Sumida Gardens

This complex appears to be very nice, with beautiful looking apartments, a nice gym and a pool. It’s great for kids and it’s a good location for Goleta.
However, they rip you off every chance they get. They raised our rent by $ 600 when they found out 3 people were in a 2 bedroom apartment. Our apartment now costs $ 2800 a month. They are going to charge us hundreds on top of keeping the deposit after move out due to some carpet damage and standard wear and tear. They charge you roughly $ 200 to replace the key tag to get into the gym and pool or to have another key made. They don’t pro-​rate.
Not. Worth. It.

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER! The front staff are absolutely not nice people. They are often times rude on the phone or make you feel stupid or bad for calling at all. They have absolutely NO concept of customer service and I don’t actually think they care about whether you’re happy or not. I will move out of here as soon as my lease is up. The apartment themselves are nice and maintenance is super quick when responding to calls. HOWEVER… the walls are paper thin. You can hear EVERYTHING: cooking, walking, talking, sex (that one is super fun). My opinion, spend the extra few hundred bucks and move to Willow Springs. GREAT customer service, thicker walls and the bigger apartments.

Just wanted to update my review to add that we got back nearly our entire security deposit. We left the carpet in our unit pretty dirty at move out and the amount that was deducted was very reasonable. I still loved my experience at Sumida Gardens!
See my original review for a *ton* of details about living here.

Been going around looking for an apartment in the Santa Barbara-​Goleta area. I currently live in a Towbes apartment in Ventura and decided to look online for a Towbes apartments near my work. I saw the website for Sumida Gardens and decided to stop in and check out the place in person. I came in after work around 5:15 in the afternoon. I walked in and the lady asked me if she could help me. I told her I’m looking for a one bedroom apartment. She told me they didn’t have any available and to go to their sister apartment. She did not even bother asking me when I want to move in or any of my other information. It felt like she was rushing to get me out of there. I’ve been to a lot of apartments down in San Diego and in Santa Barbara and in every single one of them the managers have been nice and took my information and showed me their model apartment even if they didn’t have availability. She really wanted me out of there. She even told me she didn’t have a model to show me. I told her I’m not in a hurry to find an apartment because I am living on a month-​to-​month basis with my current apartment and I don’t have a deadline to move out. She told me told me abruptly «there’s a long waiting list.» So then I told her, «we’ll maybe you can put me on the list and down the line if you have an opening maybe you can contact me.» She then gave me a piece of paper and told me to fill it out. This is weird because in all the places I’ve been to it was them who filled out the form. After I filled out the form she told me that she’ll contact me if there’s any opening. Then she told me goodbye. But before I left I asked if there’s any brochures or info about the apartment that she could give me. She gave me a pamphlet and I left feeling like crap.
Oh and the whole time I was there she didn’t even ask me if I wanted to sit down. I talked to her and filled out the form standing up. Worst customer service.
I was going to give it one star review but this review is mostly about that one lady in the office and not the apartment. The apartments seems nice outside. I wouldn’t know what the inside looks like because she did not offer to let me see a model apartment.

Please, please keep driving and keep looking!!! Dogs barking all day from humane society across the street, loud freeway noise and kids screaming from catholic school across the street plus all their hourly bells going off is irritating to say the least. And just google the complex for crime history. Office staff is very uppety as well. Worst complex ever.

Nice apartment but worst staff ever:(

We have been living at Sumida Gardens for about 9 month. The grounds are very well kept, the pool area is very nice & well kept. They have a great playground that is ideal if you have children. Access to good produce & close proximity to Santa Barbara make it an ideal location.
We recently relocated into a new 3 bedroom apartment in the same complex. This is why I’m giving them 1 star. We went above and beyond to make sure that the apartment was clean & spotless. We own properties in Northern California & have tenants. We understand that certain fees apply to your move therefor you will only get a fraction of your deposited. Sumida Gardens charged us to clean an apartment that was spotless. I find that to be extremely crony on their behalf. I understand being charged for the carpet cleaning & was expecting that charge. We have not been given an itemized bill of the charges or explanation as to why we where charged $ 260.00 dollars for cleaning a clean apartment.
My advise if you live here and move out don’t do any cleaning because you will be shafted. This the first review I ever written on Unilocal & I wrote because what they did was immoral & lacked conciseness.

I have been living in this apartment complex for 4 months now. I made the front office aware of every problem we have had since we have moved in. The most recent one is a skunk has been sleeping, and spraying on or near our patio every night. The office managers reply was «sorry there is nothing we can do». Are you kidding! its called animal control, and setting a trap!!! That exact answer has been given to me for every situation. Not only are the complex managers, rude, unprofessional, and lack customer service skills, they simply don’t care! I will never recommend this complex to anyone. The beauty and up keep is not nice to enjoy when you know your not going to receive the help you expect from the apartment managers. WHAT A JOKE!!! Not only are the managers ridiculously lazy, and uneducated the clearly do not have any idea of what the apartments look like inside. They told me we would have a walk in closet… ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT! The only apartments that have a walk in are 2 bedrooms or more! Also they do not even attempt to contact the asshole attendant that live above me when I complain. Just FYI tons of college students live here and are so loud! specifically the guy above me! The walls are so thin I can hear the neighbor above me, pee, shower, fart, talk on the phone, snor, have sex, even when he bangs he fork on a plate… THIS PLACE SUCKS SO BAD!!! It is painful for me to even finish out my lease contract with this place.

Sumida Gardens was an okay place to live! I am a busy PhD student at UCSB and I lived there with my husband for one year.
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Pros: We lived on the third floor of building 124 and it was very quiet, peaceful, and relaxing. The landscaping was lovely and well maintained. I always felt very safe both inside and outside of the building. The kitchen was nice and the cabinetry was new. Sumida Gardens was really one of the few places that allowed cats, so that was definitely a plus! Also, we loved having access to our own Washer & dryer!
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Cons: However, ultimately, there were a number of downsides to living here that made us want to leave after only one year.
First, I personally found the staff to be somewhat incompetent: (. That might seem like a harsh statement, but when we were first moving in, we lived 8 hours away in northern California. We communicated with the staff about moving in via email and phone and they assured us that our room (#304) would have a walk-​in closet and would allow for Satellite. We double checked this TWICE with them over email just to be sure. When we arrived, we found out that there was actually no walk-​in closet, and no line-​of-​sight for Satellite. When we brought this to the attention of the staff (twice), they barely apologized and did nothing to rectify the situation. Call me crazy, but at the very least the staff should know whether a room has a walk-​in closet or not…
Second, despite the fact that there is a dishwasher, we barely used it because the water in the building is *hard* and you can not get a water-​softener. When we actually used the dishwasher (even with special soap designed for hard-​water), it left this crusty residue on things: (. Although, I think a lot of places in Santa Barbara unfortunately use hard-​water. This is actually a big problem… We found that it made cleaning the sink faucets impossible because they accumulated crusty calcium deposits even though we cleaned regularly. Also it made the Brita water pitcher crusty, and it left this gross residue on the shower curtain. Additionally, the hard water tasted kind of gross and took a lot of getting used to. We just recently moved into a new place with soft-​water and our lives already feel a million times better not using the gross hard-​water!
Third, some of the neighbors are kind of icky with leaving trash in the parking lot and smoking. I think this is just a small percentage of people though.
Fourth, no dogs allowed: (. This sucks because there is literally a pet rescue across the street called «Dawgs» and they constantly tempt you into wanting to get a dog, but you can’t have one!
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Anyway! Those were just some of my larger complaints… but on the whole, Sumida Gardens was fine for one year. I’m happier now that we moved out though :)!!

Replacing your electronics card passes for the pool or laundry room should not be $ 50-​$ 75. The last apartment I lived in, it was $ 10 a card. Same format of card/​machines. Ridiculous.
If I’m paying for the garden, resort quality here I expect my pool cleaned regularly, to have TWO functioning doors to the pool/​gym area, and have working BBQ grills out there.
My apartment itself is clean, today, and updated which I like. I like my covered parking space and haven’t had trouble with others in my spot.
My walls are paper thin and unfortunately my new upstairs neighbors allow their children to train for the one-​legged, blindfolded, pogo stick, rock throwing contest throughout their kitchen and living room. The big meet must be coming up because they are stomping 6am through midnight.
Sumida Nursery is close by and I’ve always loved that place, so that’s a plus. St Raphael’s is next door, which is nice but beware the parents dropping off their kids and flooring it out of the parking lot without even looking for oncoming traffic. At least someone’s close by to read me my last rites.
The dogs barking at the pound are probably troublesome for some apartments, but not all. I don’t notice them personally, so no demerits for that.
If the reviews I read about the move-​out/​cleaning/​deposit process are true, then it will only be the icing on this crappy cake. But at least I’m tan thanks to the pool.

If you’re thinking of renting here, check Craigslist for promotions. Often times they offer a free months rent or washer and dryer rental free for a year.
I lived here for 3 years and, for the most part, enjoyed my stay. The apartment was brand new, never before occupied at the time. All of the units have an ample, modern kitchen with gas stoves… perfect for the home cook.
Because of the cost of rent (upwards of 2K for a 2 bedroom unit) everyone is usually always at work… which means the facilities are underused. It isn’t rare to go to the pool or spa in the evening and not a single person is there.
The front desk staff is very professional, but a little too rigid on policy and procedure. One example is they offered employees of certain businesses in town a 5% rent reduction. After realizing that I worked for one of these companies, I inquired… but it was only for new renters. BUT, if I were to move from one 2 bedroom apartment to another 2 bedroom apartment then they would give me the deal. Stuff like this is complete nonsense and you will definitely come across examples like this during your stay here.
Another example: I forgot to pay my rent by the 5^th of the month one time. They usually called to remind me, which is very nice of them, but this time they didn’t. They send you a couple letters in the mail notifying you of late fees and possible eviction… even if 1 day late! They won’t accept a personal check if the rent is late. They will only accept a money order or cash. When I brought in cash they said only money orders are accepted and I had to show them the copy of the letter I received from them that said cash was ok.
You only get 1 pool key… so be prepared to call your significant other or roommate many times wondering why they took the key to work with them by accident and now you can’t use the gym or pool. And when you lose it… you pay $ 50 dollars… for a 50 cent RfID tag.
The entire property is non-​smoking, except for a small designated smoking area in the back of the property.
That being said, the place is very quiet and a very decent place to live. They fix any maintenance problems quickly, most of the time just minutes after reporting a problem.

We are staying at this place from the past 4 months and would say we love this place. It is a perfect place for our family of 4 with two kids. Apartments are well maintained, common area, kids play area, pool, Gym are all well maintained.
All the staff members are very friendly, especially Asst. manager Anna at the Leasing office is great and very helpful. All our service requests and inquiries are answered quickly
Would highly recommend this place to live.

I’m torn on my review here. While it is nice, shiny and newer (esp in this area) I agree with Mike– the noise is HORRENDOUS!!! Unfortunately we live on the bottom apartment. We originally wanted the top floor, but we were told we could not have a BBQ if we lived on the top so we ultimately chose the bottom so we could have our bbq. (even though we now see plenty of top floor apts with bbqs!). We have had issues with neighbors above us. We are the original tenants in our unit, but the apt above us has had a revolving door, mostly college students that like to party at 3am on a tuesday. The college students don’t last long because the complex is good at enforcing the quiet rule after 10pm, so they usually move out quickly. When we first moved in, the original manager actually did a sound test between our apartment and the one above us. The test confirmed that it was not insulated properly and there were noise issues found. My husband was here during the testing, so we know this for a fact. Unfortunately the first manager left in the process of dealing with this, and the new one claims there is «nothing wrong or out of the ordinary, the test didn’t show anything!» Yeah right! Come spend one night here and you will quickly change your mind.
the good: newer, big kitchen, good amount of storage, nice walk in closet
the bad: the sound between apartments, management not willing to do much about problems.

The noise from the adjacent neighbors is ridiculous. The property manager doesn’t care about any of the ongoing problems that intrude on the individuals who mistakingly chose this place as a home. You will be so sorry if you choose sumida gardens as your home. The walls are made of cardboard. They assign you a car port space but let anyone park in it, and will tell you there is nothing they can do. My husband and I hate living here and regret the very day we moved in.
Update:
Our previous neighbor was finally evicted due to a public display of domestic violence with her kids. At this point the cops were called and other neighbors finally came forward and complained about their noise. We have since gotten new neighbors that are a God send and while the noise transfer is still bad between apartments, they are also conscience of it and its been a pleasure living next to them.