Arba San Marcos

Not ideal. The WiFi has gone down 4 times in a little over 3 weeks and will go down for several hours at a time, which has resulted in me having to miss zoom meetings for class. I get worried when I take a timed quiz or exam because I don't know whether or not the WiFi will randomly go out and kick me off. It doesn't help that the cell service is terrible (at least for Verizon) in this area which makes it so going online is borderline impossible when the WiFi is out. The walls are super thin. I can hear the neighbor I share a wall with watching TV even when its at a reasonable volume, or them talking on the phone when they're not even being loud. The only thing keeping this review from being one star is the staff. The staff is always really nice and helpful and the maintenance people respond pretty quick. Overall not a fan, but I know college apartments don't always have the best reputation.

Recently trying to dispute charges from move out. Haven’t received a response to my last email so here goes. I was charged with messes that were already there such as blinds that have been damaged since I moved in. I sent a maintenance request to get them fixed before I left and they don’t have accountability on their team that don’t fix things correctly. Thank god they actually replaced the microwave after the handle broke too many times that they could no longer screw it back on. I also had an incident where the locks weren’t working, someone from inside had to open the door, called maintenance they “fixed it” and had a stranger walk into my apartment because the part the fixed was the key fob not being able to turn the lock so essentially anyone with a fob could open the door. Called maintenance again they said “oh it was missing the batteries,” why mark it complete when the job wasn’t done correctly. Something way worse could have happened. Also when I first moved in it was quite honestly a mess you’d expect it to be clean if I’m being charged with minor things when I moved out for the next people moving in. Unit always smelled of mildew even after we tried to make it smell better. Utilities suddenly went high even after my roommates wouldn’t be there for days or weeks. Apart from the actual unit the gym is always broken only treadmills and stair-masters work. Trash everywhere even now, my old friends still live there so I visit occasionally. I’ve called multiple times about my dispute emails, all they say is that they’ll forward them to I don’t know who for the past 2 months. Only paying what’s due at this point so I won’t get sent to a collections agency and ruin my credit. Awful apartments.

My experience with ARBA Apartments ended on a very sour note due to unfair and suspicious move-out charges. First, they claimed I owed $220 for carpet replacement due to stains. This made no sense, as I had thoroughly shampooed the carpet myself and took clear photos showing it was in great condition. When I asked for proof, they changed their story—now saying the carpet needed to be replaced due to an “unpleasant odor.” They attached a cropped, unprofessional “invoice” for $293 from an unnamed company, with no date or real details—just a price and the apartment number. Different amount, different service, different excuse. It felt completely made up. To make matters worse, they turned my account over to an aggressive collection agency without giving me a real opportunity to dispute the charges or receive a proper explanation. I’ve always paid rent on time and left the apartment clean and in good shape. This treatment is unacceptable and unprofessional. If you’re thinking about renting here, be prepared to fight for your security deposit and deal with shady practices when you move out. Document everything. I would not recommend ARBA apartments to anyone.