Willow Creek

Based on comments and more importantly replies from management... I will not look at moving here. The management seems very rude and confrontational. Will continue to look else where.

Landlord Mark was extremely rude when anything needed to be done. The woman who works in the office sometimes as well is also extremely unprofessional and mean sometimes. She sits outside with her friends on the rocking bench and talks badly about some of the tenants. She is one of those women who is in everybody else’s business and is extremely judgmental. Electricity can be $300-400 a month depending on the location of your apartment. Glad we moved to another apartment. Laundry prices went up to $1.50/1.75 a wash and $1.50 per dryer. Dryers sometimes do not dry and then it’s $3.00 to dry one load. Elevator is broken every few months and the carpet inside of it and in some of the halls is disgusting. Also, rent goes up like $20 every year.

I only asked some electricity bill paper but it took about a month.

I am currently still living in the apartments and my electric bills have been $200 a month for very minimal use of anything electric. I actually stayed at my parents for 2 weeks with my heat set very low and no electric use other than that...and my electric bill was still EXACTLY the same price!...even when I used much less electric. My old apartment I had the heat cranked up and tv always on and my electric was only $115 at MOST! I am not impressed. The washer and dryers also get expensive when you have to run the dryer at least twice to dry a normal load. And my apartment wasn't even cable ready and the intercom didn't work.

Overall, I've been pleased with my experience at this apartment. It's set up like a hotel, with all of the units located in one building. In the central area of the first floor, there's a lounge, a pool room (with sauna and hot tub), and a laundry room. The lounge is spacious, and you can rent it our for the day (for a small fee) and have a decent sized get-together. However, you can only have two non-tenants in the pool area with you, so no big pool parties. The laundry room has ten washers and fourteen dryers, and they generally work well. When they don't, the staff is pretty efficient in getting them working again within a week or two. Our unit is nice overall. Two good sized bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large living room, and a fairly small kitchen. The living room has a fireplace, but we haven't used it yet. Everything is in good shape. The stove seems older but works well. We have a patio that looks out on the "backyard" area of the building - a fairly large yard with a small woods beyond it. (Rent is slightly more for a unit that faces the back of the building as opposed to one that faces the front.) The smaller bathroom has a corner that smells like animal urine, perhaps left by a former tenant's pet. Didn't notice it until a few weeks after we moved in. Parking can be a bit of a headache. My roommate and I were given two parking stickers for our cars. We're assigned one spot in the garage underneath the building. This is convenient because I'm guaranteed a particular spot, but be aware - your vehicle needs to be relatively small to fit in these tiny spots. I wouldn't recommend trying to park anything bigger than a mid-sized car down there, and I've seen apartment staff tell other tenants to park their SUVs and minivans outside instead. Even with a properly sized car, you need to be very particular about how you park, so that the tenants on either side of your space have enough space to get out of their vehicles. Outside parking is even more difficult, since you're not always guaranteed a spot. My roommate used to complain often about guests being parked in tenant spots rather than designated guest parking (even overnight), but the staff may have cracked down on this since I haven't heard about it in a while. One last note - when leaving either the garage or the outside lot, you have to turn onto a street with a fair amount of traffic and often a LOT of parked cars. This can make it very difficult to see oncoming traffic as you're leaving.

Willow Creek is a spacious wonderful way to live with its willow tree's nice big back yard with grills and big party deck in the summer to the indoor pool and hot tub in the winter we also have a lounge with free wi fitness center and tv and what till you see the rooms. It's like living in a hotel resort. With night life right around the corner.

I can't begin to list all of the things wrong with this place, but I will try to highlight the most notable issues: - Heat is ELECTRIC. to keep our place heated in winter (2 br @ 65 degrees) costs almost $400 per month, or $350 if you tape your windows shut. - Laundry room sucks. $1.25 to wash and another $1.25 to dry; barely gets the job done and clothes never come out fresh. - No security cameras. Plenty of break-ins. - Minimal groundskeeping. Lots of dead grass and trees. - Pests living in the walls. Owner will not let manager get a real exterminator. - Rent increases every year. We're moving to a place with heat & water included in rent, which was built much more recently, and has a washer & dryer in the unit. This alone will save me at least $200 a month on average, despite rent being higher. The apartment manager will try to convince you that this is the best deal in the Fox Valley, but he couldn't be more wrong.

The apartment manager is easily reachable and reliable. He is also very friendly.

While their are many choices of apartments (sizes and styles) the apartments that allow pets are the oldest units. The pool is nice but was not worth the old unit.

We have lived here for about a month now, and could hardly be happier! There is little to complain about, and the manager, Mark, is wonderful. He is always honest and up-front, and takes the time to get to know residents. I highly recommend getting a tour from him if you're in the market for a new place. Pros: Spacious back yards Well-kept porches/patios Very clean apartments Repairs are done almost immediately Despite its size, water heater is very efficient-- never run out of hot water! Wood cabinetry is beautiful Ceiling fans in many rooms Pool and hot tub are clean and always the perfect temperature FUNoodles provided!! Pool area is nicely decorated Spacious lounge Nice exercise equipment Donuts for residents the first weekend of every month Lots of closet space Nice landscaping Surveillance cameras where needed Underground parking Shopping carts for getting groceries back to your room Most neighbors are quiet and respectful Cons: Storage spaces are low quality Parking spaces are VERY small-- if you have a truck or larger vehicle, you WILL NOT fit! The fireplace is in an awkward spot in EVERY unit Only one cable hookup Some older appliances (though they work well) Washers/dryers are small and you cannot change the settings No utilities included The bottom line: Willow Creek is a great place to live. Good location, and far more pros than cons. We looked around plenty, and after seeing this one, we were unable to find one that could top it!

The building seemed like it was maintained and managed very well. Apartments had nice amenities, and good floor plans. A bit disappointing that you're being charged for everything, all utilities, water, heat, etc... Nothing is included, except use of pool area.

I moved in about 6 month's ago, and I love it here. Overall, the building is quiet, I have great neighbors, love the underground parking (especially in winter#, I use the hot tub and sauna weekly, the wood burning fireplaces come in very handy in the winter, can't wait to try out the central a/c, and the staff here is great. I had 2 maintenance issues #hot water heater blew & a toilet issue) which were taken care of the same day. :) Can't beat that!

I have lived here for 3 years & will live here till I can afford a house. Any requested maintenance has been taken care of in 24hrs or sooner, the property manager is very helpful (even after office hours), the location is excellent (everything is close), & yes there is some hallway noise but rarely is it during odd hours. Overall the building is very quiet (for an apartment building).