Buckle up. This one's a doozy. We rented here for a little over a year. It had its good points, but it had many, many more bad points. The Short Version: If you just need a secure place to put your stuff without needing to access it and don't care if your price randomly goes up every few months, this place is great. If you actually want to get to your things regularly without shady price-jacking, find somewhere else. Positives: 1. The facility is nice. It's a new building, so it doesn't have the wear and tear of older facilities. It's clean and well-lit. 2. Front desk staff were always friendly. I didn't have a lot of interactions with them, but the few I had were always pleasant. 3. No pest issues I ever noticed. They keep preventative rat deterrent in all the units. These are small bags in the front corners of the unit, so be mindful if you bring kids with you! 4. It's climate controlled, so it wasn't unbearable during warmer days to make a trip. Minor inconveniences: 1. You have to code in for EVERYTHING. Not just entering/exiting the gate, but also the building and elevator. It gets excessive when you're making more than one trip. 2. You can't use their dumpster. They even have a sign on their dumpster that says "no dumping" which is so absurd it's comical. I understand a ban on throwing out big items, but we were told not to use the dumpster at all. 3. The staff often forgets to unlock the office doors (both the front and side doors) when they return from lunch or touring new renters. You have to knock to get their attention and have them unlock it. 4. The parking lot is too small, so we often got blocked in/out. There isn't room for big moving trucks, but that doesn't stop people from using them and blocking people. 5. The location is awful. Metcalf is just busy enough to make it difficult to leave, especially if you need to make a left turn. People can get stuck waiting for a break in traffic for several minutes, which blocks others from entering/exiting. I don't know why they didn't build a dedicated entrance in front and a dedicated exit around back to at least keep a steady flow going. Major problems: 1. The rent issue that everyone seems to have experienced. They raised the rent on us twice in the 15-ish months we had this unit. We never got any notice that they were raising the rent. They claimed to have mailed us a notice, but we never received it. When asked why it wasn't emailed to us, they said they didn't have an email on file, which is a blatant lie because they emailed us our receipt for payment every month, and when we closed out the unit they said they'd email us our closure confirmation. 2. When you close out the unit, you have to sweep out the dust (not even trash--DUST). If you don't, they'll charge you a $50 cleaning fee. I would have rated them 3 stars, but I was so appalled when she said we had to sweep out the DUST IN THE CORNERS or be fined $50 I had to drop it down to 2. Getting fined $50 for small amounts of dust in the corners of a storage unit is a SCAM. 3. You have to check out dollies by leaving your driver's license/ID card with the front staff. This would be fine, but the front staff often leave randomly and lock the doors while they're gone. This meant you may be stuck there until someone came back. I understand not wanting dollies to be stolen or left lying around the facility, but if you're taking people's IDENTIFICATION, you need to keep someone in the office at all times so a) it isn't stolen by someone breaking in, and b) they can get their ID back in a timely manner. This is, in my opinion, the most egregious offense. 4. The access hours are laughable (they have the nerve on their website to say "extended hours" are a feature). The access gate opens at 6am and closes at 6pm Mon-Sat or 2pm on Sundays. You MUST be off the grounds by those times. Those are hours when people are on their way to or from work, so forget accessing your unit on a work day unless you leave early. This means weekends are ridiculously busy, because it's the only time anyone has to access their unit. I don't recommend this place unless you just need to store and forget about your stuff. And you don't mind random price increases. read more

Horrible customer service, rude, dirty, temperature issue, no trash can or anywhere to throw trash away, the only one bathroom is always locked and of open it is dirty and still no trash can in there. After an incident my small service dog got loose from the leash and I got in the elevator and missed her, MICHELLE maybe the manager, very rude and in professional, found her and don't know what she did to my dog that she was scared and peed on the asphalt outside in parking lot. When I came back looking for her, Michelle tells me I have to clean the PEE OFF OF ASPHALT. I agreed although nobody cleans pee of a 10 lbs dog off asphalt, but I asked her there is no trash can, where do I throw the towels? She said to take it with me. While the location of the storage is on middle of the homeless people location and there are people pee and poo all over the area . She also said the bath room misty be Locked. So why is there a bathroom there? For not having to clean it up, when she is working the bathroom is locked. The hallways are always filthy and dirty, I don't think they ever clean the hallways, now she wants me to clean the asphalt on the parking lot from pee! Has anybody heard of anything like that? Cleaning a 10 lbs dog pee off asphalt in a parking lot. ;( read more

Still wasn't finished. Just being honest. They close at 6 pm. And only open half day on Sunday. You can't access a bathroom if the workers are not there. Don't get trapped like I did with the monthly special cause that flies by read more

It looks like a lot of people are sharing the same sentiment as me. I previously gave them a 5 star rating on Google, and then retracted it. Like I expected, sure enough the price doubled from $45 to now $90. The reason why I'm dropping my review is not solely based on the price change but more the fact that they were deceptive about the pricing. On the phone when renting I specifically asked if my price would go up and they told me no, and that I was "locked in" to the price. Three months later and that is not the case. Their reasoning is because it is month to month, depending on the "market conditions" the price can go up. While $90 truthfully is not horrible, and the facility is still really nice, I am worried that nothing will stop them from increasing it more and more as the months go on. I will stay with them for now, however if they let me know (they do give you a 30 day warning) that the price will be increasing, I will 100% be moving my stuff somewhere else. It unfortunately was too good to be true. read more

I was able to reserve a space online - at a great $$ - and finish the process onsite the next day. The building and facilities are both kept very clean. The staff are friendly and professional. The electric gate works very well and opens fast. There are carts available to move items between your car and storage space with ease. read more

Unfortunately, I have to retract my previous positive review after my experience over the past four months. To start, I was given a faulty lock that had to be drilled out, which took several days and three different employees to resolve. The attitude of the staff noticeably changed for the worse once I had rented the unit. Then, this month, they nearly doubled my rent without warning! I've also called twice over the past week, requesting to speak with the corporate manager, but I still haven't received a call back. If I were you, I'd go with another company. read more

Absolutely the worst storage ever. The "security " hardly works its very inconvenient to move hours are to short we just closed and they told us we had to sweep out the unit there was nothing on the floor when we left but before we moved in they had drilled the lock out and left the mess on the floor. They tried to chatge $50.00 if we didnt sweep in frount of them. The Staff members all were very aggressive and rude. Lights in the area did not always turn on. Very small parking lot that you can't have a moving truck in at all they will tell you to park on the street and walk your stuff in. I would never recommend ever!! read more

"Smart stop is committed to making the self storage experience easy and hassle free." My experience has been the complete opposite. I moved out on the 1st of the month and initiated a refund since my automatic payment went through that very day. I have now been waiting OVER a WEEK for my refund after moving out of my storage unit. I called to check on the process and the lady I spoke to made me feel like I wasn't asking a relevant question. I have NEVER had to wait this long for a refund and I'm sad so say I am depending on it for gas and groceries for my family. But they sure did withdraw that payment in ONE day read more

We have been customers for around 6 months now. Yes they do have reduced hours but it hasn't been an issue for us. Of all the times we have gone only once did we see someone who was possibly homeless/living in their car. They were cleaning out their car but promptly left. They have carts you can borrow from the front fairly easy with an ID to move your stuff around. You need a pin the access building, then a pin to access the floor you want. It only allows you to go to your floor. We didn't want the first floor for safety reasons, anyone with a pin can get into the first floor. Also the elevator is too close to the first door so when you are waiting it keeps popping the door open for anyone to walk in so a slight design issue there. Staff had always been super friendly and helpful. The reason I knocked them down a star was the elevator/door issue but mainly the elevator needs more cleanings during busy times. Usually during the week it's ok but this last Friday it was pretty bad, lots of visible smears. Def take your hand sanitizer. read more

This place is a rip-off. My rent has practically doubled in the two years I've been here. They fraudulently advertise an electric gate, but they have never had an operable one since I've been renting here. There are homeless that wander in, sleep on the premisis, and can follow tenants into the building. I had items stolen from my unit while I was in the back and wasn't able to see who was walking down the corridors. They have fewer open hours than most storage units. read more

They continue to raise the rent every few months. The hours are odd and the elevators take forever, especially if you're on the 5th floor. They'll most likely offer a special rate initially but be prepared for that to increase significantly. I'll be moving my stuff out this weekend and save nearly $200 a month for a 5X10 unit. read more

I sincerely hope the last person who rated after a few weeks will rereview after a few months. I've rented here for over a year. At first it was a godsend because of the price but now I regret going with this place. I have never once seen a security gaurd here. No one in the office is actively monitoring the cameras. There are constantly drug addicts hanging out around the place, sometimes just hanging out in the units eating, playing loud music, and leaving behind food meaning flies are constantly swarming the floors. Someone throws trash over the units and since the tops of units are just mesh wire the trash falls through. I've been putting up with this for over a year and the final straw was today when I went to my unit and it was clear someone had tried to break in (see photo) to the point where I couldn't even open the door. I brought this to the office workers attention very calmly and they acted like I was the only one who experienced any of this, which according to the posts here isn't the case. read more

SmartStop Self Storage - No one cares if your unit is being screwed with. - Self Storage Near Me - Escondido, California

Terrible hours, not covid safe, they arbitrarily change your rent whenever they want to.

SmartStop has been amazing! Steve at the front desk is very helpful and friendly! The area is always clean and easy to get to. I would highly recommend SmartStop read more

Decent pricing but they lowered the hours due to "unsavory" people hanging around the building all the time and in their storage units. When I moved my stuff in there were a LOT of homeless people loitering and digging through the dumpsters on the property. The dumpsters have since been locked and aren't available to customers who have storage units. I have witnessed more than two drug deal transactions in the parking lot and see shady drug dealer types loitering and sitting in their cars when I'm there. The business should invest in a security gate to keep these folks out, ensure a safer storage facility and to extend the hours of accessibility to the units. I'll be looking into a diff storage facility. read more

Rob from SmartStop Self Storage was absolutely HORRIFIC on the phone. After speaking with someone on the chat online and them willing to uphold their promoted price if I provided emailed proof, which was emailed, they said it would be no problem. Well, Rob had a problem with that. Which is unfortunate as a realtor who purchases many units for clients monthly. Thank you for narrowing down my search elsewhere Rob. read more

I reserved a 1st floor unit on Thursday. Went to pay for two days later, on Saturday. After driving 30 minutes there. I was told "No first floor units available" read more

Granted, I have only been a customer of this facility for a few weeks, but the other two reviews confound me. I don't know if they're of the Escondido facility, but here's my take. I don't know how 'unsavory people' could have gotten into the facility as you need an 8 digit code to access the storage facility. The doors won't open until you put that code in. If these people are being let in by renters, those people need to be dealt with. Also, the man at the desk is constantly monitoring the cameras and seems to be on it when someone needs his assistance. I can understand the company cutting their hours. We're in the middle of a pandemic. A lot of businesses are. But they're still open from 9:30 to 6 Mon - Fri, a little less on the weekends, which is a healthy chunk of time. I have yet to see anyone loitering in their cars or drug deals going down. There is the caveat that this storage place isn't located in the greatest part of town. Escondido, as a whole, does have a large homeless population, but I don't see them wandering through here. And as far as the 1st floor unit person, if you reserve online, it's a free reservation to hold your spot. It does say that units are subject to availability. I would think call before you drive 30 mins to pay? Because if you call, you can pay over the phone and then move in whenever you want. It's a huge, clean facility. It's elevator accessible and the elevator is right there when you get through the double doors. They have rolling carts available for your use. It's literally the nicest storage place I've ever rented from. read more

I've been going to my storage unit every day at all hours to move some stuff from my home and I have yet to see any 'unsavory' people. I find it kind of odd that people in Encinitas have storage units in Escondido? Like, that's really kind of far. Anyway, as far as masks are concerned, they have the same policy as every place else - vaccinated? Where a mask. Whenever I go, the csr behind the counter has a mask on. I have yet to have anyone just walk on into the facility with me or up to my unit. And everything I have seen is clean as a whistle. As for the pricing - it says clearly on the website that the introductory price is for the first month (mine was the first three months, I think), and then it goes to the regular price. But guess what? That's pretty standard with storage places. When you compare the price of units in the city, mine is huge for the price I'm paying. I don't understand all these weird one-star reviews. I love this place. read more