In a nutshell: the apartments are beautiful but watch out for the property's rude assistant manager Tatiana and some questionable sales tactics. The long story is: I called Villas at Park La Brea on a Thursday to set up a Saturday appointment to see the facility and view available apartments. I was called back almost immediately by a salesperson there asking me if I could come in Friday instead of Saturday -- David said he had an offer that was expiring that day (the 23rd, of all days... what kind of offer expires on such a random day mid-month?). He sounded desperate. I asked if I would have to come in during business hours and he said yes -- I told him it couldn't happen because I work, so I'd see him Saturday. That flimsy hard-sell technique should have been my first clue. I went to the complex on Saturday morning _ it is a beautiful facility. The apartments are small for the price, but the residents seem friendly and cute, the pool was sparkling just so and there was a guy making waffles for residents in the WiFi equipped clubhouse. I thought I'd died and gone to apartment-hunting heaven. A very sweet young man who worked there showed me a couple of the 1-bedroom models "The Arrezzo" _ but I found them depressing. They'd obviously been vacant for a time, and I could see why. The small bedroom's windows face another bedroom window in an echo-y internal courtyard (baby's screams bounced through one such area) and the living area was oddly shaped and not very big. Then he showed me the Brindisi model -- a bigger, better laid out 1 bedroom with a very pretty bay window, all the amenities i wanted and more storage. I was sold. David, the salesman, appeared and talked to me about availabilities. He was charming and polite, and we sat down in his office to talk about numbers and move-in dates. Suddenly, the month's free rent offer was back on the table, and that would make my move affordable and ideal. I was hooked. I told him that I wanted to bring my parents to look at the place the next day, Sunday -- they like to be involved in these types of decisions, and they're smart so I like to get their input. He said it wouldn't be a problem but he wouldn't be there, his colleague Tatiana would be there. I said I looked forward to becoming a new resident When I came back the next day with my parents as promised, it was a whole different deal. Polite David was gone and instead we were dealing with a rough-mannered woman named Tatiana. After someone else to showed us the property, we went back to the clubhouse to meet with her. Instead of coming out to meet her eager new customers, Tatiana kept sending her employee out to tell us various negative things -- our move in date wouldn't work despite David's promise it would. We sent Tatiana's messenger back with questions. He came out again. We sent him back with more questions before Tatiana finally appeared. She completely reneged on the deal David had sold me on, and told us the only way we would get a month free is if we moved in that very same day. Let's pause for a moment. I'm not a hobo. I don't keep my worldly belongings in a satchel on the end of a stick. How on earth could I or anyone move in on the same day?! I looked at my mom and dad. We all smelled a rat. I went back and forth on it with her a little -- well as much as one can have a back and forth with a pissed-off rock. The whole time she had this angry look on her face -- she came off like she was ready to throw punches. My father and mother who were sitting there watching our exchange were stunned to silence -- we'd had such a great day up until that moment! Even when I laughingly followed up on the same-day move in discount and asked her if many people show up with suitcases ready to move in when they're touring the facility, she said nothing and just gave me an icy stare. Total silence, scary stare. Then she proceeded to tack on pet rent -- which I'd asked the two previous Villas employees about and both had said it was deposit only. When I told her what the others said, she seemed pleased about her power trip of tacking on a new charge and she alluded to other charges for parking. This was all on top of the fact that she'd taken away the deal that David had offered -- and not because it expired or anything, but because, apparently, the luxury apartment complex is catering to a well-heeled hobo community. As we were leaving, my dad said he couldn't imagine seeing that woman's sourpuss every day -- and neither could I. It's a shame, the facility seems nicer than that sort of low-class behavior. Steer cleer. I didn't get taken, but it was pretty clear that these people are not above board.