Marina Playa

I just moved in here last weekend.
3 star for the apartment and management — it is old (built in the 70s if I am not wrong). It was still cleaned as much as an old apartment can be and made decently ready for move in. The management is kind of rigid — For e.g. they couldn’t take the HDTV clause out of the lease agreement, even if no HDTV was provided. I had to make do with an email declaration. Also for some weird reason they didn’t let me take a tour of the apartment I was leasing even after it was vacated a couple of weeks before I was supposed to move in.
Albeit the above complaints I am giving 4 stars because of the excellent (5 star) service I got from the leasing specialist Stephanie. She ensured that the HDTV non-​existence was well recorded, sent pictures of the apartment I was supposed to move in (as mentioned wasn’t allowed to take a tour myself) and followed up with all my queries in an efficient manner.
I just hope that this service is not just for move in and will continue all through the lease period.

It was nice apartment when I moved-​in, more then one year ago.
If you have a family and looking quiet place, you will extremely unhappy here. Starting from September here is a lot of students, who have excessive noisy party every weekend, it usually ends at 5am.
Gooses looks good, until you don’t know about their breeding season, from February till end of April. This time you will wakeup about 5am, because they shout very loud and landing on your roof. Which is not so nice, how you might thinking.
There is several Indian groups of people who live by 8 – 10 people in one apartment, and they are not quiet till 3am.
Price is not reasonable here. Please don’t tell me about market price, just open craigslist…

Would give 0 stars if there was an option.
Turn around and run run run!
Once you fall for their reasonable looking price, and you sign the lease, you are finished. They will keep squeezing as much money from you as possible for various reasons and they don’t give a damn about speaking to you in a human way after that.
Just dont worry about details, just turn around and run as fast as you can.

Updated reviews
To be fair, the leasing office followed up with me afterwards and offered a good solution. I am happy with that prompt and responsive feedback. Upgrading the ranking for their self-​improving gesture.
_​…
I wish I can rate it as zero. Period.
I have lived here for a year and is moving out recently. Just can not wait to get away from this terrible place and the arrogant and ignorant management office.
1. Wall is as thin as paper. Every night I have to put up with thr snoring of my next door neighbor, or their laundry, or steps of late nighters.
2. I lost my access card to residential center. I got a charge of 50 dollar for replacement, plus a long lecture from the manager. Wait, I don’t need you to tell me I deserve the cost because I am a dump who lost key in your gym.
3. Gym is the humid, small and suffercating. Crowded. You are half an arm away from the other guy on treadmill.
4. They shut down residential center for repair first for a month then extended to 2~3 months. No one mentions a wOrd about compensation.
5. They hunger for every opportunity to suck your blood. I got one bed room for 1960 per month. The next year I want only a six month rent. I ended up getting 2700 a month.
6. Pests appear in the third month and I never got away fROM
Them ever since. Got bites a couple of times by anonymous insects.
7. Office management are irresponsive to request or email, and fake poker face. Don’t trust the first impression of being friendly.
Try everything you can to avoid this place.

This place is horrible. They try to be nice in the beginning and pretend they like you, provide a free tv and amnesties. However, the management is horrible!
They take 60−70% of your deposit and they claim they used it for different purposes on a list.
Most of them are lies and they associate with a cleaning company that isn’t even recognized. The numbers are of one guy, so it is FAKE. You get OVERCHARGED and pay for things that were already broken. In addition, They said they charged me 180 for carpet cleaning, but when I drove by 4 days later the carpet was all out and they were remodeling.
They charged us for paint and the place didn’t need any.
They also charged us for random items around the house.
If you live there just realize that the deposit will not come back and the manager is SUpER rude about it. He called me names on the phone and was being nothing but an as**olé.
Worst place ever, m. Oh and the ducks that look pretty, well they poop everywhere and the site services don’t clean them.

If there is a zero, I will give a zero.
The badness of this place is beyond any descriptions of words. I will just list a few.
1. Their stuff is always trying to dodge service request.
2. Their apartment is full roaches and other pests. I called them to take care of it many times. They first tried to dodge it. But after I wrote a serious email, they are scared and tried to solve it. At first, they find some real cheap pest control guys. And they roach problem did not stop. Finally, they spent some real money and found a real pest control guy to solve it. A few days after the roach problem seemed to be solved. They immediately wrote me an email saying that, since the roach problem is solved, any roach problem in the future they would charge the tenants. In about 3 weeks, roaches showed up again.
3. Their water sinks are always jammed and stinky smell comes out of it when you use the shredder
4. Walls are as thin as paper. I can hear my downstairs snoring like he is sleeping in the same room.
Finally, a few tips for those who are reading this. If you are thinking of moving to Marina Playa, I can tell you HELL is a much better place. If you already live there, fight for your rights and try to move out ASAP.

I would not suggest living here for numerous reasons
–LOTS of silver fish bugs everywhere, in your shower, room, kitchen, dishes, it’s bad
–Dirty, carpet had stains all over it when we moved in
–Broken appliances: fridge was completely cracked and leaked, AC never worked from the start, the shower floor was sinking in
–Walls are extremely thin, I could literally hear every time our neighbor went to the bathroom. It was bad.
–Staff is not friendly. They seem to get annoyed when you ask questions or have any issues that come up.
–Geese poop… everywhere. Oh and geese stomping on your roof at night
–THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON: They will overcharge you when you move out for fees to «fix up» the place that was already messed up when you moved in. We got charged a few hundred dollars for the place to be repainted? When we had done no damage to the paint. I even demanded the contact information for the place that apparently painted the apartment and I was given a FAKE NUMBER. So basically, I was charged for something that didn’t happen and it was very much done on purpose. Very shady. I think they charged us about $ 1,200 more than we actually should have paid.
–Oh and all of the pics you see on here, they are of the lobby and main office, not the apartments lol. The apartments look NOTHING like that.
All in all, the place across the street, Villa Granada, is a better option. I moved there right after my 1 year lease was up and I was very happy with it.

I lived at Marina Playa for almost 9 years and loved it! I not only lived there but worked there as well. I loved working with the best team in the industry. My associate Brittany Kenyon was a joy to work with and the perfect person to fill my position when I left. I would recommend Marina Playa to anyone who’s not only looking for a great place to live but also an awesome community to be a part of.

Not only were the apartments beautiful, but this was by far one of the best experiences I have had in my search for a new apartment for my family and I. Vernalee James was the sweetest leasing agent I have ever met. She was also HILARIOUS. I did not feel pressured at all but I felt no reason to pass up such a beautiful apartment. Even our leasing agent ms. James lived in the apartment complex. I really appreciate the time this young women devoted to giving us exceptional service.

The Management was very friendly. I had a very positive experience working with Verna Lee. They provided with options and was open to advance my move in time. I put this as first point as this is one of the primary reason for my lease.
Well maintained community. I am sure my kid is going to love the ducks around :)…Very conveniently located for all major shopping place and easy commute
Online fill up of the leasing documents was very easy and saved a lot of time.

Cons: Non Gated Community. Few units are not renovated with old appliances, same rent though. Office admin Britney & Hose are not so humble.
Pros: Well maintained Recreation/​Gym facility. Two pool areas and Long Tennis courts. Pet friendly. Its nearby to bus stops and Walgreens. Lot of Asian community to hang around.

I am living in Marina Playa for 2+ years now. This is my first review in Unilocal and I want to write it for this apartment. I like this apartment. Jose and his staffs are responsive and addresses your concerns on time. Excellent maintenance staffs, nice/​clean community, well maintained recreation facilities (clean pools, well equipped gym). El Camino and Bus stops are at walkable distance. Strongly recommend this place.

I saw these apartments while going to the DMV and wanted to shift in. When my lease was up at my current residence we drove by on a weekend and dropped in, This is where we ran into Britney, when we went in she didnt even bother to look up. after i walked up to her and said we were here to look at 2×2 or 2×1 she said «I dont have anything available.» then she went back to playing with her phone. I asked her if i can get their number so i could call later on, she said «I dont have any cards» When i asked her for a print out of the floor plan, she said the printer was jammed.
I was disgusted by the way she was behaving. When i came back and looked on craigslist there were ads for Marina Playa, when i called the number they said houses were available and i can fix up an appointment immediately, Britney’s Behavior was pretty pathetic. there are many appartments near by and i wish Marina Playa sends her for a class on etiquette and how to behave with people.

While the apartments in general are nice, so much about this place is terrible.
The water feature seems appealing until you find out that half the year the place is covered with geese who are aggressive, noisy, and defecate all over everything.
The main problem we experienced here is that the staff are EXTREMELY dishonest. We moved out because we had maintenance problems that they refused to fix, such as a leaky bathtub.
When we moved out, we wrote on the form that the staff would not perform maintenance. Months later, I looked at the copy of the form that they mailed to us and saw that they had CHANGED the reason that we moved out to say that we couldn’t pay our rent because one of us lost our job.
Do not trust these people.

I scheduled an appointment (after seeing MULTIPLE posts on Craigslist for available units here) a week in advance to view an apartment. I was excited about the appointment because although there are NEVER any pictures of the inside of the apartments here, the pictures of some of the amenities is sort of impressive.
My daughter and I arrived for our appointment a few minutes early to witness a conversation between the woman in the office and a potential tenant. The woman in the office (who I believe her name is Brittney, unless she was sitting at someone else’s desk) was extremely rude to the other woman. Once the other woman left «Brittney» who was clearly irritated proceeded to say out loud «that was the most awkward and irritating 5 minutes of my life, how can I help you?» I responded by telling her that we had an appointment and before even checking her computer she said «um I don’t have any appointments this morning.» I was looking in my phone for the confirmation email when she said «let me guess, you have a confirmation email? That happens all the time. They don’t come from us here in the office, they are from the main service (she actually called it something else but it’s an outside source that is affiliated with their management company) and we know nothing about them.» Although I was not happy about waking up early and driving from the hills in San Jose on my only day off, I simply asked if she had a unit to show us and as she pushed her bag of sunflower seeds and soda out of the way he responded «no I don’t have any units available, you will have to schedule an appointment for another time».
My recommendation to Marina Playa is that they hire staff that is not only excited about their job but that can offer a better customer service experience for potential tenants. We were so turned off by her unprofessional attitude that I wouldn’t rent an apartment there if there was one available! I am quite certain that renting apartments and keeping the tenants you have, is a competitive business. There are a lot of nice complexes in Santa Clara. Many of them I have looked at and although maybe not completely right for what I was looking for, I have come across some very nice and professional leasing office employees (Marina Cove, Solera, The Luxe).
Lastly, upon leaving I looked online and there were 5 listings for apartments in Marina Playa that read AVAILABLE NOW! 5 apartments listed on the same date!!!

To start off I just moved out this month. When I was going to move in I asked the question what does my rent include? I was then told my rent would include everything water garbage and sewage. The place that I just moved from raised our rent from $ 1650 to $ 1900 for a 2 bed. Well I thought Wow $ 1750 would be fine to only find out after we signed the lease and went to pay my rent they charged us over $ 1925 for rent plus water garbage and sewage. I call the manager and she told me read the lease she was right there was in small print if not checked. If you want out pay 4 mouths rent and you can get out of this lease. I just told her I would live out my lease then be gone. The maintenance crew was good. The place has a lot of break ins. The storage get locks cut once you put them on. Over all would not recommend.

Lived here for 1 year (09 – 10)
The first night I slept here I knew I made a mistake. The walls here are paper thin, and I mean PAPER THIN. Now, this is apartment living, and I get that, but the age of the apartment complexes are showing. You can hear your neighbor flushing the toilet, have muffled conversations, have sex, everything, and that was my major gripe with this place.
Geese everywhere! Geese poo everywhere as well as within the confines of the apartment complex. In fact, I clearly recall seeing a goose that was run over accidentally, and one of its brethren started eating the dead goose in the middle of the street! Interesting to see, nevertheless.
Bird doodoo everywhere! If you park on the Flora Vista side, be prepared for bird droppings all over your car.
Theres a cat posse that goes through the garbage on a nightly basis. I always hear them rummaging through. They’re cute, but still, they’re not domesticated cats.
Upon moving in, there was still an issue with my doorknob being loose. I had them try to get it fixed, but they never showed up. Seriously, and this is when I requested service upon moving IN!
Lastly, that 42 inch TV they have in every unit is just retarded. Please, do away with this. I wanted to remove the flat panel, ended up missing a few screws when placing it back at the end of my lease, and had to find the exact screws otherwise they were going to charge me for labor for reinstalling the TV!
The positive would be that the room is quite spacious, and they started putting in nice closet cabinet the past couple years.

I lived here for 2 years.
When I first saw the place, it was awesome. Saw the 42inch TV mounted which comes with the place, saw the cute ducks across my window, and the parking was nice and convenient.
Once I moved in, the ducks would quack which to me, I could stand listening to them cuz it was like nature. But once the CROWS came on by waking my ass up at 6am in the morning, I am like WTF! The would always come by 6am and 530pm.
Anyways… I was fine with everything until my new lease was coming up. I guess this could be for any apartment complexes but they «changed» their lease program and increased the rent without telling me.
I was pretty upset because at least give me 30+ days in notice so I can decide if I want to stay here. I just think they did a bad job trying to keep people at their apartments. They never asked why I am moving out.

This place isn’t too horrendous. I believe in the previous years it must have been worse.
They are correct about appliances breaking down. Our sink broke down the first week we moved in, but they came to fix it within a week or two. Our in-​unit dryer broke down as well.
I lived in worst apartment complexes in the east side and I can’t really complain about a neighborhood that is safe, free of gangsters, and not overly crowded.
Negatives:
— Annoying, loud geese.
— Loud crows fly in flocks around the place towards the end of the day and it can get pretty noisy.
— Restaurant «Acapulco» is a bust. I rather stick to my local food trucks. Pretty depressing that I chose a roach coach over an established restaurant.
— Thin walls
— No locks on the door of the rooms.
— Hefty pet fee.
— Single paned windows. It can get pretty cold.
— Small kitchen and living room.
— Terrible carpet.
— TINY TINY bathrooms.
Positives:
— Great location
— Peaceful (when the geese shuts up)
— Heated pool and spa
— Cool gym
— Spacious rooms with large closets!
— Great storage spaces.
— Large balcony
— Neighbors are family oriented and keep to themselves.
— Plenty of parking spaces
I moved out before the lease was over, but instead of breaking the lease I signed a referendum form that releases me while the remaining residents (roommates) stayed. I found a replacement roommate and got out fine. No fees whatsoever.
Maybe towards the end is when people start loathing management and the complex itself. I got out early though so lucky me.
TIPS: This place is great for students.

What to say about this place…
First off the good: The location is great, and the grounds are nice to walk around on account of the fake lake. The layout of the apartments are fantastic because they don’t feel like cookie cutter apartments.
The bad: This place pretty much sucks. When I moved in a year ago, we were misled about sooo many things. Pet rent being one, the referral bonus that we got (a big sign saying $ 500.00 bucks, split between the two parties, was on the desk when we signed the lease, but when we moved in, the rate was now $ 250.00 split two ways) being another.
The apartment has sooo many issues with it. The windows are single pane and DO NOT close tightly due to years of sloppy painting. The heater in the living room has three settings, super hot, off or super cold. It’s impossible to set them to a specific temperature so you have to turn the heat off when it hits a good temperature. Due to the drafty windows, the room is quickly freezing cold in just a minute. The kitchen appliances are out of date. Two examples of this: My fridge has leaked since i moved in and leaves me with a drawer full of water, NEVER FIXED. My stove stopped working and it took 6 weeks to get a replacement. 6 weeks, without the ability to cook something! Do you think that they offered me any reimbursement for spending over ¹⁄₁₂ of my lease period without a freakin stove? no way.
My deck is on the verge of falling apart (as are everyone elses) and there is no work being done on them. The roofs are flat and the maintenance people have never removed the pine needles and leaves from the downspouts EVER (I know this because when it pours rain, only a trickle comes out the downspouts. It also trickles down for the next week because the water is just sitting on the roof with no where to go). Last year the property had to replace two roofs that were basically falling in. My guess is that there will be a few more that need to be replaced in the coming years. Oh, one of the many giant trees that are scattered around the property split in two and one half landed on one of the buildings. That HUGE half of a tree was left on the roof for close to a month. They didn’t even rush to remove it when the first big storm of the year came.
So now that people are moving out, instead of investing in new windows (which people here would love) or perhaps washer and dryers for all the units (which they could then charge an additional amount for) they decided to put closet organizers into the closets. What a freaking stupid thing to waste money on and NOT be a big selling point for people.
The goose poop is disgusting but there is not much they can do about it. Geese are protected birds and there is a pond here so clearly they are going to be attracted to the water. And in all fairness they do pressure wash the walkways once a week. Still the poop piles up.
The rates here are absolutely ridiculous and the maintenance is pretty poor. It takes forever to get something done. I don’t think it’s intentional, i just don’t think they bothered to hire enough people for the sheer amount of work that needs to be done to maintain an old place like this. If you want great service be sure to become friendly with the maintenance staff they will look after you. The office staff on the other hand is a joke and none of them should be there. I have been in there too many times and received blank looks). If you plan to move in don’t have any expectations for the office staff and if they tell you anything or make promises, get it in writing and preferably from the manager because even if the lackeys tell you something they will just tell you that it isn’t valid unless it’s ok’d by the manager.
Overall I would have to say that it’s not a bad place to live. I met some nice people there but in general the place is rundown. If you like the area, wait until the great new development opens across the street. It looks way upscale and is probably going to be cheaper than what it costs for Marina Playa. If the rates are Marina Playa were about half what they are (i’m currently paying 2100.00 a month for a 1 bedroom while I wait for my condo to be ready to move into).
As a closing statment, if you can afford the rent at marina playa, you can probably afford an FHA mortgage with 3.5% down and about 290−310k borrowed. Believe me you’ll be doing yourself a favor by going the purchase route rather than rent.