My experience has been positive. The rent is cheaper than other places in Durham but the apartment is still nice. It is easy to get to the law school from my apartment.

A great choice for people with cars. 7 minutes drive from school. The leasing office is responsive and helpful, and maintenance support is great. One downside is that the apartment has no gate, so it doesn't feel as safe as those with gates.

The apartments are spacious, I like the gym and pool, and I can always find parking without issue. My particular unit gets little to no sunlight which is a bummer, but that I can live with.

The cockroach problems over the summer, however, I could not live with. Management gave me the run-around until they finally addressed it which was annoying, and it's better now. Management overall is helpful and kind, there's just a lot of clerical errors (billing is off, maintenance requests go unanswered until you follow up). My upstairs neighbors this year are incredibly loud and management said all they could do is send them an email asking them to quiet down, which is really disappointing since our neighbors are thumping and stomping all hours of the night.

Overall, I'd stay in this complex but may consider moving to a new unit next year that is not on the bottom floor to 1) get more sunlight 2) less chance of noisy neighbors 3) less bugs.

I've enjoyed my experience at Garrett West so far and would recommend it to other students. There's always parking available for myself and guests, the apartments are spacious, the cost is decent when split between 2 people, and the front office staff are attentive. It's not too far a drive from school and is close to grocery stores and other convenience stores. The complex as a whole is quiet, clean, feels very safe, and has lots of fellow Duke graduate students.

The downsides are the bugs that seem to appear in the apartment no matter what we do (though this is common to all of Durham), the complex isn't very close to downtown or many "fun" places, my apartment in particular gets very little light, the valet trash service is way too expensive and unnecessary, and when we moved in we were told we'd have a patio screen but didn't get one (and they didn't adjust rent to reflect that).

The pool is amazing. People are friendly

Kids Friendly

I personally enjoy living at Garrett West! It is nothing too fancy, but my roommate and I enjoy the pool, ample parking and trash valet. A lot of fellow 1L’s live there as well, so it is nice to have that sense of community. The apartments are walk ups with no elevators, so beware living on the third floor, especially for move in/out.

Good Experience

Garrett West is a great place to live. The management is responsive and helpful and the community is safe and has some nice amenities. I would recommend asking for an apartment away from the pool, as the children at the pool get loud in the summer time. Additionally, some of the other comparable apartment complexes have much better gyms than Garrett West, so if that is a high priority for you, I would look elsewhere. Overall, I really like living at Garrett West and would recommend it! My apartment is spacious with lots of storage, all appliances are new, the kitchen and bathroom are very nice, and it has a nice large balcony. It is close to Target, Walmart, and a couple of Grocery stores, but you would definitely need a car to get from Garrett West to work or school.

GW is a nice quiet little community of law and other students from both Duke and UNC. There are also families and retirees here. The location isn’t very walkable but nothing is too far a drive from here.