Vivere Apartments

My husband and I have lived here for almost 3 years now and have lived here once before nearly 15 years ago so, we have seen many changes in personnel as well as in construction of the actual complex itself. Each change has been well executed and each manager has brought her own style– fortunately, the owners choose talented professionals like Chelcie to gracefully execute the details of over seeing the day to day minutiae of this lovely property. Her assistant, Chad, juggles his many tasks with warm, personal flair and Alfonso, the Senior Maintenance Technician works tirelessly to support all of his residents needs. With Los Gatos being one of the few rent controlled cities in California, Vivere has the advantage of visually stunning scenery, solidly built and quiet apartments run by management that gets the job done while making you feel cared for by keeping the residents a priority. Resident retention is high at our complex and those who move on should have happy memories… I know we personally have many for which we are truly grateful.

Great place to live in a nice community
Big pool, nice neighborhood, and you can have pets.

Please read this review before viewing or thinking of moving in.
*PLEASE READ ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE NEAR APT #140*
On 02/​15/​2015 at 4am, we woke up with our eyes watering and nose running. The smell of a skunk had covered our entire apartment, the air, furniture, clothes, and everything we owned reeked of skunk. Just to clarify, our apartment was completely sealed, all windows and doors were completely closed. At 4am we had to flee for our health and drive 75 miles to my friends house. We grabbed as many clothes as we could and had to wash them at least 4 times each.
That same day 02/​15/​2015, we contacted Vivere Apartments around 9am and spoke to Chad. We discussed the issue we were experiencing. That same day, Chelsea, the manager contacted us and notified us that they would be covering the hotel and any food expense until the issue was resolved.
The next day 02/​16/​2015, Chelsea also witnessed the intensity of the skunk odor within our apartment and our belongings. She again confirmed that they would be covering the hotel and food expenses as long as we kept our receipts. Additionally, she stated they would be doing a deep clean of the apartment and would get our clothes professionally cleaned.
Living hotel to hotel was not ideal. Not only that but we had to receive approval from Chelsea before reserving the next day at a hotel. She wouldn’t call till 4pm! Meaning we would have to check out by 11am, go to work, get her approval and look for a new hotel again.
Then on 02/​19/​2015 Chelsea said she will not be responsible for any of our belongings that may be damaged. She also confirmed that she was unable to locate the source of the skunk.
On ⁰²⁄₂₀ they had a company come out to deodorize our apartment. Let me explain what it did… it recycled the air and deodorized it with a CINNAMON smell… No cleaning was done with the apartment or the skunk oil. Obviously the smell was still lingering within the apartment, however, they stated it was ‘bearable’ (per management’s words).
I eventually spoke to Chelsea and one of the property manager from Woodmont. I asked if we could leave the lease because we knew that the issue was not fixed. I explained that all they did was MASK the problem and that I was sure the smell will not go away. The property manager then said that she doesn’t want to loose the money/​business and that she would rather just move me into a different unit. I was not satisfied, I wanted to get out after this traumatizing event. She definitely knew how to belittle someone.
Eventually, we had no choice and stayed. On ²⁄₂₇ I was sitting in my living room and the stinging skunk smell came in so strong that it made me cry again. We again asked if we can break the lease and leave the property. As always they couldn’t care less of the tenant’s health and they moved us to a different unit.
We had to throw away our coach, they only covered 4 days of the hotel, threw away lots of leather clothing (the smell will not wash off) and we had to move all of our stuff in ONE DAY (or we will be charged).
We settled into our new apartment but kept everything in boxes.
When we were speaking to Chad one day, he revealed that we were able to get out of our lease if we can find someone to move in (thanks for telling us in advance…). We jumped right on it and started searching. We found a wonderful place and was able to find someone to sign a new lease for the apartment. We left the apartment on ⁰⁵⁄₁₃.
The end… well I thought that was the end…
On ⁰⁶⁄₁₅ I called and asked when we were receiving our deposit check. Chelsea stated that the accountant will send the check soon.
On ⁷⁄₇ I notified them that we still have not received our deposit back. Chad stated that we actually owed $ 6.84 and that if we did not pay it, we would be sent to Collections.
HAH. Let me mind you, we lived in that unit for a very short period of time and we scrubbed that apartment!
Vivere & Woodmont will not care nor help you.
When it comes to calling a place your home… this is definitely not it.
*By the way — they caught one skunk. To my knowledge, the skunk oil that protruded the apartment was never found or cleaned*

I do not live here yet, but i did come by for a tour. Very clean grounds and well maintained. Units i visited were remodeled and had fresh feeling. Large clean Pool. Staff was very friendly. Management was professional. After my weekend tour in Los Gatos area Vivere is by far the best choice.

I really enjoyed living at, what was then named, Riviera Terrace. The location is wonderful and the amenities were great. However, when I moved out in April 2015, thing got really awful. First, the leasing office made an error and deduced $ 337 from my deposit. I immediately called and talked to the manager Chelsea. After pointing out the error, Chelsea said that she would call the accountant that day and get a check out in the mail to me. 2 weeks later I still had no check. I called Chelsea again, and again she said she would call the accountant and get this taken care of. 3 more weeks passed and still no check. Every time I called Chelsea she would tell me she would take care of it and call me back. I never got any calls back from her, and only after I showing up at the leasing office in person, did finally get a check.
The other problem is that they deducted $ 120 for carpet cleaning and a «pet scan» for urine, which I was fine with, however, I never received a copy of the bill or invoice for the work done. In April 2015 I requested a copy of the invoice and was told, by Chelsea, that she would mail one to me. That was 4 months ago and still no invoice. I talked to Chelsea 2 more times regarding the invoice but I still don’t have one. Recently Chelsea told me over the phone that she would email the invoice to me «right now». That was a week ago and still no invoice.
This has been incredible frustrating and some of the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced.

WE did a tour of these. So from a quick stop by perspective it seems super cute and nice.
Pros
Some units are BRAND new
Pool area is large & updated
Pet Friendly
Safe Neighborhood
Cons
New units are way more $$ than older/​renovated units
Older units have popcorn ceiling
Older units have no washer/​dryer
Laundry room is outdated/​Pay laundry

I just signed a lease and so far working with Luis Duran has been great! I’ll keep updating my review upon my move in, but I don’t think so far they deserve the low ratings…

Can’t thank the manager Chelsea or Chad enough. Woke up one Sunday morning to a putrid smell in our apartment and being new to the USA had no idea it was a skunk. Chad worked his hardest to try and help and got Chelsea in on her day off. They did everything in their power to try and resolve the situation. By Monday morning we had live skunk traps down and were offered paid hotel accommodation until the smell had dissipated. Good news is that a skunk was trapped and later released into the wild.

I have lived here for more than a year and I have to say, I’m pretty happy to be moving out. It is incredibly expensive, and definitely not worth it. The only perks are the pool, the work out room, and the fact that it is pet friendly. Aside from that, the people who work here are incredibly rude. I always got the vibe when speaking to them that they really don’t care about you. Also, don’t think that just because it’s in Los Gatos that it’s safe, my partner has had his car broken into TWICE. We notified the landlords and all they did was say «sorry». However, the remodel makes the new housing beautiful, but costing upwards of 2.5k or more for a one bedroom. Another pet peeve is that it claims to be «pet friendly» however, there are very little places for your dog to go to the bathroom. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

I’ve lived here for past 2.5 years and for the greater part of that time there was construction. We were told over and over again how much our patience was appreciate and how worthwhile it would be when it was over! Not only is there absolutely no green space for children to play like there was before, the pool area is much smaller, less area for picnicking and BBQing and outdoor get togethers. When they finally rent the overpriced newly built apartments everything will feel overcrowded.
The very friendly and helpful Property Manager, Mary Stokes is gone along with the very nice Alisha, who was new during the final stages of construction. The women in the office now are for the most part rude and only interested in people who may lease the new apts. I have heard from a few of my neighbors that they feel as though we in the older apts are looked down upon. The friendly community I moved into no longer exists. Many people who had lived here for many years left during construction.
Yesterday when I came home to find my ceiling leaking I called the emergency number. I left several messages that were not returned. I discovered later that the number is incorrect. I left a couple messages with the office regarding this and no one returned my call. And the wrong number is still on the recording!!!