Playa Del Oro

I’ve lived here for 18 months. When the government shutdown left me unable to pay rent for eight weeks, management gave me time to catch up without late fees. It’s fairly quiet, and maintenance requests get fixed promptly. I also appreciate that smoking isn’t allowed on the property.

After reading hundreds of reviews of nearby apartments, I was worried about cleanliness, safety, and theft. Playa del Oro seemed well run and very clean, with plenty of amenities. Niyel, the leasing manager, was especially responsive and helpful. I’m looking forward to my son living there while he experiences LA, and I feel reassured that the complex is safe.

I’m glad I didn’t sign a lease here or spend $3083 a month on the one-bedroom, one-bath work/life unit. I decided to buy a condo instead. The bad reviews had already made me uneasy, and the older African American woman who answered the phone came across as rude and unwelcoming. Junior, Erica, and Hector, from security and maintenance, were kind to me, though. The application itself was a nightmare. Their Novo system wouldn’t accept my commercial bank, and although I applied on Sunday, approval took five days. It was only conditional, which made no sense to me: I’ve had excellent FICO for over 30 years and no debt. Irvine Company approved me within a few hours. I’d been excited about moving here at first, but the process was truly subpar.

For about two months, starting two weeks after the flood, drilling from the unit above sounded like a jackhammer from 8am to 5pm. I couldn’t work or make calls. Then there was the flood itself: my apartment was completely flooded and I had to leave for three weeks. I called the building’s help line, but they barely helped. They said someone would come, and nobody showed up for over 12 hours, until the next day. I heard flooding happens in other units too. When I moved in, nobody had told me renovations would last more than six months. Over half the amenities we paid extra for were unusable, including the gym, locker rooms, cafe, and mail room. Mail was dumped on the floor in another building’s mail room, and you had to sort through it yourself. The leasing office staff were rude, uninviting, passive-aggressive, dismissive, and unprofessional. They acted like I was bothering them just by coming in. The only person there who was nice was Porsha, though I don’t know if that was because my walls and floors had all been removed and I was displaced for three weeks. Customer service and resident communication are part of the job. If basic courtesy is too much to expect, the office staff shouldn’t be in those roles, and whoever hired them didn’t do a good job vetting them.