Overall sentiment across the reviews is strongly mixed, with a clear split between positive experiences focused on apartment quality, amenities and some staff, and highly negative experiences centered on a persistent pest infestation and perceived management failures. Several reviewers praise the apartments themselves — describing units as updated, clean, spacious and refreshingly non-depressing — and highlight the building's historical character, good location, ample amenities, and strong programming when activities are running. Multiple people explicitly state they would recommend the property based on these positive aspects and mention friendly staff and an excellent tour experience with the Director.
However, an overriding and recurring theme in the negative feedback is a bed bug problem that reviewers report in both resident apartments and common/activity spaces. Complaints include sightings and evidence of bed bugs in activity rooms and common areas, repeated chemical treatments that reviewers say have not resolved the issue, and a perceived lack of effective pest-management strategy. Several reviewers describe health and sanitation concerns and the practical and financial burdens of having to discard contaminated furniture and bedding—especially significant for residents on fixed incomes. One reviewer explicitly states the problem rose to the level of an infestation and that continued management inaction prompted plans to move.
Management and staff are described inconsistently across reviews. On the positive side, some reviewers praise friendly staff and an excellent tour experience with the Director. On the negative side, multiple reviewers call out the office manager as rude or aggressive and criticize management's responsiveness to serious issues (notably the pest problem and the prolonged closure of activity spaces). This creates a pattern of mixed interpersonal experiences: daily-contact staff and some administrative staff may be helpful and pleasant, while others — particularly in management roles related to resolving building-wide problems — are seen as unresponsive or adversarial.
Facilities and common areas show both strengths and weaknesses in the reviews. Strengths include well-maintained, updated apartments, perceived cleanliness by several residents, and active programming and amenities when available. Weaknesses include reports of activity rooms being closed for months (which affects community life and the value proposition for senior living), reported bed bugs in common rooms, at least one report of villa-style homes being too small or not clean enough, and mechanical issues like an inoperable door buzzer. The presence of closed activity spaces, combined with ongoing pest concerns, reduces access to the social and recreational benefits many residents expect from senior living.
Financial and eligibility issues were mentioned by a few reviewers and should be noted by prospective residents: some people report that residents on fixed incomes face additional burdens from furniture disposal and other costs associated with pest remediation, and one reviewer noted they were not eligible under OHFA income guidelines. These points indicate potential concerns for low-income applicants or residents for whom unexpected expenses would be difficult to absorb.
Taken together, the reviews suggest two distinct resident experiences. One group experiences updated, clean apartments, helpful staff, good activities, and overall value. The other group is experiencing disruptive and potentially serious pest issues, significant dissatisfaction with management response, and prolonged closures of shared spaces that diminish the community environment. The most frequent and serious complaint centers on bed bugs and management's handling of that issue. Prospective residents should weigh the positive attributes of the physical units, amenities and staff friendliness against the reported pest history and the consistency of management’s problem-solving. If considering Lakewoods Apartments, it would be prudent to ask management for documented pest-treatment records, inquire about current status of activity spaces and remediation plans, verify what support (financial or logistical) the property provides for affected residents, and speak directly with current residents about how recent issues have been handled.
