My original roommate and I were upgraded to the Vienna floor plan on the day we moved in, thanks to the leasing agent at that time who was very pleasant to work with (unfortunately she's left Deer Park Management). We liked the location a lot; close enough to College Mall, Eastland Plaza and campus (if you're going to either the Education or Music schools). It's a nice 20 25 minute walk both ways, but accessible by the 3 bus either way, or the 9 if you walk to/from College Mall Road. The washer/dryer units are in the basement, which can be a pain to get to during wet/winter periods, and a mosquito breeding ground in the humid periods. When we lived there, 25% of the washers/dryers would be perpetually down, even after all the units were replaced with new ones (or maybe just cleaner-looking ones?) There is a laundromat at Eastland Plaza, but it seems pretty silly to drive a short distance and pay a quarter-per-machine more for this inconvenience. Kitchen space is pretty small, which doesn't promote a great cooking experience. The A/C can be pretty noisy and isn't the strongest, so it does get hot if you're living there in the summer. Maintenance requests take anywhere from 1 10 days to respond/repair, but it does get done, especially if you pester management. There isn't any Ethernet connection; everything is through WiFi, which can be pretty bogged down during the Fall and Spring semesters, but pretty fast in the Summer. BV used to have a package deal that you would pay less for both WiFi and Cable, but they've stopped that. You now pay for your own cable/satellite, as well as for electricity. Noise varies by semester. We've experienced periods of serenity as well as periods where music can be blaring rather loud at late hours. Practicing music seems to be allowed in the day (BV is close to the music school, after all) but you will hear the occasional band or karaoke singing at night. Again, it varies by semester. While BV has a pretty nice courtyard in the middle of the complex, the field occasionally gets abused by tenants who don't pick up after their pets. Never wanted to walk anywhere that was unpaved, especially at night. Upon moving out, we cleaned the apartment as best as we could, including replacing blown light bulbs and dirty drip pans. Although we received a security deposit refund, we were charged for the drip pans we had replaced. We didn't want to pursue the matter; let this be a factor to be considered when deciding on BV or not. For the price and location, BV is very difficult to beat. It is pet- and family-friendly (somewhat), as long as you're comfortable putting up with the various issues described above. Hope this review helps. I rented from fall '07 through summer 11. ...

My experience with Bart Villa has been pretty awful. The air conditioning and water heater are frequently broken, Internet service is slow and spotty, requiring you to log in through a gateway with an expired security certificate, and you don't have any control over the apartment temperature. There were several points when Internet service was down for several days, and there was a day or two in the beginning of January when absolutely no hot water was available. The faucet water, on the other hand, is almost inevitably warm, regardless of what the dials claim. Bart Villa doesn't stick to their maintenance guarantees, either. Dubiously enough, no interior photographs are posted on their web site, which is telling--it seems they spend all their money on landscaping rather than unit maintenance, although admittedly the location and courtyward are decent. They are also the only leasing management I've ever seen insist on charging multiple security deposits for subsequent leasing periods. Main pluses are an average price, including free heat, water, and air conditioning, as well as decently sized units. I rented from fall '07 through summer '08. ...

I had the same experience. Management threatened to sue me for over 1000 in painting and carpet replacement. They never fix the AC, their guarantee means nothing, and the refrigerator was leaking. The neighbors were also noisy at 4am and wrote threatening notes. Maybe a class action suit should be filed. I rented from fall '06 through spring '07. ...

Please oh please don't sign a lease here. Management is a nightmare and the units are in poor condition. My husband and I experienced ceiling leaks, broken window locks, broken A/C, heat that would not turn off in the winter, and an old dishwasher that didn't clean the dishes but they refused to replace (we had to hand wash everything). Finally, after we moved out (after the longest year of our lives!), we received our move-our report billing us for $1200, over half of which was supposed "carpet damages" on carpet that was brand new when we moved in. We had to go back and ask the new tenant if he would let us take pictures of the carpet (he did), and we are suing them for the amount that they are withholding from our deposit in the name of carpet damages. Businesses like these don't deserve your patronage. I rented from fall '05 through fall '06. ...