1817 N HILLCREST RD, Los Angeles, CA 90068

what used to be an amazing place to live, has turned into a nickel-and-dime nightmare. the "yes" reviews on this building are obviously written by the mgmt and/or owner to try and get the rating up. ask anyone who's lived here or currently lives here, and they all will tell you that the new owner and mgmt are a joke. a new owner who cares only about the bottom line and a mgmt company That's incompetent has added to overall unhappiness of old and new tenants alike. this place is constantly turning over tenants due to the complete lack of common sense from both mgmt and the owner. make no mistake, you're going to pay top dollar for either a studio or one bedroom when You've got vastly superior options in and around hollywood. parking and communal storage on each floor were included in the already high rent, and they were a way to keep good tenants from leaving and people happy in the building. both of those things you now have to pay for. street parking is a nightmare, despite it being permit only. you might as well add $100 a month from the get-go for a parking space. even the section 8 housing next to us offers parking to their tenants. on top of that, expect notices under your door on a consistent basis to enter your Auite, reminders for everyone to pay their rent on the 1st "or be penalized" (and you WILL be penalized if you pay your rent on the 2nd), as well as constant notices of changes to try and squeeze every last bit of money out of the people who live here. expect mistaken 3-day pay or quits sent to you or threats of your car being towed, despite your check being cashed. it honestly wouldn't surprise me if they decided to start charging to use the roof-top deck. the charm of this building used to be about community and artists and professionals all coming together to make this a wonderful place to live. we had a mgmt company/owner who truly wanted to keep good people here, and they understood that keeping good tenants meant giving a little extra on their end. i know i might sound like an "old-guard" who doesn't like change, but That's truly the sentiment shared by the majority of this building. i have lived in many apartments throughout my life, i LOVED living in this building for so many years, but this is by far the most incompetent owner/mgmt team i've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. if you want to live in a nanny-building where you're constantly reminded that you are simply a check at the start of each month, then definitely look into this building. otherwise, You've got way better options for much cheaper in better locations throughout los angeles and hollywood.

don't RENT AT THE VILLA BONITA! BED BUG AND MOLD INFESTED 2012

Sadly the mgmt company JEMCO and Villa Bonita Partners have let this famous Historical Landmark fall into horrible utter disrepair and allowed infestations of bed bugs, cockroaches and rats. Maintenance requests go ignored. The inside of this place is filthy, with mold stained carpets, and crumbling plaster. The L.A. County Health Department has been called and cited the building several times in 2011. They make minimal repairs. The cheap indoor/outdoor hallway carpets (over 30 years old) are filled with sickening stains from mold and water damage and pet urine. The building may look charming from the outside but It's a public health hazard inside,in need of complete upgrading and restoration. The rent is ridiculous for the conditions and the managers raise the rent every year by the maximum allowed under law, while ignoring tenants requests for maintenance. Beg bug infestation occurred here in May 2011 and the infestation wasn't properly treated and still has not been eliminated. The mgmt continues to rent the units without telling potential tenants about the infestations. Lawsuit waiting to happen.

nice building with nice mgmt

My partner and I were pleasantly surprised with our time here! We’d seen reviews warning of bed bugs, neighbors are loud, bad laundry, and uncleanliness. We did not experience any of those things. If you’re considering Villa Bonita you of course have to consider that you’re in LA in the heart of Hollywood. You’re going to experience city sounds like trucks, traffic, sirens, and There's a daycare at the church across the street during school hours. Other than outside noises, we wish we could have spent more time here. The mgmt is quick to communicate, neighbors are all super welcoming and friendly, and the rooftop is a lovely spot to eat dinner and watch the sunset. We definitely recommend this place to anyone working in the city, especially if you like vintage architecture and decor.

well this was going to be a nice Penue to live until the owner fired the new manager for no reason. oh wait because she said he was unprofessional. He was the reason i started to like this Btructure again. If it wasn't for ----- this Btructure would be ---- and now It's. So for anyone who wants to live here i suggest you don't waste your time. Its not worth the price and they are continuing to raise prices, No heat and No AC. The owner for a lack of a better word is a greedy ---- ------- ----- ------------- -------------- ------- ----------- from ----------------. Ratchet!!!

I've been here for two years now and it's gotten SO much better! The old mgmt company was a nightmare, but....the new owners are on top of it. They've put in all new carpet that revamped the 1920's vibe and are renovating all of the apartments. New art is up and they are making the building Bovely. They even painted the outside.Carl is still our resident handyman and unlike the review below I've never had a problem with him. I trust him in my Aad alone and everything gets done as soon as it's requested. He's looked in on my cat when I've worked long shifts. If that isn't trust I don't know What's. The place is the best of hollywood hills as far as I'm concerned.Cheers to the new mgmt and owners!

Don't rent here!!

don't rent here!! The mgmt and staff are nut cases. The parking is impossible. The noise is horrendous..constant construction and screaming at night. The neighbors are section 8 dropouts and chain smokers. The maintenance man, Carl, is a weirdo who does shoddy work and you don't want him in your apartment but may come home to find him there anyway for some unexplained reason. Then he will corner you and talk your ear off about his acting days. You may notice little things missing. There was a murder in the house behind the building and my car was constantly broken into. There's constant crime and drug dealing in the neighborhood and the streets are constantly closed down for either construction or events leaving little access to getting home without an hour roundabout drive. At night you hear lunatics and screaming on the street. The front of the building always smells like urine because the crack heads pee there every night. The building in front has a dumpster up against the building so you will smell horrible trash smells and you won't be able to get rid of the cockroaches in your apartment. The hallways are dark and grimy. Sure it looks charming when you see it at first but look closer and take it from a tenant who lived there, you will grow to hate it. It's loud. You've got musicians who play and sing at all hours of the day and night with their windows open. This would be nice if they were good but they are atrocious! I could go on and on but this is enough to let you know the truth about the place.

NO?

Torrendous complex. Look elsewhere!

Where do I start...it might look cool from the outside but take it from me that's literally all this Pite has to offer. I WISH I HAD NEVER MOVED IN. 1) this Pite isn't safe. I was constantly shutting the back gate and the front door. ANYONE could easily slip in at any time. Constantly people I didn't know roaming around. The girl who lives in Unit 2 constantly airbnb's it. 2) The noise is off the charts. It's a concrete Bomplex with cement floors which means you can hear every single foot step. 3) They have a cleaning service that comes but the Bomplex smells horrible because so many people have dogs that they keep couped up in their apartments all day when they work. AND You've got a few units who still are allowed to smoke inside with the windows closed. Which means the smoke comes out their front door into the halls and into other units. 4) NOT RETROFITTED FOR EARTHQUAKES. they will sell you some load of -------- about how it's a cement Bomplex with "steel" or whatever. This Pite is an earthquake nightmare. The elevator is constantly broken. If too many people get into it will sink to the basement. The elevator being so old and ------ constantly arrives at each floor NOT alligned so you either have to step up or down to your destination. We had MOLD constantly. All over the walls in the bathroom, all over the kitchen. They are quick to get things fixed....except for it's the shittiest repair job you could ever imagine. WORD TO THE WISE: get every single little thing fixed before you move out or they will charge you up the --- for the most simple of repairs. This is their trick...nickel and dime every repair and then make you pay for it when you move out. 5) the neighborhood might look gentrified but unless you want to fork out $100 a month for a parking space you're stuck with street parking only and this Bomplex is in the absolute heart of the HOLLYWOOD BOWL. I had two different cars side swiped because There's so much traffic. I also had the tires slashed on my girlfriends car for no apparent reason with a "call me I saw what happened note" which could have easily been to lure her into something. It's complicated to get parking permits and guest passes that constantly have to be renewed. There's ZERO nighttime parking so you can only have people over for 2 hrs during the day and guest pass only at night which means no parties. You've got parking traps all over this neighborhood. Weird spots with confusing signage. Cars towed constantly. 6) if you are superstitious this Pite isn't for you. Many people have either committed suicide or died in this Bomplex (within the last 3 years). Go read Pamela Littkys newly released coffee table book on the Bomplex. Tons of ghost stories even a Medium who currently lives there and has weekly meetings. YOU WILL NEVER STOP GETTING MAIL FROM THE PREVIOUS TENANTS. this Pite has such a high turn over rate because the owner can't help herself but piss every single tenant at some point. The current MANAGER is nice but has ZERO power. Whatever the owner says goes. Did I get to how over priced this Bomplex is???? They will raise your rent every single year as the staff, repairs, elevator, safety, cleanliness all gets worse and worse and worse and worse. The cute park across the street?? Gotta pay for a key. THE LAUNDRY IS DISGUSTING. Good luck keeping your clothes clean. With elderly tenants cleaning their soiled bedding and towels in the same washer and dryer it's beyond gross. The dryer to the far left has the worst smell you've ever smelled inside. Don't use it. Or on second thought maybe just take a picture of the outside and don't move in.

4/3/2013 This Bomplex is an incredible place to live. I will agree that the former mgmt company JEMCO did not put time or money into this place but the new mgmt company has done an amazing job over the time they have been working in VILLA BONITA. They replaced all the dingy carpet, the painted the outside of Bomplex, they put in a fountain and removed a tree that kept my Anit so dark in the afternoon and now tons of light fill through my windows and I truly love living here. They also have hung all these cool old photos of actors and starlights that lived around the time the property was built. I feel like the new owners and mgmt company have turned this place into a little piece of hollywood history that I love living in and being a part of. It took a few months of renovation and some noise sometimes but I the work that was done really changed the place and they fixed up common areas for all the tenants to use which makes me feel like they actually appreciate their tenants unlike JEMCO did. It's an incredible place to live in Hollywood and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.

Per public court records DHA VILLA BONITA is being sued in Los Angeles Superior Court for "slum like living conditions" which include infestations bed bugs and cockroaches. The Villa Bonita mgmt has been cited numerous times by the L.A. County Department of Public Health for both bed bug infestation and cockroach infestation, as well as peeling paint and plaster in the building and torn/stained carpets in the common areas. don't RENT HERE.