Manhattan Apartments - Caulfield North

The room itself was comfortable and nicely equipped, but the service afterwards was a real letdown. After rain one night, I woke to water pooled across the carpet. Everything on the walk-in robe floor was drenched, including several pairs of new shoes. They ran a professional blower in the bedroom for days, and people entered and left the apartment without telling me. For a 30-night stay, I was offered credit for just one night for the damage and disruption. Given what the apartment cost and what was affected, I was very disappointed. I can't recommend it.

We were planning to stay for several months and found the apartment listed on Manhattan Apartments' website, so we called to check availability and ask to view it. They said they could try to arrange a viewing but wouldn't hold it for us unless we had seen it first. To reserve it, they wanted us to book with a $500 cancelation fee. We went ahead, accepting that fee, and booked the first month with the option to extend on 14 days' notice. Later that day, they called to say another application had come in and they'd chosen that booking because it was for 3 months. We'll need this kind of accommodation for at least the next 12 months, but we're so upset by how they handled this that we'll make a point of avoiding them. In our view, an ethical business would honor the first booking and take care of its client. We consider these operators unscrupulous.

The place was filthy and smelled awful, with dirty sheets in the room. On top of that, the apartment was in terrible repair: the wardrobe shelves and washing machine were broken, and light bulbs were missing. Easily my worst experience.

The customer service and operator were very cooperative, and it seems ideal for uni students. But the place was dirty overall. The cleaner was rude and disrespectful, charged too much, and still didn't clean properly.