Apartment Review for Portofino At Lakes Of Laguna - West Palm Beach, FL

We were impressed with looks and amenities and friendly staff, until we moved in. Extremely poor water pressure (less than 1 gal/min) until we complained to fire department, but still not great. Electronic gate card wore out after 7 months, they would not replace (this despite the fact that the gate is stuck open 30-40% of the time). Hot tubs jets seldom work, and when they do water is either way too hot or not heated at all. Washing machine has destroyed 14 articles of clothing in 8 months, as well as damaging many others (evidenced by huge amount of lint in dryer after each load). Kitchens are same size for 1, 2 and 3-bedroom units, so not nearly enough room in 3-bedroom units for a family of 3; refrigerator clearly not as large as originally designed for (only 28" wide), since there is about 5" wasted space next to it; cupboards inadequate and inconvenient. Staff is MOST UNCOOPERATIVE once you move in, unless you suck up to them, and even then they help only when it suits them and it won't cost them any money. Maintenance people are nice but incompetent. Noise travels well between units and from outside and especially stairwells, despite their "no noise after 10pm" rule (they will NOT enforce it, nor any other "rule"). Construction is CHEAP - carpet looked terrible after just 3 months (and YES, I DO know how to take care of carpeting - I vacuum weekly, at least, and we had it cleaned at our expense after 5 months! We and our teen daughter are NOT messy people.); tile was poorly installed so that you can hurt your feet if you step the wrong way; paint started wearing off stair bannister and walls withing 2 months; plumbing fixtures pitted within 2 months; closet doors open in so that you cannot use 1/3 of the closet or you can't close the door (we took door off master bedroom closet) and closets are small to begin with; trash dumpster often overflowing; construction of additional units has been noisy and non-stop for 5 months and is not scheduled for completion for another 8-10 months. Its been 1 year since hurricane damaged our unit and still nothing has been done to fix it; not even roof tiles have been replaced yet. "Amenities" such as computers with internet access, pool table, big-screen TV, etc., are usually being used by kids so seldom actually available (and the "free use" copier NEVER works). Two weeks ago I walked around the place, and asked everyone I met (about 30-35 people) how long they'd been here - not one person has been here over a year, and many said they'd be happy to leave when their lease is up. Looking for a nice place to live? KEEP LOOKING!