Woodland Park Apartments

jillz0rz

Resident • 2011

Not that bad

I wrote a review when I first moved into the brand new, Phase 1, Woodland Park apartments 6 months ago about how unorganized the staff was, etc. Our apartment captain was Blake Lane and he just didn't know what was going on and was not properly handling what my fiance and I need. But now, he is no longer here and now Matt is our captain which seems to be on top of things. He even called me to ask if maintenance was able to fix my bathroom problem(see below). That to me just shows he cares about his tenants. Right now at 6 months, I don't really have any complaints except for the tenants kid's running through the breezeways and in the middle of the parking lot without a single parent around, but that is not Woodland Park's problem. I've had two issues with our bathroom, the bathtub caulk is degrading causing bubbles in the wall and our toilet was acting funny. The maintenance crew was very nice and fixed it the same day. With these new apartments, I think they fixed the issue of thin walls because I do not hear any of my neighbors. Except for people stomping around upstairs, but that is common with any apartment complexes. When our lease is up in April, my fiance and I will be moving out because rent is so high here especially for a one bedroom and I hear they raise the rent after a year. Overall, I like these apartments and the location. And yes, I am a real tenant.

Current Resident 663086

Resident • 2009 - 2011

Not a place for single women!!

Do not under any circumstances move here if you are a single woman. The walls are thin and you may be subject to stalking or harrassment by your neighbor. Maybe or maybe not, but please don't move here if you can help it. If you are single and alone, please look elsewhere. Again, if you value security, don't move here. Forget the gates. There are many issues to be resolved and apparently no one knows how to do it.

Martspe50

Resident • 2007 - 2011

Happy since 2007

I have lived here since 2007 in two different apartments and have really enjoyed my stay here. I have had not had any major issues but when I have had anything, the staff has done a good job responding to me in a timely manner. The entire staff at Woodland Park (managers, leasing consultants, maintenance, etc.) are extremely friendly, professional, and devoted to the residents living here. I have never lived in such a comfortable community with so much to do. I truly enjoy the monthly resident events.

Current Resident 878443

Resident • 2011 - 2012

Never live here...Stay AWAY!!!

The account manager Henry and property manager stole my money. Outrageously, they increased my rent. Parking is huge issue. No proper gates installed. No cleaniness. No proper staff. STAY AWAY!!!

markboktor

Resident • 2011

insects and terrible management

Left my apartment there at 2347 Cypress Cove Cr after being there less than a week. They gave me the apartment crawling with roaches and mites and would not transfer me to another apartment. The property manager let me out of my lease but would not return the months rent and application fee that I had already payed despite saying she would initially. She said "I'm kind enough to let me out of your lease" as if she's doing me a favor! Horrible service, horrible management and not to mention no where to park. A complete waste of money.

MKhalil2000

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Keep up the good work

The Management at Woodland Park is working hard to solve residents issues including the parking issue, they are doing good so far and hope they continue this way. I would like to thank Christine Whatley & Kadie Lubin for what they are always doing to help residents, they are so nice and cooperative. I would also like to thank my community captain: Shantal Franklyn, which I didn't see yet but she is always in touch with me through phone calls. Good luck to all of you and keep up the good work.

Current Resident 177752

Resident • 2009 - 2011

Nice place to call home!

I have been a resident here for the last 2 years now. My experience with this community has been a positive one indeeed. The maintanence staff here is very responsive and understanding of my needs. The office staff is very friendly and professional. Despite being very busy most of the time, the staff always makes sure that the residents are taken care of. Overall, the employees that work at Woodland Park are very good at what they do! The community itself is beautiful! It has 2 pools, a tennis court and a fitness center. All of these amenities are great to have on site, especially the fitness center! The floorplans at Woodland park can accomodate one individual or an entire family, so whatever style apartment you are looking for, Woodland Park is sure to have. All of the units come with a full size washer/dryer which makes life so much easier. I highly recommend this community to anyone who is looking for affordable housing in the Herndon area!

zelinsky

Resident • 2011

Maintenance & Staff Go Above and Beyond

The maintenance crew and staff have been the fastest I've come across so far when it comes to taking care of issues/getting items fixed and they actually follow up after the problem is taken care of to make sure all is still well. At my last apartment complex my oven caught on fire because a drip pan with 3" of grease was left in the bottom from the previous renter. After ONE WEEK of living there we preheated the oven and since its gas, it caught on fire almost immediately. Nobody from the complex came by until the next morning around 10am maintenance finally showed up, and he blamed us for the pan of grease and fire. The complex manager never stepped foot in my apartment, instead we were almost taken to court until they realized there is literally no way we could've been responsible for a fire caused by grease after living there for only a week. SO, I've read some of the reviews and people say the staff etc are too busy and it's always hectic but I've had nothing but "above and beyond" service. Maintenance came one time within 15 minutes of calling in a work order, and the second time they came it took about an hour and the man was very apologetic it took "too long" but it was only him working since it was after hours, the fact that they think fulfilling a request within an hour deserves giving an apology speaks volumes to me about the level of service they uphold. The staff has also been very helpful, we are given community captains which is great because at other complexes I feel like once you move in it's impossible to track down any staff and when you do it's always someone different which gets very old and frustrating. Having a community captain takes away any of that anxiety of who should I call for such and such problem, that one point of contact is very helpful. And as I said before, the fact that they follow up on everything makes me feel like they really do care about me and want to make sure living here is a great experience. The actual apartments are great, I don't hear anyone that lives around me when I'm inside the apartment. I would definitely reccomend this to anyone looking for a place where you are taken care of and looked out for from day one.

woodlandparktenant

Resident • 2010

It's been okay so far...

My fiance and I moved into the Van Metre Woodland Park apartments in July of 2010, and we did renew our lease. In April 2010, we had made an appointment for a showing of the Dogwood layout, but when we showed up, they didn't have any Dogwoods to show us. That wasn't too bad for us, we just really wanted to see the inside of an apartment, so they showed us the model. We liked the complex and thought it looked pretty nice and safe, so we signed a lease to move in in July. We live in what's called Phase II, so I believe these apartments were built in 2005-ish? As for the "hidden" fees...all you had to do was ask them and they tell you. During our walk through, the lady told us about the fob you need to get into the gym after hours (it's $20, not like it's a ton of money), and the cost of renting the clubhouse (it's around $300 for three hours I think? We didn't worry about this, as we didn't plan on renting it for anything). Our move in was pretty smooth, and one of our neighbors even came out and said hi. After we got moved in, the air conditioning broke. My fiance called maintenance, and they came out the same day and fixed it without a problem. We've never had a problem with the maintenance staff, they always show up in a timely manner and have fixed any of our problems the first time. So far, we've had problems with our air conditioning (twice) and toilet (once), but nothing else. A major complaint is the parking. While my fiance has a regular 9-5 job, I work adjunct at a couple of colleges, one of them being out of state. If you get home after 9:00 or 10:00pm, there's no where to park, unless you live down in the very new (and much more expensive) apartments. There have been times I've had to park down at the other end of the complex at 1am and walk to my apartment carrying all of my stuff. When you ask the office staff about it, they insist that towing is enforced, but I often see cars parked that do not have parking decals on the long walk back to my apartment. We refuse to pay for a reserved parking space...we pay a lot for this small one bedroom, we should have decent parking near our apartment. The noise where we live isn't too bad. The walls are thin...we can hear when people are going up and down the stairs outside our bedroom. We can also hear our neighbors' music (actually, it's the bass we can hear), and sometimes you can hear a kid yelling. We are lucky and have pretty decent neighbors, because it's not too bad. I'm a musician, I'm sure my neighbors can hear me practicing, but I only do so during the day. I can, however, see how people can get annoyed with the noise. The office is often very busy, and I wish they had more than one receptionist. That poor woman is so busy, and she often seems overwhelmed. Sometimes someone from the back will come out, but not always. I do wish they had more staff to deal with the amount of people that are living here. But the staff have always been helpful to us. The only time we've had trouble with the cable and internet is when the weather is bad. I don't know if it's because of the location of our apartment or what, but it only goes out when it's really storming out. Occasionally the internet will *hiccup*, but it comes right back on. We don't have any of the optional items that require a payment, so we don't have any bills to deal with. We've never had a problem with safety, although we were told about a few break-ins. We received a few notices placed on our door when they occurred, but I have not heard anything recently. The location is nice, with the shopping center across the street. It's nice to be able to walk across the street to go grocery shopping and so on. I've seen people leaving their trash outside of their doors. Our one neighbor does it occasionally. What's really disgusting is the trash compactor. It gets really full on the weekends, so much so we only take our trash out during the week. We wish the office would do something about the buildup of trash and enforce the rules more regarding the use of the compactor. People will often just throw their bags of trash right in front of the compactor door, instead of putting it in the compactor. When we renewed our lease, our rent only went up about $40. We were given a notice ahead of time about our lease renewal, and they told us in the notice how much the rent was going to go up. So for now, it's been okay. I think the amount of money we pay for the apartment is ridiculous, but I guess that's part of living near DC. please note: the years are incorrect and I can't get it to correct itself, it should say from 2010 to 2011.

Current Resident 430030

Resident • 2011 - 2012

I tend to be a pretty low maintenance tenant usually but I do heavy researching before committing to anything. My experience at WP has been exceptionally pleasant to say the least. I started my leasing process over a year prior to moving in as I searched and visited properties. I have to say the private and yet genuinely humble feel of this property caught my attention immediately and has continued to impress me day in and day out here at WP. Of course there have been minor hiccups and bumps along the way but the fact that there has been an obvious desire to rectify said issues, along with great work on behalf of the maintenance team has left me satisfied. I can't say I had any major issue while living here but I can say that the only reason why I'm leaving is to upgrade to a single family home with my wife and newly born baby.

Current Resident 171149

Resident • 2010

No problems so far.

2 months to go in my 12 month lease. All problems I've had were taken care of quickly. No parking issues for me, ever. Would recommend to anyone.

Current Resident 826894

Resident • 2011

for the love of god, do not live here

First of all, the management is awful. The office constantly claims to be "in a state of flux" because they just fired the entire previous office staff. They do seem to go through office staff like a fat kid and cake but this is their excuse for never responding to any questions/complaints. (They ve been using this excuse for 2 years now) why can't you guys just own up to the fact that your front office is half the size it needs to be for a community this massive? Any time i walk in, the one receptionist is so overwhelmed with requests it's easier to just wander around until one of the leasing agents quits playing solitaire and notices the massive line at the front door. Secondly, parking on the eastern half of the complex is atrocious. There is no towing enforcement whatsoever, and guests take up all the resident parking. (i can't blame the guests; unless your friends show up together in a clown car, there isn't nearly enough guest parking) Thirdly, TV/Internet service is one of the worst services I ve ever seen in an apartment community. They just upgraded to a supposedly better service (Primecast) early this year; it s the same old piece of crap. Management get this through your heads Primecast sucks. Stop trying to save a buck with a crappy-small-no-name tv/internet company. I would gladly pay 10 bucks more for Fios for the equivalent package. Note the quotes primecast s best internet package has a max speed of 15 Mbps (It normally averages around 7Mbps) my average speed at my last apartment with the worst Fios package was about 35Mbps. By all that you hold dear, do not live here! (unless you re a sadist, then by all means, go right ahead)

Current Resident 725431

Resident • 2008 - 2011

They wouldn't give me back my security deposit

The cheap jerks would not return my "returnable" security deposit when I moved out. They claim they see a zero balance and I know I paid it when I moved in. Their computer system has "lost" the paperwork stating that I paid it. So now I have to go find the original lease I signed proving that I paid it to get the money back. Make sure you hold on to your paperwork if you move here but I wouldn't recommend moving here at all!

Current Resident 430559

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Good for Now

If you're looking for a temporary location, this is fine. However, long term...not so good. The lighting is especially poor....I will not go out at night to walk the dogs. The staff is helpful but we have to ask repeatedly to get things done. The staff is too small for this large of a property. Also, we can hear our neighbors conversations...the walls are very thin.

ks2011

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Pleased with Woodland Park

I have been apart of the Woodland Park Community for several years. I am really pleased with the attention to detail that the staff provides. Katie, Kadie, Christine and the entire maintenence staff are a pleasrure to interact with. When my last lease came up for renewal, it was a no-brainer: I would definitely renew! I feel safe, the property is clean and the service is always exceptional. Thanks!

Current Resident 531745

Resident • 2009 - 2011

Do not move here unless you want to pay high rent and have to move units every year!

I have lived at Van Metre Woodland Park for a couple of years. At first I had a good deal and it was a nice place to live but then they decided to jack my rent up by $400.00 I was about to move to a new complex but then they offered me another deal on a different apartment that was the exact same model! I stayed at the community but still had to move my entire household in to a unit that was exactly the same as the one I already lived in. It makes no sense at all. The walls are paper thin so you hear everything. It's quite annoying when you work nights and the neighbors can't shut up long enough for you to fall asleep. You can hear every detail of the conversation as if you were actually in the room with them. The vent sucks. I live in a townhouse and can smell the nasty food that the people on the first floor apartment underneath my house are making. It seeps in to my house and stinks up my entire house. They charge you fees for everything. Since the rent is so high, you would think they would let those fees slide but clearly they are greedy and want to suck every penny they can from you. Maintenance sucks. There has rarely been a time when they have been sufficient in taking care of any maintenance calls and our toilet is constantly running, water heater leaks and our water bill climbed due to this. It's a good thing that we called it in, otherwise we would be responsible for these issues too. They just finnished adding several additional units so we have been notified that our rent is about to go up again by several hundred dollars a month plus parking and pet fees. That will throw our rent at over 2100 dollars a month which is rediculous and we don't even have a garage. This especially astonishes me because the garage is right under "OUR HOUSE". Since our rent is so high, that should be included. The community is unsafe. There have been numerous instances of break-ins to houses and cars on several occasions. The "gated" feature is a joke. It is so easy for anyone to just walk on the property or follow a resident in. It's just not worth it and it isn't worth moving to another unit in the same complex again. We are moving out. I seriously do not advise renting at this community!

snowshoe9

Resident • 2011 - 2012

Fire everyone!

I knew coming in that the staff was horrible. However, knowing I'd only stay for a year or two combined with never wanting to socialize in resident events or be too picky about the condition of my apartment, I figured I could live with it, just because the location and the floorplan options (I got a townhouse) were too good to pass up. Well, the office staff was bad- I just kind of accepted that some leaky faucets and the faulty alarm system would never be fixed, and I lived with it- but what really did me in was the parking. As a young woman, if I got home after 7 pm and had to walk from the complete opposite side of the complex (sometimes up to a half mile away!) I felt completely unsafe. The staff didn't care. I don't know how many times I heard them say "we are going to start towing untagged cars soon." Also, while the guy at the gate is super nice, what is the point of him?? He lets in everyone- residents, prospective residents, guests- all people who take up parking spots. Sorry but he needs to be fired (or maybe he can become one of the office staff and actually serve a purpose). The "Primecast" service is a joke. I came from a place where I had FIOS and could watch my DVR-ed shows from any TV in the apartment. DirecTV offers the same service, so I was fine with moving to them as my provider. Well guess what- Primecast deals DirecTV but does not have the right equipment to offer all their functionality. I could not have the Whole Home DVR and I also could not have On Demand. That's kind of pitiful in this day and age. Also their internet just plain sucks. Van Metre needs to train their staff better. Their customer service is shameful and they do not do justice to the nice area and well laid-out floorplans. Honestly, it's just not worth it. One more thing- the walls were so thin I could hear my neighbor's alarm clock in the morning plus I could hear the couple next door having conversations and talking to their dog. I thought it was kind of cute. If they were fighting or being loud, it would have been much worse, so I lucked out with the type of neighbors I had. Oh- I will say, when the maintenance staff did come (once- a broken A/C which I reported at 7 pm after business hours) they were FANTASTIC. So friendly and helpful. My A/C was fixed within an hour of me reporting the problem.

Current Resident 12681

Resident • 2009 - 2011

dont live here

no parking, leaking rooves, poor maintenance, let lights and grounds go, break ins, safety complaints, no snow or ice removal......horrible place. Things you pay for, out of order, or fixed slowly if at all. Trash piling out into streets, weeks in the summer, compactoer broken

Current Resident 773857

Resident • 2011

Worst Community Ever..

1. Worst Management 2. Extremely **--HIGH--** Rent 3. Parking is always an issue in this community. You might will end up parking a mile away from your place. 4. Gym Machine ratio 1/20 (gym is always full) 5. PAID clubhouse. Charge $200 for initial 3 hours. 6. Security is a big JOKE. 7. Cable and Internet (PrimeCast) facilities are very poor. 8. Policies changes every now and then without proper intimation. 9. Staff is rude and don't value old residents. 10. Only motive of this community is to earn more n more. Happy to leave this community..

NEW2VA2011

Resident • 2011

STAY AWAY

After living here for two months I would not recomend. Rent is high gates do not work. The poor design of the gates cause larger vehicle to break the arms off the gate. They are clearly only concerned with $$$. Everything you ask them for that they advertise you get there is an extra charge for. Fees for everything. Key to get into gym, gate opener, open parking fee, reserved parking fee, garage/drivway parking fee. Snow removal was slow making it impossible to get to work unless you park outside the complex. Trash compactors area is so congested with trash you can not put your trash in it. Recycle are always full eliminating recycleing. Fee fee fee. Continuasly sending reminders to pickup dog droppings to those wh dont have dogs. The money they spend with the reminders about picking up after your dog chould be spent picking up after everyones dogs.

gssc91

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Beware of Noise and cigarette smoke smell.

I have lived here for 11 months and have had two neighbors in the apartment below me and two families on the other side of me. The first downstairs neighbors I never heard and the neighbors on the side I have heard only occasionally. Then my new neighbor moved in with his bass system. There is no consequence clause in the lease for action to be taken on someone constantly being too loud. It only says that your neighbors shouldn't be able to hear your tv or music. I have been living in hell for four months and have two small kids that are hard to put to sleep with the constant bass coming through the floor. You can literally feel the vibrations through my couch and their beds - two stories up (we are in a townhome and the bass is on the first floor). We first talked to the neighbor but after four attempts realized it was not working. Then we went to management and they have had no luck. They then informed us to just keep calling the cops, which is a waste of their resources in my opinion but I do when he kicks in the deep bass. Through speaking with other neighbors, this person has lived in at least one other units and the surrounding neighbors have either moved out or management has moved the offending party to a different location. Plus, when he has friends over that smoke. The building is so poorly constructed that my apt smells like stale smoke. After several visits, maintenance has been unable to stop the problem. Do not live here if you are looking for a quiet place to live. It could be quiet, but you run the risk of having a neighbor like mine with a management unable to help because the lease is poorly written. We are moving out in April and counting the days.

Current Resident 585439

Resident • 2010 - 2011

New Management

I am a current tenant that has lived at this property for over a year now. I have had several issues with transferring to another apartment. I was so frustrated that I was looking to move to another property that wasn't owned by Van Metre. I was extremely excited when I had the pleasure of meeting the new staff who listened to my concerns and made me feel totally at ease. My problem was completely taken care of by the Assistant Property Manager herself. I look forward to being a resident for a long time.

chris53186

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Do not consider living at Woodland Park Apartments. Save yourself the headache!

I am a current tenant. Let me be honest and tell you something I wish someone would have told me before I signed my lease. This place is such a awful place to live. Lack of care for tenants from management at Woodland Park Apartments is a direct reflection on Van Metre. The Regional Manager Kelly Felice has told my girlfriend and I that "she has bigger mountains to climb" when we asked for her assistance regarding problems we were having with their community. If comments like that are coming from the top level management...DO NOT expect anything better from their current property management. Woodland Park will surely post false reviews claiming that property management has improved, but the new property manager, Katy Frazier is a previous woodland park apartments property manager from 5 years ago (when their reviews were even worse). Maintenance is quick to respond, but has a very hard time diagnosing or fixing issues. My heat and hot water was on and off for about two months. It took 8 visits to correct the issue. Bird feces from pigeons can be found on most stairwells and handrails and nothing has been done to address the issue. I have to dodge about 4 pigeons on the way down to my car every morning. Gates are constantly down, the community is only gated on the side closest to the main road but it fully open to anyone who wishes to enter on the backside, and tenants leave their trash outside of their doors constantly (up to 4 days sometimes). Of course property management always says something is going to be done, but I have seen no such thing. Their is currently and abandoned van with a flat tire and a "Jesus loves Pennsylvania" license plate in a parking spot (next to BLDG 13062). It has been there for over 2 months and property management refuses to have it removed...even after many complaints. Cigarette butts litter the grassy areas and has become even worse as of late. Check out the other properties in the immediate surrounding areas...we are thinking about Monroe Place right across the street, or maybe even Archstone as soon as our lease is up. I have heard great things regarding those two properties (and we can still enjoy the great surrounding community). The reason the rating is so high on apartmentratings.com for Van Metre Woodland Park Apartments is because management has their leasing staff post random anonymous messages to counter the true negative reviews. Take a look for yourself. Many other current and past tenants make the same claims. Take this review as a big red flag and do not consider putting yourself through the stress.

Current Resident 516991

Resident • 2010 - 2011

Stay Away

We are moving in 3 weeks and they can't come fast enough. Here is why I despise Woodland Park: Primecast.....we have to pay $70 dollars extra a month to these people(its required) on top of paying a normal bill just to have cable. Parking....you will never find a spot and half the time you can't even get in through the gate because it doesn't work. We got a 2 bedroom b/c we were having a baby....we can't put our daughter in her bedroom b/c the heat doesn't work....call maintenance, they say sorry but this room has 2 cold walls so it doesn't heat up. Its 80 degrees in our apt with the heat off in the dead of winter....except in our daughters room which is 45 degrees. We got a thermometer to see how cold it really was....it only gets up to 50 in her room with the heat turned all the way up. Our light in the kitchen was out for 3 weeks b/c they never bothered to come back with the correct light. The surround sound in our place has NEVER worked...they tried to fix it but couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. The people that work in the office are inept. When you call for maintenance, the people you are speaking to are in ARIZONA...we live in VIRGINIA. The exhaust fan is in the living room which means.......the tv has to be on full blast just to even hear it. You can hear every little thing your neighbors above you and next to you are doing and saying. There have been numerous break-ins. They are raising our rent $200, and when we told them we were not going to be renewing they informed us we had to give 60 days....but they didn't let us know they were raising the rent until 45 days before our lease is up. They never even gave us a copy of our lease!!! I could go on and on...bottom line....stay the f away!!

Tobascocat

Prospect • Visited 2011

Awful Experience- Bait & Switch

Bait and switch!, they will demand a $400 "Reservation Fee", promise you a specific unit then lease it to someone else and keep your "Reservation Fee"!! The staff will lie to your face and take your money. Consider yourself warned! If you do business with them make sure they give you details in writing.