Wilshire Royale

Lived in the Wilshire Royale from Feb/19 to March/20. Rent is typically the biggest expense one has so it’s worth writing a review of my experience. This is the worst rental experience I’ve had in my life. The building is beautiful, but the management is atrocious. Some of the lowlights:
• Building is infested with roaches. Saw them in our apartment, in the hallways, in the elevators. We put in maintenance request for pest control but there was no evidence of anything being done. When we… followed up, we were told the request was completed. Roach activity never slowed down. Based on conversations with other tenants, this is common throughout the building. For this reason, I am very glad I got out before the worst of COVID-19.
• We had 3 bicycles stolen from the “Secure Bike Storage” part of the building. Despite management having the information of all of the bike owners in the building, when the mass theft of bikes was reported to them and they saw the empty bike storage area with bike locks cut off on the floor, and they said nothing to the tenants. When I found out, they shrugged at me “maybe rental insurance will pay for it.”
• Parking is $200 per car. Street parking is not available in this neighborhood and you must use the building’s Valet. The valets themselves are extremely professional and always act with a sense of urgency, but the valet app the building uses never worked in my time there and it can take up to 15 minutes every time you want to access to your car.
• In addition to the parking, Polaris management will nickel and dime you at every opportunity. The paint and laminate flooring they use is extremely cheap. It’s so low quality that the paint will immediately come off behind towel racks or anywhere else you touch the wall. Same with the laminate flooring under any furniture. You will be charged hundreds of dollars to replace this when you move out. They also charge pet rent in addition to a pet deposit.
• The lease and posted hours state that the leasing office is open until 6. They were usually not available after about 5. Not a big deal, but for my schedule it was difficult to get with them for packages etc. I wish they would just stick to the hours they say they are open.

• After 1 year they raised our rent by the maximum amount allowed by law despite no improvements to the building. Rents in LA are always going up, but they were still advertising units for the price we moved in at. Read More

I'll save you some time and give you the bullet points on the headache that was dealing with the Wilshire Royale management and Polaris Property business.

1. MEASURE YOUR APARTMENT BEFORE SIGNING (esp. studios!)
My apartment was listed at 420 sq ft. It measured 270 sq ft. The resolution? Didn't offer to reduce my rent. Didn't offer to be moved into a bigger place. I was given the option to move out of the complex if I wasn't happy with it. Please, please, please measure your apartment before… signing your lease. Just read your lease in general.

2. MAINTENANCE
The maintenance people on site are very nice. The effort/resources that the complex commits the maintenance itself? Minimal. The laundry room was in disrepair for weeks. I had to buy and put my own doorknob on my bathroom door. The hallway carpets on the non-renovated floors were repulsively stained and smelled weird for over half the duration of my lease. (Not really maintenance-related, but the area surrounding the property is also RIDDLED with grime and homelessness.)

3. COCKROACHES
I saw them. My mom saw them. My friends who moved into another unit 6 months after me saw them.

4. IMPROPER ACCOUNTING/SECURITY DEPOSIT ISSUE
The accounting personnel (whoever they may be) deducted my pet rent from my pet security deposit without a) telling me until I moved out 12 months later without having the deposit returned, b) ever having noted the intended charge/waiver in my payment portal online, and c) ever having recorded it in their official ledgers.

It's very possible for someone to have a great time living here. In my opinion, however, the risk of dealing with such mismanagement is NOT WORTH IT. All that glitters is not gold! If I can stop one person from having the same experience I did, I will be happy.

In summary: Read before you sign anything. And always get things in writing. And don't live here if you can avoid it. Read More

Washing machines don't work (all down for about a week), elevator down for months, tv in gym down for years. The general wifi is shaky. Had a high priority package delivered weeks ago that was being held in the leasing office of which I was never told about (not through phone, email, or writing). The only pros are the house staff and valet; nice and professional. And my fellow residents are nice and friendly. Top management couldn't be worse. But, the building is still standing so, as far as… having a roof over you're head, I'll consider 2 stars.
Fair warning, if you lock yourself out of your apt., it could cost you $400 to get in with the unofficial partnered locksmith (don't go for it).
Building allows animals so, it's nice see the pups around.

Residents and pets: ?????
House staff: ?????
Polaris Property Management: ?? Read More

The pictures online looked very nice and got me really excited to see this place. I stopped by and was let in to speak with a lease agent. When you first enter the building it looks completely different then what it is shown on the pictures.... The person helping me stated that they are renovating, but they should at least remove pictures that are not accurate. I was told when called to schedule an appointment that all units had kitchen area and was quoted once price, however at the property the… quoted price was higher and the unit I wanted did not have a kitchen. A one bedroom apartment was shown to me, which included a kitchen. It was recently renovated but it looked cheaply done; the counter top in the kitchen was peeling off already. The parking if $200 extra on top of your monthly rent. The surrounding area is pretty sketchy and probably would not feel safe walking past 5 PM and would keep my eyes open widely during the day. There seems to be a huge homeless problem in the surrounding areas. Do not get overly excited after looking at the pictures because you will be very disappointed. Read More