Mendota Lakeshore Apartments

I’ve lived in Madison for many years and have dealt with most landlords on the Isthmus. The entire team at Mendota Lakeshore are just phenomenal. You will not find a better group of people to rent from. Once you add the views and lake access, you start to understand what a rare gem the entire experience is.

I lived here for three years with my cousin and a buddy from high school. These were the greatest years of my life up until I purchased my own place. The landlords and staff TRULY care.

My partner and I lived here for two years while I was in grad school and it was by far the best rental experience we've had. The lobby and hallways are always clean and tidy, it's in a great location right on Lake Mendota, in walking distance of UW campus, State St., the capital, and bus lines. The apartments are updated and all utilities (even internet and cable) are included. There is a gym in the basement area as well that is right on the lakefront. There are also cameras throughout the inside and outside of the building for safety. I think the main appeal of this place was the managers and maintenance people who consistently responded to any issue that came up. Mark, Alicia, Chad, and George are all so kind and throughout our experience made sure that we were taken care of. As long as you take care of your apartment, keep it clean, pay your rent on time, notify management right away if something's wrong, and NOT drunkenly throw couches in the lake, your rental experience here will be great!

This place is a decent deal with utilities and internet included, but the quality matches the price. Elevators have a strange double door where you have to pull the door open to get in. The buttons in it are finicky, and I've had them stop on me mid-flight on multiple occasions. I had to use the button to call for help once until it randomly started moving again. I consider myself lucky to have not died in it at some point. The views from the north end of the apartment are great, but in the summer, the sunlight reflects off of the lake and on to the building, making the place extra hot. Air conditioning is listed as an amenity but the building is absolutely not air conditioned- they'll just install a window unit for you if you pay an extra fee plus more rent. At the start of the summer, the bug situation in the apartment was out of control. From the time that we moved in, the bug screens in the apartments were in bad shape, and allowed a ton of bugs to get in. Some of the bugs were weird, slow moving beetle type bugs, not just little gnats. Some of the windows themselves had bad latches and either didn't open or wouldn't stay open. There was some kind of issue with the air vent in our bathroom flapping around, but instead of fixing the actual problem, some guy just came into our apartment to seal the vent with duct tape before the winter, then came back to remove the tape when spring came. 2 out of 4 dryers on site- specifically the bottom units- do will not dry close very well at all. The management, apart from the above issues, seemed personable until it came to move out time. At this point, they were uncooperative about the security deposit and were rude during the checkout process.

Some of the best real estate in town. MLA is conveniently located between the Capitol and the UW campus. The building is relatively old, but it is clean, well-maintained, and the staff members are very helpful and responsive. The lack of central AC can create an uncomfortable environment inside when temperatures rise outside, but window units are available for a small fee. The gym in the basement contains virtually all of the basics for a quality free-weight workout, and looking out at the lake through the large windows makes running on the treadmill more enjoyable. In short: good location, affordable rent, quality living environments.