Mount Royal Manor

Mount Royal Manor is an industrial-looking building right beside the much-newer Bluestone Lofts and another high-end apartment complex currently in progress. It's got a beautiful front yard and a large parking lot with hardly enough free parking. There are "reserved" spaces and garages available for rent (the garages costing $33 a month at the time of writing, and you can't opt out until your lease is up), but it's common to find cars in the grass, and even taking up parts of the lot that aren't… parking spots. It's large, but it can be a little hard to find space without paying for it, especially during the school year.

Mount Royal Manor lies across the street from the University of Minnesota Duluth campus, a staircase away from Mount Royal Market, and a block from the Bluestone stores (including new restaurant Tavern on the Hill), so the location is hard to beat. It's a stone's throw away from classes, entertainment, good food, and a number of other amenities, so it's possible to get a number of errands done without ever having to hop into your car. It's near a quickly-developing part of Duluth, a location that's sure to become more popular as more buildings and businesses open up.

Inside, the building is quiet -- most of the residents are either quiet college students or older residents. There's never a loud night, and those you do happen to run into in the hallways are always friendly. The apartments themselves, short of an occasional plumbing problem, are great as well. A one-bedroom can comfortably live two people, though the bedrooms may struggle to fit more than one bed. If you don't find your apartment has enough room, storage units are available for $10 a month.

I'd say the biggest downsides are the laundry room and the management. Don't get me wrong, Alison (the manager as of this writing) is a delight to work with, but it can be hard to catch her in her office. Plus, the building has gone through five managers in the past year. I don't know why, however. And the laundry room, unfortunately, usually has at least two machines out of order at any given time. Since there are only eight of each machine, this can be a big inconvenience -- especially since some people can take a while to come get their laundry.

The rent for a one-bedroom starts at $875 a month, but it goes up to $900 in the second year. Still, though, it's a cheaper option than Bluestone while still being close enough to take advantage of the community nearby. Read More