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Congratulations! You specialty is different than my husbands but he sometimes works with EM residents. So I'll do the compare and contrast of the San Moritz with Coronado Bay Club here for you. I'll post this now and then go work on it and post the rest in a couple of minutes.
Awesome. BTW I had previously clicked your link just hadn't read all the way thru. Now do see a lot of additional useful info there. Sounds like you like San Moritz a great deal, which is lovely. It looks like I will likely end up there as well, pending a good review from you heh. There are currently 3 UMC EM residents living there that i know of, though one is moving out. When I regain DM privileges I'll tell u the units I'm choosing between.
hey i so i gotta get some beauty sleep (have this little thing called "graduation" tomorrow) but looking fwd to your review, Merry. Will check tomorrow AM. Thanks all for your help. Will try to pass along some knowledge on this forum in the future too, when I gain non-newbie status.
Sorry it took me awhile to write this. Congratulations on your graduation tomorrow too! That's an exciting time.
Ok, so for the review.
We have all different levels and specialties of residents, fellows and even some senior attendings living here but we live independent lives of each other. It's not a party atmosphere. It's a different class of people. It's more of a families and professionals places to live. It's quiet, restful and beautiful. I do know that some people get together in groups at some of the other locations that I mentioned in the post that I linked. This last year there was one particular place known as 'the party place' everyone goes to with two residents living there.
Similarities: It's the same vertical window blinds. Same garages. Same doors. Same floors including carpet and faux tile. Same fireplaces. Same walk in closet shelving. Same looking washer and dryers in units maybe a little older at the San Moritz. The styles of the structures look similar as well from the stucco to the tile roofs just different coloring.
Landscaping
The landscaping is more developed at the San Moritz as I think Coronado Bay Club is newer. Coronado Bay Club has modern waterfall sculptures above the swimming pool. San Moritz has two big faux rock waterfalls with ponds and a lazy creek along with a large fountain out front. They also have ducks, hummingbirds and other wild life.
Pools
Coronado Bay Club has the lap pool. San Moritz has three standardize swimming pools with the main pool being heated so you can swim in it during the winter time too. Both seem to have a main BBQ area and jacuzzi spa. At the San Moritz in the pool area there is a main covered area to host an event with a sink and buffet space along with seating. And there are three additional gazebo areas around the pool with outdoor tables and chairs and an individual gas grille for smaller groups.
The pool is 24 hours and most people use it during the day but on weekends, holidays and special events it can get busy with guests during the better weather months. I see that both pool areas have nice patio furniture. They just updated the stuff at the San Moritz so it's brand new.
Gyms
It's 24 hours and in the main pool area. The gyms seem comparable in the amount of equipment they have. Coronado Bay Club perhaps has a little more room to work with and maybe newer equipment. They don't always fix the gym equipment at the San Moritz that is out of order. The bicycle has been out of order since we moved in here which is very frustrating. Don't move here for the gym. It looks like there are a few more pieces of equipment at the San Moritz to work with too. They also just repainted the gym.
Kitchens
Coronado Bay Club has granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances which I wish we had. San Moritz has white appliances and these hard plastic counter tops that hot items tend to stick to. The cabinets also look different. Coronado Bay Club has knobs on theirs. San Moritz cabinets don't have these and the ones above the stove area seem to stick which can be frustrating but you'll adapt. The drawers and lower cabinets are fine.
Bathrooms
The bathrooms are different. San Moritz has what looks like marble sinks where as Coronado Bay Club looks to have porcelain sinks and the hard plastic counter top material that San Moritz has in the kitchen. San Moritz also has a large roman style bathtub with glass doors and I don't see that Coronado Bay Club does. So in a way they reversed where they put their money with the kitchen and bathrooms.
Management and Maintenance
The management is really good at the San Moritz and the maintenance is as well. They usually fix everything the same day or the next day. Depending on who you talk to though sometimes the wires can get crossed between the management and the maintenance. Then nobody shows up for your repair request and you wonder what's going on. That's happened a several times and always with the same person. So after awhile I've learned to avoid putting requests in with certain people.
Parking
San Moritz allows for one covered parking space per unit. You may park at any uncovered unit or rent a garage for additional parking and storage. There are many uncovered parking spots if you don't want to do that though. Some of them in certain areas never seem to be used from what I can tell so you'll likely always find parking here even if you have to walk a little. I've only once seen a tow truck in here but other than that parking doesn't seem to be an issue for the most part. They also took out the speed bumps and put up signs for people to slow down instead.
Mail
The mailboxes are in one gated area. Mail doesn't always get delivered to your door, especially during the holidays. So you have to watch tracking online and check with management at the office if you got a package. Otherwise, they'll send your package back to whence it came. That happened to me once because I didn't know they wouldn't always come to the door in the complex. That doesn't help you if you're getting a package you don't know about from a friend or family member. Which also happened to me once so I had to start telling friends and family to let us know when they're sending something so I can check with the office.
Neighborhood
We're literally right on the border of Summerlin. The only way it gets better is to live on the other side of the border in Summerlin which is across the street. We share all the same amenities with Summerlin. You have five parks within a mile. One is a big sporting complex right by us. Lots of people walk and bicycle around here at all hours of the day during the good months. The streets get quiet around 10 PM and then you won't see many people outside. Occasionally you can see people out walking around at night. There is a 24 hr Pink Box Doughnut shop on Lake Mead that is popular. There are also two Roberto Taco shops for cheap Mexican food that is 24 hrs within proximity. I also just discovered the Fresh and Easy grocery store that is 24 hrs and is the green remodel so you get all the organic items along with fresh and easy to go meals at any time. Lake Mead has a lot of stores, so does Rainbow and Cheyenne. Pretty much anything you want or need is in this area. There is further shopping north off Ann Road that is very easy to get to on the highway and they often have a nice abundant selection of items to pick and choose from without the crowd. In the other direction driving south 10 minutes you're at the corner of Charleston and Rampart and that also is a nice shopping area but it's going to be a lot more busy. It will have some higher end stores as well. Summerlin's village center is less than a ten minute drive from here heading west on Summerlin Parkway. In that area is going to be more shopping and restaurants. I can't tell you how many times we'll be driving on Summerlin Parkway in our area getting on and off exits and my husband will say, "Oh that's so and so from the hospital." Many of us do live in this general area.
Crime
The crime in this NW area seems to get less the further away from highway 95 that you get. From watching the crime map the last year the neighborhood with houses across the street from us saw more crime than we do in our complex such as car thefts and burglaries. We don't really get a lot of crime. We also have a gated community and they don't. They also seem to have a lot of rental homes in there. Other than that it seems to be mainly just in that pocket or around the main intersections. Sometimes the gates are left wide open at the complex for a day but we have 24 hour security guards walking around. When we first moved here our neighbor said their motorcycle was stolen from here and then ten months of quiet went by and some cars were broken into. I think someone tried to break into our car once recently, because the lock on our trunk was messed up and that happened the same time some people said their cars were broken into. But on the crime map I didn't see anything reported for when it may have happened. Our car has an annoyingly sensitive security alarm on it so that might have scared them off in addition to the apartment security that seems to hang around the main entrance and swimming pool/gym area during the night.
The most serious crime that I know of was a murder that happened a couple of months back in the Summerlin neighborhood close to us across the street on the other side of Buffalo. It happened after 1 AM in the morning. Three friends were outside walking and a guy in a car pulled up to talk to them. They exchanged words and the guy in the car shot one of the three guys. They called 911 but the guy died from a GSW before he reached UMC by ambulance. As far as I know that's uncommon for this area but not unheard of for Las Vegas and it seemed like a random act of violence. I think it has gone unsolved as there wasn't much to go on.
That said, I still go outside nearly every single night. Sometimes I go walking and sometimes I go driving to different places exploring the area. Nobody has ever bothered me while out and about. I have a lot of alone time and I feel fairly free and safe here.
I can't speak to the S. Jones area.
Last edited by Merrily Gather; 05-16-2015 at 04:02 AM..
Also I should mention the San Moritz will probably give you a move in special. They've had the $699 move in special sign up for a year now. When I went home hunting a year ago it was the only place with a move in special that I came across at that time too. That helped us with moving. Now that our lease is nearly up they're also giving us a discounted rate for our apartment to get us to stay but it's not the same as the move in special. Still a better price than the actual rental rate or moving elsewhere.
Oh, and we found their apartments are more spacious than most places. If you found them on a rental site like Rent.com you get $100 for the referral. I never claimed ours but you have 180 days to do so. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have the same word of mouth referral perks for people already living in the place like some other places do.
I think for reasons of location, commute to work, professional population, and proximity to great amenities (5 parks nearby!?! ), San Moritz is the way to go for sure. If everyone from the hospital lives there, it certainly speaks to it being a good spot to live for someone starting off at UMC. Perhaps I'll revise my preferences in time, but for now, knowing nothing, San Moritz seems like a great spot to start out in. And yes, they gave me the move-in special...
As for location within San Moritz, I'm choosing between a downstairs 2-br "B2" unit in building 14 for $1035/mo and a newly renovated upstairs 1-br A3 for $965. I prefer downstairs units as I'm a big guy and I like to vigorously exercise, sometimes in the apt, and would hate to disturb the person below me. But it seems the 1-br is closer to the pool, which I also really like. (Like doing laps for exercise.) I think(?) speaking to the quality of San Moritz, these were the only 2 units open in the near term at least according to the person on the phone. I'd ideally like a downstairs 1-br unit, but she says 1-br's get gobbled up fast and none were available or had given notice that they soon would be.
Few more Qs:
Have you had any noise issues with the person above or below you? Beside you? What do u hear about noise at San Moritz (so to speak heh)? (As I choose between an upstairs and downstairs unit)
How long of a lease would u recommend signing? Did they raise the rent on you at the conclusion of it? (As I choose between various lease terms)
Outside of the "main pool" how long would you say the other pools are (ie, could I swim laps in them for exercise?)
Did u get the garage?
I wouldn't say a bunch of us live here. I only know of six other people besides us, and the three EM people that you mentioned are news to me. So maybe there are ten people and their families. We don't get together and visit or anything and there are several hundred apartment units so it doesn't seem like many people from UMC really.
The B2 apartment is very spacious but that's really going to be a lot of room for one person. You might want to notify the program coordinator that you're available for a roommate and they can send that out to the new residents on the contact list. When we were moving here we'd get offers similar to that through email such as a former resident soliciting their house for rent in Summerlin to any interested incoming UNSOM residents.
On the plus side if you're getting the move in rate for the B2 that's going to be around the same amount as the newly renovated A3 apartment. I didn't know they were doing renovations here. You might have better luck moving in June as you're going to have some time to kill and there seems to be more availability then. Orientation doesn't start until around the 17th and we moved here in June the week before that and it gave us plenty of time to get settled.
Noise
I think it depends on the neighbors really. For six months it was really quiet. Upstairs we'd mainly hear the water moving through the pipes, the neighbor's doors open and close and footsteps on the stairs when going to and fro. The neighbor across the bedroom wall was a bachelor and at night we could hear him from our bedroom making love to a string of different women coming in and out of his apartment. He had a taste for young svelte brunettes and the faces changed every week. Moving the bed across the room seemed to remedy or muffle the noise for us. It wasn't like he was loud but we did share a master bedroom wall I think.
Then around January things changed. We got a young woman upstairs. At first she was quiet and then in early Spring she met a guy. Their courtship began with a wild rowdy session of making love that I think everyone could hear near the building as the windows were open and they were loud. It was almost embarrassing how they were going at it that weekend. Then I think her man moved into the apartment with her and from there things turned worse. The taste in music changed to this deep base gangster type stuff which I don't mind really but don't listen to often and it was being played frequently. The worst part was when the relationship turned sore quickly. I could hear him yelling at her or on the phone and he has a really filthy verbally abusive mouth. With his voice raised I could hear everything like he was talking to us through the door and this made me more conscious of the sound traveling through the walls. The verbal abuse upstairs has gone on for weeks and I began to want to move out because it was so oppressive living under it. My husband said he would go upstairs and talk to them but I didn't want him to get involved at all. I would rather move. Lately in the past month or so it seems to have grown more quiet again, but I don't think the guy moved out because I still hear his taste in music and his awful mouth pipe up from time to time so maybe another neighbor or management intervened and he toned down the severity of it. The girl also doesn't seem to be at home much other than to sleep or watch a movie. I never heard her fight back really so maybe she's avoiding him more and he's sort of taken over the place.
On the other side of the wall were the bachelor used to live a young family moved in downstairs. Now we can hear a baby crying across the wall but a child's cry is sweet compared to the harsh words spoken upstairs so it doesn't bother us much. They're a fairly quiet family. The neighbors across the breeze way from us are like modest mouses. They're happy when we see them but we don't interact much. Everyone in the units around us have stayed the same faces for the most part and it's quiet over all.
Lease
I'd recommend a nine month lease. Around that time after our neighbors changed I wanted to get a house and it would have been nice to have the option to change. We also could have moved to another unit within the apartments. That was made known to us from the start that as long as we stayed in the complex they could adjust the lease in those regards. The upstairs have the fireplaces and after last winter it would have been nice to have a cozy fire for some of those nights. The nice thing about living in Las Vegas is that there are so many options for places to live that you might want to move after the lease is up just to try another area out and have a new experience. That's how I've felt lately and so I've been shopping around.
Pools
I'm going to say the other pools are the standard size, maybe a little smaller, but you might want to contact management for the correct information on that. I've walked by the other ones and I rarely see anyone else using them so yes I assume you could swim laps in them but you might prefer the main pool area for that. I've even thought about swimming laps in the pool myself but have only done it on a few occasions. I need a new swimsuit and haven't gotten around to that yet. I have seen only one other person do laps in the pool as well. The mornings are usually free except for one elderly gentleman that likes to read his paper by the swimming pool on occasion and take a dip.
Garage
We didn't get the garage as we have one car and more space than we need in our apartment. We haven't even filled it all up with furniture yet. Also about the two bedroom units. The smaller room may have three exposed walls to the elements. One wall facing the patio, one wall facing the front and one wall facing the side of the building. This rooms temperature is going to vary widely compared to the rest of the apartment. In the summer it will seem more hot and in the winter it will seem more cold. I've considered getting blackout curtains for the summer to help manage the temperature in there.
Bugs
Downstairs may get more bugs in the hot summer months when they come out of the ground. We had some small black ants in the kitchen and a few cockroaches when we first moved in. I was so grossed out by this. Then the exterminator came and sprayed all around inside and outside and around the pool area and the bugs stopped since then. I asked the exterminator about it and he said that this was Las Vegas in the summer and that it would happen all over and to get the place sprayed about every four months for bug prevention. So I've tried to do that by request and haven't had a problem since. In the winter I saw these little black ear wig looking bugs around the toilet pipes in the bathroom and also crawling along the carpet in the living room maybe three times and I had them spray again. They offer the exterminator services here every Thursday by request and I think the areas around the pool need spraying more for bugs because they're attracted to water and the vegetation around it along with all the birds. One couple we met that lives upstairs said that also got the small black ants in their kitchen one summer and they've been here a few years. They haven't really had a bug problem otherwise.
Last edited by Merrily Gather; 05-16-2015 at 02:43 PM..
Once again, thank you so much, Merry. I'm sorry to hear about some of your noisy neighbors. It makes me wonder about the sales staff trying to convince me to get an upstairs unit (when I preferred a downstairs unit due to my vigorous exercise habits) and claiming there were no noise issues. I think every apt has noise issues based on proximity alone. San Moritz is probably just average in that respect, though honestly your account sounds like they may be more than that.
With respect to waiting till June to move in, that's a great suggestion. I'd be perfectly fine with that, and indeed it would save me $$. However, didn't want to be left without *any* unit at all. Do you really anticipate more units becoming available in June? How about 1-br's? That's what I'm looking for (again, downstairs units).
Any other recommended apts that have the same sort of traffic pattern / commute to UMC advantages that are around San Moritz you might recommend? I did read through your previous thread too...(Especially places with long pools...)
Or, given everything (neighbors/noise), do u think you'd recommend a townhome/home/condo in the general vicinity? At one point in my search I was actually given a list of such places, MLS listings or whatever they're called. My impression was they didn't have as nice amenities as the rentals + I wasn't precisely sure what I wanted long-term just yet. But then again my residency is only 3 yrs and to be sure amenities probably aren't as important as core quality of life things long-term.
SO not looking forward to fending off bugs. Sorry to hear that you've sighted cockroaches. Baad times indeed.
Odds on, I'm going to get a place at San Moritz, 9 mo lease, and go from there. But like you said, I do have time to burn, should I choose to do so. Will be around next week to tour San Moritz, ask them very carefully again if any downstairs 1-brs are slated to open any time soon, and perhaps check out a few other nearby places. Also, of note, called Coronado Bay this AM and told them I was probably out, but would let them know after I looked at San Moritz Monday.
OK, sleepytime. Been a long day. Got my MD today officially....twas fun.
I wouldn't doubt their claims about having no noise issues if no one complains to them. It really is quiet around here for the most part.
I think I'm probably the only person in the entire complex that has that sort of neighbor upstairs, and that's because the young woman upstairs picked a bad apple to be with and let him move in with her. The only time I really hear him is if his voice is raised and he's yelling profanities and being vulgar with her. Which seemed to go only daily for several weeks. Just from the way he behaves and his language I can tell that he really doesn't belong here. It makes me long for the older professional woman that lived upstairs. At first I thought it was her that had the rowdy romping with a new older man and I was surprised because she'd been so quiet all along. Then I saw it was a new younger woman that moved in. I didn't even know when either of our neighbors moved out so that should tell you something about the noise level. My husband thinks it was in December and then the new girl got the boyfriend a month or so after. The rest of the sounds are general apartment living and you're right that it's probably average due to proximity.
I can't think of any condos or townhouses to recommend that have the amenities like the resort style apartments do here. Perhaps lvoc could recommend something. However, there are plenty of apartments along Rainbow and Buffalo in this area that have the same access to things. I don't know if they're on the luxury level that San Moritz is. I was looking for certain things so I picked certain places to view during the week of home hunting.
As for the bug thing. That happened right when we moved in and they took care of it immediately and it stopped. I was shocked because I didn't expect that in luxury apartments but then I'd never picked a ground floor apartment before either and it's near a pool. The exterminator said this is the season for bugs because it's too hot for them to be stuffed in the ground so that eased my anxiety some. I don't know if he was feeding me a line or not but I think he was sincere because I was really concerned. Our apartment sat empty for nearly a month on hold for us before we moved in and who knows how long it sat empty before that.
I can tell you with high likelihood that there will be apartments available in a month. I noticed that several apartments have sat vacant around the place for a couple of months until they were occupied just recently. I observed them do repairs on each unit one by one. Then came the cleaning people. Then the places sat empty until someone claimed them.
In June and July last year many apartments were coming available here and at the other places I looked at. I was getting lots of calls and emails from places even after we settled here. I was bummed because the discounted rates were going down even further to get people to rent. That told me for the next year when rental season was and when I could get the best rates as they had a surplus of apartments available and the rates were dropping. Several of the residents in my husbands program are all moving to different places in town from where they used to live in town. So people are moving around a lot right now.
Plus in the office I saw the book of notices mailed to residents with leases expiring in the next month. There must have been 40 letters they flipped through that were sent out just for one month and I wondered if everyone is going to be renewing and will there be the same amount of letters mailed out the following month. Also this Spring I watched all the repair work and investment being put into the property such as painting the gym and new pool furniture being bought. I suspected they were preparing for the rental season to begin, because that area they were working in on the property is the true selling point.
They start by walking you from the main office to the main pool under the long wooden canopy with the topiary trees and the waterfalls on either side so you get the full beauty of it all. Then they show you the gym and explain the gas grills and then take you to model units that over look the swimming pool. My Mom was with me house hunting and she got super excited by San Moritz. More excited than I'd ever seen her and she turned to me and said, "This is the place! This is what I want for my daughter!" Then she went home and excitedly told all our friends and family about the beautiful place we picked.
Really if my Mom wasn't with me I would have picked Center Point apartments on Charleston and Jones because it has the nice kitchen I wanted, is close to the hospital, has the large Walmart we shop at, is closer to the strip and had UMC residents my husband had connected to there and so he wanted us to live there sight unseen. What put me off was the neighborhood, the crime, the rest of the run down stores in the general vicinity, the fact that it cost more than San Moritz and the property was going through a change of management at the time that seemed off and disorganized.
Plus the girl showing me the place scared the heck out of me talking in regards to local crime and security precautions taken on the apartments so residents would feel safe. I thought if the place needed that much effort to protect it that it was a bad sign. I just didn't feel as safe in that neighborhood as I did in this area of the Northwest. I still wonder what it would have been like to live there instead because I know a bunch of UMC people are there too and it seems more like a community that gets together. I guess you did tell me there is a community of EM resident living here so there's that for you.
Now that it's been a year I think the management at Center Point should have their feet under them for the property and be more settled in with the changes completed. In the end my husband told me the commute from there to the hospital took as long as it does from San Moritz because of all the stoplights there and that he counted the stoplights and there were less between San Moritz and the hospital than Center Point Apartments and the hospital, so it wouldn't have saved him time and we picked the right place.
My advice would be to follow your own internal guidance for what you want and what is best for you. We can all tell you things to consider but you have to trust yourself and your own decisions too because you are the one that has to live with them. Even though my Mom loves this place she doesn't have to live here. Though she does come visit a lot.
We all have different priorities and want works for some may not work for others. I would hate for you to regret moving to the San Moritz because it doesn't have the pool size you were looking for when you were so excited about the lap pool at Coronado Bay Club and how nice the place is over all.
In the scheme of things what is five minutes added to your commute on the highway and 10 minutes added to the commute if you ever had to take the side roads? The Southwest is one of the most desirable area to live. I even dragged my husband down there to look at places to consider if we wanted to move soon. I really like that area and I like a lot of places down there but he's more settled in now and can't seem to think about moving even if it's closer to his preferred place of worship. Plus I've put down a little bit of roots and have my doctors in my area and know my places to go shopping. That would be a whole new area to figure out. I also consider that there are some third year residents who stayed at the San Moritz the entire time of training and that's saying something as well.
I hope you got lots of new medical scrubs for your medical school graduation presents! You won't need them during orientation but you will when residency starts. You'll also need one of those reflex testing hammers, one of those pen lights for the eyes, a good stethoscope, a lanyard for all your new work IDs, a set of black gel pens, a stainless steal travel mug for coffee, a large battery for your good smart phone and maybe an additional pocket charger for it as well. Some people brought laptops and others brought tablets. I don't think my husband uses either now really because he has one of the new large smart phones that works well for that. We also got him a fancy messenger bag but after a month he opted for the trusty old backpack instead when he needs it. Sometimes he doesn't need to take it to work.
Last edited by Merrily Gather; 05-17-2015 at 02:23 AM..
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