Aston Apartments streeterville Review
I really hate that I’m even writing this because I was SO excited to move into Aston.
I moved from New Jersey to Chicago and specifically chose Aston over places like Optima Signature and One Chicago. I loved it when I toured and genuinely thought I was moving into a luxury building where I wouldn’t have to worry about basic stuff being taken care of.
We signed our lease July 30, the lease started August 4, and I specifically told leasing we weren’t actually arriving until August 14. So they knew exactly when we were coming and basically had 10 days before we physically moved in.
We showed up and the apartment honestly did not feel move-in ready at all.
The kitchen/living room floors were visibly dirty, the refrigerator water dispenser/filter area had gross buildup that looked like mold, the kitchen lights were flickering, an outlet was loose, one of the doorknobs barely opened without pulling/pushing/finessing it, and then the biggest issue — the AC wasn’t working properly.
It would get “fixed,” work for a few minutes, and then stop again. The apartment kept sitting around 74–75 even with the thermostat much lower. At one point their solution was literally industrial fans.
My girlfriend has POTS, so heat regulation is a legitimate issue for her. It got to the point where she had to stay with my parents instead of being able to comfortably stay in the apartment we literally just moved into. My parents had to change their hotel arrangements so there was enough room for her.
What really made the whole thing worse was how it was handled.
Emails to leasing were already difficult to get responses to before we even moved in, and I constantly felt like I had to call to get answers. We also basically got no move-in orientation. Nobody from leasing really showed us where trash/recycling was, how the mailroom worked, etc. Ironically, the front desk, mailroom staff, maintenance, and especially Ray from engineering were the people who actually took the time to help us.
Ray was honestly great. He apologized, communicated, took ownership, and genuinely seemed like he cared about fixing the problem.
Management was a completely different experience.
When I explained that I was embarrassed because friends from Optima and One Chicago helped us move and even they couldn’t believe what we walked into, the response was basically that those buildings cost more. When I questioned why I shouldn’t expect a similar level of service at Aston, that turned into an explanation about Aston having a smaller staff.
The weird part is I could have paid basically the same rent at the other buildings. Aston was just the one I WANTED.
When I asked what they could do for us if the AC still wasn’t fixed, I also kept being told to read up on renters’ law and that they had 24 hours to fix it. I explained we had been dealing with the same AC problem since Friday, but the response was basically that every time they “fixed” it and it broke again, it started a new 24-hour period.
It just felt incredibly defensive instead of, “Wow, you just moved in and this experience has been awful, how do we fix this?”
The AC and the other apartment issues are finally fixed now, which I’m obviously happy about. Management offered us a $150 rent credit, two nights in their guest suite, and about a $50 restaurant gift card. They also said they wouldn’t reimburse the additional hotel expense.
Maybe I expected too much, but after moving across the country, walking into an apartment with all of these issues, having my girlfriend unable to comfortably stay there, constantly calling/emailing, and then feeling dismissed when I tried to explain how disappointing the experience was… $150 just feels kind of insulting.
Mechanical problems happen. I understand that. That isn’t really why I’m upset.
It’s the fact that they knew exactly when we were moving in, the apartment clearly wasn’t properly checked beforehand, and then once things started going wrong I felt like everyone was more interested in explaining why it wasn’t their responsibility than just owning the situation.
I genuinely wanted to love this building. I was excited to tell people I chose Aston.
Now I’m sitting here wondering if I made a huge mistake choosing it over the other buildings I was considering.
TDLR: Avoid Aston apartment run away and pick a different place!!!!