I'd keep looking. Add at least $100 to what ever rent you're quoted as they charge you separately for water, trash, storm drainage, pest control, and administrative fees each month, a fact that was NOT told to me upon the signing of my lease. My "upgraded" unit has all original cabinetry & fixtures from 1980. Scratches in the original counter top were painted over to make presentable and caulk used to fill the uneven corner joint that is offset by 1/2 inch. Kmart product at Macy's prices. Trust the corporate staff as far as you can throw them.

All about facts and opinion Fact: The rent here is going up 100 dollars from what I pay now Opinion: The rent is too high for the property and its amenities Fact: Daily I see 3-4 cats roaming the neighborhood Opinion: The cats are strays who feed on the garbage that needs to get picked up more regularly. Fact: While I have lived here my apartment has flooded and leaked. Opinion: Who ever built the place did a shotty job. Fact: The garbage over flows every other week. Fact: Light bill is trending 125-150 monthly Opinion: That is shameful considering its a studio apartment. Opinion: Parking sucks... usually after 8p

I live here currently and am in one of the studio layouts. I have searched far and wide for town homes in Charleston before moving here and deciding to put more money away and I am completely enjoying it. Sure you can pay more if you don't mind throwing money away on rent but I would rather save towards a house. The flooding issues here are real and should be addressed. Though I have no issues at my location near the pond I did ask the management about it when I moved in and they said yes we do have drainage issues from the land layout, it is in building x. They addressed it directly. We live in Charleston, flooding should be reasonably expected under heavy rain. I have had no issues with management or maintenance at all and they have been very easy and enjoyable to work with. The location is very safe, especially considering that most of the West ashley apartment complexes are not. I have had no issues at all and everyone I have met has been very friendly. I always walk through a complex i want to move to at night not in the day to judge it. Sure you have the occasional noise of people coming home late on a sat night but I have been here 4 months and have yet to hear an annoying party. All in all, best bang for your buck while you're putting some money away and still want to live in a nice area. And you can't beat the convenience when running errands. Apartments have their place, I would recommend this one.

I have lived here since July 2009 and, despite my best efforts to move somewhere better before the 3rd year started, am stuck here until at least July 2012. When my roommate and I moved in, we got a great deal: $648 for a spacious 2 br/ 2ba apt. This rent includes no utilites, however, and power is especially expensive due to the age of the apartments...we try to conserve as much as possible/freeze in the winter/keep it at about 75 in the summer, and still our power bill has been in excess of $200 before (average is around $125). Water bills are a joke. We have paid as much as $73 for a water bill one month, though the average is about $60. You are charged all kinds of fees, like administration charge, storm water charge, trash, and pest control. Pest control is charged every single month, regardless of whether or not your apartment is serviced that month (you can request up to once a week). We stopped requesting pest control because even when they were spraying every week, we found spiders, palmetto bugs, and earwigs every single day. Water is split between the apartments in your building...RIDICULOUS. So, even if you try to conserve water, it doesn't matter because it depends on if your neighbors are doing the same. One month, there was a water main leak that lasted days and that was the month our bill was $13 higher than usual. We complained, but had to pay it anyway, after being told that "the water usage in your building appears to have been much higher than average this month." Whatever..... Maintenance is great, office staff used to be horrible, but seems to be better now since the replacements. It is really unfortunate that this company does not offer a locked in rental rate, because we paid $648/month to start with, then it increased to $714/month the second year, and now we pay $756. This doesn't seem so bad until you add in power, water, and internet. Cable is another joke...it sounded great that basic cable is included in rent (of course they are still getting their money for it) but when you have to pay over $50/month for internet separately, it is a ripoff. If cable were not included in rent, then internet + cable would be cheaper as a package deal, and rent could cost less. It seems like Comcast and CV @ HP have made a deal here, so that they both benefit. Overall, we pay close to $1,000/month now. Not worth it in my opinion.

DO NOT MOVE INTO UNIT #1504 OR #1511 (BOTH ON THE BACKSIDE OF BUILDING 15). THEY FLOOD EVERY TIME THERE IS A HEAVY RAIN...BOTH OF THESE APARTMENTS HAVE WATER INTRUSION PROBLEMS IN THEIR MASTER BEDROOMS. #1511 also has problems with water ponding on the chimney wall and the water creeps up to the front door...you can literally watch your doormat float away. The management staff at Colonial Village has known about this issue for at least a year now, and they have done nothing about the problem. After repeated promises of a fix, here it is a year later and nothing has been done. Unfortunately the lease is written in the management company's favor, so trying to get out of it will probably require a lawyer and more time and money than they know you are willing to spend. The maintenance crew is great, they do what they can, but the office staff is in charge of approving the work to fix the water intrusion issue. Do not live on the 1st Floor of Building 15!!! The water issues will probably never get fixed and they will just keep moving people in and out of these apartments, pretending that they don't know about the issue until it happens to you.