Villa Marina Apartments

This review is on the onsite Manager, Katie, and not on the property.

I was looking for an apartment and attended the Open House for a 1 bedroom. Katie showed the apartment and seems like a nice lady. After we were done, she gave me the application form in case I want to proceed. I was looking at 5 other apartments, so I took the application. Within 2 days, I decided I want to take the apartment at Villa Marina and called Katie. However, I never received a response back. I called her and left messages twice and sent 2 emails and received no response.

I don't know if this is because the apartment is rented or not, but even if it did, there are 3 units available. It is not like she had to respond to 50 people, she could email me and said the ALL units have been rented.

Given the unprofessionalism nature of Katie, I am fearful of HOW she will TREAT the residence if I DID rent a unit from her. For me, no matter how nice the property is, the management team is the important thing for the residence since he/she will have to deal with the management team during the entire lease. As such, I do not recommend this place.

I lived here for 4 years before my company relocated. I would have stayed longer if I could.
I never had an issue the entire time. Any repairs I needed were addressed immediately. The neighbors were pleasant (when I encountered them). The neighborhood is very nice, with plenty of places to go within walking distance.
There is private parking, but it's limited to one car per apartment. The parking lot is gated so only people with the fob can get in. Street parking is extremely crowded and difficult to come by, so if you have multiple cars you might have problems.
The mailroom is right outside the manager's office, and I've never had any issues with getting packages delivered. Sometimes I've seen the same box sit around for days in the mailroom before its owner collects it.
There's a laundry room on site that takes credit cards, and also a laundromat in walking distance.
All in all, I strongly recommend this apartment complex.

I've lived here for 7 years so far and love it. The location is great and the grounds and common areas are always spotless. The one bedroom apartment feels larger than average with lots of closet space. The manager, Katie, is very responsive to any maintenance issues. A great place to live!

Please note, we did not rent, the review is just on viewing the place.
It was the second of 15 places we saw.

Pros: The kitchen seemed large. Apt manager is hilarious, and actual renters seem to like it okay on apartmentratings.com

COns: There was no view. It was a bit more $ than the place we ended up renting.

We saw close to 15 apartments in Alameda in 1 day. See my other reviews/lists more info.

Alameda is a great town to live in -- people still look you in the eye and speak , businesses you frequent remember your face, and you avoid a lot of the hustle and traffic issues of some larger cities. Villa Marina is a great example of that sort of getaway place --- even though it is a relatively large community (70 apts) it comes across as small and quaint .
I was a single person living there and loved the HUGE bedroom in my 1 bedroom place -- the apt had a full bath, good sized living room and a gigantic 3 sliding door closet in the bedroom. the kitchen was small but serviceable, made great meals for friends and family there. Had a good sized laundry room (6 washer/dryers), a decent gym with an ellipitical and Universal weight machine, and gated parking, so I knew I was safe coming in late at night.

Recommended several friends to Villa Marina -- many still live there -- Katie the manager is great to stop by and yak with, she also is very attentive to concerns or problems brought to her. Great pool area for summer fun, lots of color in the landscaping, quiet neighborhood, and a beach and park within walking distance -- Great place to come home to after a long day....

As a resident of Villa Marina for a few years now, I wanted to counter the negative reviews on here. Our manager Katie is very responsive, maintenance requests are always taken care of promptly and the one time I had an emergency (flooding toilet!) she had someone at my apartment within the hour. The owners are clearly getting a little greedy based on what they are currently asking for new apartments, but they are not gouging like some places and keep yearly increases below five percent. Generally very quiet -- the pool can be noisy during the summer, but that's to be expected. Honestly the worst noise comes from the Marine View building next door. Better to get an apartment on the other side of the complex if possible. I do wish the pool was heated year-round but seasonal seems to be the norm out here. Small quibbles here and there but really nothing that would even add up to me taking away a star. if you are considering Villa Marina I would say don't be scared off by the other reviews -- I'm perfectly happy here.