888 San Mateo Apartments

I’m a current resident at 888 San Mateo, and this has been the most enjoyable apartment experience I’ve had in San Mateo. The location is great — just minutes from downtown Burlingame—and the property itself is exceptionally clean and well maintained. The office and leasing staff are efficient, responsive, and genuinely helpful. Randi made the leasing process seamless, and Alexus has been consistently warm and incredibly supportive throughout my time here. As for train noise: yes, you can hear it. The building is located next to the tracks, so if that’s a concern, I recommend renting on the street-facing side. I live on the train side, and while most trains aren’t overly loud, the occasional freight train can be. Personally, I’ve adjusted to it, but it’s something to consider based on your sensitivity to noise. Delivery can be tricky for some couriers, but I receive packages 5–6 times a week and rarely have issues when I provide clear instructions. The building has secure, controlled access—which I appreciate. It’s not meant to be easy to enter, and that’s exactly the point. Would I love to continue living here? Absolutely. My lease is up soon, and my decision to renew will largely depend on the rent increase. If it’s low, I’d be thrilled to stay. Stay tuned….

We spent 5 years at 888 and enjoyed our first 3 years. We wished we had moved when Romel took over. NOISE: Train side? The thicker glass does not reduce the noise. Only commuter trains stop at midnight, freight trains run all night. Street side? You’ll hear sirens, tenants, speeding vehicles at all hours of the day. It’s on San Mateo Drive. It’s going to be loud 90% of the time. FIRE ALARMS go off CONSTANTLY. On 9/21/20 it went off 3x in a SINGLE night. 888 complains they have to spend $500 for each false alarm. In total, the alarm went off 10+ times in a 4-month period. CLEANLINESS: Tenants do NOT clean up after their dogs, nor do they leash them, inside or outside the property. Do not rent a unit train side near the garbage room; flies will congregate outside your windows/balcony. Street side: your balcony will be UNUSABLE. The filth from the constant traffic accumulates. Weekly cleaning is not enough to keep up with the dirt. You might get a moldy washing machine. 888 charges for a “deep clean” of appliances upon move out, but according to tenants who moved within the building this is NOT true. If you complain long enough they will swap it with another unit for someone else to deal with. SECURITY Items are constantly being stolen in “secure” areas. Romel refuses to alert tenants when theft occurs. Our bike, bike rack and shopping cart were stolen in the “secure” garage. Our new vehicle was hit in the garage. Do not rent a private garage. You’ll find it’s often open after you've closed it. The office refuses to issue a new garage clicker or acknowledge there’s an issue. OFFICE Randi, manager at 888, constantly claims that the office is there to help. After multiple interactions with the office it is clear that this is untrue. Her favorite excuse for inaction: “If we do it for you we have to do it for everybody.” Randi also blames the victim in every scenario. When we explained our car was hit in the garage, she said, “That could happen anywhere.” When we told her that we had items stolen from the garage she responded with, “I would never store anything in the garage.” & “It’s a pandemic out there & things are crazy! At least it’s not your home being broken into.” Um, what? We LOVED our actual apartment but dealing with the management at 888 made living there almost unbearable. I haven’t even mentioned work orders/move out fees (you WILL be charged $300 for cleaning regardless of the apartment’s condition). Romel is not worth you $.

Safety is not a priority at 888. I have been harassed a few times by the teenagers that roaming the property acting like it is a high-school campus. If you are a female be very careful renting here because the safety of tenants does not matter. All I can say is this place is not what it seems. Customer Service does not exist at 888.

Must read....... Let me start by saying: run, run far away... Would have stayed longer but no one deserves to be treated with such disrespect as a paying customer/resident. The past company Sares Regis who owned property previously was so much better in so many ways compared to romel. There were never cockroaches until recently, rats will run past you around property, a neighbor has had rats chew holes through their screen. Trash rooms overflow and hallways smell like the trash room. Package acceptance was eliminated. Due to lack of office hours you could possibly still get it if delivery driver can even get into building, then the old yoga room, the office eliminated and made a room for packages. Residents were told it was only temporary for holiday which came and went. Many packages have gone missing. There are multiple Air B and B units in both buildings, you can tell by the door locks and looking on Air B and B website. They are not to be confused with the actual corporate housing they have. Maintenance staff left also, I wonder why? Multiple residents have went months without work orders being completed, they give you no proper notification when a work order is going to be worked on, toilets not working and reason from office staff is because the parts are on back order, really! Gates to back parking lot are broken frequently. Hall carpets have never been properly cleaned even though some residents seem to think it’s ok to let their dog poop in hallway and not even pickup. Office staff were notified by residents about pounding noises from gym that you can hear all the way on the fourth floor and feels like someone stomping/pounding on your ceiling, but never addressed for residents to be able to enjoy peace and quiet throughout the day and night. Office staff is a joke, fake, insincere and rude and will take every opportunity to get you to sign and on the hook and then treat you differently after. Then they will burn you for your deposit upon move out no matter how immaculate you return unit upon moving. This has already happened to numerous previous residents... A voice for neighbors who feel they can’t speak out... Ask a resident who has lived there more than a year and hear a whole different view than office staff will tell you, office will say it’s perfect.

When San Regis owned this property you couldn't fault the staff or service. They were quick to respond, open 7 days, friendly and had good opening hours. The management would always communicate to the residents, organize events in the community rooms along with organizing extra trash pickups in the xmas \ spring cleaning season. Romell took over this property in November 2018 and the only time you hear from the management is when they want their monthly rent. All residents found out by a note stuck to the door saying that all rent had to be paid by check until further notice. Inconvenient but all you had to do was take the check to the leasing office. Now you can't even do that and have to send checks in the mail. You're not even told how much you owe so you simply have to guess. They changed the office hours from 9am to 6pm 7 days a week to varying hours and NOT open on Wednesdays. Don't expect package deliveries on Wednesdays anymore because the couriers refuse to come into the building. You no longer receive emails when you have packages either. Trash is out of control. Furniture is dumped in the trash room and has been in their for months. If's almost February and Christmas Trees have been thrown on garden beds and on the path outside they trash room. Management have done nothing to clean this up. Management have completely wiped their hands of wanting to deal with people. Every time you speak to Brooke in the leasing office you get nothing but attitude. It's clear that this management company is only after monthly revenue and not offering residents anything extra which was what made this feel like a community with the previous management. When you're paying a premium for these apartment complexes that claim to offer "community" vibe be wary of 888 San Mateo. Management may claim that they're still settling in but after 3 months they've made no effort to provide communications to the residents EXCEPT when they want money. I don't foresee this changing anytime soon.