly dirty and sometimes had a strange smell…(I even heard rumors that someone in the apartment across from us had died and no one knew, but that’s a little irrelevant). Also we had a few times where a fire alarm went off during the night and we had to evacuate… very unpleasant experience. The distance from this building to most campus buildings is also a little far (and up-​hill) so be prepared!
The management is also located in a central office somewhere else in Berkeley and is usually filled with prospective new renters that were USUALLY freshmen looking for their first place. I think it is very apparent that they use this office to lure in people with free food and drinks and lots of impressive floor-​plans and maps of buildings that show there’s only a few more spots vacant so you have to sign up fast! The application process also required fees for the person staying there as well as the co-​signers and it just felt like the management is trying to squeeze you out for as much money as possible sometimes.
Overall: A more expensive but nice looking apartment building in an average student’s point of view, just be sure you know what you’re getting into. I personally felt like the management are very greedy and was looking to get as much money from you as they can.

My year lease at the Touriel Building was fantastic. The building is clean, centrally located and well equipped.
The leasing process was the easiest I have experienced yet. Aurelia Marchetti, our leasing agent, was nothing short of excellent. Not only during the signing of the lease, but was quick to respond to anything and everything throughout the year. Make sure to request her when you choose to live here!