Royal Apartments

I cant give any stars for this place. My husband and I lived there for a while. We were in transition waiting on a home. We had a hard time getting any sleep because of the prostitution that was going on in the apartment above us. The prostitue had no shame in admitting what she did for a living. It was traffic all night long. Then you have vacationers that partied all night. Oh and the transients sleeping on the walk way during a rain storm. For two occupants it is $ 380.00 a week that is after you have completed the four weeks of taxes. With 21 apartments and that rate you would think they could put some money in the beds. On top of the whore above entertaining all hours of the night and day. The beds are cloth with medal springs. Motel 6 has better beds. And the paint why am I paying a four hundred deposit for an apartment that has not even been painted in the last 8 years. I moved the stove and found a roach nest with some year old food. I would not recommend to anyone unless your looking for a prostitute or wanting to see a man get stabbed like we did. Oh and drugs are plentyful at the royal apartments at least four dealers lived there and I was forced to give a star

There’s much to be said about needing a place to bed down for a semi-​temporary basis. I came down to San Diego on business and found myself stuck here. If you’ve read my other reviews then you know that I’ve lived in Ocean Beach before so I knew when I returned that this is where I’d be. Living in Las Vegas, there are plenty of options for weekly rentals that are affordable. I found that in San Diego, it wasn’t so easy. Most places were nothing more than hotel rooms charging a daily rate and allowing extended stays. Other places that actually catered to extended stays marketed towards high-​end corporate contractors or foreigners looking for a place to stay on their working vacations.
The Royal Apartments in Ocean Beach seem like a middle ground between these two. The rooms are furnished efficiency studio apartments that are good for one person or close couple. The room size is ample but what makes this place more like an apartment than hotel room is that there’s a full kitchen and the bathroom with even a storage closet. The off-​site manager is very pleasant and picks up his phone when you call. Despite the general transient nature of his clientele, he doesn’t pry into your business and aside from taking care of the property he keeps his distance. Another plus is that this place allows two pets per room. So if your traveling companion is a kitty or small dog, they can come along! The grounds are kept up nicely with grass and lush trees that create a tranquil tropical paradise. The neighbors, for the most part, are quiet.
The down sides of the Royal Apartments are nominal but they play a huge part in why I didn’t give it 4 Stars. First, there’s a rather steep deposit and application fee. The deposit is refunded to you upon your departure providing that you gave at least two days notice and left the place empty, clean, and as you received it. I had no problem getting all of my deposit back. Next, while the apartment comes furnished, this does not include cable television or internet connection which means that if you need either for your comfort (or in my case, work) you’d have to go through a provider like Cox Communications. This wasn’t as much a deal break but it provided for added inconvenience.
The last two down sides were somewhat more critical. These apartments rest on a busy thoroughfare that gets an incredible amount of foot traffic. In Ocean Beach, that means you get lots of drunk people walking past your window and making much noise. It’s great for people watching but if you’re a light sleeper, I wouldn’t recommend it. The last thing was the deal breaker for me and essentially ended my stay.
Per California residency laws, you are considered transient up to 28 days of staying in a domicile. In this, you pay lodging taxes which comes to 11% of your rental. Upon your 29^th day of stay, all lodging taxes must be refunded or credited and no further tax charges will be applied as you are now considered a permanent resident. At the Royal Apartments you are required to fill out another application with proof of income and pay a larger deposit to be considered. Even then, it is up to the owner (of whom you never meet or see) to determine your fate.
Even with the recommendation of the manager himself, I was denied. Although I paid my rent early most weeks and provided proof of income, that income wasn’t «stable enough» for consideration. I had just moved my personal belongings in the week before (as I paid the deposits and fees as needed for permanency) and didn’t want to move. So I tried to strike a deal to simply be locked out for a day and then return, still under transient terms. This offer was countered with the owner wanting me to check out completely and start the process over again (deposit, app fee, etc) with a raise in rental rate. I declined the counter and sought out other places to stay.
My $.02 —
For a weekly, Royal Apartments are nice median between high end corporate weekly living and a long-​term stay at a low-​end hotel. Being on a noisy street and not having a cable feed would have been passable and it would have rendered an easy 4 Stars had there not been so many fees and processes involved that almost seemed like the non-​present owner was trying to soak me for as much money as he could. Including the taxes I paid.