Lakewood Tower Apartments

    320 N Milwaukee Ave, Lake Villa, IL, 60046
    4.4 · 12 reviews
    • Independent living
    • Assisted living
    AnonymousCurrent/former resident
    3.0

    Friendly staff, inconsistent management, safety

    I live here and like the friendly, helpful staff, welcoming neighbors, roomy clean apartments and the many floor amenities (laundry, workout room, library, sitting/community areas) - appliances and HVAC work fine and there's a weekly Walmart bus. Maintenance is usually timely, but management is inconsistent (previous manager poor, new manager often unresponsive), and there are recurring safety/cleanliness problems: broken front doors left unrepaired weeks, dirty dumpster area, loud outside noise, and slips from un-salted walkways. There's no dining service and very few activities, so I'd cautiously recommend for independent living if you prioritize staff and cleanliness but be aware of management and safety issues.

    Pricing

    Schedule a Tour

    Amenities

    4.42 · 12 reviews

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      4.4
    • Staff

      3.7
    • Meals

      4.4
    • Amenities

      2.5
    • Value

      1.0

    Pros

    • Clean, well-maintained community
    • Amenities on each floor (laundry, workout room, sitting areas, library, community room)
    • Friendly, helpful, and patient office staff
    • Welcoming atmosphere with friendly neighbors
    • Accessible walking path
    • Appliances and HVAC systems functioning well
    • Weekly bus to Walmart
    • Social spaces and activities offered (games, conversation, Friday night bingo)
    • Timely work order completion reported by some residents
    • Independent living environment (care not applicable)

    Cons

    • Exterior/garbage area doors left open at night
    • Dumpster area described as dirty
    • Front building doors broken twice and repaired slowly (two-week repair)
    • Frequent loud noise outside a window (every two minutes)
    • Unsafe parking lot conditions (not salted) leading to resident falls
    • Unresolved billing/charge disputes (linoleum reimbursement denied; collections bill for carpet odor)
    • Mixed and unstable management — complaints about previous manager; new manager busy/unresponsive; some describe manager as incompetent
    • Limited activities overall and no dining service
    • Inconsistent maintenance responsiveness (timely for some items, very slow for others)
    • Community-level operational issues impacting perceived security and cleanliness

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment across the review summaries is mixed but leans positive regarding the physical property and day-to-day living environment, while raising several important operational and management concerns. Multiple reviewers emphasize that Lakewood Tower Apartments is clean and well maintained, with useful amenities on every floor — including laundry rooms, workout areas, sitting areas, a library/community room — and pleasant outdoor features like a walking path. Residents commonly describe the community as welcoming, with friendly neighbors, helpful office staff, and functioning appliances and HVAC units. Practical conveniences such as a weekly bus to Walmart and social offerings (games, conversations, and a recently initiated Friday night bingo) contribute to an independent-living atmosphere that some residents highly recommend. One review indicates a community size of about 80 residents and explicitly notes that formal care services are not applicable, underscoring the building's independent-living focus.

    Staff impressions are generally favorable at the front-line level: reviewers mention a friendly, patient, and efficient office manager and helpful staff who make residents feel comfortable. Several comments praise timely completion of work orders and responsiveness from property personnel in at least some instances. These positive staff interactions are a strong point and appear to be a major reason residents feel comfortable recommending the community.

    However, management and operational issues are a recurring and significant concern. Reviews reference dissatisfaction with a previous manager and describe the new manager as very busy and unresponsive; another reviewer called the property manager "incompetent," while other comments still describe a friendly property manager. This inconsistency suggests turnover or uneven performance among management personnel, producing frustration and uncertainty among residents. In addition to personnel concerns, reviewers report inconsistent maintenance responsiveness: while some work orders are handled promptly, more serious physical security and maintenance problems — such as front doors being broken twice and taking about two weeks to repair — indicate lapses in timely resolution of issues that affect resident safety and convenience.

    Safety and cleanliness problems outside individual apartments are notable themes. Multiple reviewers point to exterior issues: garbage-area doors left open at night, a dirty dumpster area, and a loud noise outside a window that recurs every two minutes. One serious safety concern is that the parking lot was not salted during icy conditions, which reportedly led to resident falls. These issues undermine the otherwise-clean perception of the property and raise questions about building management's attention to communal areas and resident safety protocols.

    Administrative and financial disputes also appear in the reviews. Specific examples include a denied reimbursement claim for kitchen linoleum and a collections bill relating to carpet condition and a claimed odor. Such billing conflicts — particularly when they escalate to collections — contribute to resident dissatisfaction and suggest a need for clearer communication and fairer resolution processes between management and tenants.

    Activities and services are a mixed picture: while there are social spaces and some organized activities (games, conversation groups, Friday bingo) and many residents find the environment social and welcoming, at least one reviewer characterizes the community as having "very few activities" and notes that there is no dining service. For prospective residents who prioritize robust programming or dining, Lakewood Tower may fall short unless activities are expanded.

    In summary, Lakewood Tower Apartments offers many strengths typical of a desirable independent-living community: clean, well-maintained common areas, useful on-floor amenities, friendly neighbors, and attentive front-line staff. At the same time, the property shows recurring management and operational weaknesses — inconsistent manager responsiveness, exterior cleanliness and security lapses, slow repair timelines for some serious issues, and billing disputes — that materially affect resident satisfaction. Prospective residents should weigh the strong daily-living features and supportive community atmosphere against the documented safety, maintenance, and administrative concerns. For current management, prioritizing exterior-area maintenance, improving timely repairs to critical building systems, clarifying billing and reimbursement policies, and stabilizing or improving management responsiveness would address the principal patterns of resident complaint identified across these reviews.

    Location

    Map showing location of Lakewood Tower Apartments

    About Lakewood Tower Apartments

    Lakewood Tower Apartments has 80 independent living apartment homes in a six-story building built in 2003, where each unit has between 610 and 762 square feet of space, giving a choice of one or two bedrooms and one bathroom, so people can pick what fits them best, and dogs and cats are both welcome since they have pet-friendly policies, so residents don't have to give up their pets if they move in. The apartments have accessible laundry facilities on every floor, which people find handy, and there's a workout room residents can use if they want to keep active. Every floor has sitting areas for playing games, talking, or doing activities, and gathering rooms for social events or group activities, which makes it easy to get to know neighbors if that's important to someone. The building offers controlled access to keep residents safe, and residents can park for free, which is convenient for those with cars. People staying here can enjoy a lake view that brings some peace and calm. The office manager is known for being friendly and patient, helping everyone through the application and move-in process, and answering questions after they've started living there, so there's always someone to talk to about concerns or needs.

    People often ask...

    Nearby Communities

    • Exterior view of a large, modern three-story senior living facility building with a covered entrance driveway, surrounded by green lawns and trees under a partly cloudy blue sky.
      $5,633 – $7,322+3.9 (69)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      assisted living, memory care

      Alto Grayslake

      1865 E Belvidere Rd, Grayslake, IL, 60030
    • Exterior view of Belmont Village Senior Living Glenview building at dusk, showing a large covered entrance with white columns, well-maintained landscaping with bushes and trees, and a multi-story brick and siding facade with lit windows.
      $3,965+4.6 (121)
      Semi-private
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Belmont Village Senior Living Glenview

      2200 Golf Rd, Glenview, IL, 60025
    • Evening view of the entrance area of Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park, featuring brick walls, decorative lighting fixtures, a circular chandelier on the ceiling, and a sign with the facility's name visible near the street.
      $5,506 – $7,157+4.5 (131)
      Semi-private • 1 Bedroom • Studio
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      Belmont Village Senior Living Lincoln Park

      700 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL, 60614
    • Two-story senior living building with balconies overlooking a large manicured lawn and pond under a blue sky.
      $2,189 – $3,529+4.4 (70)
      Studio • 1 Bedroom • 2 Bedroom
      independent living

      StoryPoint Grand Rapids West

      3121 Lake Michigan Drive Northwest, Grand Rapids, MI, 49504
    • Front exterior view of the American House Town and Country senior living facility with a circular driveway, landscaped greenery, and an American flag on a flagpole under a wooden entrance canopy.
      $5,000+3.9 (61)
      suite
      assisted living, memory care

      American House Town and Country

      1020 Woods Mill Rd, Town and Country, MO, 63017
    • Three-story modern senior living building with balconies set behind a grassy lawn and a pond with a fountain.
      $3,000 – $7,000+4.5 (98)
      suite
      independent, assisted living, memory care

      StoryPoint Novi

      42400 W 12 Mile Rd, Novi, MI, 48377

    Assisted Living in Nearby Cities

    23 facilities$5,563/mo
    24 facilities$5,537/mo
    19 facilities$6,174/mo
    14 facilities$5,936/mo
    5 facilities
    27 facilities$5,373/mo
    17 facilities$5,936/mo
    6 facilities$4,421/mo
    25 facilities$5,563/mo
    20 facilities$6,174/mo
    20 facilities$6,174/mo
    34 facilities$5,182/mo
    © 2025 Mirador Living