Public Storage

Getting stuff in there was easy enough, but a couple months in they jacked up my monthly rent by $ 20 a month. No one ever told me this would happen when I first signed on.

The facility is nice as far storage units go but beware of the hidden fees. The locks for the units are $ 19 and it was mentioned until I saw it on the bill. I was also told the their insurance is a requirement unless you can prove that your home owners policy covers your stuff in a storage unit… which most do by the way! After reading the fine print on the insurance brochure, it states that Public Storage not responsible for the lost of your stuff and that insurance is not required to rent from them.

Today, I lost my storage unit virginity. And I’m sure glad it was with this place!
First, I have to say that I knew exactly which storage spot to take my stuff. Yes, this place is literally located on the street I live on, but that’s not why. No, the truth is that I wanted to support this Public Storage spot because of the effort that was clearly put in to making it look great on the street. The façade on Mills (yes, right up to the street *the urban planning nerd in me squeals with delight!*) is actually very pretty, with faux second story windows and attractive trim. I mentioned it to the manager, Laura, and she said that they definitely made an effort to make it blend in with the pretty, ornate homes in the neighborhood. Remember– this is a storage place! I’m used to rows of ugly, one story, garage-​looking buildings and here is a multi-​story building, with rear parking, that takes the neighborhood design context into account. UM, am I dreaming?!?
OK, I’ll move on.
Laura, whom I mentioned during my nerdy digression, was extremely friendly and made sure that I not only had a first-​story unit, but that it was close to the front (I’m tiny and looked ridiculous carrying all of my boxes in).
The only things to keep in mind are that 1– you are required to get insurance on the storage unit totaling a minimum of $ 11/​month in addition to the rental rate, and 2– there’s a ‘merchandise’ total of $ 19.16 added for the lock and key (I didn’t realize that this would be an additional fee) and an admin fee of $ 23.43.

PROS: Laura, the property manager, was very friendly. She was also very helpful in explaining the positive aspects of the storage facility.
CONS: The two biggest downsides: they wrote down the incorrect gate access code on the card they gave me. When I attempted to access the facility, I was denied access. This was problematic, as I had a truck full of furniture and movers paid by the hour. I was almost forced to unpack all of our stuff and put it back into my house – and move all over again! What a stressful nightmare!!! To make matters worse, they have a «CALL FACILITY MANAGER» button on the gate keypad. They have two keypad locations, both of which are broken – and we were unable to speak with a facilities manager to gain access. I can understand one of those mistakes– but both of them almost forced me into an utter catastrophe. (Sorry for the hyperbole, but having to move and pay for movers twice can only be stated in extreme language. Moving is the worst.) Luckily, another member of the facility was kind enough to let us in, after we waited for half an hour outside – sweating bullets.
Additionally, the first time I showed up, they actually closed their business 15 minutes prior to their stated closing time. Further gripes include, an unexplained «merchandise charge”– of $ 20 (which I can only assume is to pay for a mandatory cylinder lock – she didn’t tell me she was going to charge me $ 20 for it).
You should also be forewarned that they require renter’s insurance, which would cost you an extra $ 12 a month, at least. So make sure you factor that into the total price.
This place isn’t terrible, I’m sure it’s great for most people. But these are major oversights which have made my subjective experience with Public Storage so far to be pretty terrible.