Apartment Reviews for Mayfair Apartments - Wilmington

I moved into the Mayfair in the winter of 2011. I was in love with the beautiful historic elements of the building. They have beautiful wood floors (in which management gave me, free of charge, clean rugs to help protect them), great big windows, and high-ish ceilings. The complex is only a block away from a CVS Pharmacy, a liquor store, and 2 blocks to I-95 (which was a lifesaver during the winter). I had a corner apartment, with windows that wrapped around, and even though I live on the 2nd floor, I had a partial view of the Wilmington skyline. The safety of the building is adequate. You get 2 separate keys, one to an exterior door, and one to your own apartment door. There is no central air, but they give you 2 window air conditioning units, which was sufficient for my one bedroom. All in all, it was my first apartment, and I will miss it.

The downsides: It is an old building. All utilities are included, but the windows are poorly insulated. This resulted in lots of drafty winters. Even worse was that you couldn't control the heat. It was building operated, and on some nights, I was really cold. I fixed this problem by buying my own personal heaters. Also, the bathroom is quite cramped. Storage space leaves much to be desired as well. My apartment had 2 bedroom closets, and 1 coat closet in the front. The walls and the windows are paper thin. I can hear my neighbors cough or sneeze, and can even hear the conversations of people walking outside the building.

The kitchen is a galley kitchen, with only enough room for 1 person to comfortably cook. The apartment had a dishwasher, but no garbage disposal. I cannot even count the amount of times my drain got stopped up. The counter tops were an ugly laminate, and needed replacement, not to mention the horrible kitchen floor that looked like it was from the 1970's, with tears and built up food particles. The worst part was my fridge. I requested the fridge to be fixed numerous times because it would go on and off from being cold to barely cold. I couldn't have ice cream, because it was either freezer burnt, or melting, and in the 2 years I've been here, I've had to give up cereal, as the milk wouldn't keep for than a couple days...and no, fridge is still not fixed.

Why I'm not renewing my lease: New management came and hiked the prices. My rent would've raised by about $100 since I moved in 2 years ago. I could justify the price hike if they actually maintained the property. Spider webs around all the windows and building entrances. The hallway walls have dozens of spots of spackle, where obvious painting has neglected to be done. Carpets need to be replaced in the common areas. And upgrades need to be done to the apartments, most importantly, the kitchens. I simply couldn't justify paying the extra money if I have seen no visual improvements to the property in 2 years.

It's an ok apartment if it's someones first time living in a city or out on their own.