Here are a few reviews:
Re: Walnut Gardens Apartments Review Report This Review Reviewed by
Max Power
Customer Service: Always helpfull when I needed it.
Price: One of the best prices around. The $30 rooms are essentially hotel rooms with a small kitchen, mini fridge etc.. You have to use shared laundry with this room and theres only 2 washer/dryers. the $42.50 1bdrm is a small apt with plenty of space for a academy stay. Full kitchen, washer/dryer in room.
Location: Usually 10-15 minutes to class because of the odd hours but the traffic can get backed up if you drive during peak hours. Plenty of stores in the area. Oh did I mention the neighborhood is horrible? But with the razor wire fencing you must be safe right? I really didnt mind the neighborhood just the time it took to get to the interstate at times. But I did feel it was pretty centraly located so it made it nice for doing activities with your classmates. Getting to anywhere around OKC isnt too bad from there.
Noise: neighborhood noise wasnt bad, I could hear my neighbors water running. If your a recluse you wont want to be in the pool/bbq area.
Cleanliness: pretty presentable, I did notice a mildew smell in my room. Saw some bugs but they came through on occasion to spray for pests.
Amenities: Internet is fast and farely reliable. plenty of furniture, kitchen has almost everything you need including toasters and blenders. the bbq pits are pretty nice. Nice pool and pool area that has areas of shade and sun. Free beer and snack foods on wednesdays.
Re: Walnut Gardens Apartments Review Report This Review Reviewed by
guest
I would not recommend this place to anyone. The grounds are disgusting, there is tons of noise at all hours of the night. If it wasn't for the FAA, this place would be run down and out of business....it disturbs me that they take advantage of the students this much...they charge around $1000 a month for a place that may be worth $100...I personally wouldn't refuge there if I was homeless on the streets. There are plenty, absolutely plenty of other housing units in the area and I would strongly suggest staying at one of them.
Re: Walnut Gardens Apartments Review Report This Review Reviewed by
WickedPenguin
I stayed at Walnut Gardens from May to July 2007. Of the FAA housing, they were the cheapest, which was important since at the time there was no per diem being offered.
Customer Service
The staff was helpful and professional. I never really had a problem with them. I had three problems during my time there - 1) the lack of a desk, 2) a kitchen sink that backed up, and 3) frozen-over and leaking A/C unit - and all were fixed promptly and correctly.
Also, when you get to the Academy, they don't start paying you right away. It takes a couple weeks for your salary/per diem to come in. WG knows this and was not very pushy on collecting rent.
Price
I thought the price was fair when compared to other extended stay places like Extended Stay America and such. Also, the $5/day rental car can't be beat. It all depends on what you're willing to go forgo. I had a lot of stuff with me - computer, music production gear, etc. - and I needed space.
I had a friend who found a place on CraigsList for $400 a month, but it was one room with a shared bathroom in a small house about 45min from the Academy. I was paying about twice as much per month but lived only 10min from the Academy, had a ton more space, and didn't have to work around roommates.
Location
The complex itself is gated and I'd say pretty safe. However, don't go walking outside the gate on your own. It's pretty ghetto. A female friend who was just walking up the street to the 7/11 was getting harrassed and hit on by a bunch of different guys. The next time she needed to go, she asked me for a ride. We had three shootings within as many months within a 10 block radius.
But... the location had a lot of good points as well. It's just up the street from the Academy. There's a huge mall with a Walmart, Best Buy, etc. just up the road, 5 minutes away. There's a ton of places to eat, with Meridian and Reno also 5 minutes away. The main expressway is also really close if you want to downtown and Bricktown. It's a very convenient place.
Noise
I had zero noise issues there. Maybe if you're in one of the efficiencies by the pool you'll get some noise, but everywhere else was pretty quiet. We had some pretty good parties in the pool area, but we didn't really have much in the way of music going on.
Cleanliness
After reading a lot of horror stories about FAA housing places, I was pleasantly surprised. No pests, no strange unknown substances, no obvious damage or issues. Like any place like this, I'd recommend washing the sheets, towels, and all dishes/silverware before use. But that's just common sense, and nothing against the place itself. It's not a hotel that has maid service and fresh everything on a daily basis.
Amenities
I stayed in a 1/1 ground floor unit. I thought it was excellent overall. So...much....space! I had a proper dining area, a proper living room, a proper galley kitchen, and a proper bedroom. The room had a lot of storage spaces, more than I could ever need - and I had a lot of stuff. Also, having your own in-house washer/dryer unit was terrific. I would constantly see people walking back and forth from the efficiencies to the laundry room in the clubhouse and think "I'm glad it's not me...".
Furniture:
Living room: Full size couch, large comfy chair, coffee table, TV armoire, end tables.
Dining area: Dining table, four chairs
Bedroom: King size bed, walk-in closet, two huge dressers
Kitchen: A complete set of dishware, utensils, cookware, etc.
Was it the most absolutely comfortable furniture in the world? No, but it was good and I had no complaints about it. The living room was great - several times a bunch of friends would come over and we'd study for the tower class. We'd lay out the big paper map on the huge coffee table and practice our phraseology. There was more than enough room for everybody.
As a comparison point, I stopped by a friend's efficiency. I am so glad I didn't opt for that - the efficiency's queen bed took up the majority of the floor space. The whole efficiency felt like a large closet instead of an actual living quarters. You could literally lie on the bed and reach the fridge, the dresser, the TV... I felt claustrophobic in there. Another couple I knew had originally rented an efficiency and quickly upgraded to a 1/1 like mine. I mean, there's only $10 worth of difference between the two, but the 1/1 feels almost 2/3 bigger.
My only beef with the apartment was the size of the television. Some WG rooms have large plasmas. I got saddled with a room with a tiny CRT TV, which made watching movies and playing video games a disappointing experience. But whatever, such is life.
The club house and pool area were pretty decent. Nice pool, and usable through all hours of the night as long as you don't get too stupid. My friends and I spent many an hour hanging out there, getting stupid and making the most of our stint in OKC. On Wednesdays and Thursday they also have a happy hour-type thing there with free beer and food. The upstairs lounge area has a few couches and a big-screen TV.
Conclusion:
If I had to go back to OKC for whatever reason, I'd gladly stay there again.
Re: Walnut Gardens Apartments Review Report This Review Reviewed by
DOD_ATC
Customer Service: No problems with the ladies in the office. Paid rent when it was convenient for me.
Price: Cheapest place I could find.
Location: Not the greatest area of OKC, but for the price, who cares? I had no problems with the surrounding neighborhood or the other students in the complex.
Noise: I had heard that some people were staying at the pool later than allowed, but I had no complaints.
Cleanliness: Worst category in my opinion. Grounds were okay, interior of apartments were okay at best. I would guess rodents/insects are a problem in other apartments. I noticed one insect in my apartment (small efficiency).
Amenities: Efficiencies have no washer/dryer in the apartment, although they do have a free laundry room (2 washers, 2 dryers) to use. I ended up going to a laundromat on weekend because washer/dryers were in use at Walnut Gardens.
Overall, Walnut Gardens was just what I expected. I was there to save money and go to school. Nothing else. The efficiency was $29.50/day which was the cheapest place I could find. Recommended.
More to do with being a seahawk fan
Anyway to answer your questions, I have the older TVs and the one in the living room is 24" and the one in the bedroom is 19". There is a desk in the living room that I use to study on. I have my laptop on the kitchen table b/c that is where the ethernet jack is and quite a distance from the desk. There is no wireless connectivity unless you setup your own (which people have, but they lock it down).