Not sure why my reviews kept getting deleted. Vista del campo is unorganized and handles issues poorly.

Costs me $1077/month to share a 4Bed2Bath with 3 other ppl. For that price point this place is excellent. Not everything works and repairs/wifi can be slow, but again for the price its a great deal. read more

Current resident and I agree with all the one stars. There is bugs in my apartment which look like some type of Beetle and they are everywhere in my room. Called and said I had to do a work order. This should be handled right away! Had to wait two whole nights in a bug infested room. Mind you they are alive and fucken fly. Went through three cans of Lysol already and it's barely been a week since move in. read more

I don't know if people really check Yelp and go like "Oh yeah I'm totally going to read reviews to figure out where I want to live for my second year of college!" I know I didn't. It all started in FRESHMEN year in Middle Earth, three weeks after we had started college. By then, we had to figure out who we wanted to live with and where we wanted to live. What? For your second year of college, you were guaranteed housing in an ACC community. ACC communities were Puerta del Sol, VDC, VDC Norte, and Camino Del Sol. If you wanted cheap, it was PDS. VDCN and VDC were in the middle, and CDS was the expensive one. Anyways, you got an offer for a year long lease, and you could not sublease first quarter (you needed to build credit haha). you could choose June to June or Sept to Sept, choosing a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, 3 bed/2 bath, 2bed/2bath, or your own room. I had found 2 of my friends and we wanted a 4 bedroom/2 bath apartment, putting that as our first choice. Moving in was easy. You filled in your "Room Quality" paper. MAKE SURE YOU CAREFULLY CHECK EVERYTHING. Check for scratches, check for dirtiness, anything. Even if you're not sure, mark it! Why? Because when you check out, you have to check mark stuff and if there is a mark from a previous resident, you are charged for it [from your security deposit]. When we moved in, there was tupperware everywhere, a George Foreman grill, and many other things. THEY DON'T CHECK PREVIOUS OCCUPANTS/clean anything when rooms are switched. I lived near the first bus stop, on the third floor, which was nice because the first bus stop was the best. For midterms/finals week, if there was an 8 am final, you had to get on the first bus stop to school, because there were a lot of other people trying to fight for you for a spot. Third bus stop? Nope you're skipped. Now the room itself was a decent size, definitely a good size for a college student who doesn't really need that much space. In your bedroom was a dresser, a bed with a mattress, Internet, and a desk. Good thing all that stuff came with the room! In the kitchen lay a frig and a microwave, oven, and heated stovetops. In the living room was a couch sofa, 2 chairs, and a few tables, along with stools. That's all that came with the room. If you wanted a TV, that was yours. You needed your own shower curtain/rug as well. In this apartment, we had a lot of fun. We had a lot of baking expeditions, we watched NBA and MLB and other sports games. I got to talk with my roommates, crammed for midterms and finals in there, enjoyed being in my room when I needed to just think/code. The good thing is that your room is for you and you only :) But enough about me. You get two keys. One "key" is for the front entrance and the second is for your room. It was for more secure measures. You also used the front entrance key to get around VDC. In the Community Center, you could get free paper and print services. Now, they changed it in early 2014. You got, I think 200 pieces of paper per month. Use the "key", and that allocates and prints stuff out from your account. Bad news? The printer was broken 90% of the time. There was a mail room next door as well [third and final key that you got] Now, you might say that UCI is great because they have worked out with ACC to get these apartments for student use. And they have a shuttle that runs to there and to the school. But this is also on UCI, building only 2 "dorm areas" and thinking that would be enough. Nope. Not even close. People are now living in VDC as freshmen, and that's bad. You do not get to meet new people unless you wanna go around knocking doors, rather than in the dorms, where it was all communal. One more thing? If you like bugs, they roam all over. Every step, there's a bug. Laundry room is paid via credit card, which you might have to swipe a few times to work. Also makes clothes smell funky. And if you need something fixed, like smoke detector, you have to fill in a work order form. That usually comes in 1-2 days, but if you're unlucky........ Rent? Went from $749 to $790 to $820 [couldn't get room]. Why is it getting higher, when the quality is still the same? VDC is a good place to live, good sized rooms for college students, around UCI. You just have to get around so many other things [plus being the furthest away from campus] while living here. read more

Vista del Campo - Apartments Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

Whatever you do, DO NOT LIVE HERE. This is actually the worst apartment complex I have ever lived in, and would not recommend it to anyone for many reasons, but the one that really annoys me the most - is the staff. They are actually the worst in every way possible. read more

I lived here for 2 full years (my sophomore and junior year) and have pretty much summed up my experience to only 2 stars for various reasons. First, the staff are not the best. ESPECIALLY the older lady at the front desk (Mary?) over the past 2 years she has never been welcoming, had a smile, nor been anything but rude when asked for services. She honestly made me dread going to the front desk. She acts as if its an inconvenience that she has to do her job. On the other hand, the lady prostaff with glasses (Dhalia) has always been friendly and has helped me multiple times with my key/apartment issues! The community assistants are alot better, ALOT friendlier. But once my friends and I reserved the theatre but when asked for help they did not know how to use the place either, so we spent nearly 30 minutes trying to figuire everything out. The printers also seemed to be down 50% of the time i tried to use them, so i would not rely on them. Second, the apartments are decent. I had a single and i cant complain about the room/setup, i loved how they were! My only complaint is that they were not fully clean when i moved in the first time - there was mildew on the edges of the floorboards that had to be cleaned ourselves. Other than that the apartment was great! Third, although parking is expensive, the location of the parking lot is really convenient and close to all the apartments. All in all, it was a good 2 years here and i enjoyed it very much. But out of all the ACC apartments ive lived in (Norte, VDC and CDS), VDC has the worst customer service. read more

As my lease is coming to an end, I thought it'd be time to leave a review. Honestly, this housing wasn't all that bad. I actually liked my set up and I loved having my own room for $899, along with a shared bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. It's furnished, the apartment place has a pool/jacuzzi, a 24 hour gym, a basketball court, printers, a pool table, ping pong, theater room, study rooms, it's all really useful. However, I think the cons are definitely the lack of safety ??? I don't really know who's fault it is -- Irvine police, the people living at VdC or just people being hella crazy ? But there was a LARGE amount of robberies and one incident with a peeping tom looking through a girl's bedroom window as he masturbated to her sleeping. Very unsettling and Very disgusting, and none of these men have been caught. So please be careful and be cautious. Lock your doors and close your blinds if you're on the first floor forsure. Also, the walls are VERY VERY thin. Beware if you're in a relationship because... let's just say your housemates won't be happy. You can hear every conversation, every little movement, and if your room is the same # as mine, room 4, then your room is attached to the gate outside the front porch. & When people let the gate slam ?????? It's like a good morning gone bad. Waking up in the worst ways. I was lucky to have my building be placed in a pretty convenient spot. Close to the bus stop, close enough to the community center for laundry/pool/etc. And my CA is the B-E-S-T!!! Cindy, she's amazing. Good luck at VdC yall. My lease didn't even get renewed LMFAO. I also heard the rent AND parking went UP, sheesh. ALSO, watch out for the parking lot. the spots are all so SMALL and people tend to hit your car and dip. read more

Much to discuss. They care so much about their residents not catching covid, they went onto my balcony and wrote me up for possible school suspension for having a couple friends over. Completely violating my privacy, but good to know they'd do anything for residents' safety! They also pressure washed our packages while we weren't home, instead of moving them out of the way to do that. But I know they had our best interest at hand and were just trying to eliminate any possible covid! Sometimes when conducting their excessive apartment inspections, they'd lock my housemate's cat in my room. I'd have to come home from work to unlock it, but the cat loved it! Other times, they wouldn't even lock my door. Burglaries are abundant at this complex, and nothing ever gets done to stop it, but I appreciated the easy access to my apartment in those times! It was also a bit of a bummer, having to pay all year for amenities we never received, but was grateful to know that this complex would do anything to keep their tenants happy and healthy! I also appreciated the three phone calls I received, two papers posted to my door, CA sent to my door, and dozens of emails I got about move out the days leading up to my move out. They made sure I was in the loop about when I was expected to be out of there, to make sure they wouldn't have to charge me for being even a minute late! If you haven't picked up on the sarcasm, there's almost no redeeming factor for this apartment complex. I'd recommend living literally anywhere else. And with new covid variants on the rise, this type of scenario seems all too likely to repeat itself for incoming residents. At least they're helping beat the terrible mental health they're causing students by sending absurd amounts of mental health check ins. Very happy to be moving out! read more

Vista Del Campo, also known by residents as "VDC", is one of the newest on-campus college housing complexes. When you look at the community center, you'd think you're at a resort or something .. especially with the spacious pool, foosball tables, mini-theatre, air hockey tables, etc. For the cheapest rent option (the 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom), you pay 678 a month, which includes utilities and all that jazz. Parking is also a whopping $228 a quarter and they check twice daily in order to give out tickets like freebies (65$ a pop if you get caught parking without registration or if you don't live there). What is it with places and trying to make money..... Anyways. As a resident, you get a mailbox key, an apartment key to your room and the front door, and a blue sensor key that gives you access to laundry rooms, undergraduate lounges, the mailbox room, etc. If you get locked out, you can be rest assured that you'll pay a hefty $25 for a lock-out. Laundry is cheaper than the dorms and there are a lot more machines. I believe it 75 cents for a wash, and 25 cents for a dry (50 cents for a more thorough dry). As of now, it's week 5 of my stay here, and I'd like to note that although this place is nice and fairly new, there are some flaws that irritate me like no other: 1. Cell phone reception: Okay, I understand I live in a place that looks far away from society, but really, 10-15 dropped calls a day + hardly any cell phone reception really sucks. Also, delayed text messages! YES, delayed text messages that sometimes arrive even two hours late drives me nuts. Oh, and did I mention that I don't even get calls sometimes? People claim to call me and yet I don't even have any listed "missed calls". 2. Thin walls. Yes. I'm talking like .. paper thin. You can practically hear conversations from the next room, the stove turning on, stuff in the living room and kitchen, all that stuff. 3. Visitor parking. Sometimes it gets bad. I mean REAL bad .. so bad, in fact visitors for residents in VDC have to park in VDC Norte sometimes. It's a good thing they're changing their policy soon. 4. Shuttles. Okay. I live near bus stop 3, and it is THE worst place to get picked up to go to school. So much so, I have to leave 30-40 minutes early to go to class in order to walk all the way to the first bus stop. Worse part is they changed the style of the shuttles this year to include less seating and more room for standing.... what the.... But hey, I guess for a single bedroom, shared bathroom, and unlimited printing (with 10 free sheets a day), I guess VDC is pretty alright. In my honest opinion, it's kind of overrated and overhyped, though. Who knows, maybe I'll live here next year? read more

I stayed on invitational housing by the chancellor Howard Gilman to study engineering & business with the university. Walls are incredibly thin as with most of the housing in the area so we always heard neighbors & such. Laundry was not in-hosue so it was a nuissance. Gym amenities was tiny area with the essentials & pool/hot tub was often also used with other parties. I did not care much about the theater room personally but it did become useful for organized gatherings with friends. Printers & wi-fi sometimes had issues but at least never lasted long. Privacy & safety was not always the best either - we saw thin walls, too much random excuses to enter our place, and parking lot was always patrolled and full of other people's parking violation ticketing, and students protesting it as illogicial. However, for my entire place to only cost about $5500/mo. for 4 bedrooms & 2 bathroom & amenities & new/clean/maintained area, it is a great deal. And as someone who was always out of the apartment many days for work & flights as a student/professional & rarely in need of other things beside a nightplace & showers, it was a comfortable pick anyways. Customer service, at least for me, was really nice. The gentlemen & ladies at the desk were always friendly with me, some even learned to recognize & wave to me off-hours. read more

First off, the pinpoint location is wrong, that is VDC Norte. The living condition here in general is really nice, the facility and stuff become useful. Of course there's tons of things to complain about: -laundry room extremely dirty, machines need to be cleaned -community center printer jams/malfunctions every single time, and I only print 1 pg at a time -fight for the hot water with other residents at showering hot times -LOTS of bugs. You'll find the strangest hybrids and each day hundreds die on the great road... -If you live on the first floor your chances of bug/ant problems are high -work orders take 1 week MINIMUM, because apparently whatever you have is never a 'priority' -dishwashers break down every few months because the machines are old (happens to me 2 times per quarter) And of course the biggest thing, LAME FRONT DESK SERVICE. Because they love to put you on hold and then hang up. Because whatever you say is wrong. Because your apartment's fire alarm randomly going off is not a 'priority'. Don't get me wrong, I love living at vdc, but I deal with a bunch of crap. In fact, the hot water system was BROKEN during finals week and as a result there's ambience noise in my apartment that gives me headaches and I can't sleep, for 5 days, finals week. Fixed it over winter break but now it's BACK and has been on for 4 consecutive days...which is why I'm lying in bed writing this review because I can't sleep with it humming... read more

Do NOT live here. It sucks. Severely overpriced, I'm paying 1250 and still have a roommate. Appliances are old and break down often, furniture is cheap and decaying. They raise the rent every year and expect us to be fine with it. They don't allow pets. There is NO community. Wifi is routinely so bad I don't trust joining a zoom call from my room so I usually have to leave. If you're a grad student do yourself a favor and live in the grad housing. Plus they charge you an extra 30$ fee to pay your rent online. A prime example of a grotesque, predatory corporation entering the housing market and taking advantage of young, clueless kids who need a place to live. So sad. read more

I've lived here since September 2017 and I will not be renewing my lease, aside from paying above average prices for a shared apartment, they charge an extra $298 for parking!! My mom drove out here once to drop off some water she bought me and since I'm pregnant I couldn't help her carry the cases so she made two trips. She was maybe parked 5 minutes outside and they gave her a ticket! LIKE ARE YOU SERIOUS? This area is OFTEN the victim of robberies and you're going to give my mom a ticket for taking 5 minutes to bring water. The way they patrol this place for parking violations should be the way they patrol for thieves which we've had MANY of in the past two quarters alone. I don't understand how they determine their priorities. ANYWAYS... if you opt-out of driving and decide to save the money OR if you don't want to also pay $70 a month to park at UCI, then you are in for a nightmare!! The "convenient" shuttle buses that are meant to take you to school (which is literally a 5 minute drive away) will often take you closer to 30 minutes (depending on the time). The shuttles are also often too full to take students so if you live close to the VDC #2 stop, walk to VDC #1 stop! CONCLUSION: PARKING SUCKS On another note, they decided one day that there was a leak in our bathroom (something we never noticed) and they came in one day to "fix" the plumbing. We ended up with a dehumidifier (a huge as machine that warped the door) for a MONTH and a hole in the ceiling for almost THREE MONTHS. Although they said they would clean after the work, they never did. We currently have no hole in our bathroom, instead (now 7 months later!!!) we have just a piece of plaster that they stuck in the hole and called it a day. The amenities are sub-par. I was excited about the free printing, but that's only great if the printers happen to be working or if there is actually ink or paper in the printers (literally never is). The gym is okay and is good for days that you don't want to walk to the arc, but it's not very big (3 treadmills and 1 stair-climber as an example) The fire alarms go off two times a quarter, once in the morning and once at night...which takes like 30 minutes...UM WHY. Overall, for the amount that I pay here, I should have just found an apartment elsewhere... I never expected too much from this place but I really didn't expect to be so disappointed. I plan to find a normal apartment situation that does not charge extra for parking. I will update with photos of our bathroom. read more

See all

The staff in the front office (particularly MARY) are some of the rudest I have ever encountered. She in particular is extremely unhelpful, condescending, and rude. When a group of friends and I asked if the pool was open, she snarkily said, "Only for residents", implying that we were not residents. We were a group of 20-year-olds, did we look like we didn't belong? Again, when I went to the front office today to ask for covid tests, I got the same response in the same tone. "Yes, we do, but for residents only". Ma'am, why would I be asking you for resources if I were not a resident? She seems extremely reluctant and annoyed to help whenever asked and makes the overall experience of asking questions at Vista del Campo quite unenjoyable. read more

Vista del Campo is one of the several housing communities offered to UCI undergraduates & graduate students by American Campus Communities (commonly referred to as ACC). VdC is the oldest of their UCI communities, but they're a popular choice because they offer single rooms at a decent price...at least back then in 2008. When I first visited UCI and saw the housing communities like Puerta del Sol, Camino del Sol, etc. I was FLOORED. They all looked so amazing and legit looked like resorts for students! VdC's community center was especially crazy to see the first time - they offer a giant pool and jacuzzi, fancy wooden pool tables, and ping pong tables for you and your friends to hang out. The apartments looked really nice from the outside too, and there seems to be a lot of parties held at VdC. Now, keep in mind that everything LOOKS nice. It doesn't mean it actually is nice. The walls are SO. THIN. When I stayed over and studied in my boyfriend's room, we got several loud knocks from the tenant below us before she ringed our doorbell to let us know that she was trying to sleep early that night, but couldn't fall asleep because apparently she could hear our footsteps! We're both pretty small so we were really surprised to hear that her ceiling lamp sometimes shook when we walked...uhm, that made me question the structural integrity of these buildings. The walls do feel extremely cheap when you touch them - they feel very hollow and you can tell the builders skimped out on quality materials in order to cut back costs. Laundry rooms are located in the community center and also in study lounge buildings. The laundry machines are VERY old and they don't look like they're cleaned often. I opened the bleach/fabric softener compartment once and was met with rust mixed with mold and wet detergent. Be careful if you're using Tide Pods! When the machine starts spinning, it's pretty common for the Pods to get stuck in between the machine drum and the machine door, because there's an odd amount of space in between (it's a bit hard to explain with words). If it gets stuck in between the wheel and the door, the Pods won't dissolve and you've effectively wasted $1.25 for cleaning. It's best to tuck your pods in between your clothes so this won't happen. Furniture is old, the bed tends to creak a lot because it's build with a metal frame, and the mattress feels like it's made out of plastic. A good way to alleviate discomfort while sleeping is to pack extra blankets underneath your bedsheets or buy a mattress topper. You do get a lot of storage space in your room, since the closet has shelves built into them and each room has a drawer. The beds also have a lot of height to them, so you can definitely buy some extra storage bins and tuck them under your bed if you want to too! In the morning, try to take VdC Bus Stop #1, instead of Stop #2 and #3. Bus lines can get packed in the morning, and I've personally experienced waiting for a bus to arrive, only for the bus to skip me and the rest of the people waiting at the bus stop just because the bus was already jam packed! You don't want this happening to you on a day you have your final exam. Despite all the negatives I just stated above, VdC is probably one of the better housing options close to UCI. You won't have to worry about buying and selling furniture, and you don't have to worry about a housemate bailing on rent, because ACC takes care of that for you. Had I went to UCI 10 years ago, I would've probably recommended this place, as it was A) much cheaper and B) is very nice having your own single room vs. sharing a double or triple room. read more

VDC IS PROBABLY THE BEST HOUSING EVER. I believe VDC was rated as one of the best college housings? You get a big spacious room, your own mirror, your own bathroom (if you pay extra $$), a FULL SIZE bed, a workout gym, a community center, a place to play pool, air hockey, and fooseball, private study lounges, large TVs for casual viewing, a computer room WITH FREE PRINTING!, a movie theater area, pool, jacuzzi, beach volleyball court, outdoor basketball court, etc.... I think you guys get the point. If you arent living in Newport BEach or Camino Del Sol...this is the place to be. AND IF YOU ARE READING THIS...DO NOT LIVE IN NORTE....it just sucks over there. These are the awards of VDC -NAHB Pillars of the Industry Award, Best Student Housing Apartment Community -American School & University Outstanding Designs: Specialized Facilities -Gold Nugget "Best on the Boards, Site Plan - Small Scale UNTIL THEN!! ^-^ read more

Vista del Campo - Apartments Near Me - Irvine, California

The walls are paper thin. Literally I can hear the upstairs neighbors open their drawers. Also the bathroom is ridiculously large, you can fit a bed in there if you wanted to. I mostly stayed in my room with a quiet and courteous housemate but it was the upstairs neighbors that really irked my living situation there. Their maintenance staff came by and threw out our stuff from the patio because they thought it was trash. WTF??? There used to be a bus route right by our apartment which was awful with the bus farts and squealing when it decompresses to let people off the bus. I believe they moved the bus routes now with the newly built cul de sac so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. Apartments are outward facing so you will hear everything from trash trucks to overly modded cars from your home. The trash trucks are awful, they come every morning in the day which means the maintenance/facility people roll the trash bins to the curb. Because the floors are cobblestone-like, you will hear every single trash bin roll around for 45 minutes a day at 8am. As with all apartment rentals, these are just things you have to live with if you don't own your land and dictate what goes where. The upside to the apartments: furnished. Takes the load off of interior decorating and lugging furniture in and out when you move in/out. Comes with bed, desk, and one drawer in the room. Living room comes with table and TV and some cheap plastic fake leather couches. There's a nice little island counter/breakfast-bar-type-deal, very spacious and nice for eating. Appliances are cheap and outdated but wasn't really a priority item for me. Endless amount of cabinet space, great for storing cooking stuff, food, snacks, etc. Other pro: there's an outdoor BBQ grill. Used it all the time with my Costco ribs. The other students usually leave a mess and facilities are there to clean it every time. They deserve A+ for that (although I still have it out for them for throwing out my patio belongings). Good price for a private room and bathroom, you wont find that anywhere else in Irvine. Would I live there again? No, although if you are a student on a budget this is the place for you. read more

I have lived at VDC for two mf years and I'm here to tell you how it is. TL;DR: not worth, too expensive, live somewhere else Pros: -Work orders get responded to quickly if you have problems -Close to the ARC if u wanna go work out -Nice amenities (pool and ping pong tables) -Grad/Undergrad lounges are nice place to study at -Decent scenery and grounds are pretty and taken care of Cons: -There's a reason the internet provider here is called COX. The wifi is actually so disgustingly bad and the worst thing about living here. If you are on your phone or not using an ethernet cable then you can expect to disconnect every couple minutes. As someone who likes to play videogames this is my worst nightmare. If you care about your internet connection DO NOT LIVE HERE. 0/10 -Staff is very rude. Reading these other comments makes me chuckle because yes the witch at the front desk is the spawn of Satan. Mary can suck my nads honestly she's got the worst attitude. -Rent is SO overpriced for what you get. If you are a new student go to UTC and find housing because VDC charges way too much. read more

This review is directed toward a specific CA. I remember the day I was deciding which community to live in. I did not know how much it would affect me by deciding to move to Vista Del Campo (in a good way). Being a second year when I moved in made it difficult especially coming from the pandemic. I felt so welcomed when I picked up my keys from Aislyn and from there I never forgot about her. I remember having trouble getting used to the new university environment and Aislyn treated me with kindness when I had issues with one of my roommates. She was always there for me as a CA and she inspired me to be the best version of myself and she was so funny. I wish her the best and I hope she sees this because I will always be grateful for her. I loved living in VDC! read more

I've lived here for about two years so I think it's safe to say whether or not this would be an ideal place to stay. I've had two different experiences here - one where I lived in a private bedroom/shared bath with one other person in a for bedroom apartment and one where I lived in a private bedroom/private bathroom with two other people (which shared a bathroom). Both rent prices were overpriced for all the issues that occurred, not to mention the last issue that really should make me rate this place a 1/5. Okay so let me make a quick pros and cons list before I warn y'all about how sneaky they can be. PROS: - Furnished - Nice Community Center (Swimming pool, pool tables, ping pong tables, computer/printing lab, study rooms, movie theater) - Fairly nice maintenance workers CONS: - Overpriced rent for average appliances - High ass parking fees ($295 a quarter) - Fire alarm drills go off at 7:30 am or really whenever I'm either in the shower or sleeping - Bus stop shuttles aren't really all that convenient unless you leave like 45 minutes earlier for busier times in the morning So I moved out already and expected to get my security deposit back. Well guess what? Because I "damaged my room," I never got it back. The thing is I never made those damages. I explained what happened to management and long story short, I only got the fee waived and never got a response for getting my security deposit back. So I guess to avoid this, be REALLY SPECIFIC when filling out your room condition form (you'll get t when you first move in). While it was a little bit of my own fault, it was still totally not cool for charging me for something I didn't do (forgot to mention I even had proof that was there when I first moved in before even opening my baggage to organize my room). Because of all this, I nearly became homeless because I counted on that security deposit to be my fall back because it was a really bad month for me. You know what? After writing that last issue out, I just realized they really aren't all the great lol making that 3/5 a 1/5 now. read more

You can definitely find better places to stay, especially at this cost. At move in: don't expect to find your unit clean. I found mildew/mould in all the sealant, hair of previous tenants in the carpet, dead insects and dust on ledges, and dirt and food sediment down the sofas. The floor is unlikely to be the laminate wood you see on the pictures, and instead is an old and dirty carpet pushed down to a coarse flatness from previous residents. When I complained to the staff about the cleaning on move in they took it personally, implying I was insulting them and their generous services. I had to explain to them why I was disappointed, that it was not about them, and show them pictures of the poor cleaning as proof. Leads me on to the next point. The staff: with the exception of the first leasing officer, they will more often than not ignore you or fail to help. The receptionist Mary has irrational anger and attitude at everything you approach her for, including wifi passwords. My visiting friends had similar experiences when speaking to her independently so I'd like to hope it isn't racially motivated. I had unnecessary difficulty and aggression from the office (mainly speaking to Mary again) to get any help with a package delivery after getting back from the hospital. I was in an accident which left me unable to walk. This injury was serious enough for 2 surgeries but wasn't serious enough for them to help me. I was instead told that I should take an uber to the office if I can't come to collect it. I'm sure that's violating some form of accessibility laws. The CAs are all lovely, but not able to properly deal with the issues of the residence such as noise complaints, smoke detector issues, etc. When I was being aggressively harassed (xenophobic attacks, punching ceilings, and threatened slamming doors) by a large male neighbour who took issue with me simply walking in my apartment - no TV, no parties, but the washing machine was on - I was disappointed to see that Vista del Campo took his side. Instead of listening to my concerns about how I was terrified as a single woman in the country by myself, they suggested I start a mediation with him! I had to escalate this problem to the University, which is the only point that they took it seriously. I'm shocked they did not help, especially as I was scared for my personal safety. After all of this, their proposed solution was to move me to a less nice unit while the harasser stayed where he was. He was never asked to leave his unit. I tried to explain he would simply take the same issue with the next tenant, and a worse quality unit was not something helpful to me. From that point on, they didn't even try any more. Staff similarly don't take on any responsibility in the management of the property, leaving it instead to student hires or "CAs" who are obviously much cheaper than permanent staff. This means that if there's a problem such as a smoke detector going off for no reason at all at 3am, it takes a long time for someone to do something. There were countless miscommunications with maintenance for follow up work, and inadequate training (example: making a noise complaint for a party going on late at night on a weekday, and finding out an hour later when following up that the CA went to go check, but decided not to do anything because everyone was over 21 so it seems ok). The unit: much older than it may look, carpets have never been replaced. I was excited from looking at the pictures on the website, but this misrepresents the quality of the unit. Everything is old and dirty, the sofas are not adequately cleaned. There's no laminate floors, and the furniture provided is far too large. I had a bed with an excessively tall base. It was a hassle getting on and off, and I'm 5'4". The hob is convection based, so you need to be careful with what pans you buy. Most pans will burn. The washer and dryer are very aggressive, with not very many settings available. Many of my clothes came out with holes after being put in the washer. At move out: they will take any opportunity to find as much as they can to charge you for, with no real explanation. They also put the burden on you and not your subtenant if you lease over summer. If you're a graduate student, definitely don't stay here. read more

The apartment itself is fairly nice, spacious room and some renovation now and then to keep the place fresh. What bothers me is the staff - specifically Mary. I've had multiple occasions where she was extremely rude and seem like she did not want to talk to me over the phone. What tipped it off for me however is when my apartments smoke detector was going off and I tried to called the front office to ask a staff to come over to check it out. Mary picks up the phone and as we were talking the she just cuts me off and just hung up on me just like that. Extremely rude and seems to line up with what everyone else here was saying about this Mary. The staff here otherwise aren't bad and work orders are normally on time. Nice area with plethora of parking . read more

I'm not much of an online critic, but I've become so frustrated living here at VDC that I've decided to create a yelp account to warn people about this place. (I apologize for the length of this review in advance, but there are many cons about this place that I think should be made aware) I read through the reviews here and I'll try to address them as unbiased as I can (I lived here as a second year and I'm about to move out). Yes, this place is "close" to campus, but the title "on-campus housing" is deceptively misleading. If you use the shuttle service that's offered here you will quickly realize that it takes at least 20-25 minutes to get to class (10-12 for the bus ride, and another 10+ to walk to class from where the shuttles drop you off). Put into perspective, VDC no longer seems so close to campus. If you decide instead to drive to campus and save time, forget it. Parking at vdc and parking at UCI require two completely different permits. This means you need to pay $225/quarter to park at vdc and an additional 225/quarter to park at UCI. That's $1350 for parking a year. I doubt many people would be willing to pay that much. Cellphone reception and internet is a major drag. I don't know what else to say here except that it will be extremely frustrating trying to repeatedly send out your text messages, always having to walk out to the parking lot just to have barely audible phone conversations, and having to deal with the terribly slow internet. Recently, VDC signed up with COX to get "better" internet which actually made it seem even slower. So much for that. VDC rent does include utlities and a fully furnished apartment. But while the beds are full size, they're about as comfortable as a rock. Same goes for the sofas, which look (and feel) older than you. And the included utilities are not enough to compensate for the relatively expensive prices here - which I believe are now bordering $700. If you find an Irvine Company Apartment (rental-living.com) rent can be as low as $500 a month with utilities. That's a LOT of money saved. The person who wrote the review before me (Stephan Y) mentioned private study lounges. The community center has TWO private study lounges that are almost always taken up, and they are also right next to the pool tables/fooseball tables/TVs. Guess what that means? NOT NECESSARILY ALWAYS QUIET. Yes, there is a computer room with free printing. Big whoop, you save a few cents. Not to mention you need to walk all the way to the community center to get that free printing - and depending on where you live, the walk there might not be worth the few cents at all. The previous review also mentioned a movie theater area. True, except that area ALMOST NEVER PLAYS MOVIES. The room is there for people to rent out, but the restriction is that you are not allowed to play movies in there. So why call it a mini-theater? Beats me. The beach volleyball court is about the size of a living room and is pathetically small. Nobody plays there because it's not a worthy court. The basketball court is outdoors and because of that it closes every night at 10, which is incredibly early. And if you try using the courts after 10, there will often be some rude staff member kicking you off. If you are considering a september-september lease, and are planning on taking summer classes during that lease, please note that you will be kicked out the weekend BEFORE finals. (I have a september lease and am taking summer session currently. My finals are on the 7th and 8th but we get kicked out the 4th). My friend complained to the manager and she replied that it was our fault for deciding to take summer classes and that we should've reviewed the lease more carefully. Excuse me, but some of us dont have a CHOICE when it comes to summer session. And if this is a 12-month lease, why are they kicking us out EARLY september when we moved in LATE september the previous year? One last note- The counter and sinks here at VDC are extremely high maintenance. The material here is cheap so everything gets dirty extremely quickly. Don't be surprised if you find yourself constantly having to clean the apartment just to keep it habitable. SUMMARY: PLEASE, PLEASE find somewhere else to live. You'll have to move out eventually because vdc is only meant for second years anyway. You might as well save yourself the hassle of dealing with this crap and head straight to off-campus apartments with better staff, community, reception and parking. read more

After living here for 2.5 years now, I am starting to see that this community is going downhill in terms of the quality of service and amenities that they provide despite raising the rent and parking fees every year. I now consider it mediocre at best. Every time I move into a new apartment, I realize they don't even clean your rooms prior to housing a new resident there. I see residue and stains in the bedroom and bathroom left from the previous resident and they're insanely hard to clean. It's not my job to clean up the mess made from the previous person. The apartment I most recently moved into had a leaking bathtub faucet, a broken toilet seat, and BROWN STAINS behind the toilet which is most probably shit! The bathroom mirror cabinets were especially disgusting and I had to scrub and soap every partition before I felt comfortable storing my toiletries there. The last complaint that threw me off the wall (and led to this updated review) was my experience using the laundry facilities. When I use a washing machine, I actually expect it to make my clothes CLEANER, not DIRTIER. On several occasions, I'd throw my clothes in the wash and when I take them out, I see various stains on my clothes that most definitely came from the washing machine. I don't care if someone previously used the machine to wash their muddy shoes; if you're going to offer washing machines as an amenity for living here, then it's your job to make sure someone cleans it reguarly to prevent this from happening EVER SO OFTEN. If I knew this was going to happen, shoot, I won't even wash my clothes anymore. My wearing a shirt 10 times doesn't even amount to what happens when I throw that same shirt in the washing machine. Step it up, VDC. There's a reason why I keep renewing my lease, and this is NOT the reason why. read more

To be honest, I've put off reviewing this place for quite a while, because... my experience at VDC brings back some painful memories. But I guess I need some closure. Kinda like a PTSD victim would. Here's the down and dirty: The first week my roommates and I moved in, our apartment was absolutely filthy---everything you can imagine, from piss marks still on the toilet from the previous tenants to dirt/vodka stains on the kitchen floor---despite being told by VDC that the apartments were cleaned the week prior to our moving in. We asked the management politely, and repeatedly, to get the place cleaned, like they were supposed to. After a bit of reassuring/friendly dialogue with staff at the front office, I got an answer that it would be taken care of... but no VDC employee actually took any action. Days turned into weeks which turned into months, which then turned into simple apathy (operant conditioning at its finest!). Eventually, we cleaned the crustiness and grossness and godknowswhatelse-ness ourselves, armed with mop and bucket of water and three types of cleaner. That the management did not handle their side of the deal (um, simply making the place livable before we moved in) cast an interesting, ominous shadow over our stay for the year that was plagued with other awesome annoyances. Aside from that inconvenience (if I weren't so optimistic, I'd probably say, oh ya know, debacle), our unit pretty much stank, when it got right down to the architecture and its effect on daily living. Airflow, lighting, and the view were exceedingly subpar from my room / our little common room. Our unit was situated on the second floor at a corner (in the 4 bedroom floorplan, each unit is located at the four corners of each floor), sandwiched between two other floors (for the sake of brevity, I won't mention the ensuing noise). Apparently, I had the best view with the most windows, if you could call "blocked off with a friggin tree trunk/branches in your face" a view. Mind you, I just came from an apartment that had a view of the Irvine skyline at night, so this was certainly a considerable downgrade. My other roommates had it worse than me, which sounds implausible at first, but wait, it gets better. On the far side opposite our hallway, my roommate (a CA, no less, who you'd think would have more perks) had a unit right next to the outdoor connecting hallway that had so little ambient light because he had one window that he had to keep the light turned on during the day to even study. The roommate next to him had two windows that were basically prone to letting passersby creep on him while he was minding his own business. So when it comes to windows/views: you don't get to creep, so much as others get to creep on you. Lovely! All in all architecturally, VDC is not awfully well thought out. It is quite an abysmal design that sets up each unit/room for unnecessary sacrifice in lighting, space, and comfort. I can definitely imagine the architects sitting around a table passing blunts around and laughing their heads off while penning the dimensions. It's like a conniving internet troll sat down and thought of the most thorough way to make sure that the resident had no fun at all. Oh and there's a bonus, too. ACC will charge you extra at the end of the year, guaranteed. Did you get that? GUARANTEED. They do this every year, without fail, to skim some extra cash off the vulnerable undergrad crowd. They charged my roommates and me $80 for a flimsy barstool. $80! That's not even retail price, let alone wholesale. Cuz ya know, taking advantage of kids is fun! On the bright side, the maintenance men and women were nice (oh btw, our windows derailed from their tracks and our heater gave out in the middle of winter and it took months to finally fix). So not exactly one star because of the politeness of the maintenance and staff, but no dice for anything higher because, well, it seems like a grand facade. Speaking of which, the outdoor spaces do look pretty---especially to the kiddies who don't live here. It's certainly possible that other students had better experiences (statistically speaking, right? right?), and I would surmise that those were probably the ones with third floor units with excellent views of the distant city, or those that faced the right direction for a lil breeze to come their way, so if my review is overly generous, those ought to balance out the yelp score nicely, yeah? Anyway, this post serves to warn future tenants who might initially buy into the general reputation of VDC as the greatest of the ACC communities on campus, given the general quality of these ACC properties, that the rumor is not saying much at all. read more

So VDC is probably the best option for students going into their sophomore year but I'd say that's about it. You usually are forced to start applying like early freshmen year when you probably haven't established your group of friends or anyone to live with which kind of sucks. But as far as other rentals in Irvine go , this housing community is very affordable and has shuttles from it that make going to campus easy. Although many times some of the shuttles are super crowded and lack AC. Also , it is worthwhile to note that I lived near shuttle stop 1 which always meant I'd get a spot. If your near shuttle stop 3. Forget it. 70% of the time during rush hour you won't get a spot and the bus will skip over you. The apartments themselves when coming from the dorms are nice (I'm referring to the 2bd/2ba). However compared to other spaces off campus , they're not all that nice. There's a nice private balcony and my room had its own bathroom inside. There's also plenty of storage throughout the apartment. They include utilities in the price which includes air conditioning. That's a huge plus and the apartments themselves are fairly updated. They are a small however , the quality of a lot of the materials are super cheap , the appliances are terrible , the beds are the most uncomfortable beds in the world , the walls are thin , the rooms are tiny and the furniture is quite ugly to be honest. That being said , for the price your paying I guess I can't complain. Most places wouldn't even come with furniture. Parking is a pain to have to pay for ($240/quarter ) and guests have to pay like 10$ a night which gets old. Also walking downstairs to a separate building to do laundry and then pay like $2 every single washing load and drying load gets expensive. And i can't tell you how many times my card would randomly be denied for no reason. And I had 3 different cards and at times they just wouldn't work which was really frustrating. Bugs haven't really been a problem for me thankfully. I was on a second floor unit so not sure if that made a difference. I did have an ant problem for a bit in the kitchen but after VDC fumigated they disappeared. Staff is very friendly for the most part and the apartment is pretty quick in responding to any repairs that need to be done. They did lose my mail for like 4-5 months which I'm not sure how that happened but at least I got it back. They also walked into my apartment without any notification at like 2 am and that was pretty annoying. But other than that , it's been good. The community centre is really nice for studying ! There's a beautiful pool that not that many people use and private rooms you can rent out for studying. Here's my take. If you don't have a car your sophomore year then this is a great place to live in. Or if you're looking for a one bedroom unit , you can't beat the price they give you ! (Even if it is rising so much every year ). If you have a car , you're better off finding some place else off campus with other students (or look on the UCI housing page ) for a nicer apartment. Also , the prices for these apartments go up and up every year and nothing else seems to change about the apartments. They should be adding wifi to the apartments next year but that's about it. read more

*I myself have not lived in VDC but have had enough friends and acquaintances whom I have visited. (I lived in VDC Norte because back then we thought that "newer" was better, but that meant thinner walls and smaller rooms...) VDC & VDC Norte really reminds me of how blessed UCI is with student housing. I will guarantee that other UC campus housings are not this high-tech, clean, large, and brilliant all at once. To be honest, my earlier complaint about Norte should actually be erased because it was not a bad place at all. Another great thing about VDC and VDC Norte is that if you usually live there during your 2nd year, your friends should be seconds/minutes away from you. The appliances, additions, complimentary items (Internet, Cable, Microwave, Chairs, Couch, BED FRAME AND MATTRESS!!!, BUS STOP/SHUTTLE) are all another blessing. Seriously UCI, thank you so much for catering to us so well. *Forgot to add** Because it is a student campus housing area the cops are on the EXTRA lookout for drunk students and drunk drivers. I got pulled over for a rolling stop and the cop was more interested on whether I was driving under the influence rather than my driving error. I will be honest, that night that he pulled me over was a busy night of students partying all over the apartments and Arroyo Vista housing, but I was actually visiting my friend after dance practice. I was not in any sorts of revealing clothing/heavy make-up/flirty talk/Asian glowing. No, I was in my practice clothes of baggy sweat pants, hair tied up, and bathing in my sweat. Don't drink and drive. read more

The apartment complex has many pros: close to school, frequent school shuttle pick ups, furnished, and nice amenities. But the cons which really outweigh all the positive aspects are the bad connectivity experiences!!! 1. Cell-phone reception is weak to non-existent. I have an iPhone, but had to open a land line and pay extra for long distance because I don't have reception in my apartment. The other option to talk to people is to hang out in the parking lot to use my cell phone. 2. SSSLLLOOOOWWWW, flaky wi-fi connectivity. In this 21st generation, students don't do their homework over candle light. We depend on the Internet to surf, research, connect to our classes/school! Good luck getting connected during peak hours. My advice, prioritize what's important for you as a student. If it's a "nice" exterior amenities, then VDC and VDCN is great to hang out with your friends. If it's saving money and having connectivity, get a some friends and rent an apartment that isn't controlled by the private company Eastern Campus Apartments, who owns VDC and VDCN. They use their own flaky network proxy and that's why you don't have access to the faster UCI network there, even though the apartment complex is advertised as "Student Housing". Ask yourself... "Can I stand living like this throughout my UCI college experience ???" If I had known this, I would definitely reconsider. But I'm stuck here till my lease expires. =( read more

I lived here during covid and when I moved in the apartment was clearly not cleaned. All they managed to do was leave a waiver saying they "used Lysol," which is completely false because our microwave was covered in food splatter. I then had mushrooms and black mold growing in the corner of my bathroom floor by Week 1 of Fall quarter. It was disgusting and completely unsanitary, not to mention toxic probably. I then was forced to live with a dehumidifier in that tiny room for the next 5 days keeping the bathroom at 85° constantly. The wifi sucks, maintenance takes forever to respond, and the covers on the couches basically disintegrate if you even graze them with your finger. The rent is way too expensive and then I'm forced to pay to park in my own complex's lot...? Like I shouldn't have to pay extra to park where I live because there is no other place to park where I could safely walk home. All in all, I'd say the worst part is that the apartment will never feel clean. The carpets look like they were transplanted from a 100 year old doctors office and the kitchen/bathroom floor tiles were from an abandoned psychiatric ward. No matter how much you scrub that floor, the mop will end up black. So basically I do not recommend living here. read more

Horrible place to live Inconsistent WiFi. Don't be surprised if u cannot connect to it for 2-3 weeks. It happens every once a while and they can't do anything about it Some stuff are just rude (not all of them). Poor attitude and always makes u feel u owe something to them. Bad hygiene. Apparently they don't take care of it before u move in. Low quality furniture. The sinks are prone to get dusty. They offer u the CHEAPEST facility. And just when I am writing this review, I was woke up by some inconsiderate people who have literally been mowing the lawn from 7am till now. They don't care if u need a good rest or sleep. THINK TWICE before u choose here. Compared to other ACC community, this is probably the worst. Geographically speaking, it's the furthest to the campus. Plus they only have two bus stops and one line, and it takes forever to wait. The only good things they have is probably a clean gym and a basketball court. That's it. read more

Pros: 1. Looks nice...from the outside. 2. Comes with decent furniture 3. Private balcony/outdoor area for most units. 4. Relatively close to campus. 5. Live near your friends (sometimes). Cons: 1. Cost. You'll be paying a premium for the right to live in pretend luxury. 2. Once you get past the shiny new home phase, you'll quickly realize that the Irvine Company cut corners wherever they could to save money. Unresponsive faucets, door hinges, thin walls, etc. The little details are what matter and this place went the cheapest available route. 3. No cell phone reception 4. Insufficient parking, especially at night. 5. That shuttle that's supposedly OH SO CONVENIENT for hard working students to take to class? Yeah, you'll realize how BS that "perk" is when the shuttle passes you TWICE because it was filled up before your stop. Unreliable at best, especially for morning classes. Is it the worst option in the world? No, but close to it. Best summarized as mediocre apartments with a premium price. read more

I got to live here for 3 years thanks to the vigilance of my dormmates freshman year and the used-to-be nonexistent time limit to staying there. Nowadays though, you can only live there for 1 year as a sophomore unless you (or your parents) want to shell out $300+ more a month for the 2 bedrooms... I can go on and on about the good things about this place: private rooms, already furnished (sofa and ref! that means so much stress relieved for move in/move out!), cable plan included, maintenance on call, BBQ, awesome pool with hot tub, 24 hour community center, computer lab with laser printing, rentable movies video games etc., super easy access to the ARC. I loved my stay at VDC and I highly recommend it to any 2nd year anteater. Down sides: Super THIN ass walls, snoopy maintenance personnel (they'll spill the beans to the management if they see you have a pet), no pets, lonnnnng walk to campus, rent that slowly creeps up and up, and retardedly slow internet. Not to mention that if you leave your clothes in the washing machine/dryer in the smaller laundry rooms, some irate resident will probably throw your clothes on the table (if you're lucky and they're polite). The bad things can all be overlooked if you are looking for one of the better accommodations that exist on campus. Take advantage of it while you can!!! read more

AM I SERIOUSLY THE FIRST TO REVIEW THIS PLACE?? OK, fine. You have to live near the UCI campus. You have a few extra dollars to spend. Why spend way to much on an old, inadequately updated, always-worried-about-getting-your-integra-towed piece-of-shit IAC craphole when you can get a VDC place for the same price, get your own washer-dryer in the kitchen, free parking with plenty of spots, free video rentals, a Palm Springs cailber pool and hot tub infrequently filled with college coeds, a gym, and easy access to the campus? Because your a stupid fraternity douchebag and UCI doesn't give you a frat house, that's why. Get a clue. Live here. There are CA's (fancy name for RA's) but they're 1) younger than you and 2) doing the job for free housing and usually don't give a rat's ass what the hell you're drinking/smoking/cooking in your apartment and they'll rarely if ever regulate on you. Sure, you could live in PV or VP for a little cheaper and walk to your laundry, have no pool, and have to listen to someone's annoying baby crying while you're writing your thesis, but why not live it up a little. Shit, it's Irvine. When in Rome... read more

See all

American Campus Communities (ACC) at most maintain the outside appearance, which looks very attractive and pleasant in the Southern California sun. But my god, it's a different story when it comes to what really matters... the rooms. They said it was cleaned and disinfected before the move-in date. Wrong. This place feels like they cut many corners in quality and service. They charged me for apartment conditions that were overlooked (were not noted in the contract) at the beginning. I understand they can technically pin this on me, but are they going to fix it after I pay their fee(s)? No, I don't think so. If ACC going to be petty, be consistent. The apartment came with missing blinds, cracks in the mirrors, stained upholstery, and weird smells; I noted these on day one and nothing was done about it!! Not once!! I placed a request.. nothing. No follow-ups either. I bet the previous tenants were charged for it anyways. But, what ACC seriously wronged me and so many others is with their mandatory 12 month long contract!!! Most students don't even stick around on campus during summertime (3-4 months), and stipulated a $400.00 early termination fee if you don't plan to stick around. ACC made it mandatory to pay the last month in full, even though I can only live there for 2 weeks! Are you telling me that I have to pay $1200 for the last month, while my $600 goes to a possibly understaffed/underpaid cleaning service that will do a bad 30-minute job?? And they'll force the next group of students into the same unfair terms, bad living conditions, and overcharge for petty things. Living anywhere outside of ACC apartments can get painful for anyone who doesn't drive (or own a car) and poor. All of UCI buses (except for the one that goes to the Irvine Spectrum) doesn't go into the surrounding communities. The city buses do not even run often enough either. Students are fighting more often for living spaces in this city. And I find it perverse that if I stay close to campus, I must compete with other students to pay into some unfair terms in ACC's contract. In all honesty, it is far from terrible living there. But ACC as a "for-profit" on-campus housing organization is knowingly squeezing dollars out of my loans on technicalities. It's petty. If you're telling me that the living conditions are acceptable to begin with, then don't charge me for the same little stuff that were missed or simply never fixed. read more

I lived at VDC from September 2017-August 2018 and my experience was a disappointing & short one. I transferred to UCI September 2017 as a junior. VDC was my first choice when it came to living arrangements. It's so easy to think you're really about to live it up when you first move in. VDC is very beautiful & looks like a resort! You can't believe this is what you [a college student] get to call home for what you assume will be the next 2-3 years until you graduate. Or so you think. The pros of living at VDC is again it's like a resort. You got a beautiful pool & jacuzzi, stylish cabanas, 24 hour accessible gym room, basketball court, movie theater, clubhouses you can reserve, study rooms, game rooms, dining room, computer lab (up too 100 papers of free printing), etc. the apartments are updated with a modern look, and of course the apartments come furnished! Once you get past appearances, here are the cons: - Expect burglary alerts every weekend. Someone's apartment is always being broken into. Theft is a norm at VDC. - Walls are thin, you can't help but hear your next door or upstairs neighbor's personal affairs. That can range from what they're binge watching on Netflix to their sexual escapades. - Expect unannounced fire drills. Which can happen on either side of the complex, anytime between 7AM-7PM. - VDC is the furthest from both campus & UTC. UCI Shuttles do NOT run on weekends so if you don't have a car, I suggest you do your grocery shopping during the week, as UTC is a 30 minute walk to and from VDC. - if you have a car, expect to pay $300 per quarter for VDC parking. - To be on the safe side, have a plan B place to live even if you desire to renew your lease. I speak from experience. The biggest con of VDC is that many students will be kicked out to make room for new incoming students. IT DOES NOT MATTER IF YOU ARE ON THEIR EARLY WAITLIST TO RENEW YOUR LEASE. There's still a strong chance you won't be selected to renew your lease. And the worst part is, if you don't stay in contact with the office you won't find out you'll have to move out until June. Which does not give you much time to find an affordable place, as many apartments near UCI are already full by that time. I hope this review encourages you to never choose anything - specifically living conditions, based on appearances alone. ALWAYS do your research. All that glitters isn't gold. read more

Wish I could give a 0 star review. The location itself is beautiful, but the staff makes you want to bang yourself in the head with a hammer. After reading so many negative reviews about this place and the staff, I thought that I would be fine living here because I think I have great communication skills and handle problems well. But how do you go about solving minor issues when the staff is completely and adamantly unwilling and clueless to help. They are very disorganized, irresponsible, and find ways to make the customer feel wrong about the mistakes that the staff have made. Plus, one of their staff members inappropriately hit on me and followed me around off campus trying to ask me on a date. They took over 2 MONTHS to respond to a renewal request despite me calling and reminding them about it several times - and each time they said that it would only take "a few more days." And we still haven't even started the process because they said I took too long to respond to an application request that they sent me (I responded to it within a few days). Then each time I would ask a question about a specific issue, they would send me a long, wordy email responding to a completely different topic that I didn't even ask them about. Plus, when I simply ASKED about the process for filling out a form about having my pet live with me in my apartment, I received a long accusational email a few days later telling me that I had a BUNNY living with me in my apartment and I needed to get rid of it immediately because it goes against their rules. Then when I told them that I didn't even own a bunny, I only asked about filling out the form for a completely different kind of pet, they didn't even apologize. Talk about disorganized and irresponsible. It gives me so much anxiety and frustration living here, because the staff members i've reached out to for help clearly hate their jobs. And hey, you don't have to love your job - but i'm relying on you for your help because I live here and I can't figure out the answer without your help. It's just absolutely ridiculous. I rarely write bad reviews, I refrain from it. But this place needs to actually realize that they are dealing with whole people who rely on their performance to live somewhat peacefully. It's absolutely unprofessional and wildly confusing that they are unwilling to do their jobs, literally. I have never met such unwilling, disorganized, untimely, and frustrating staff. read more

i like the layout of the unit but the lady that usually picks up the office phone is extremely rude. Its disgusting how she talks to people with a nasty attitude. Im glad im not the only one who noticed her attitude. Surprised that the lady (believe her name is Mary) still works there considering the amount of bad reviews about her. She would talk about you to whoever shes with not caring whether we can hear or not. so shocked honestly read more

Best place to live as a second year student undergrad at UCI. Amazing pool facility, fitness center with plasma tv screens (2 treadmills, 3 stationary bikes, 2 ellipticals, free weights, etc.), full size beds, furnished apartments, full sized kitchens with fridge/freezer, oven, microwave. There are several bbq patios scattered throughout the vicinity. I love this place! Sad that I have to move out :( Oh well, it was great while it lasted. Warning: VDC is 10x better than VDCNorte! Norte has smaller rooms, beds, and costs more. read more

I am first year grad student and though VDC is nice by all means it comes with a price tag. It has its own basketball court and swimming pool, but if you live on campus anywhere you can just go to the ARC. It does not have any bit of a social atmosphere. I have been here for several months and have only met three or four other graduate students living near me. It seems more like a convalescent home than college apartments. It is close to campus, but unless you have a bike you still need 30 minutes to catch the bus and get to class. The rooms and are small and the furniture sucks. The mattress is really uncomfortable and the chair they provide is horrible. You are not allowed to put any holes in the wall, thus they want you to keep the walls barren. There is ample storage space and a balcony. The bathrooms are large (almost a waste of space) and the common area is decent. Remember there is a strict one year lease, that is almost impossible to get out of. So if you have the extra cash and you think you will actually have time to use all the services they provide, go for it. Otherwise save $300 per month and apply to Palo Verde or Verano Place. read more

I've been living here as a transfer student my first year at UCI and...yikes. Don't get me wrong, there are great things here like a pool and 24 hour gym but this year has been really bad for VdC. I'm glad I already signed a lease elsewhere for next year. Let's start with the burglaries. As of now, there have been five burglaries in the past month. VdC has no security cameras and very little way of helping. Due to the fact that VdC is the furthest away from UCI I've learned is a target for things like this. Just recently saw non-student dumpster divers when I went to take out my trash (which is legal and all, but the situation considered it made me uncomfortable). My next door neighbor also smokes cigarettes outside her apartment, and when I called the office I was told they can't do anything about it unless they see her smoking themselves (and of course, they won't...). I was also told they would send out a reminder of the smoking policy to residents, and never did. So if you smoke, VdC is the place to live! I attended a couple of the CA's events, was promised free pizza and a Starbucks gift card when I won events/contests but they never followed through. I still want that free pizza. The room they showed me when I asked for a tour was right next to the community center and very nice. The community center itself looks like a resort and the room I saw was fully furnished and decorated. It won't look like that when you move in, of course, but I was still disappointed. The furniture is horrible. It squeaks and breaks even when a 105lb petite woman puts a little weight on it. I'd actually rather furnish the place myself if all I get is crap I can't even throw away. The apartment was full of gnats, like, FULL of gnats. That problem has gone away since I've lived here. The walls are paper thin and if my upstairs neighbor so much as puts one foot on the floor in the middle of the night I can hear it. And boy, my upstairs neighbors like to party. The buses/bus stops are inconvenient. Due to where I am, I usually take the N line or C rather than the V. VdC's bus stops are extremely full in the mornings. If you do grocery shopping and don't have a car, you have to go during the week. It's too far to walk to the store and back with an armful of groceries and the buses don't really run on the weekends. If you do want parking, it's nearly $300 per quarter and that's only for VdC's parking lot, not on campus (must be paid for separately). The laundry rooms, as others have noted, are not clean either. They've been doing a little better job cleaning them but I still walk in sometimes to mud and spills all over the floor, and mold in the machines. The wifi is also really bad. I've been using ethernet instead. There are places closer to campus/shops for less money with reasonable parking. read more