The Reserve at Orono

Parents of college students beware. They will bill you for fictitious charges when you child moves out. They will have no proof and the manager Maurice will not respond when you try to contact them. They will then send paperwork to a collection agency who will hound you. Do not make the same mistake we made, don't live there!

My daughter lived here for one year. She was told that a great thing about a lease at the Reserve is that they relet in the summer, so if you are not going to be there, instead of a sublet where you would be responsible, they will relet the apartment for you. She paid the $480 fee to relet, moved out, turned in her keys, and then was charged the rent for the other months, too! Turns out the person they relet to never moved in, so it was her responsibility per the fine print in the contract! Not only did they charge her the rent, but also overage charges on electricity, when she wasn't even living there. When asked why she was responsible when someone new had signed a lease, they said they were both responsible- so they are getting rent from two people who are both not living there! And good luck trying to resolve any issues- they never return phone calls....

All of these one star reviews are accurate. The way this business makes money is through scamming its current and former residents. The fact that they bribed students with a gift card to give them a five star review should tell you what type of business is done here. The management WILL take any chance they get to take money from you. I moved into this complex when it was The Grove, and during my contract period, they switched over to The Reserve. I understand that college students are not the ideal tenant, but this is why this complex was created, and the functionality of the actual building reflects this. If you have an issue that goes past the maintenance level and needs the attention of the general manager, Maurice, good luck. The other reviews about having poor communication skills are completely true. They will NOT call you back if they say they will. Even if you send a direct email and follow up, you probably will not hear back either. If you go into the office and try to talk to Maurice, he will be in his office and 9 times out of 10, the employees at the counter will tell you that he is not there. I have been trying to fix an issue with payments at the Reserve for the past year, and I still cannot get replies from management. They did not return my security deposit despite me providing actual proof that damages in my unit were there when I moved in two years prior. After several months of requesting them to send me a copy of my contract, I finally was sent it to see that someone at The Reserve had made handwritten changes to it without any permission from me or my family member who co-signed. I have emailed them once again concerning all of these issues, and they have not replied since (almost 3 months). I truly believe that when confronted with an issue that will make them lose money, that they will put it off until you forget about it. There are so many other places to rent in the Orono area that will cost you less money and stress.

Please please please do not live here. Unless you have money coming out of the wazoo, this is by no means cost efficient and you will never pay the amount you were told. Expect $600 EVERY month no matter how conservative you live. The staff and surrounding company are extremely rude and unbeleivably unhelpful. It has taken immense patience to survive the leasing year. I wish I had listened to the bad reviews I read because they are all right!

THIS IS NOT JUST COLLEGE STUDENT HOUSING. Their claims of roommate matching are false. If one of your existing roommates moves out, you can and will end up with anyone, male or female, of any age who isn't even a college student. So, for example, a college girl or guy could end up with a 30, 40, 50, etc. year old man for a roommate! This was our nightmare. You have absolutely no say in the matter. My daughter ended up with an older male roommate. Another person came with them and was living there full time and had no background check done because the property manager wouldn't acknowledge they were living there. Neither of these people were college students! We were completely misled by false advertising of "student housing." Also, the place is cheaply built and has barely functional furniture and rarely functioning washers and dryers. Also very moldy bathrooms and very cold bedrooms. There is vomit outside doors and in stairways, broken beer bottles and people yelling and partying all hours of the night. Also they charge you whatever they feel like for electricity or whatever else without any kind of itemization or proof. They totally take advantage of unsuspecting college students.

The Grove looks great at first, but don't be mistaken, once you start living here you see that it's a lot of smoke and mirrors. The apartments are furnished, but if something is damaged then they charge you a hefty amount to get it replaced, and everything is very cheaply made, so be careful. Common things that break in the grove are the blinds, the desks,the ice maker, my light switch in my room isn't working, and the chairs. If you live here don't sit in the chairs, everyone I know has a broken chair in their apartment, and It's due to the fact that the chairs are extremely fragile. There's a gate that is closed during the night, so if you want to have friends over, or order a pizza, prepare for a hassel. Also plan on it being loud most nights, and on weekends, expect to see cops and security guards everywhere. They have a pool but it's closed most of the time, it's just there to sell apartments. Overall if you want to let mommy and daddy pay for you to live in party central then this is your place. Otherwise, I would suggest alternative options in the area. Good luck in your search for an apartment.