The Cove at Coastal Carolina

I don't live here ... I missed my turn, and tried to turn around in this parking lot. Big mistake. It's the usual fubar parking system you see in college-housing, but many times worse... the worst I've ever seen. What.A.Mess. I guess the left side is... serviceable; the right side... there's hardly anywhere to maneuver. I think living here would drive me nuts if I were a student.

I’m so sick of this place. I’ve been here two years. It’s been by far the worst place I have ever stayed. Maintenance does not work on the weekends. Nothing ever works. They advertise false information. The dumpsters stay closed on the weekend. The halls are always a mess. No one ever helps with anything, not even picking up the phone. The only thing they worry about is getting your money for rent and utilities, after that they don’t care how you live in there. I’m sorry, I’ve had my share and this is not acceptable. Good luck to the students that come this fall.

Emergency Maintenance never answers the phone and the cove is now closed on weekends. Had to sleep in my car one night. Don’t advertise emergency maintenance if no one answers the phone for two days

I graduated from CCU in Spring 2022.

Pros:
- Location: It is close to CCU and near a CCU shuttle stop. I have taken the shuttle a lot to save $ on gas. It's also near a 24-hour gas station/convenience store and some restaurants within walking distance.
- Staff: Much of the staff are students, and they are super nice.
- Package Pickup: The hours to pick up your packages are more reasonable than other communities around CCU.

Cons:
- Maintenance: Maintenance supposedly comes to your apartments to check on various appliances, but I have never known if they had actually come to my apartment because they do not leave any notes that they had been there.
- Design of Doors: The bedroom and bathroom doors swing into each other. Not a huge drawback but it is very annoying (photo attached for this one). Our building also seems to be built on a tilt, or something, because the doors swing on their own and sometimes, they lock themselves up.
- Bad Ventilation/Smoke Alarms: The smoke alarms are very sensitive and were purposely made to be, but the ventilation in these apartments is awful. Also, there is a lot of mildew that occurs in this apartment (photo attached) and the community manager said it's because of the climate in SC, but I’ve never had that issue in University Housing or at my house in Myrtle Beach.
- Printing Services: Printing used to be unlimited and free, but now they have a new system which is actually more expensive than printing at the University. You can get ten pages free a month, but for a college student, that's basically nothing.
- Pets: There are a lot of dogs here. I love dogs, but I do not love owners that let their dogs run around without a leash and poop everywhere without picking it up. The staff seem to make exceptions for favorite residents, as I’ve seen staff watch residents break rules in front of them and not say anything. There have been dogs in the pool, also. There are a lot of irresponsible owners that do not know how to take care of their animals, and it’s sad to see The Cove be complicit about it.
- Communication: They send out emails for office closures, but these emails typically go out a day before the office is closed, and they go out AFTER the office has closed for the day. So, basically, no notice. Also, I have emailed and called the office about multiple different concerns and have not heard back.

Don’t stay here. The parking is trash. My car has been towed TWICE, after having a parking pass. I should be allowed to visit my friends without going through a hassle. Instead of refunding me my money, they offered him rent reduction. How does that benefit me? Wanna save money? Stay on campus because that’s all the Cove is, an overpriced dorm room. WOULD NOT recommend for people over 21yr of age.

Overall the Cove is good. The community is fine. The amenities are fine, when they are working (see: pool down for days, 1 of 4 treadmills working for over a year). The apartment themselves are fine. They do a decent job cleaning when people move in. The staff, both in the office and the maintenance staff, are incredible people.

This is the first online review I have ever written in my life, that’s how bad this place is. I am a student at CCU, and I used to live on Campus at University Place. That being said, campus housing is better than this apartment complex. Half of the staff can never answer any of my questions and have no idea what is happening, and the other half is rude, unprofessional and should probably never deal with the public. The only time they will help you is when it comes time to renew your lease. Any other time they don’t care and try and avoid helping you. The parking lot is overcrowded, poorly lit, and full of people making their own spots that block other cars in. Since I’ve lived here my car has been broken into twice and had someone try to fight my friend and I in the parking lot over these parking issues. One time I put in a service request for them to remove the black mold I had growing on my walls and windows and they just told me to do it myself, despite the fact I am allergic to black mold and had already become sick from being that close to it already. I then ended up spending 5 hours scrubbing my walls with a toothbrush and bleach. I keep paying all this rent every month, yet none of it gets put back into the complex. They’re also very quick to charge you with any and everything, and I have acquired several late fees on my rent and utilities because the payment portals weren’t working. To sum it up, The Cove at CCU does not care about anything but money, and will even sacrifice the health and safety of their tenants for a couple extra bucks.