The Waterfront Apartments, madison-wi

So many reviews are posted because there is a negative experience. I am making it a point to showcase and highlight the extraordinary effort Kaiya shows to residents every day. She works tirelessly to make sure residents needs are met in nonstop chaos. I want to say THANK YOU for making my pre move in, move in and living situation the perfect experience for me. I asked a lot of you and you delivered!

If you love “Arachnid-Chic” décor, you’ll adore this place. Everyone else: run. I didn’t sign a lease for an entomology lab, but that’s exactly what I got—an “open-concept” spider nursery with ceiling garlands of web and a constant parade of flying roommates. Management’s response? A masterclass in doing the least, very slowly. My experience (with timestamped photos/videos attached): 9/5: Discovered a large indoor spider presence—ceiling, closet, hangers/clothes, window frame. Not “near” the room. Inside the room. 9/7: Filed a pest-control request. 9/8: Staff showed up, installed a screen, announced “no pests found,” and somehow skipped interior treatment. Following ~6 weeks: No improvement, unless you count the spiders expanding their real estate. 10/21: I notified management I would break the lease on habitability grounds. 10/22: Reply said the issue was only outside the screen. 10/24: I returned to check: surprise—dense egg sacs on the inside of the screen, and spiders still all over the room. (See photos. Spoiler: the eggs didn’t get the memo about being “outside.”) I’ve moved out for my own health and sanity. I kept the timeline, all emails, and timestamped evidence. If you value hygiene, timely fixes, and basic respect, choose literally anywhere else. Unless, of course, you’re specifically shopping for a “unique room” with built-in webs and free-range insects—then congratulations, you’ve found your aesthetic.

The amenities at this complex are well maintained and refreshing. The staff here was nothing but accommodating and helpful. Especially the manager, Max, who made our move-in process smooth and easy. A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders since living here.

actually so bad it’s not even funny anymore. the floors were so gross when we moved in all of our socks turned black on the bottom. we had to scrub it about 3 times until there wasn’t a layer of grime on the floor. at the coldest possible time our heater went out and they gave us space heaters but we couldn’t turn them very warm because the entire power went out in our apartment. also there was a hole one of the bedroom walls to the outside and when it rained outside, water came in through the wall. then when it got cold, freezing air came through the hole in the wall. also the parking situation is not great. if you choose to take a car here and pay almost 300 dollars a month to get a parking space, 1/3 of the time you try to park in your own garage there isn’t a space and you have to park randomly next to walls and in not real spots. recently the power went out on one part of the apartment and now we have no power and there’s a brown stain in our bathroom that appeared while we were on break and top this off it’s more expensive than almost any other apartment around us. there’s probably more i’m forgetting.

I lived at the Waterfront all of this past year and my roommate and I are planning on living here another year. Waterfront has beautiful, quality apartments that still feel cozy and like home. We have great views of the lake from our balcony, and even better views from the pool & grill area. What I really like about Waterfront apartments is that it's really nice, but it still feels like home. I lived in an expensive, giant apartment complex before this and it never felt like home, I didn't know the management at all, everything was always packed... But here, management is really responsive and understanding, especially if you just go down to the office and talk to them, or shoot them an email. And while the amenities do fill up, it never feels like there's too many people, and often you can find yourself with the whole pool/study room/workout room to yourself. Waterfront is very chill but also cares about making your living experience the best it can be. I feel beyond lucky to be living here and I'm so excited I get to end my college career at Waterfront.