I lived at ULake apartments for two years while attending college at USF. Overall, living here was an average experience, and there were several...
I lived at ULake apartments for two years while attending college at USF. Overall, living here was an average experience, and there were several pros and cons.
Pros: The complex is very quiet, especially during the summertime. It often felt like a ghost town. I appreciated this since I had to study all the time. The "lake" is pretty, and it is relaxing to sit outside. The utilities are paid for, which is nice, because I would leave my AC on pretty much 24/7. The complex is conveniently located to the USF Tampa campus. It takes 5-10 minutes to reach campus and park depending on how many red lights you hit. The kitchens are nice and modern, including the counters. I had a whole refrigerator to myself, which I never really needed.
Cons: I understood why the utilities were paid for by the complex pretty quickly after moving in. What sometimes amounted to a weekly basis, there was something that was not working. The water pressure is terrible, and it is the water that is shut off most frequently, and with little notice. I would sometimes be unable to shower in the morning before having to leave to go to campus. After this, the hot water was shut off frequently as well, leaving me to have to take cold showers pretty frequently (this is a first-world problem, I know, but it doesn't make it any less annoying). Next, the electricity would shut off often. Towards the end of my lease, I spent nearly four days without AC, which was miserable. My apartment reached 90 degrees in middle of the day throughout this stretch of time.
Big con: As your move-out date becomes close, the front office will send you an extensive checklist of things to clean before moving out. I followed this list thoroughly step by step, leaving an apartment that was much cleaner than when I had arrived (my apartment was not nearly as clean as it should have been when I first moved in.) About a month after moving out, the front office sent me an invoice for $120 for cleaning charges. When I inquired about these charges, one of the employees in the front office gave me a lame explanation that never really answered my question (kind of like politicians like to do. They answer around the questions that are asked that really matter in order to avoid having to admit that they're just full of crap). My question was, "If you guys were going to charge me $120 for cleaning no matter what, then why did I waste my time deep-cleaning my apartment?" I should have left my apartment exactly as it was, and I would have been charged the same amount. While the average and reasonable person would expect cleaning charges to be waived upon thorough cleaning, this is not the case at all. While $120 may not be a big deal to some people, it's the principle of the matter. I shouldn't be charged $120 for leaving an apartment cleaner than when I moved in. Rant over.
More cons: The fitness center isn't great. Shortly after moving in, several of the dumbbells were missing. After two years, they were never replaced. The complex also has an annoying amount of ducks that poop everywhere. There were also an annoying number of stray cats near my apartment that would harass my dog. If you pick a furnished apartment, the living room furniture is incredibly uncomfortable. The couches feel like they are made of cement.