The Rice Village Apartments

Clean and cozy dorm for students! Shuttles goes to school around every 15-20 minutes.

I lived at RVA during my first year in Houston and had a great experience. The unit we stayed in had just been renovated — everything was clean, new, and in good condition. A big plus was that we didn’t have any issues with roaches or humidity, which are pretty common problems in Houston. The management was always organized and helpful, which made a big difference as we were adjusting to a new city. The complex also hosts several community events throughout the year — I went to almost all of them and found them to be a great way to meet neighbors and feel part of the community. As for the apartment itself: the bedrooms are on the smaller side, and so are the beds, so it might not be ideal for couples who need more space. Since we have a child, we had to rent a two-bedroom unit because the complex only allows a maximum of two people per bedroom. The only real downside was the fire alarm. While it's important for safety, the volume is extremely loud. It only went off once during the night while we were there — triggered by a storm — but the sound was so intense it left us with ringing in our ears for days. During drills, I always had to leave immediately with my child because of the noise. Overall, I highly recommend RVA, especially for anyone who’s new to Houston. It’s a safe, well-maintained place with a strong sense of community.

RVA is a great place for 1st year grad students - it’s fairly priced for the area that it’s in (next to rice village and in the middle of a gorgeous neighborhood). The staff are incredibly supportive. With any apartment there are some drawbacks (the elevator is sometimes out of order), and people may gripe about disagreements with management, but this building is safe, clean, and comes with a wonderful international community.

I lived in RVA during my first year at Rice, and it was an incredible experience overall. For any first-year student unfamiliar with Houston, it's the perfect place to start. Here are a few things that made my stay at RVA great: 1)Great neighborhood: Rice Village, where RVA is located, is one of the safest areas with lots of restaurants and cafes. 2)Nice staff and RAs: The staff and RAs at RVA are supportive and friendly. They go out of their way to help residents as much as possible. 3. Close to school: It's a 20-minute walk to the Rec Center, which is a nice bit of exercise, even though walking in Houston weather isn't always ideal. 4. Community and safety: Since all residents and RAs are Rice students, and the dorm is operated by the school, everyone is willing to help each other. The Rice Police also patrol the area, which made me feel quite safe. Plus, there are many social events happening in the dorm, making it a great place to live.

Resident Aug 2021 - June 2022 Overall, a moderately safe and accessible apartment with free bus service to campus, but at way too high a price for quality. Good place for internationals that need lots of support arriving in the U.S. The apartments are at the same price as nearby complexes that have many more ammenities than RVA. Repairs: - HVAC stopped working - Thermostat quick working - Replaced 3 main lights - 2202A door unable to lock - Hot water mixture to shower not working - Shower faucet spout not switching to shower head - Bathroom sink drain broke - Dishwasher replaced. Can no longer open a drawer cause dishwasher wasn’t installed deep enough. - Window screens replaced - Living room left side pane won’t stay up. - Refrigerator does not regulate temperature well. Items regularly froze in the refrigerator even at warmest setting. Issues: - 2 entrances didn’t work for over 2 months - 4 loud fire alarms in each apartment (caused physical hearing damage). Fire alarm went off at least once every other month - 2 days’ notice of intrusive fire alarm testing - Management treats residents like irresponsible teenagers - Management deals with individual issues by threatening the entire complex with lease violations through email on a weekly basis - Management attempted to force residents to leave of 15th of month outside of contract. Negotiated after in-person meeting - Appliances and HVAC failed multiple times - Extremely poor window sound isolation (can hear whispers across parking lot through window and impossible to sleep through 2 trash trucks per night twice a week) - “Preventative maintenance” on closet rack when in use. Had to store clothes in living room! - Only one maintenance worker for 300 apartments! - Maintenance doesn’t work on weekends! - Only 2 days’ notice for 1-hour long fire alarm test. A second 30-minute fire alarm test 2 weeks later with 3 days’ notice. - Construction on building caused week-long mail disruptions without any advanced notice! - Day-of notice for moving vehicle from paid parking spot multiple times! - Construction left nails scattered throughout the parking lot in the vehicle right-of-way. - Had a nail go through my shoe and up between my toes while walking out of bike room. - Construction was reckless, damaging windows, and disrupting sleep. - Charged us $25 to clean the oven after I spent 2 hours scrubbing it (it is 10 years old and had a chemical reaction over time, but they didn’t care). Charged $70 total to us in charges for the “cleanest room they’ve ever seen. We spent multiple days with a professional cleaner prior to leaving. - Extra construction blocked all hallways to the elevator during moveout. - To get $400 deposit back ($367 after all said and done), had to file as a contractor to Rice University through Rice IO just to get money back…will have to deal with illegal taxes on the deposit (can’t charge tax on a deposit by state law!) Positives: - Free shuttle (doesn’t run on weekends except to grocery store) - Decent apartment (much smaller than others at same price) - Walk-in closets - Dual-vanity bathroom - Open-concept, just small - Utilities except electricity included - Deathly quiet neighborhood baring the trash trucks - Package acceptance and holding at front desk - Secure mailboxes inside lobby - RA’s really do care and want to help, the manager forces unethical polices for them to enforce.