Tenant Reviews for 1701 HERMANN DR

Best place I've lived in Houston - here since 1989. Warm, caring staff; beautiful entrance and grounds; rest views, lovely pool and tennis court, safe and secure parking. Next to beautiful Hermann Park. Lovely apartments in great condition, hurricane-resistant. I wouldn't live any where else.

I have lived in the Parklane on a temporary basis, and it was hard to leave. The staff is wonderful, attentive, and responsive. The view from my apartment was the best. I loved the access to the Museums, Hermann Park, and the Medical Center. I highly recommend the building and the living environment.

I've lived on the 10th floor, the 18th and 22nd floors! I've had corner units 2 out of 3 times. My recent unit on the 22nd floor had all new granite countertops with new cabinets in the kitchen and the bathroom with beautiful dark faux-wood plank tile. The two balconies faced downtown and Rice University/Med Center. I could look down to see the Miller Outdoor Theatre and on the 4th of July you can imagine the views of all the different fireworks around the city. The staff is impeccable and always gracious. Love the workout room and love the tennis courts up on the roof. Parking is reserved/never an issue - and it is inside a secured gate so you can safely walk with your groceries at night to the elevator. They even accommodated my 3-wheeled tricycle in the garage. The grounds are always kept up - love the roses. The meeting room off the lobby is fantastic too - my kids hosted my 70th Birthday party there. It has a full kitchen and is great for the Community parties held monthly exclusively for the residents. The variety of people in the building is immense. Young hipsters, foreign dignitaries, doctors, lawyers, nurses, political figures, retirees - you name it, its here.

Amazing Views! Friendly Staff! Weak Management! There are almost no better views in Houston than the Parklane. Completely unobstructed in all directions. Certain units have 180 degree views......the sunrise, downtown, the Galleria, the Med Center........any combination of these are potentially available. The valet service is top notch....friendly and efficient. The maintenance crews and back building are great. The building, however, is very poorly managed. It was built in the 70's and has not been adequately maintained. It's a safety and health hazard. Over the past 8 months I've been in the elevator twice when water was pouring (like a heavy rain) into it. VERY DANGEROUS!. Pipes have been fairly consistently breaking.....one leak damages a number of floors. (IF YOU MOVE, DEFINITELY GET RENTERS INSURANCE.) Management, while nice, are loathe to replace things that need it and repair work is often sub-standard. Common areas are not that clean. (Too many issues to mention.) This is a management issue. The staff is very nice and willing, but they need to be taught. They have garbage issues. The back area constantly wreaks of rotting garbage. I've lived in other high-rises and this does not have to happen. My final comment on how management operates......take a look at the employee break room. It looks like a soviet era waiting room...old, dirty. The only table in there for eating is broken and slanted. This is not a luxury high rise. It's a 32 story building with amazing views that is no better managed that a bad Motel 6.

There have certainly been problems at the Parklane. Occupancy increased very quickly over the last two years as a result of very competitive rental rates. Increased usage put pressure on the plumbing. Management has worked (and invested) to solve these problems and it seems to me that plumbing issues are much improved. This building is approximately 30 years old and very well constructed (with the exception of the plumbing) and a nice place to live. I am not associated with management or owner but am proud of my residence and want this record to reflect the reality of this fine building.

The problems in this building keep getting worse. The pipes simply do not work - the water is turned off almost every week in order to fix a leak or some other problem. There have been so many leaks in various units, it is unbelievable. The elevators have not been working properly either - this past weekend, no elevators worked at all and now we are down to one of 3 this week. For the high price they charge to live here, everything should work properly, especially running water!

Someone needs to do something about a proper inspection of The Parklane. It is non-stop the problems with the elevators and the running water. I think water and elevators are important in a high-rise and here nothing can get fixed properly! The maintenance is incredibly poor.

The pipe situation has always been a problem, but it has started to get ridiculous. They turn off the water one day out of the week on average now and when they turn it back on, gross brown water comes out and clogs up all the sinks. The pipes in the walls have started to hum and I'm just sitting here waiting for it to burst. NOT worth the money, don't let the view fool pull you in.

When we decided to live in a high rise near Hermann Park, we visited all of them and chose the Parklane. It has the best location on the park being on Herman Drive, is not near noisy 288, and is quiet and very private. The entire staff is courteous, helpful and dedicated to meeting the needs of the residents. Residents are of varied ages, I would say from the late 20's - up, all professional and mature. The Parklane does not have an air of indifference or stuffiness; it has a comforting, "at home" feel. I read a review which complained about the lack of hot water. Well, the water is not boiling hot for sure, but it is hot enough. I guess that's not so important to me. What is important is being close enough to walk to the train, to my doctor's office, or be right across the street from the park and beautiful Miller Outdoor Theater.

There is only so much a great view can do. The apartment building itself is very old and the pipes do not work properly. Sediment builds up in them and clogs the pipes. We have no had hot water in our sink since we got here. Since we got here, the refrigerator broke, the dishwasher needed to be replaced, the garbage disposal needed to be replaced, the toilet broke, the washer stopped working twice, the locks on the doors don't work, and the is a wasp problem for several months every year on the top 15 floors of the building (so you can't use your deck and there is no screen door. Many more problems, but you get the point. Manangement will say they are responsive, which they are, but often the problem is not resolved the first time maintenance comes. We talked to them about alternate arrangements but they told us that these are "normal" maintenance issues for the building. Do you really want to live in a building where these are "normal" maintenance issues? Forty visits from maintenance in half a year seems a little crazy to me.