Middletowne & The Dona Apartments

I've lived at Middletowne apartments for 2 years now and this is my honest review.

Pros:
• Price is hard to beat. Good rent for the area with utilities (water/electric/gas) included in a flat rate, which is nice.
• People who work in the front office and nice, friendly, and helpful!
• Quiet. Not much noise, the walls are thick. I rarely hear the neighbors.
• Maintenance is fast and responsive. Usually resolve issues quickly.
• Within walking distance of Laurel Shopping Center. Lots of stores... and restaurants nearby. Also there is a nice community park and lake.

Cons:
• Leaking. I've had multiple problems from water leakage. A few times water has dripped through my ceiling in the kitchen and in my bathroom. However, it hasn't been much if a problem overall and maintenance is quick to respond.
• AC and heating is old. There is no thermostat in my apartment. The built in HVAC leaks water all over my balcony in the summer. Also rattles and makes noise (so loud it sometimes wakes me up at night). Adjusting the temperature is tough. The AC is very cold and the heat turns the apartment into a sauna.
• PACKAGE THEFT. Middletown gives you a tiny mailbox. Any package that doesn't fit in the mailbox gets held at the front office until you pick it up. HOWEVER, during covid they stopped holding packages at the front office. Instead the mailmen leave them sitting in the hallway in front of your apartment door. I'VE HAD 6 PACKAGES STOLEN. Some within an hour after they were delivered. If you aren't there to pick it up when it arrives chances are it'll be stolen before you get home. I've lost lots of money in packages because of this and Middletown has done NOTHING to help me. They refuse to allow packages to be held at the front office. So now I only send my packages to a different, SAFER address.
• No in unit washers/dryers. Laundry room is on the first floor and the units are old. It'll cost you roughly $4 per load of laundry. Also on multiple occasions the washing machines have malfunctioned and left my clothes soaking wet.
• Internet outages. The first year I lived here I had zero problems with the internet. Second year is when the problems started. There have been frequent internet outages sometimes lasting as long as 4 hours. For a while it was real bad and happening almost once a week. I work from home and rely on the internet for my job, so frequent internet outages is a real problem for me! Read More

I thought that I loved this apartment complex but when I decided to move out as I am moving out of state that is when all the problems began. I submitted a notice saying I would be out December 1st or sooner and I turned in my keys the day after thanksgiving. I am being charged for a portion of the rent on December 1st even though my notice said that I would be out December 1st or sooner. The staff is was not accommodating and did not even attempt to do anything about this. My experience with... the move out process has made my entire experience of living here a bad experience too look back on now. I do not recommend living here and I am very angry at this apartment complex. Do not move here Read More

Management’s overall response to a water leak was very disappointing, as they showed little or no interest in restoring my apartment to the condition it was in before the leak.
I returned from a business trip to find my apartment in disarray. Contractors were allowed in without my knowledge, and my personal property was scattered throughout the apartment.
The entire ceiling in the bathroom as well as parts of the walls in the closet and bedroom had been removed to address the leak and the... problems that it caused.
After the leak was fixed, and the ceiling and walls repaired, the mess by the workers remained.
It took several visits to the office and complaints to management to partially address the mess that was left behind; and to have them return some of the furniture to their original locations.
The Property Manager showed a lack of interest in properly dealing with this matter and with ensuring some customer satisfaction, as the entire ordeal dragged on for just over a month.
Management does not seem to realize that it’s not the tenant’s responsibility to oversee the work done by their staff and contractors.
They need to take a more responsible approach to dealing with similar problems in the future. Read More

While I would have once given this apartment a 5 star review and have in the past recommended this complex to my friends and coworkers, this is unfortunately no longer the case. Our 10th floor apartment has flooded at least 6 times in a year and a half due to water seeping in from a water tank on the roof. We would return home to find our entire closet, belongings including, soaked.

After being assured multiple times that the flooding would not occur again, we experienced yet another flood.... At this point we were told by management that perhaps it was in our best interest to transfer to another unit, an idea that my husband and I entertained.

In early March of 2017 we learned that an executive one bedroom would soon be available on the first floor and we signed a transfer agreement, putting in our 30 day move out notice on our current unit.

Less than 3 weeks before we were scheduled to move in, Middletowne management called to inform us that we would no longer be able to transfer as the current resident did not have legally have to vacate their unit. It was never communicated to us by management that this scenario could ever occur. A similar unit available two months later was offered to us, but we explained that having a yearly lease that ended in April of 2018 was already pushing it. We were surprised that, after irritation after irritation, that management was unwilling to meet our simple request to provide either a 6 or 10 month lease to us at the one year lease monthly price. Really? This speaks volumes as to how much Middletowne and Southern Management Corporation REALLY care about their residents. STAY AWAY! Read More

I was a resident in this apartment for 4 years and recently moved out of it. Though I stayed in this place for more than 3 years they charged me $50 for the burn marks on the gas stove. I tried to convince them that I've been using the same stove for more than 3 years and it is normal wear and tear, nobody respond to my calls. People WERE nice in this apartment not anymore.