Renee Shaktivel
Staff Writer
As finals week draws closer and leases come to an end, many ISU students seek the next place they’ll call home.
When evaluating different housing options, six factors come into play: floor plan, cost, amenities, community, management and proximity to campus. Over the last couple weeks, The Bengal has been highlighting apartment complexes in Pocatello as well as on-campus. The next housing option on the list is Hillside Village Apartments.
Floor Plan
Hillside has one standard four-person suite. Each apartment is 1300 square-feet and fully furnished. All suites have the same layout. The living area is spacious and its open layout includes the kitchen in the main room. The bedroom area is separated by a doorway that allows those in the back to dampen the liveliness from the living area.
A full-size washer and dryer and two full-size bathrooms as well as a dishwasher come with the apartment.
Cost
Hillside also allows for families to rent as well. It provides private room contracts that run monthly for $315 or the full apartment for $1200. Tenants are able to choose from 9-month, 12-month or 24-month leases with a deposit that’s based on the type of contract.
For a full apartment lease, a deposit would cost the equivalent of the first month’s rent and a private room deposit runs around $200.
Hillside also provides a summer special on pricing for those who choose to stay in the area, with private room rates running at $275.
“I would highly recommend living here,” said Hillside renter Micah Breland in a Google review. “It is the best bang for your buck in town. A good mixture of people live here including college students, families, elderly and a plethora of different backgrounds of people.”
Proximity to Campus
This complex is in prime location with a five-minute drive to the PSUB. The walk can take half an hour if you take Martin Luther King Way straight past Reed Gym, with the first left after the underpass. The light gray apartments are on the right.
Amenities
Hillside offers free water, sewage, garbage, lawn care, cable, gas, electric and internet. A quaint workout room is available with treadmills and two exercise bikes. A rec room with a ping-pong table will be available shortly.
Management
The office is only open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon.
“They don’t reply to emails and they don’t give a notice when they are not coming to the office,” said an ApartmentRatings reviewer who lived at Hillside from 2015 to 2017. “The location and price is great… but seriously, if the landlord sees this… please change the management.”
Luckily for tenants, managers live right next door, so they are just a quick call away.
“Stuff that is either broken and or needs maintenance is done rather quickly,” Breland said in the Google review. “I have lived here four years out of my five-year college experience and have not really had one complaint about management.”
Other Things to Know
Hillside owners and management want to provide a unique take on college housing by providing a clean, no-drinking, no-smoking environment where students focus primarily on their studies by having minimal distractions on site.
