The Venue, baton-rouge-la

I have lived at The Venue my sophomore, junior, and senior years of college at LSU and am now moving out for graduate school. I’ve lived in a studio the past two years. I generally think it’s a very good place to live and haven’t experienced many of the issues I’m seeing in the other google reviews! PROS: -extremely close to pretty much all major class buildings on campus and tiger stadium -pool is well maintained and great -never ever had any bug issues -maintenance always comes quickly and fixes issues fast -staff is very friendly and helpful -dog friendly and plenty of places to take your dog on a short walk or to go potty -never had any issues with breakins in my apartment or parking garage. -AC is sooooo good and it’s central air conditioning -the gym is small but everything is always clean and works good -printing is always so so easy in the office area!!! soooo helpful -very close by to interstate, gas station, CVS, and many different restaurants etc CONS: -countless times there have been massive piles of vomit in the hallways for multiple days at a time -trash in hallways and generally relatively dirty hallways and other areas -issues with trash chutes -my apartment had 10 different bottles of alcohol (like malibu bottles etc) as well as a bottle of lotion and a pack of condoms in a cabinet upon move in -last year i had issues with groups of people being extremely loud in the pool which my apartment window looked out onto every night at 3:00 in the morning and office wasn’t helpful with that - they just advised me to call the police but eventually the issue stopped on its own. -overall kind of a hassle with parking garage and long hallways especially if you want to have a guest over but that’s to be expected -very expensive Overall I have really loved my apartment and I would recommend living here!

Hi! If you are thinking about living here, the quick answer is DONT. Ontop of being overpriced for the quality of apartment you get, these apartments are NOT secure. Mine along with around 20 other cars were broken into inside the parking garage and all the venue had to offer was a “sorry for the inconvenience”. There are no security cameras anywhere in the buildings. There is a police car that sits in the front of the parking garage, but never an actual police inside. They’ll tell you there’s an officer who walks around at night but, for whatever reason, not a single soul has actually seen him… weird, right? And if that isn’t enough to deter you, the fire alarm is faulty and has gone off falsely at least 20 times during my year at the venue at all different times, one of which was 5 AM. When talking to other residents, I also found out that upon moving in there were things wrong with every single apartment and not like the little things that you just put a towel over but big things. There were multiple ac’s leaking and out of order, broken walls, and personally, my floor was sunk in. They ignored the work order for the full wait time, leading me to have to call and stress how bad it was under my balcony. After I had finally convinced one of the workers of the urgency, one of the maintenance staff came over and looked at it, then told me my entire FLOOR needed to be re done. I assumed I would get help in moving the furniture from my living area but no, I was forced to move everything out and back in alone since my family is not from here and could not come to help me. The maintenance staff has been very kind to me so far besides that, but how are they really expected to get their work done on time when there are 100 new things wrong everyday? One of the upsides to the venue is supposed to be living close to campus which is only really an upside if you can handle the noise outside every night on top of the plethora of music majors who live in the building who can and WILL play their music at anytime of day. The walls are PAPER THIN, they offer no sound proofing whatsoever, I hear my neighbor above me’s alarm go off through my roof. I believe I am a pretty optimistic person so when I first got to my apartment me and my mom thought it was just a fixer upper situation but throughout my experience, I have learned that there is ALWAYS something wrong. The amenities such as the 24/7 gym and printer with paper stocked are a plus along with the Amazon hub delivery system that I’ve come to enjoy, but are they worth your safety? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

They will leave your ac not working in the middle of the summer. Do not rent here unless you’re broke and struggling and have no other options. Pick anywhere else!! Don’t rent to any place managed by this company. They don’t hire real maintenance men to fix anything they only hire cheap handy men who can’t actually fix anything. And vendors take months to come to the property. I had a leak in my unit for over 4 months before they finally fixed it. They would come to the unit and paint over the growing mold for months before actually repair. You’ve been warned. Do not rent here unless this is all you can afford!!

I have been living at the Venue for 2 years now and the experience has been extremely positive for me! I’m only moving because I’m graduating. Key takeaways: close to LSU, quiet, within walking distance of restaurants and CVS, safe, clean unit, no bug problems (in my experience here, have to keep your spaces clean, but haven’t heard of anyone having bug issues here), polite staff and maintenance team, pool is great, perfect walking distance for gamedays, more visitor parking than other apartments Some things to be cautious about: gym is okay, parking garage is tight (please pleaseeee drive slow if you’re moving here- I’ve scraped up my car here- my fault completely- just be cautious), dogs on leashes in hallways, dog areas rarely enforced (my dog has been run up on by other dogs in the hallway and I have to wait for him to go out if people don’t have their dogs on leash out in the dog areas), EDIT: I did have two packages "go missing" or "sent back" while here but if that were the case, I would have been refunded for the products. For example, I had a package show up after I moved out and I called and told them I would come pick it up a week later as I moved out of state and wouldn't be able to get it earlier, went to pick it up and they had no idea where it was or if it was sent back?? My unit was clean upon move in, had a few things that needed some fixing and were fixed right away. Everything in my apartment has worked and is still in very good condition. The staff and maintenance have always been easy to work with and polite. I’ve seen reviews stating otherwise, I’m a single girl living here with a dog in a one bedroom apt, and I have always felt safe and comfortable with staff and maintenance entering my apartment. Always be aware you are a renter, and maintenance can enter your apartment for emergencies, repairs and maintenance etc. (read your lease! also read louisiana law on landlord entering rental units!). If you request maintenance or they send an email stating they will do inspections or pest control, just be aware that hey, maintenance might come in my apt during work hours in the next few days so make sure you’re prepared for them coming in. Also addressing some of the bad reviews I’ve seen about amenities being not perfect or things being broken in units, or outside of units. Be cautious when reading some of these because college students are extremely hard on apartments. While living here, I’ve seen things broken, trash piled up when the chute doesn’t work (which is rare) and people are too lazy to walk it down to the first floor, liquids spilled in hallways, trash thrown wherever, dog poop not picked up, also seen rooms that look like hoarders live there. Have to hold residents accountable in this and not just blame staff and maintenance because that is a reflection of the people that you share an apartment complex with and a reflection of things not being done with care by residents. Rent is high, but college apartment rents are always high especially if you live close or within walking distance of the school. I used to go to ECU before transferring to LSU and yes this is true there too if you live close to the school. Keep your space clean and take care of things in your unit. Expect that not every other resident will and also expect that college living is not perfect! My unit and my experience here has been so positive and it’s been one of my best living situations while in college.

3.5/4 Stars The location is great, and the furnished rooms make the Venue a convenient choice for me, especially since I don't plan to be at LSU long-term. I am sharing this feedback in the hope that management will see it and make some necessary improvements. Noise Issues The primary drawback is the noise. Every Friday morning from roughly 7:15 am to 10:00 am, the lawn mowers are a major disturbance. Sometimes the noise persists on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings as well. I really wish the landscaping schedule could be shifted to start slightly later—around 9:00 am would be much more reasonable. It has been bad enough that I’ve actually had to hide in my bathroom to escape the noise. Update: I first posted this review several months ago, and unfortunately, nothing has changed. It is still very noisy. Communication & Privacy I also strongly urge the maintenance and annual inspection teams to text or email me before arriving. While the maintenance staff are nice people, they tend to knock loudly and enter without any prior notice. The inspection team does the same, which feels like a lapse in communication. Room Selection Advice Your experience here depends heavily on your specific unit and its location. Personally, I found the studio layouts to be poor. If you can, try to advocate for a unit on the interior of the building rather than one facing the street. Street-facing rooms deal with significant noise from engine revving and trash pickup. Plus, it’s getting very expensive.