Villa La Jolla Condominiums

I have lived at Villa La Jolla for 20 years. Until last year I was a renter and I decided to buy the condo I had rented all these years. I want to refute the negative reviews I have seen about Villa La Jolla. The staff here, in particular, Mary, Michelle, Robert, Chris, Nico and Jose (the other members of maintenance and landscaping too) have never been anything but warm, courteous and responsive to my needs as a renter and as a homeowner. I have always received written or posted notices about water shutoff, any and all requests I have had have been attended to promptly and never ignored, and everyone has been very kind and friendly to me. I would never have lived here as long as I did if it were otherwise. I called Chris this weekend to tell him my smoke detector needed replacing. He spoke to Nico over the weekend and first thing this morning Nico was at my door to replace it. Chris could have just made a note of my request but he followed up personally on what I needed. This is customer service and also evidence of a caring person. I am citing this as one example of the staff’s attention to detail and concern for its residents. Robert, our contractor, is always on the job– I see him checking on things every day to make sure all is going smoothly and it does, thanks to him. I have known Nico and Mary for 20 years, and they have never done anything but their best for me, as have Michelle, Chris, Robert and everyone else. I have nothing to gain by posting this positive review. I am simply telling the truth.

Time for a new Unilocal on the many negatives here.
I’ve been living here 12 years because of the location. Every single year my rent has been raised – this year it was 50 bucks, and he started out asking for 75! This on a place that had the rent raised way up there last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, etc., etc., etc.
We are still FORCED to throw money down a complete, total rat-​hole known as Mandatory Renter’s Liability Insurance – that’s now up to 130 bucks a year for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
Oh, did I mention the water problem? If you live here you can expect to have your water turned off for all or part of a day about once every 2 weeks. They’re turning it off again tomorrow – this time we got a notice. 10% of the time you don’t even get notified till you turn on the tap and nothing comes out – AGAIN.
Did I mention the electrical? The biggest circuit breakers in the units are 15amp, which would be great if it was 1963. So before you turn on a heater or a toaster or a blow dryer, or whatever, make sure it’s plugged into a circuit with nothing else drawing current or you’ll flip the breaker.
Did I mention the WONDERFULLY accommodating attitude of the ownership? I’ve been renting from this worthless prick for 12 years – WAY over $ 100,000.00 has passed from my over-​worked hands to his manicured ones. You might think he would pay maybe at least the slightest iota of attention to my concerns, but you be be as wrong as you could possibly be. This guy has two, and ONLY two modes of response in dealing with the people who hand over large sums to him – 1. Total Disregard 2. Utter Contempt
If you’re looking for any kind of accommodation –ANY AT ALL – forget about it.
However, if you like giving money to a guy who treats people (including you) like they’re dog shit on the bottom of his shoe, and the longer you deal with him the worse he gets; then by all means rent from this jerk-​shit.

Well, I am brazilian and I went to San Diego to spend 3 months (June to September 2014) while my girlfriend was studying at UCSD.
After searching the web looking for a place to stay and after lots of horrible experiences by the phone and e-​mail with other communities around La Jolla, I (THANKS GOD) found this place called VILLA LA JOLLA.
Since the firs contact, this guy named KRIS HOLLAND was absolutely the best.
I have no words to describe everything he did for me and to thank him for all the support and attention he had with us, all the time.
Seriously, Kris is such a nice man AND 100% skilled professional. He is an specialist on providing EXCELLENT customer service, just as his business card says.
Not just him, but all the people at the Office — Marry, Michelle (I am sorry if I didnt spell your name right, girls) and the other crew members (I forgot the names, sorry) — are just absolutely AMAZING.
I literaly found my second family at this place, my home away from home for these incredible 3 months.
Talking about the community, forget about trying to find something as good as this one for the price they offer.
It is not cheap, I know, but its more than fair.
I mean, you can find the cheaper places, but they will be not even close to this one in quality.
The apartments are in very good conditions (even the ones that are not «upgraded»). They are «old school» but modern at the same time… everything works with no noise or anything, just the way they should!
And before I forget: the common areas are in good shape and always clean and organized.
The maintenance crew is great too.
They are always smilling and always ready to give you any kind of assistance.
If there is ANYTHING that is not right at the moment, if you open your front door you are going to find one of them passing by and asking you if «is everything ok, sir?».
Well, these 3 months were the best of my life, and for sure the Villa La Jolla Communitie is an essencial part of that.
As the best points I found there, I can write down:
. Apartments in great conditions;
. Quiet place, absolutely polite neighbours;
. Clean and organized enviroment in every communitie spot. The pools, for example, are completely clean and cristal clear all the time;
. The parking lots are more than enough for your car, even if it is a big one;
. Safe place! One of the best neighborhoods in La Jolla! I had no contact (AT ALL) with any kind of suspect situation durring theses 3 months;
. AWESOME people working there and ready to assist and help you either if you need it or not! (I miss you guys a lot, by the way!);
. One of the only communities that WANTS to provide terms just the way you need… no matter if that is a short or long term rental, they will treat you the same good way.
About the negatives? I do not remember anything negative from that place.
The only situation I had was a car parked in my spot in the afternoon and that was a mistake from one of the neighbours… nothing to do with the communitie itself.
Well, it was so good I can not even translate everything into words, but i think this is enough to make my (more than) positive review.
See you guys next time! Soon, I hope!

This place has its ups and downs. Ive been looking for apartments/​condos near UCSD for a while and narrowed it down to this.
Pros:
It’s very close to UCSD — (exactly 1 mile) — the downside to this is that it’s the last bus stop before arriving to UCSD so the bus is usually full — plan on getting to the bus stop about 35 minutes before class so you can arrive on time (buses come by every 15 minutes or so). Worst case its like a 15 – 20 minute walk.
People are quiet — never had a noise issue while I’ve been here.
Assigned parking is nice since you don’t have to always look for a parking spot.
Leasing staff is nice.
The laundry machines have just been updated and much nicer than the old ones. They actually clean the clothes properly now without issues and are much more spacious.
Cons:
The lighting is pretty bad in some of the buildings depending on where you’re facing.
Also, recently I’ve seen a lot of the units that have had asbestos removal so make sure that if you’re leasing from a private party to check and see if its been treated.
Also, they shut off the water very frequently but I never see anyone repairing anything outside. The water is shut off at very inconvenient times (8:30AM-4PMish) on a Tuesday. They do leave notices though.
Overall it’s not a horrible place — very quiet and feels kind of like home.
Going rate for a 1BR is about $ 1400ish based off what I’ve seen on CL. Some cost more if you have granite countertops etc. if you want the best deals, look on craigslist or drive by for signs — that’s where you can generally saved the most money.
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this place unless it’s about $ 200 cheaper than the competition.

I lived here for a year. I have never had any problems with the apartment. It’s less than a mile from UCSD and a mile from the I-​5 entrance. Ralph’s and Trader Joes is just one evening stroll away. Basically, this is the best geologically located apartment I’ve ever lived in. People in the apartment are family friendly and quiet. So if you need a place to crack down for school or need a place to relax after work, this is it. Since I am in California by myself, the staff became my family. They were very understanding to all of my needs! I would live there again if I had the choice.
Trust me, stop looking around and apply for this apartment because chances are they are going to be always booked and you’re going to have to be on a waitlist. GET ON IT!

quiet, nice and clean. The monthly rent is decent.

I have updated my review in response to some sour experiences I have had recently.
(1) Water getting shut off without notification
(2) A persistent mold problem in certain areas of the apartment in spite of my efforts to alleviate the problem
(3) Poorly administered parking — no guest parking available because some residents utilize a guest parking spot as a secondary parking spot and management doesn’t do anything about it
(4) Maintenance appointments not being honored without explanation or apology
(5) The rent rises disproportionately to inflation (in the area in general) — My rent went up by 75 $ since last year
(6) Traffic has worsened slightly as I believe the high rents in the area have driven out a lot of students that would commute via public transport
I still like living here on balance, but I am sad how a complex that used to be a great place to live is now approaching average.
The pros are still:
(1) Awesome location
(2) Some members of the staff are really good with service
(3) Great floor plans

Update: I am still here after all these years at Villa La Jolla, so if you have been debating renting here I highly recommend you give this place a chance. I still love it here because Management is just awesome! They go above and beyond to take care of their residents that are renting. In fact as of ¹¹⁄₃₀ the apt that I have lived in for these 6 years flooded. The older unit I was in had the water heater broken. Imagine coming home from Thanksgiving and finding the entire floor wet! My apt was done. I called emergency maintenance and they did as much as possible for the night.
The very next day i called management and Michelle came down to see the place, she told me she call me back and when she did it was within the hour she gave me the choice to either keeping my old place (which required me to move out for 2 weeks at least and live in a hotel) or a brand new upgraded unit. I decided to move out and take the upgraded unit which was even nicer than where I used to live. They didn’t even raise my fee either, they kept the same rate…
Michelle also gave me the option to either take $ 400 off rent or ask them to find me movers. I decided to allow them to find me movers which worked out great because Michelle was able to schedule the move the next day. Also Michelle kept calling to make sure things were ok with me as I was progressing through the move. If anything I grateful that Michelle gave me the place immediately that day and she even offered to have maintenance help me move at least my bed in so on the second night I wasn’t sleeping in my old apt.
I wish I could give management more than 5 stars. I never flooded before and didnt know what to do… but Michelle went through the entire process and I understood everything which made the transition easier than I thought.
This is the first year I did rental insurance as it was mandatory, and I am so glad I had rental insurance. A few things were damaged in the flood but I will just call them up to make a claim. Remember Rental insurance is cheap and really you never know what will happen to your place. I got my rental insurance through Allstate which was $ 81/​yr so just shop around like I did to get a good rate. Otherwise I am grateful for a brand new place I live in. It is truly a blessing to live here to have people that care about you as a renter.

I get really frustrated with the owners of the property (Garden Communities). First, they keep raising our rent with INSANE amounts each year and second, the Garden Communities Customer Service is RUDE! At one point I sent them an email to request reimbursement for a fee we had to pay: never got a confirmation they received my email, then a week later I get an email back that was just impolite. A generic one liner to thank me for contacting them which ended with the sentence: request for reimbursement is denied. No closure of the email whatsoever. Even though you might disagree with the reimbursement, I don’t think this is the right way to treat your tenants.

My daughter was looking for UCSD off-​campus housing. I researched a dozen or more condo’s within 3 mile radius of the campus over 3 months. I narrowed it down to Villa La Jolla Condominiums.
The location is the best thing about it. Minutes from the UCSD campus, bio-​tech and Parma companies. Just across the street is the Village Square where you will find everything that you will need. It’s also minutes away from the ocean! It’s well maintained and quite place with lots of professional residents. The lease office staff is professional and very friendly.
I liked the place so much, ended up purchasing a unit. I just moved her-​in. We really liked the place.

I lived in a 1BR for two years and was very happy. The staff is very responsive to any maintenance concerns and the facilities are always kept spotless and beautiful. It’s a very quiet community; a mix of academics, young professionals, and older people. If that’s what you’re looking for, I highly recommend it!

I can’t say enough good things about Villa La Jolla. My husband and I lived there for 3 years, and now that we moved out of the area we keep recalling how great we had it back at Villa La Jolla, and wishing we could find something exactly like it in our apartment search now.
We had a 1 bedroom, remodeled, first floor apartment. Here are some of my favorite things about the apartment/​complex:
1. Beautiful pool and deck areas for relaxing, BBQ-​ing, and hanging out.
2. The remodeled apartment we had was beautiful. I LOVED the kitchen! Clean, plenty of storage space, and mostly easy to clean. (The electric, flat cook-​top stove was a little more for looks than function. After 3 years of a lot of cooking, it was pretty scratched up, but I seamed to be the only one who noticed that.)
3. Very spacious 1 bedroom apartment. I think it was just over 700 sq. ft. and good closet space, plus a huge patio. We had friends and family visit often, and we were never short on space. It was extremely comfortable.
4. The granite floors in the kitchen and bathroom were beautiful.
5. Amazing location: RIGHT across the street from Ralph’s, Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, AMC movie theater, Islands, Chipotle, CPK, the list goes on. Close to the 5. VERY close to UCSD. My husband was going to school there at the time, and was able to catch the shuttle on the corner or walk very easily.
6. The neighbors were all very nice and friendly. There are lot of people who own, and then quite a few that rent. I think this makes the community feel more «home» like, because many people are invested in keeping it comfortable and enjoyable.
7. Plenty of laundry facilities. The card payment system is a nice touch, and the new machines they installed a while ago were a welcome change.
8. The management is fantastic! Mary was always kind and welcoming, and was one of the many reasons we chose to rent there.
9. We also got a great deal on the rent when we originally signed a year lease, and the rent never increased too much each year. The management was always very flexible when negotiating a lease renewal.
10. Although our apartment faced the street (Via Mallorca), there was never much noise. The shrubs blocked a lot of it out, and it actually turned out to be very convenient when we had 2 cars and quite often found a spot right outside our backdoor.
11. There is a nice park a bit further down Via Mallorca that is great for taking a dog to, playing soccer, having a picnic, or just swinging. It’s hidden out of the way because so few people go all the way down that street, but we went there often and really enjoyed it.
12. Parking was very convenient. They gave us one spot very close to our apartment. Originally we had 2 cars, and finding street parking was not often a problem. Also, there are usually other tenants renting out their parking spaces, and advertising in the common areas for them. My husband had a motorcycle and bought a heavy, mega-​chain lock to wrap it up to the post by our parking space, and cover for it.
The few things I wasn’t too fond of were:
1. Our 1^st floor apartment didn’t get much natural light. It faced east and the shrubbery blocked a lot of light.
2. We did have some issues with mold, but once we got a dehumidifier we hardly ever had anymore problems with it. Living in La Jolla, so close to the ocean makes for some pretty humid days, and you need to keep the air in your apartment circulating to prevent mold. I think they should probably make a sweep through the complex to ensure the drainage systems within the landscaping are cleared up and working properly. Sometimes after A LOT of rain the landcaping wood chips would clog the drain in the bushes next to our exterior wall, and if left that way, we could have mold problems inside. Personally, I think that the age of the buildings, coupled with the high humidity made mold unavoidable, but the dehumidifier made a world of difference.
3. Although we had a remodeled unit, we had single pane windows (there are double-​paned windows in most remodeled units). The single pane windows were difficult to clean, and collected moisture inside too often. We had to wipe down the windows almost daily.
4. We did get notices of other people in the community having break-​ins or car thefts. Luckily that never happened to us. I also think a lot of it had to do with common sense. The last burglary I heard of happened because someone had left their house with the windows open on the first floor, and left their macbook just sitting out next to the open window. At least you could shut your window when you leave! We bought those little extra window locks that screw in and block the window from opening.
All in all, I would recommend Villa La Jolla without any reservations. I loved this apartment and complex so much, and miss it a lot!

Its a really nice place, great location, and its very safe! I come to visit my friend here all the time and I am very jealous of how nice it is and how luxurious this place is. The swimming pool is nice and they have a nice workout place. The rooms are beautiful!
The swimming pool is perfect after a long day of work. Its in a great part of La Jolla near everything! Location wise you cannot beat that! I went to check out the workout room and it was nicely up kept! You cannot find a better place than this.
Once my lease is up for my rent I am planning on moving into this place. Thank you Greg for letting me hang out after work and using the facilities that they have here.
I asked Greg how safe it is here and he said he has nothing to worry about. They have guards all around the area keeping an eye out. I am a fan of this place!

Living here is great, great location etc, but management makes it the best, Michelle, and Mary is who I have always dealt with, they are the nicest sweetest people, and so accomodating they get 5 stars,
I guess if anything bad I would have to say, having to go to a laundry room it would be nice to have in home laundry, I bought my unit. thanks Mary and Michelle

I rent a 1BR, 1BA at Villa La Jolla Condos. The complex & staff are great. I highly recommend it. Very quiet in & around my unit and on this lovely tree-​lined street. The staff & maintenance workers give me quick, outstanding service. The outdoor landscaping is lovely & well-​maintained. Ideally situated, it’s walking distance to the UCSD campus, shopping and 2 movie theaters. Ralph’s plaza (La Jolla Village Square) has 12 eateries & 19 other retailers. And a block from there is a shopping center with 2 banks, a CVS drugstore, Whole Foods, Fedex/​Kinkos and much more. Neighbors are nice — I feel very safe here. The only downsides are not having a washer & dryer hook-​up and there’s almost no street parking for a 2^nd car or for visitors. However parking is available in the back pking lot near Staples, just down the street near Via Mallorca & Villa La Jolla.

I work at UCSD and lived in a 1-​Bedroom apartment at Villa La Jolla for one year. I truly enjoyed living here and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a nice and affordable place to live near UCSD. The leasing office staffs are very nice and helpful. They are also quite prompt to fix any problem regarding the apartment.

Very close to UCSD! 1 year lease is $ 1550 for 2 bedrooms and after that it will be 1600 – 1700

Pretty good place to rent. Can be a bit steep for the area, look for promotions when moving in. Management is very friendly and pretty willing to negotiate on rent. Pool and gym are great, though the gym is a bit on the small side. Repairs are done pretty quickly. Though the outside looks a bit old, as the buildings were built in the 70’s, they’ve remodeled a good number of the units and they’re beautiful inside, with granite countertops and travertine floors.

The management is selling some of the units and leasing some (last time I heard, monthly lease rate is about $ 1350). So more than half of the village units are owned by individual owners. The management is friendly. On the first day when I moved in, repair requests like a hole in the wall and a broken blinder were fixed immediately (the place was not really ready to move in).
Landscaping is well taken care by the village’s HOA management. The units were built in early ‘70s. So you can hear your upstairs neighbors walking, talking, and taking showers; and the other way around too. Once a downstairs neighbor said, she can hear her upstairs neighbor peeing. And if you live upstairs and when your downstairs neighbor cooks, smell comes through the vent hole and the wall; no doubt, you will know what they’re cooking for meal. After hours, your entertainment unit volume needs to turn down a lot lower so that you don’t disturb your neighbors. Or you might want to try a pair of personal headphones.
During summer, most of the student neighbors and their friends use pools past closing hour, 10 PM. Security can get there no faster than 30 minutes.