El Portal Apartments

I lived in much nicer places all my life, but had to move to Mountain View to shorten my commute. This apartment is one of the most affordable apartments in Mountain View, along with most of the other apartments near California street. Because of 1. cheap price and 2. neighborhood full of similar affordable apartments, tbh, quality sucks.

Room:
I moved in to my friend's apartment, so I didn't expect everything in the apartment to be fresh and clean. Everything was filthy dirty, especially the... carpet, which had HUGE burn marks and dirts from people walking around with their shoes on. I know that my friend who already lived there didn't do this as he is just as clean as me. This friend actually took over the lease from someone else, who took over the lease from another person. So, to put that into consideration, I guess I cannot blame the apartment manager.

Walls are very thin and do not insulate sound at all. I can hear the slightest sound outside (also because my room is above the parking lot) But even so, it's a little too much. In all the other places that I've lived in, I played music relatively loud (loud enough to be able to hear while showering) and couldn't hear a thing from the outside of the room that had speakers. Here, I could hear the music from outside of the APARTMENT room.

They have a club house but you have to make a reservation even though NOBODY uses it, and you also have to put down deposit. I guess it's just more dangerous compared to Santa Clara/Cupertino, or maybe it's just that this particular neighborhood in Mountain View is not that safe.

I'm neither satisfied nor unsatisfied. I didn't want to live in this city in the first place, but had no choice. Given Mountain View's insanely high average income/rent this apartment is very very affordable, but no other positive comments. I care a LOT about cleanliness and comfort around my apartment. If you only need a place to sleep, then it will be perfect for you. Read More