Vaya - Walnut Creek, California

Rick T.

My Dog and I spent three years at Vaya before relocating out of state and it was a wonderful experience. Vaya has a great staff (Norla, Mary, Mark, Joe) that always make you feel welcome, solid location, good amenities (W/D in unit, AC/Heat that have quick impacts, functional gym) and a very, very pet friendly community.

It is close to BART/Trinity Center and you occasionally have folks getting in that shouldn't be there, but that is pretty rare.

Overall I can't recommend it enough.

Felipe C.

Just moved in here at the beginning of the year and I'm loving it so far! The location for a commuter like myself is so convenient. The property is always kept clean. The office staff and new manager were so helpful and answered all my questions during the moving in process. I like how they put effort into throwing events for the residents here.

traci E.

Living at Vaya has been a great experience for us. The location couldn’t be better with Target steps away and downtown Walnut Creek just a short walk. Since I work in SF, having the BART station across the street is super convenient. The property is lovely with great amenities. The grills, pool and hot tub, fitness and business centers, and rooftop area all provide excellent options for spending time when you’d like to get out of your apartment. Then again, it seems unnecessary to leave all that often as the apartments are spacious and well-appointed. The under-lit bathroom vanity is one of my favorite features! The thoughtfulness of the design is unlike other communities in the area. Clearly, though, the staff is what makes Vaya a truly exceptional property. Since it’s a new building, there will be little glitches that arise but everyone is committed to resolving things quickly. They are friendly and professional in every interaction. I highly recommend Vaya if you’re looking for a home in the Walnut Creek area.

Tobin S.

When I moved in I was the only resident on my floor in the brand new apartment. There are kinks here and there, but management does a good job at quickly addressing issues. It's not flawless, but better than any other apartment I've lived in. I see others complaining about the crowded mail room or hearing noise from other units, but that's called apartment living. The walls are well insulated, but not perfectly sound proof. The facility is very dog friendly, very clean, and very comfortable. The amenities are great and the location across the street from Target, BART, and downtown is unbeatable. I would give Vaya 5 stars except for the billing process. Add about $150-300 to your monthly rent (excluding electric cost) to account for utilities and miscellaneous fees like pest control. Additionally they charge a ridiculous "convenience fee" of nearly $100 per month if you pay rent using a debit card, which I assume most people do.

Hanitra R.

As we are sailing new horizons, I wanted to say thank you to the Vaya team (especially Norla and Mark) for making our stay a smooth and pleasant one.

Nicole V.

I wanted to take the time and rate my experience so far here. I had originally been traveling from across the country. I was living in Florida and had to move to San Francisco in short notice for a job. I did not have any time to come here to look at places and had to go on a whim. Norla was absolutely amazing, she was able to understand my sense of urgency, she was quick with her responses able to show me a virtual tour of any apartment I wanted to look at. She always stayed on top of calling me to check in and make sure I had gotten her emails, or anything she sent with information about the apartment. She made the application process simple and quick. I have lived in a few apartment complexes previously and had terrible experiences especially with property managers. For Norla to understand my urgency and be so helpful and sweet also goes a long way in choosing a place to live. I highly appreciate her efforts and would recommend living here to anyone it’s in a perfect location and is a beautiful apartment complex.

Mo S.

I wanted to share my detailed experience of living at Vaya for the past two years. During my tenure, I have had the opportunity to thoroughly assess the pros and cons of this community, and I hope this review provides valuable insights for prospective residents.

Pros:

1- Location: One of the standout features of Vaya is its prime location.

2- Well-Maintained Facilities: The communal areas of Vaya (at least where I used to live in the fifth floor) are well-maintained and kept in excellent condition. From the fitness center to the common spaces, the management team ensures cleanliness, making the community a pleasant place to reside.

3- Management Team: The management team has consistently demonstrated professionalism, attentiveness, and a genuine commitment to resident satisfaction. They promptly address any concerns or maintenance requests and foster a welcoming environment within the community. Special thanks to Sam since I moved in and Later to Laura and Norla.

4 - Responsive Maintenance Staff: The maintenance staff is highly responsive for all the issues.

Cons:

1- Maintenance Staff: Despite their responsive, the old maintainer "Mark" couldnt fix the same issue for over 2-3 times while the younger maintainer came once and he got the job done.

2- Rent Increases: I experienced 3% rent increase on a yearly basis. While it is understandable that rental rates can change over time but It was slightly over the market rate.

3- Miscellaneous Expenses: One drawback is the presence of miscellaneous expenses. These additional costs, such as utilities for common areas, trash vallet not included in the rent, and service charges, can significantly impact the overall monthly budget and should be taken into consideration. It can vary between ($160-$200 on monthly basis). It's important to say It was highlighted clearly by the leasing office upfront.

Overall, my experience at Vaya has been positive, with the pros outweighing the cons. The excellent location, well-maintained facilities, management team, responsive maintenance team, and community amenities have contributed to a comfortable living environment.

Jay

Update: A lot of the previous issues mentioned before have been resolved and this is an amazing place to live in Walnut Creek if you are looking for great location, great amenities, and dog friendly, this place is hard to beat. The units are really nice and modern, the location is amazing being so close to downtown and bart, many of the residents are friendly, and the leasing office hosts events with free food and drinks. As with all apartment complexes, you get common issues like the jacuzzi being out of maintenance for a few days, but other than that, I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking to stay in Walnut Creek.

Old review: I've been here for a little over a year now and here are my experiences and honest review. The management has changed during my time here, and ever since Sam left the management has seemed harder to deal with and more uptight. For example, the management came to my door during 4pm on a weekend and wrote me a noise violation even though my speakers were at 40% level and 10% bass, you would think that for a new construction apartment the walls would be well insulated and you would be able to listen to music at at least 40% volume and 10% bass, which at this place you cannot. So audiophiles and people who like to enjoy movies at even casual volumes, beware that this is not the place to live as you will get noise violations for listening to anything louder than a fly it seems.

Maintenance/cleaning is good. No complaints about maintenance, they have always been on-site and ready to help. The building is secure but random homeless people are still able to get in somehow. Guest parking is not the greatest as there are really only 4 assigned guest parking spots that are always taken, however there is street parking for guests as well but spots are limited. The mailroom is atrocious. Packages are always a mess and many of my packages have gone missing here as well. Amazon sent me a notice recently that I've been reporting too many packages as missing which is not my fault. To make things worse, I've had packages worth a few thousand dollars that weren't put in the concierge lockers and were stolen, which to me is irresponsible of the staff that they wouldn't put expensive packages inside a secured area, instead they leave them out in common areas to be stolen. Amenities are pretty good, there is a nice pool and jacuzzi, fireplaces, bbq grills, and a pet relief area. Parking garage is one of the nice highlights of this building as well, however it is often broken.

Fire alarms seem to be an issue at this place as well, as there was 2 whole weeks that went by where fire alarms were going off every single day (yes every day I am not exaggerating), often from midnight to 4am. They seemed to have fixed the issue though and it hasn't gone off recently, however this is not pleasant to be waking up to fire alarms in the middle of the night for a whole entire work week.

In conclusion, Vaya has great potential, it is in a nice area, close to bart and downtown, in-unit washer/dryer, secured parking garage, but due to all the other issues stated above, I cannot honestly rate this place higher than 2 out of 5. I think it is insanely ridiculous that you cannot enjoy speakers from the comfort of your own home at louder than 30% volume and 10% bass, especially for a newly constructed apartment building. Keep in mind that this is a soundbar that I am listening to as well, this is not some insane sound system. I understand communal living you want to be respectful of sound levels due to families and neighbors being close around, but just the fact that you can get a noise complaint for listening to music at 30% volume at 4pm on a weekend, is absolutely ridiculous. Again, to anybody who is wishing to watch movies or listen to music at 4pm on a weekend in peace, look elsewhere because this place is not noise friendly.