Apartment Reviews for Cosmopolitan - Seattle

After putting down my deposit on this place I found this site with all the bad reviews and was really worried and considered not moving in because of them. Let me say that as far as the management issues go, the Tiffany person is long gone, and the staff thats there now is incredible. Jennifer is honest, efficient and well organized; shes also cuter and sweeter then a miniature rhubarb pie kissing a kitten. Jaime is also incredibly nice and helpful; in addition shes so hot she clearly in violation of several fire codes. J Ray is the maintenance guy and is fantastic and endearing as anyone Ive ever met (he calls people bra and brother like Hawaiians do) he lives on site and has an emergency pager on him for even after hours issues (very useful when I knocked out my own electricity once, which instead of making me feel like a jerk about he just fixed politely in the middle of the night.) <P>
Heres the straight skinny: <P>
What sucks: 1. The floors are laminate foe hard wood, which makes anyone walking above you wearing heals or dress shoes sound like their banging on a pot in your room, every step. 2 The walls are thin, at least sound wise. I can hear my apparently Muslim neighbors nightly prayers, and the guy across the hall likes to play electric guitar on Saturday mornings, not half bad, but if I wanted to hear a guy playing guitar Id go to a club AT NIGHT! ;) 3. Pet peeve: that is to say I hate pets, and at least half of the people here seem to have them. The little fecal factories can often be heard yipping under the doors, especially when someone is taking their pet through the halls, they make a little annoying chorus like organic car alarms or several different Kenny G albums being played at once. 4. No garbage disposal in the sink, no garbage chute on each floor (it is in parking garage which is covered so not too bad), negative counter space literally not big enough for a microwave or even a toaster oven, no dishwasher (and not enough counter space to dry dishes.) 5. Virtually no storage or closet space in the apartments. Sure, for an extra $30 you can get like a 3ft x 3ft storage space down the hall and/or possibly on a different floor, but in the apt itself all you get is the tiny little closet youd get at a hotel (its a remodeled hotel) and a small cupboard under a mirror (again, like a hotel) and the kitchen storage has several very small but not adjustable cupboards also. They look adjustable, but youd have to unscrew the hinges to pull out the shelves and reset them. <P>
Whats awesome: 1. Location, location, location. Bus routes to anywhere in the area are a short walk. UW, Safeco and endless restaurants and entertainment on the Ave or 45th abound in walking or crawling distance. The I-5 on-ramp is seconds away so side street traffic is not a concern, downtown only minutes away. 2. Superior staff and customer service/concern for your comfort. 3. Parking is excellent for Seattle (you can get street parking easily, plus you can buy a gated garage membership  gates only close after 5pm until some time early morning.) 4. The other people in the building seem young and cool. 20 and 30 somethings, and I said hello to more people while moving in then I said to people in my entire last complex, so folks here seem friendly to me. 5. Its been recently remodeled. They paint between each renter so its colors are clean and modern and basically go well with Ikea stuff. <P>
Neither here nor there: 1. There is a meditation garden but Ive never seen anyone out there because it would be like hanging out in a fish bowl; everyones apartments point at it, and frankly its a parking lot without cars, or more accurately a pool that has been filled and paved over. 2. Can you smell what the Rocks been cookin? Well, if you live here you can. The hall is a cornucopia of food stink at meal time. I imagine each on its own would smell appetizing, all together it has a separate effect. However no better/worse then anywhere else that shares a common hall. 3. I bought a draft dodger and filled in the door with weather stripping and it helped considerably on the hall noise, if you do move in its recommended (by me.) <P>
Closing remarks: Ive only lived here a week so far, but I defiantly like my chances of enjoying my time here. Despite its short comings, assuming I can get used to neighbor noise this place has a lot of promise. Everyone Ive talked to so far here really likes it. It feels like a lot of money for what youre getting, but apparently thats just how the housing market is in Seattle. The term luxury apartments on the sign outside still seems awfully generous, but its far nicer then other places I was looking at in the neighborhood and price range. <P>