Upon moving in the place was filthy. There was food on our kitchen ceiling, and I even found a toe nail on my bathroom floor. I emailed to ask who they even used to clean in between renters, and received no response. This leads me to believe that they don’t even bother paying for a cleaning service, and that they just pocket the money they charge for damages at the end of the year. Manipulating students seems to be what they want to do. It has been almost 3 weeks since we moved in, and still no one has come to clean the food off of the ceiling, we have a dryer that doesn’t work, the ice machine is broken, and recently we had to go to the xfinity store OURSELVES to complete a service that we pay for in our rent. Absolutely terrible customer service. Every time my roommates and I put in a service request they cancel it with no message back. Needless to say we will not be renewing our lease. Save yourself the time and anxiety and live at Madbury Commons!!!

With a move in date scheduled he moved into a unit with fire code violations smoke and carbon monoxide detectors pulled from the walls. Bathroom vent clog with bird nest, and air conditioning wasn’t working all on move in day. Apparently dryers that don’t work is acceptable. It seems to be a common problem. The maintenance ask to detail what is wrong with the dryer. It won’t dry cloths even after 10 cycles. They will provide drying racks as a solution. Outlets in kitchen don’t work. Maintenance does not respond anymore nor does the parent company American campus communityThey will collect rent without issue of course. They take advantage of college student tenants..

I go to the clubhouse all the time and hangout with Lela, she is the best, shes very nice and does her job very well. she likes to help us out and make sure we are all comfortable and doing well. Love her.

Had some billing issues so I called the office and Anthony picked up and was extremely helpful! He walked me through the process and got things straightened away super quick. Great customer service and very professional.

Recently got help regarding some questions about my lease. The staff were super helpful and informed. Anthony was the one that helped me! Super professional over the phone and answered all my questions!

I called the cottages office to clarify information about my lease for next semester and spoke with Lexie. She answered all my questions and beyond and made the phone call very enjoyable. Thank you Lexie for your impeccable service!

When we first moved in we were expecting a completely different house because of the one they showed us on the tour, the walls are super thin you can hear everything everyone is doing, there’s so many hidden fees that they don’t tell you about, our ceiling started leaking, our AC didn’t work upstairs and everytime maintenance came they couldn’t figure out what was wrong, the Wi-Fi is on and off all the time, over all bad experience

Spoke to Lexie at the cottages of Durham, she was super helpful and polite. Got all my questions answered. Definitely asking for her when I call back!!

The staff here is what really makes this place great. Leasing Assistant Breauna has been extremely helpful with any questions/problem solving.

As Dorothy once said... There’s no place like home. And the cottages are my home, I don’t think it could be any better. From the dog park, to the gym, to the ✨hot tub✨ I wouldn’t wanna spend my college experience anywhere else. So happy that I finally left the lodges, I never knew how happy I could be!

The cottages has been my home for 2 years now and I can say I wouldn’t change it for anything. I have made friends here that I will have around forever. The staff is always great with a fast response to maintenance and other concerns. The Hot tub is always a great time too!

This place is amazing! Although why are some of the buildings “front doors” actually back doors?The staff is pretty friendly. I was able to speak with Gillian and Bre on the phone and both were extremely friendly!I think the big negative (but not worth a deduction in stars) would definitely be the wifi. Could definitely use quite a bit of improvement. Due to the fact the some apartments have 6 or more individuals on one router at a time, maybe an increase of bandwidth would help the connection a lot better.Keep up the good work!

This is the best living arrangement I’ve ever had. The cottages feel more like a home than an apartment. The staff is friendly and maintenance even gets completed during a pandemic. I would release if I weren’t graduating in the spring!

The Cottages of Durham is a great place to live, as long as you READ THE LEASE. I was scrolling through a lot of these reviews and most of them are because people are breaking the lease agreement, making it obvious that they did not read it carefully. The staff has always been helpful, especially Kristi and Breauna with whatever problems I had or clarity I needed on billing statements. My experience was great living here, and Im surprised to see bad reviews.

Called the cottages the other day to look into housing options, spoke with Breauna. She was very knowledgeable and easy to speak with. Thank you for your help Breauna.

Cute neighborhood! Love my house. Everyone gets their own bedroom, bathroom, and walk in closet which is awesome.

If you are thinking of living here next year, dont. They don’t hold up to their obligations, specifically regarding snow removal. Even when their failure has been brought to their attention, they lack the effort to fix the problem. It is explicitly stated in their emails about snow removal that failure to move vehicles for snow removal will result in the vehicle being towed so that the street can be plowed. When people parked on the street my unit is on, they failed to remove the cars, leaving the street unplowed. When I approached management about the issue, they told me I could shovel it out themselves and they couldn’t do anything to remove the snow.

The cottages of durham is a pleasant place to live. During my stay the manager Max Holzthum held down the place very well and was always so pleasant. Would recommend staying again! Also mad chill.

The cottages of durham has given me a home away from home. Management always helps me with any problems I have. 10/10 recommend!

The buildings are so cute, the bedrooms are huge with your own bathroom and walk in closet. The management is the nicest management i have ever dealt with and they try their best to make sure everyone in the community is happy and cared for.

Staff member AJ Woodhouse is very helpful!

A great place to live with helpful staff even after hours!! The blonde girl at the desk is super helpful, should give her a raise!! I think her name was Brenda or briana??

Can’t thank the wonderful cottage staff enough. They’re always prompt to responding to emails, phone calls, etc. Brianna was especially helpful when I was locked out.

The place isn’t perfect but the workers are very friendly. Breauna at the front desk has been very helpful with any problems.

Breauna is a a great staff member who has been extremely helpful to me. Helped me find a new apartment after some bad neighbors.

This is long and I wasnt going to post, but I felt like these three stories are important for people to see before signing a lease!The houses seem nice and the location is great; but there are so many issues.1. Our Carbon Monoxide alarm was beeping for a month. We called numerous times because that is something that is important to have working! They came a few times, but they never actually fixed it, just muted it for a few hours. It took a MONTH until they fixed it. When they eventually fixed it, I came home and the detector was hanging out of the wall. Since I did not want to wait another month, I put the detector back into place and it started beeping again. I took it back out and called the leasing office again; when the maintenance man came, he accused me and my roommates of taking it out.2. This is true for most of the residents Ive met: I did not have access to any amenities after hours because my key did not work. My roommates and any resident with blue keys had this same issue. We went to the leasing office a few times every month since we moved in and were always told to come back in a few days. So, we did not have access to the gym, study rooms, printing, pool, etc. after hours. So, I never had access to these things due to my class schedule!3. Lastly, when I moved in, my toilet was black/brown inside the bowl, the room smelled like dog and there was actually a few dog food pellets under my bed. When I mentioned this to the office, I was told every room was cleaned but the cleaning people were lazy. If this was known, some action should have been taken.

Bre and gill were both spectacular in regards customer service

Ive been here for half my lease so I thought Id share. The apartments themselves are pretty good, the management office seems to care and tries to do their best, it would probably be more beneficial for everyone if they were a bit more involved though. The grounds are really really well kept considering how many college students live here and the club house is pretty nice to have available. Its maintained by the nicest lady named Lela who literally always has a smile on her face. Bus service is really convenient, but just know it only runs on the weekends. Overall the place is pretty good, it could be improved in some aspects but not bad for a first place to live.If youre someone who needs to live in a quiet location, Id recommend trying to get a spot closer to the perimeter of the grounds.

I really like this place. Sure beats the dorms. I dont really understand some of these super negative reviews on here.The cottages themselves are quite nice. The walk in closet is really huge and the appliances are pretty good. Queen bed is great. Having a washer and dryer right in you living space is a blessing. Kitchen storage space could be a bit larger (Im in a two level 3-person house) but I dont find it to be too much of a problem.I come from a middle class family with a middle class home. I question if some of these comments are from people who are coming from very wealthy backgrounds. These houses look really nice inside, especially if youre coming from the dorms. You can tell that some things are a *little* cheaply made, most noticeably the windows (theres quite a draft), but otherwise it is not an issue at all. Another small con recently is that they havent been salting the sidewalks very well, Ive been getting a little nervous walking my dog. The bus is pretty convenient and comes about every 20-25 minutes on weekdays. Theres a shuttle now on the weekends. I dont have a car or license and Ive survived.The manager and everyone else who works at the office are EXTREMELY nice. They take their time listening to every complaint and are so accommodating and kind about everything. I had a wifi issue earlier in the semester that took a little long for them to fix, but it was mostly due to shipped parts being halted by Hurricane Dorian. Just recently my water heater deiced to burst at 2am and the manager of the cottages AND maintenance came rushing to help. I couldnt believe how kind and helpful they were, given that it was the middle of the night. I think the staff is amazing here, dont listen to the bad reviews about that.Im really happy that I moved here and I dont regret it at all. I recommend it to anybody who is sick of the dorms and doesnt really use the food plan. Overall I am actually spending less here than I was at the dorms, which is crazy.

If you do move into the cottages ( You should not) do not trust management. My experience was less than adequate. I ended up signing a lease that was $240 above what it came down to a month after their initial signing period. When requesting aid due to covid, they denied it and then charged me an extra $200 when I eventually moved out. When you do move out, make sure to take pictures and do their cleaning job for them. Failing just to vacuum or clean your mirror will result in this kind of charge from them. Pick somewhere else in the Durham area, the cottages will charge you more than they are worth.There are other reasons not to move in, this was just my personal experience. You can easily see the other reasons (Unreliable wifi, lack of proper management etc.) by scrolling down.

I used to have a lease here a few years back and now that I am graduated and see how other housing divisions do things, I am even more deeply upset with how we were treated at the cottages. They will charge you for everything and anything. For example, when I moved out my thermostat ran out of battery which was listed as broken and we were charged around $300 collectively for spare batteries. I was also charged $150 for window blinds that appear to be from the dollar store. The house had dirt ingrained rugs throughout when I moved in....Maintenance is impossible to get a hold of and will maybe respond to your complaints of broken heat/utilities/carbon monoxide alarm or other items after you contact them daily for two weeks straight. WiFi had never worked well for more than 5 minutes consecutively and no matter how many complaints I had filed about it, nothing ever got resolved through my time there.Rent goes up every year from what a hear by as much as 75-100 dollars per person and the conditions of the cottages have not been maintained over the years. Deteriorating conditions and an increase in rent?Contract was very thorough and not with any level of respect to the students or their hardships. If you do not agree with certain clauses, then they will not sign with you.Solely in the interest of Management and to drain money from the students and their parents.Overall subpar experience that still stands out at me years down the line as to how management exploits and takes advantage of students looking for a place to live as there are so little options around UNH.One last note I will make is that once I was driving out of the cottages and an employee in a Bobcat cleaning the snow hit my car backing up. I got out of my car and argued with him, he said he would take care of it and report to the office. My naivety trusted him and nothing ever got done. I went to the office to say something a couple days later and they had no idea what I was talking about and without video proof they were not willing to help.I have attached some photos of move in day, with time stamp of August 20th to show just how the place looked for their new students leasing.

The apartments are cozy, great living space.

It’s been a great experience living at the cottages during the academic year of 2018-2019. Free parking for myself and for guests who stay over night saved me a lot of money throughout the year. Special thanks to the c.a’s and maintenance team for always being available and helpful.

Overall I enjoyed my experience of living here. I gave it 3 stars because I just wish there was better transportation to and from campus not only during the week but on the weekends too since finding parking on campus can be tricky. Definitely read the fine print when signing your lease for example they charge you for water which I was not aware of until November. The club house is great though I love the hot tub, sauna, steam room, gym and free printing!!!

I had high expectations when moving in to my apartment my senior year of college. Yes, these apartments are an upgrade from the dorms BUT the customer service you receive from management is not. My apartment’s heat broke half way through the year, the heat was not fixed for over a week and we were given small space heaters to try and heat the entirety apartment (5bd, kitchen & living room), these space heaters took up a lot of electricity which we were not refunded. More recently, I have called 4 different times to try and get an answer about a refund I was receiving on a separate transaction. I was told each time a manager would call me back later that day. So tomorrow when the office is open I now have to call for a 5th time to try to get an answer and talk to a manager. You should not have to try and contact the apartment you are renting from 5 different times before receiving an answer, poor customer service and very unprofessional. Also, even though wifi is included, the entire year it barely worked well at all and when the wifi wasn’t working I had no service at my apartment to be able to use my phone or computer (which I needed for school work).

I am a student at the University of New Hampshire and I live at The Cottages of Durham. The Cottages of Durham have been a great place to live. Having my own room with a queen size bed along with my own bathroom and walk-in closet is very nice. The living room is very spacious and is fully furnished. Along with having plenty of cabinet space in the kitchen. The Cottages of Durham also has a community hot tube, gym, common room, and quiet rooms for studying. It has a very nice community atmosphere as well. I would recommend living at The Cottages of Durham.

I would highly recommend living at The Cottages of Durham. The amenities in comparison to other Durham properties are top notch. Each resident enjoys their own bedroom, bathroom, and walk in closet, along with laundry in each cottage. Also, there is free printing, a gym, the hot tub, and helpful staff! Convenient parking, and the bus to campus runs every twenty minutes or so. Pricing is very comparable to other Durham properties, as well.

Often times service requests dont get done right away or they say they are done, but arent. Units arent really cleaned prior to move in. My house smelt like dog & the floors were filthy. For the price we are paying, a thorough clean of the house should have been done. Prices are very expensive compared to other American Campus communities. I lived there for two years, my rent went up $50 for my second year. Management is a revolving door. Nobody seems to know what’s going on either. However, Student CA’s were great. Overall, I would not recommend this place. Go to the Lodges or somewhere on main street. Not worth your money and they try to stick you with random charges you have to pay. Plus a $250 sublet fee just to get out of your lease. Hot tub was broken for 5+ months too, paying for amenities that don’t even work.

Through COVID they did it allow for rent breaks, they did not take into account 75% of people were not living there and they did not allow for lease breaks. Very selfish company not willing to work other than to make a payment plan. Will NOT consider again even in the slightest nor recommend to anyone.

Place was cute... until I realized it was infested with black mold. Hot tub was broken all year and free printing broke and was not fixed for months. Definitely a scam + management will cheat their way out of anything - especially if youre a college student. This isnt the best choice if you cant decide what housing to choose.

Im a big fan of the space, having my own room and bathroom is great. The 24 hour fitness center is also a huge plus. However you will want a car if you live here cuz the bus doesnt run on the weekends. The bus situations is the biggest issue but overall this is a decent place to live.

The Cottages of Durham have given me many issues. The amenities seemed to always have problems or be broken causing them to be unavailable. The online account management portal will not show you your exact charges therefore you do not know what you are paying for. Since leaving, I am still forced to deal with issues from checks and payments to the cottages. The biggest issue I had was that the manager walked into my bedroom without knocking while i was laying in bed because he thought it was a different address. Very unprofessional.

Hot tub was closed in January. They told us it was broken. It is now late May and they have not had anyone working on it. They told us they “hope” to have it open by move in day which is the last week of August, which means I will be going 8 months of a 12 month lease without access to the amenities. Do not recommend

Printer and hot tub do not work. Big selling point of theirs.They will tow a guest without a pass as fast as possible but won’t tow people to do snow removal, which is a safety concern. Meanwhile the place across the street gets perfect snow removal even if there is an inch of snow.Below standard definition television, which is included in rent. Another big selling point.Heat needs to be over 70 to keep the place warm so expect high heating bills.Definitely look elsewhere.

The house itself is good among several options around the campus. The service and maintenance here is not very helpful. The most annoying point is the unclear balance which is very ridiculous. For example, after we negotiated with cottages staff and they promised to clear out the strange bill on the account but after days they will continue sending the balance with late fees. It have been more than forth times that I have been to the office.

I love living in this area, very accessible to downtown Durham, and located less than a mile from the highway to get to Portsmouth. It is conveniently off campus in a nice spacious community. Access to a gym and hot tub and steam room/sauna are all included. Maintenance is readily available to respond to requests for fixing/replacing things if they break. Utilities do add on about $75-$100 extra a month depending on the number of roommates and their lifestyles revolving around heat, water, and electricity. Ive lived here for two years and have renewed for a third. Pets are welcome and the amount of houses in the community allow for a friendly environment to live in!

Everything at the cottages is usually broken or doesnt work. The wifi is hot trash. Heat seems to not work in the winter. Did I mention how bad the wifi is, its hot trash. Place needs to get it together.

My daughter lived in a 5 bedroom unit for 2 years. Please read the contract very throughly. I would have your lawyer review it. They will stick you the parent or the student for everything and anything. They want your money and that about it. Management is a revolving door and they answer to upper management that does not care about anything besides money. Maintainance shows up after several phone calls and complaints. I would not recommend this place to anyone.hot tube is always broken. Takes forever to get things printed off.

Slightly higher price as other off campus housing around UNH. The cottages are much further from campus than all of the newer developments. Maintenance requests are addressed quickly, though I highly recommend limiting interactions with the management staff. Although its not their fault, potential residents should be aware that the property often smells like cow manure from the dairy farm across the street. Would recommend looking elsewhere for student housing.

Great camera system!

I love living at the Cottages! Having a full kitchen to cook in has supported a healthier lifestyle, as I am no longer dependent on the dining halls for my meals (or ramen noodles...). Free laundry in the house has been awesome, too. Overall, being able to live an apartment lifestyle while being close to campus and having so many great amenities has made my time here very pleasant. The maintenance crew has also been timely when fixing appliances and lights in the house. I would like to see the rent stop increasing, though, as the increase they requested to stay in the same cottage next year was a little ridiculous - I am moving into a 5 person house in order to pay the same rent next year that I am paying this year in a 4 person house. Also, the buses should run on the weekends. If youre living here without a car, you essentially get stuck here on the weekends with no way to get out. Overall, though, I would recommend living at the Cottages if you have a car and have the money.

One person is in charge of the utilities. That means they have to collect from everyone else. They have to remind/prod people to pay their bills, but dont have any authority, just responsibility. It is a bad system. We were beat for a couple of hundred bucks. Could you sue in small claims? Sure, more wasted time, filing fees, and then you still have to collect when you win. Try that when the room mates have moved to who knows where. In a communal living arrangement like this, the utilities should be part of the rent.

WORSE INTERNET IN THE TOWN, NOT WORTH, NOT RECOMMENDED. JUST DONT COME HERE. IT WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE MUCH EASIER. YOU WILL FIND A BETTER DEAL AROUND THE TOWN, HERE SHOULD ALWAYS BE YOUR LAST CHOICE.

Went to move my daughter in this weekend and the cottage was infested with cat feces and urine. We have the Board of Health investigating. The staff at the Cottages was not willing to do anything to rectify the situation and we have no housing at this time for my daughter. I would not recommend this place. Your child will have no support in a bad situation.

The cottages have been a great place to live, maintenance is super helpful, the office staff are friendly, and its clean all the time!Could use a more reliable bus schedule.

Its a nice place but very inconvenient for students who do not have cars because there is no bus service on weekends so youre basically stuck in your room all weekend. The didnt tell us we would be paying for water it was just included in with your rent. If there is a thunder storm be prepared for your lights to go out thankfully it only happened once and it almost happened again some other time at night. I would live here if I had a car but since I dont I didnt really enjoy living here. Last but not least I would think for finals week they would try to have some buses running for finals on Saturday but now I have to walk to campus at 630in the morning just to make it in time for my 8am final so not only do I have to leave an hour and a half early but I have to walk in freezing cold and snow so thank you Cottages. It was nice knowing you but I cant wait to move out this weekend !

Mr Erick MacCormack!!! Was really good in showing me the Appartment and making sure that everything is welcoming. It was just coz of him that I opted to say in the cottages!! I really suggest to take a tour from him if u ever planning to stay in Durham....

The Cottages are a really good housing option for UNH students. The houses are spacious, theres 24/7 access to the gym and steam room/sauna, free parking, and maintenance has a great response time. The downside of living at the cottages for me is having to pay for all the utilities & the transportation system, going to/from campus can turn into a really big process with the limited bus schedule. Having a car is almost essential to living in the Cottages so you are able to get downtown/to campus on the weekends.

I love living at the cottages and having access to the hot tub and gym all right next to me. Having free printing is great too.

Absolutely terrible management and even worse customer service. They will nickel and dime you to the end. Do not rent from them.

Moved in Monday, saw bed bugs didnt sleep the night, Tuesday they changed the mattress and vacuum a bit but swear there are no bugs, Wednesday morning got video proof of bed bugs but I got boned cause it a holiday so no one can fix that. Staying in a hotel till friday when I can speak with management 👍 $826 a month, and they will rent you out a room with pests, whats not to love

The rooms are very nice, and the hot tub and clubhouse are great. Just stay on top of all the payments and it is a great place to live!

Maintenance requests are fulfilled promptly, but are frequently needed due to poor cleaning between residents and previous shoddy quick-fixes. Rent is pretty good for the area (if you get the cheapest duplex) and the Clubhouse amenities, but the weekend bus access is non-existant. If you dont have a car, I suggest paying the $10-50 more for downtown housing.If you opt for random roommates, its a possibility that one person may have lived there through the summer. If so, the Cottages will NOT clean ANY of the common areas. Keep this is mind.

I wish to give a zero. They promised that there would be weekend connectors. But this never happens. And two connectors on weekdays are reduced to only one. Terrible commute experience.

The absolute worst living experience I’ve had. First off, the managers are all extremely young and unprofessional. They’re very rude and unhelpful, and act like you’re a massive burden when you have a concern. I put on my application that I have an allergy to animals so I cannot live with them, yet they allowed my roommate to get a dog (which they never verified was an actual ESA.) When I went to discuss this they said there’s nothing they could do unless I wanted to move houses, and the only available options were to live with 4 roommates instead of 3, or move into a more expensive unit.On top of this we didn’t get water bills all semester then in early December they sent us the entire semesters water bills, which added to over $100 per person, and gave us until Jan 1st to pay them or face late fees.My experience was so bad that I found someone to sublet and moved home temporarily until I found a new place. I thought the Lodges were bad, but the Cottages are miles worse. These privately owned complexes are absolute garbage and only screw over students. So glad I switched to a place with an actual landlord.

Nice area to live in, each person really gets to have their own personal space when it comes to the rooms. Clean bathrooms and furniture. Around the community is super fun, clubhouse with activities and a hot tub. However is super pricey. Prices go up every year even if you resign your lease and utilities cost close to $100 per person which was not mentioned to be that expensive (gas, electricity and water&sewage all different accounts). So definitely remember to include that when balancing finances throughout the year. Other than that, the downfalls would be the poor bus systems, early closed hot tub hours which were new this year, and internet is shaky.

*This is a good read.*I did a sublet here for 2 months in the summer. Besides the ridiculous re-let fees that they charge, the staff were not very helpful with answering questions about moving in and general help with the process. Upon moving in, the staff informed me that they would not have enough time between the other girl moving out and me moving in to clean the room. I said that would be ok, and they told me that I would have to fill out an as-is form because they couldnt clean it. Because they couldnt clean it, remember that. They then gave me a room condition form to fill out so that I would be able to write detailed descriptions about the condition that the room was in, in order to not be held liable for damages that were already there. I filled out the form, making sure to include everything, since there were a fair amount of damages in the room. I then returned this form to the front office as requested. During my stay there, I had a lot of electrical problems going on and the power shut off completely. Because they dont have a help line, we had to make multiple phone calls to different places and eventually talked to the parent company that owns the cottages, and they put us in touch with someone who could talk us through it. My fiancé ended up having to fix it himself through the directions the guy was giving him on the phone. After moving out, I recieved a bill for hundreds of dollars of damages THAT I FILLED OUT ON THE ROOM CONDITION FORM. I made several calls to the office about this and got little response. Eventually I was given the email address of a manager and was told to write a letter describing why I shouldnt be charged for the damages. I did, and got no response. I continued to contact the manager and they did not respond. After all of this refusal to work with me, I put it in writing to the manager that if they were going to continue to refuse to work with me, I would assume that they were choosing to not pursue the charges against me and we would leave it at that. THEN, (it gets better) 7 months later I get a call from a collections company threatning my credit and telling me that I have an outstanding bill with the cottages that needs to be paid. THEY REFUSED TO WORK WITH ME AND CONTACT ME BACK, AND THEN JUST THREW IT INTO COLLECTIONS. Months later no less. So then I went back to calling the office and got referred to two emails of the managers there. I made multiple attempts to email them over a couple of days and got no response. I then had to call back a demand to talk to one in person. After speaking with the manager who had seen my emails all along and decided not to email back, I learned that I was lied to about the as-is form and how it was not a form just for cleaning the room, but that it could also include damages. I asked why I was told otherwise and he said he didnt know. I then asked why I filled out the room condition form since that was supposed to keep me from being liable for any previous damages. The manager didnt have a good answer, but MAGICALLY they lost that sheet and claimed it was not in my file. How is that my fault???? I was mislead by the staff and then they lose the one thing that is holding my liability. After going back and forth with him, he refused to let the charges go and instead only offered a 30 percent discount. I asked if he would at least take it out of collections since this is obviously a huge misunderstanding, and he said no, and that I need to pay the money in 30 days or my credit would be affected. End of story. So now Im paying tons of money, for things I didnt do, so that they dont ruin my credit on me.If youve made it all this way, just know that this place has horrible customer service, misleads their renters, and screws you over in any way possible, even to the point of legal action without you knowing.All of this for subletting for 2 months.

The Cottages of Durham is an amazing community to be apart of! Every house is spatious and modern and the clubhouse offers useful amenities such as a gym, sauna, hot tub, yoga room, printing, parking and more.

I was not going to write any reviews and speak about real living conditions in this place even though its very bad and Im going to explain why below. However, my friend who is probably more passionate have done it, and right after this wi-fi in our house have suddenly stopped working. So, here I am, speaking about residential complex for students of the UNH, which considers itself as an extra-large living for your extra-large college lifeLive big. Really big! With huge cottage floor plans, huge bedrooms, and giant walk-in closets, The Cottages of Durham isnt your normal student housing apartment – its extra-large living for your extra-large college life at the University of New Hampshire. Stay fit with our 24-hour, state-of-the-art fitness center. Unwind with friends in the fully-loaded recreation center, or cook up a gourmet meal in your modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances. And when it comes to making the grades at UNH, study right in our Academic Success Center with iMacs and free printing.Unfortunately, none of it is true. Lets start with sizes of houses which are really big and extra large. I myself am an international student and comparing with my roommates I have way less of stuff located in my room than my roommates, just because its more complicated to transport stuff on the plane than in the car. However, I constantly have complications with locating everything and still having enough space to live in. Same with my roommates. If you decide to move to cottages you will eventually start having problems with space in the room, just because even though its comparably large (still smaller than most rooms in other noncampus housing), there is almost no furniture in the room. You will get a table, bed, small chest and thats it. Yes, there is a walk-in closet, but space in there is also relatively very small, and you will probably not have enough space to fit everything in. State-of-the-art fitness center is just a small and very basic gym with almost nothing in it. If you want to provide a proper work-out for yourself you still have to go on campus and do it there. All of my friends who mix living in the cottages and trying to have a healthy lifestyle prefer campus to the cottages in choosing sports facilities. Yes, there is a sauna, but its very small and there is no gender separation for it, which might be uncomfortable for a lot of people. I also have no idea what is a fully loaded recreation center. Its just a big clubhouse with a couple couches and a TV with no remote. All you can do there is sit and do nothing. Modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances is also a very basic kitchen facility, easy to break and not working properly from time to time. And I dont even want to talk about Academic Success Center with iMacs and free printing. Yes, there are iMacs and printers, but printers are incapable of printing anything because they are either broke or have no paper in them. Also, WIFI in the so-called Academic Success Center never works, so its misunderstandable for me, how a person can make the grades there.Do you know what are the real Cottages of Durham? Its a heater which never works properly so one part of the house will die from heat, while others will feel in the same way but because of cold. Its wi-fi which breaks all the time and nothing changes even though the administration of this place keeps feeding people with promises of fixing it. Its a house which feels to be made from paper and such thing as soundproofing was never heard of there so you will fall asleep while listening to everything your roommates are doing. Its an administration which pays its residents to invite people to live there and promise to pay $200 for worked invites, just because no one will start living there unconvinced. Its greasy. Its bad. And its definitely not the extra-large living for your extra-large college life.

Great place to live! The help desk is helpful and the ammenities are awesome

Awful experience solely because of customer service. Management was NEVER available to speak about issues. Tried to get my key fixed to use amenities 4 times before they actually fixed it, spanning about one month without being able to use gym/printing facilities. Late charges applied to rent checks just because they were too lazy to open the drop-box on time. Nickeled and dimed myself and my roommates 3 MONTHS after we had moved out for nonsense cleaning/replacement charges, and refused to let me speak to a manager about taking them off. You would think that with all the money they are pulling in they would put customer service as their top priority. Never been the type to post negatively about a company online but people need to be warned about the extremely strict rules and bad service.

Do not recommend! all they want is your MONEY

Great to have my own space and so many amenities. It does not feel far from campus at all because of the bus, and it is not hard to get rides into downtown on the weekends!

Deceptive online application process. They dont tell you its 140 dollars to apply online until youve already given them all of your information. They also advertise open rooms when they have none. Do not get stuck paying to sit on a wait list for months

Lived there for three months then had a walk down of my room performed and was told all was well and no charges. Then received a bill several months later saying they purchased a new mattress plus several other charges that were not valid. Called them up, received no response and they took it to collections, which I successfully disputed. Keep your documents and emails because they will try to bill you for anything assuming you will pay it.

While living here for the school year my roommates and I faced problem after problem, beginning with move in day. Like many other reviews, the apartment was filthy; stained mattresses, leftover pieces of food on chairs and in cabinets, stain on ceiling above stove, stove top covered in a sticky material (that we were told we could clean ourselves with a razor), toenails on the floor, broken glass from a recently repaired window, cat hair on carpets, and dirty bathroom appliances. After complaining, we were able to have some mattresses replaced, the carpets cleaned, and the glass removed. A few weeks later, the water heater burst at 2am and was pouring through our kitchen ceiling. The Cottages were quick to come and fix the problem (however maintenance couldnt be reached for well over 45 mins), however, the ceiling was never fixed after sustaining water damage. We then had what we later learned to be flying squirrels in the walls of our apartment. During this month long episode, we were basically told that we were making it up, as there was no way in and maintenance hadnt heard anything. After explaining to the management multiple times that these animals were nocturnal, they finally placed traps in the ceiling and ended up catching/killing at least 3 squirrels. On a few different occasions we also received no statement regarding our water bill, only unknown charges to the account. When water statements were sent out, it was months behind and backed up, on one occasion we received 3 different statements for the past few months in one day. Emails were sent out with information about snow removal, however, at one point my apartment, as well as my neighbors, never received an email regarding snow removal. Luckily, one of my roommates was leaving when maintenance told her all cars needed to be moved now or would be towed (resulting in a fine $250). We immediately called the Cottages and told them no one received this email, however, we were told it was an error on our parts, that it must have been sent to Junk. Official move out information was only given one week before the required move out, inconvenient for those who werent currently staying in Durham and needed to follow the specific protocol. The information via the email and what was being said by the Cottages staff differed, and resulted in a lot of confusion and frustration. I would never live here again, or recommend it to someone seeking an apartment in Durham.

Just look at the download speed, am I in the seventh richest county in the world or North Korea?

The WiFi could be upgraded. Pretty bad connection speed.

Very terrible! After I submitted my application, the community assistance told me that she didnt find the application. But I did paid for application fee and other fee. I tried to call the office, but the office phone doesnt accept the unindentified calls, then I sent several emails to the office, but after a week, they still didnt give me answer. It is really terrible experience!

The rates are incredible for the area, especially when compared to The Lodges and other locations. The amenities are awesome and always so clean. 24/7 maintenance is incredibly helpful and maintenance always responds to issues within 24-36 hours. For someone who follows the rules and pays attention to things like late fees, deadlines, etc., there are absolutely no complaints here!Busses come every 20 minutes during the school year, which is really helpful. Obviously no UNH busses come on the weekends, because there are no classes on the weekend. Parking is free and always availabe. I would rate 9/10 if I was able to.

Very overpriced considering how cheaply made the cottages are and how thin the walls are. No weekend bus schedule and the weekday bus doesnt run late at all. Do not live here if you dont have a car. Also most of the staff is super unhelpful and clearly dont know what theyre doing except for maybe Lindsay. Called today about the internet outage and they had me call korcett myself and when I finally did get through to a rep after 20-30 minutes of transfers and holds the rep told me that theyve been in contact with he cottages the whole time to fix the issue and that the staff had known about this already...a prime example of the cottage staff service. Also they charge you constantly with unknown/unspecific fees, what does that even mean?

Awesome leasing manager, talk to dave if he is in

Violate landlord tenant laws by not giving sufficient notice before entering a property. Doesnt matter if your asleep in your underwear they will make you get up, and wont just come back later

They are really money-hunger. The bills are not logical and fair.

Great place to live!

So bad. their staff wouls be so rude when you are moving out.

They screw you anytime they can

Great place!

Holyshit

STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Please consider carefully before signing the contract!Let’s talk about the house itself, [the soundproofing is particularly poor], it’s not ordinary. Roommates speak at a normal volume in the living room and hear them clearly in the room. [Internet speed is also very slow and unstable], I was disconnected every three minutes before, but now I can’t do my homework when I disconnect the internet all night. Then there is [Inconvenient transportation], students without a car cant go anywhere on weekends. Rents have also increased year by year, and now the cheapest five-person room costs $800.Let’s talk about the environment here. Once its [there are parties everywhere on weekends], there are still many people who drank and made a lot of noise in the street, which is not suitable for rest. Some people raise a big dog, usually go out without restraint, and rush to see people.Then I need to explain the contract issue here. The rent for new tenants will be paid from August 1, but they can only move in at the end of August. That is to say [the rent must be paid for the whole month of August but not allowed]. According to the offices words, it is preparing the room. In fact, it is to see if there is a chance to fine a resident. By the way, I cleaned it and it was very dirty when I moved in. Then it was subletting. Some people regretted it just a week after moving in and wanted to live elsewhere. However, the contract says [you must find someone to pick up your contract], otherwise you will always be responsible for this contract [this is very rascal]. After school starts, everyone has a room to live in, who will pick up your contract. And even if you find someone, even if you change rooms with someone else in the cottage, you will have to pay a handling fee of $250 per person.Finally, what I want to talk about most is the office service problem. Office staff are very complicated, but one thing in common is that they will smile and work efficiently when signing contracts or giving money. [Once they want them to help you with things that have nothing to do with money, they will give you all kinds of excuses], Said I cant be the master, our supervisor is very busy, you can send us an email, and then there will be no more news after this email is sent. Or tell you directly we cant do this. If you really need them to help you do something, you need a very eloquent person to spend more than an hour there with them to get things done. In stark contrast to staying with a smile, if the contract ends and you do not renew, you will receive a move out notice when you are about to move out, which states various circumstances that will be fined. One of them is [Furniture moving fines], which means that if the furniture is placed differently when moving out, you will also be fined.The above content is all my personal experience. I share it with you. I hope that students who are interested in renting a cottage will seriously consider it, and try to avoid the situation that regrets and can’t move out. The worry of living also affects study.