Ashford Apartments at Betton Hills - Tallahassee, Florida

mike A. K.

Our third year at Ashford, and likely our last. BEFORE - LEASING OFFICE: When we moved in, Connie and Shannon ran the Office, and 1. they were IN the office before, and after the listed hours; 2. they went above and beyond to address every issue presented; 3. they walked around and talked with everyone they encountered; they arranged and hosted annual parties for the tenants. NOW - B&H Management bought the place and they got rid of Connie and Shannon. Rent went up, and new fees added. They removed the free washers and dryers and installed card-operated machines, a buck a load, last time I looked. The first couple of replacements in the office did not stay long enough to get to know. The posted hours are still the same, but the last four (4) times I came home for lunch and needed to talk with the someone, the door was locked, the shades were drawn, and there was no note explaining when anyone would be back. The sense of community is gone. B&H is not a small company, but they seemed to have lost sight of the fact that managing apartments is ultimately a people business.

GROUNDS: BEFORE - For the past two years: the grass stayed trimmed and edged; the shrubs pruned; the common areas either swept or blown free of leaves and dirt; the pool kept clean; the dog disposal stations stocked with bags and emptied regularly. The first maintenance guy, Mick, did a fair job, I thought, but the second maintenance person, Jonathan, was handy, versatile, and personable, to boot. My only complaint is that the management was glacial in approving work orders that required some expenditure. ANY expenditure. NOW - They recently let Jonathan go, and I THINK there is a new maintenance guy, but the state of the grounds is embarrassing. With the exception of the small patch fronting Thomasville Road, the common grassy areas are weeded over 6 inches high in some places, and the grass areas are over 4 inches deep. Weeds are overtaking every flowerbed/ornamental area. The pool now has a green algae ring near the bottom of the deep end, leaves are everywhere, the women's toilet has been backed up for over a week. The recycle bin in the mail room runneth over. There are construction materials crowding the dumpsters. The place is depressing.

A few pictures taken Sunday, the 12th of August: poolside, the mail room, the ring around the pool, and the pretty, mowed patch fronting Tville Rd. I'll spare everyone the shot of the women's loo.

We knew there would be a period of transition as the new owners assumed operations, but they appear to betaking this residence management thing in a totally different direction. This not only makes me sad, but somewhat angry; we LOVED living here - great location, access to parks, safe (try to ignore the spray paint tags that have been appearing on the dumpsters and benches lately, too) - but now, it's...depressing.

And, if they turn things around, I'll be the first to sing their praises. But I will not hold my breath.

D H.

We lived at Ashford Club for over 3 1/2 years and in that time my opinion of the place has went from sky high, to abysmal, to optimistic. We moved out this October and I feel enough time has passed where I can write this review with less bias. When we first moved in Connie was still the manager and was by far the best landlord you could ever hope for. Like the rest of the residents at the time we were sad to see her go as she truly made it feel like home.

Once the property was bought out everything went into steep decline. Along with the lack of upkeep at the time, graffiti and tagging started to show up everywhere on the property and on the benches and walls of the park to park trail behind the apartments. Me and my fiancee gave serious consideration about moving at this point but decided to stick it out.

Fast forward to this year and the apartment has once again traded hands. The apartments are still dated looking on the outside and inside of the lower units, graffiti and tagging is still appearing in the aforementioned areas along with non-residents cutting through the complex. Overall the price of rent remains high for what you get considering other apartments nearby tend to offer a more modern upkeep. Overall the area does not feel as secure as it was when we moved in. With all that said I feel that I have to give credit to the current office staff as they seem to be doing a good job at correcting what issues they can. The grounds are well kept and on most nights the complex remains quiet other than a past group of tenants who would keep everyone up until 3 in the morning with music and partying on their balcony.

Once more, the rent remains on the high side for what you get in terms of square footage and appearance, but there are worse places you could choose in Tallahassee. My biggest recommendation for staff would be a stronger vetting process for future residents as some of the recent tenants we came across would fit better in one of the college apartments closer to FSU.There are things I really do miss such as the woods and park around the apartment, but it is not enough to bring us back if we ever returned to Tallahassee.

Jay

Resident for three years of Ashford Apartments at Betton Hills. We have seen major changes in the past couple of years with renovations to the amenities, grounds, and apartments. This is a very well run property. If any maintenance problem arises or any other issue for that matter, it is handled very efficiently, timely, and professionally. It all starts at the top, as management is very responsive, friendly, and cooperative, but it doesn't end there, as ALL of the employees, office, and maintenance department do a fantastic job, and are extremely friendly.

Ashlynn S.

We’ve been looking for an apartment for ages and when we found Ashford it looked perfect! Maggie was really helpful with answering questions and addressing concerns we brought up. The neighborhood is very quiet with so many things to do right outside my front door. You can tell every amenity is well taken care of and looks like brand new equipment. Really looking forward to the rest of my time here!

Lindsey B.

Just signed with Jamie! She was extremely helpful and answered all of our questions about the property. She was very patient with us and willing to help us finalize our paperwork. She even stayed late on a Friday afternoon to help us! She had great communication even outside of office hours.

Court J.

Very mediocre place. I feel like I wasted my money during the year I stayed there. The community is nice overall, but I had many issues with my apartment. When I first moved in, I had a list of things that needed to be fixed. Out of the maybe 10 things that were on the list, maybe 2 got resolved. The maintenance guy even admitted to me that my apartment was rushed and was not totally finished when I moved in. A few months in, my stove was acting up. Every time I would try to cook something, an error would pop up on my screen. It was so annoying and got to the point where I kept having to turn the oven off through my breaker for it to stop beeping. I’ve put in 3 maintenance requests to get it fixed and it NEVER got fixed. Once, he came in and told me exactly what was wrong with it and that he’d order the piece that was needed to fix it. Never did. He ended up just telling me, “just ride with it for your last 6 months and when you renew, we’ll upgrade the appliances.” REALLY You really thought that I was going to renew?!? He was a half-ass maintenance guy and that’s the main reason I did not renew my lease. Here it is, a month and some change since I’ve moved. I’m thinking that I’m done with Ashford Club for good until I get a call from a collections company about a $201 fee I owe them. Never did they contact me or forward over any final bill. Whatever I owe is supposed to be taken care of with my security deposit. I was told by the collections company that $150 is damages and I am a very well kept person. Whatever damages they’re charging me for are damages that were probably there when I moved in. The place was left the way it was when I moved in. If maintenance didn’t suck and if management was a tad bit more organized, I’d give them 5 stars.

Nora S.

Management changed about 6 months ago and it has been AWFUL! Construction at all hours of the day (my neighbors in another building once woke up to them redoing their roof at 6am and I had a similar experience with them busting up concrete). They have cut down trees and replaced grass with plastic turf (this area floods so I suspect they will regret this decision), and closed amenities such as the gym for months. Communication from management has been almost nonexistent (though it did improve slightly during the last month or so I lived there). The corporate management clearly does not care about tenants and appeared to care exclusively about money -- even terminating residents who used government grants to help pay their rent mid-lease. They also stopped providing after hours maintenance, even for things like broken air conditioners in the summer.

I am usually sympathetic to management companies and certainly respect their right to profit, but everything that has happened since Stratford Management took over has been exactly what you would expect a stereotypical landlord to do. I would not recommend this complex to anyone.

*I moved out recently, but this account does not display my real name.

Vincent D.

I just had the pleasure of being assisted by Jamie at these apartments. She did an outstanding job during our tour and with follow up. I'm looking forward to being a resident soon! Thank you Jamie!