Dear future residents, TL; DR: Please hear me out! Really! TRY YOUR BEST to avoid this place if you do not want RANDOM LARGE rental increases upon renewal, and if you want to settle down for a bit longer. They randomly treat always good residents like us like shit with whatever reasons. I never saw such things in my whole life. My DM is always open if you want to hear the story! One thing that is good still: the maintenance team does good job. But the property management team is trash. Please avoid! Updates: We are sending complaints to the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) and all other places. We know these will take long, but we should put this property's name on that "bad" list, right? Thanks for all your supporting. Summary: My family has been lived this property for almost 2 years. The first year renewal was 10% and we accepted; now they are asking for another more than 23% increase on top of that. The manager refused any negotiation and their attitude was, (quoted) "your offer is lower than market price ("they defined") and we won't offer you even $1 off." They admitted that they increased some tenants by 28%, 30%, or up to 60-70%. I heard and confirmed these shocking numbers. So, this is a property that cares nothing (shit) about its tenants. Since the recent management team change, the staff on the front desk are becoming significantly less helpful and not welcoming. Some final words: During this period of time, we got our first kid and had a lot of memories. They were good memories. Right now we realized we are treated as shit upon renewals. Meanwhile we tolerated numerous FALSE fire alarms early 4-5am in the morning. I do not want to complaint more about this property and this management team. The location is good! But, listen, there are many properties around this area, try to avoid this place at all costs if you do not want to be kicked out after 1 year. read more

I have been here for almost five years and no complaints. The staff from The Manager Tim Murphy and the leasing agents, concierge, maintenance people are top notch and always available when you need anything. I have a large 3 bedroom with plenty of closet and storage space with all new appliances. I have a huge deck and good neighbors. I recommend this place to anyone that wants a nice apartment great location near everything including malls, restaurants, banks, etc. read more

A Big Disappointment!!! We had a TERRIBLE experience with Avalon Chestnut Hill which included breathing contaminated air. After a year of living here we discovered that the air filter in the Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning was in horrible condition and looked like it had never been replaced and possibly caused the severe asthma attack of our 2 year old son. Another issue was the NOISE! It felt as if the walls in Avalon was made of paper and you could hear everything your neighbors were doing, especially from the ceiling. There was noise from balconies due to kids that were playing outside approx. 5 times a day and some of them just scream and shout. The annual rent increase of 15%, mice in the apartment that weren't taken care of appropriately and eventually had to be resolved by us. There was also a GAS leak from one of the apartments in the building about which we complained twice to the office but it wasn't addressed on time and eventually on the third day of the leak we woke up early as our apartment was filled with gas (at the time my wife was nine months pregnant), and some of the maintenance requests took 2 months. Above all this, the Sr. Community Manager, is not nice and arrogant. Regarding the air filter Our 2 year old son which was a healthy boy developed breathing troubles that eventually caused a severe asthma attack and he was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. It's important to mention that we saw an "FLTR" error on the HVAC thermostat twice and called for maintenance. The first time they claimed they "fixed" the issue was when we weren't around and the second time the maintenance staff just pressed "reset" on the HVAC display right in front of us since he claimed that it's a thermostat problem. So we are almost positive that they probably did the same thing the first time and the condition of the filter only supports that. We can't say for sure that our son's condition was caused by the filter, but his Pediatrician, teachers and our friends are saying that he has been completely healthy since the air filter was replaced. Each person that saw the filter picture was shocked at the condition and even after bringing this to the attention of Avalon management and staff, we never got an appropriate apology!!!. Also Although Avalon Chestnut Hill is a smoke free community, it wasn't enforced properly. There is not a single sign that indicates that smoking is forbidden and therefore sometimes you could smell cigarettes in and around the building and sometimes it got inside our apartment!! read more

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Apparently they don't care about customer service at all. Sidney does not get back to messages and she does not want the apartments to be rented out at all. read more

Hopefully new residents enjoy the renovations that happened when we were forced to pack up our entire kitchen and bathroom for a week, during which time workers were in our apartment all through the work day, meaning if you work from home or had the day off you had to leave your apartment and if you had a dog (as this is supposedly a pet friendly building) you had to find a place for them to go all week, with no help from management. read more

This is a great living and great management apartments. I love the amenities and the management is very responsive and quick. Location is wonderful and everything is close by. I would recommend exploring it. read more

I would like to compliment the excellent maintenance team lead by Eugene Eagan at this apartment complex. Work is done in a timely and efficient manner and is always followed up with how satisfied the tenant is with the work. Couldn't ask for a more friendly and professional staff to maintain the property and the individual tenant. read more

Talk about horrible experience! We rented the 3bed/ 2bth unit back in 2008 for nearly 3200$ - that's with a discount and one month free promotion. Very overpriced but nice sq footage nearly 1992 sq feet. We were moving from 2 different houses so we needed room and a good location so we figured its worth the price. When we first moved in there , there was construction in the courtyard from what seemed to be a partially collapsed pool. But we ignored that. Then we found out that the place is horribly noisy, the walls and ceilings are made of card board and you can hear people on all sides doing all sorts of stuff. Then there were unexplainable charges over 100$ for water use a month. We both work 9- 7pm so there is no way we could use that much water per month - unless their meters were screwed up as we found out was the case. As we tried dealing with this issue another one came up - in mid January the wet sprinkler system BURST due to failure of management company to heat it properly so it froze and we got flooded , three floors in a row were evacuated.( Apparently floods in this building are pretty common since our across the hall neighbour had one just 6 months ago and was stuck in a hotel room for two weeks) SO We got moved into a random apartment for the 'time being'. My stuff was ruined , the move was horrible and it took 2 days since there was no electricity in the apartment and they only used one moving crew to move 3 floors of tenants out. So my stuff lay soaking for 24 hours, WHICH by the way their INSURANCE didn't cover either. We got moved into a place that was smaller , much more noisy and they slapped us with nearly equal rent on it. The only concession they made is allowing us to break the lease in 30 days. We had no place to go so we had to stay in the apt they stuck us in, which was right over a fire pump and a loading dock with 24 hour noise and vibration. I mean what can i say. DON'T BE FOOLED by the looks of the place, it is a huge overrated barn , very badly built and with hazards no one is willing to confront. They must have brocken every building code in the books erecting this nightmare. And it is slowly falling apart. NOT to mention BREAK ins that happened nearly every month, there is no security in this building and there is only one lock on the apartments and basically anyone can get into the main building, just by ringing the front desk and asking to be let in. So If you are looking at these nightmarish new constructions , you were warned!!!!!!! Dont believe me ? Read more http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/MA-Newton-Avalon-at-Chestnut-Hill.html read more

INFESTED WITH MICE AND BUGS!!! Absolutely disgusting building, even despite recent "renovations." The facilities are absolutely filthy, and there are infestations as a result. On top of this, maintenance is terrible. Even worse is the service from leasing (namely Karen Schueler, who is truly worthless). So grateful I moved out a month ago. Avoid at all costs; this place was the opposite of "luxury living." read more

Looks nice enough... Worked with Lil in the office who showed us around. Nice property and grounds. Pricey but if you want the amenities you would probably appreciate it. Seems decently walkable, as far as location. Space in units seems decent for the price. read more

Moving into Avalon Chestnut Hill from a 10-room house has been satisfactory enough for me to think that home ownership is vastly overrated. That being said, I could qualify it by saying that had I moved somewhere other than here, it might not have been so satisfactory. Prior to moving into an apartment, I had certain non-negotiable requirements: a concierge; underground garage parking; a fitness room; a pool; and in-unit washer and dryer. An option was a gas stove. And Avalon provided each and every one. My apartment is quite spacious, with high ceilings, generous closet space, multiple windows in every room admitting a good amount of light, lots of kitchen cabinet space including a "pantry"/laundry room with even more shelving, large roomy bathrooms, and even a small patio accessed through a French door in the living room. Sound conditioning is excellent with carpeting and sufficient noise prevention between units. Most notable about living in Avalon is the service they provide. Maintenance calls are answered and many times resolved within an hour after the request is made. The concierge goes out of his/her way to be helpful, even making restaurant reservations and obtaining tickets to otherwise sold-out performances. Contracts are available for errand running and dog-walking, to name but two services the concierge can access. Avalon's location is superb. A major upscale shopping mall is across the street; another upscale mall is next door with a Wegman's supermarket. A short walk to transportation gets you into and out of downtown Boston and no fewer than 18 places to eat are within walking distance. Therefore Wegman's is really a good choice for empty nesters as well as working folks. Downside? It's not inexpensive to live here. Rents are right up there and do not include parking or utilities and you have to anticipate annual increases. Residents do not seem to be overly friendly but management runs occasional get-together and actively encourages socializing. In summary, Avalon is an excellent choice for people who want to live in Newton and at the same time enjoy a downtown life style. read more

Percect community for a smoker with a super car！Even though the monthly rent is a little bit high, it is worth the money, especially for international students. Do not miss it! read more

I have been living here for the past two years and it's been really wonderful! The neighborhood is very nice and all the staff in the leasing office and the concierge are awesome! I would definitely recommend Avalon at Chestnut hill to anyone who is trying to find a place to live in the Greater Boston area. read more

avalon at chestnut hill is a great place to live. community is closed to 3 shopping malls. shamier from maintenance is very helpful. read more

Great building, great staff, and great location! Easy access to mall shopping ang wegmans read more

To put it in a simple term: HORRIBLE. It does not get worse. I don't know what is so luxury about it. From paper thin walls to absolutely horrible management. And if you still want to live there, check with the police on the number of people who got robbed this year at Avalon in Chestnut Hill. Then check with Avalon management to see what they did to prevent these incidents and how they "helped" the people who got robbed. At that point you should reconsider living there. read more

Been here for several years and I must say this is by far the best apartment complex in the area. It is very convenient and I really love how there's a shopping plaza in walking distance . The entire office staff is very accommodating and super friendly too. The residents are very respectful and friendly. Happy to call this place Home! read more

If you're thinking of renting here, think again. Be sure to understand the lease renewal terms, especially if you want to renew for anything less than a full 12 month period. For instance, our rent is about $2,300 and we were recently given a Lease Renewal Notice. If we want to extend the lease by 1 month, the rent jumps to almost $4,300; rent for a 2-month extension is over $3,900;, and so on. These figures are completely unreasonable. Avalon says they need to charge these much higher amounts to cover lost rent in slower months if the unit does not rent out again right away. That's one theory. The other theory is that if the unit does not rent out again right away, they should let the rent be dictated by market forces (supply and demand). Instead, they try to hedge their risk by charging the existing renter a much higher rent to extend the lease. They say this is industry standard. Not true. Our previous apartment (high rise in Boston) charged us only $250 extra per month to go monthly. Avalon has created a huge amount of inconvenience for us. We just needed an extra month or two before moving on, and they are all but forcing us out by the much higher rent they are charging. I truly wish we had moved somewhere else. read more