<p>I can't say enough bad things about this dorm. You know there is something wrong with a dorm where more than half of the resident assistant staff quits before the end of the first semester. In addition, if you try to bring any of this to the attention of the leasing staff at signing, they will dispute it. This dorm only cares about extracting as much money from it's residents as possible, and giving you the least in return. JUST REMEMBER, THESE PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU ANYTHING AT SIGNING IN ORDER TO GET YOUR MONEY.</p>
<p>Temperature:
I have never had a hot shower in the 6 months I've been here. I don't know why, but I'm always taking freezing showers and drying off while I'm shivering. Also, The building has a two-pipe system, so it can only blow ice cold air or no air. Which means, you will be wearing 3 layers of clothes and still be shivering. Everyone always walks around talking about how they don't sleep well because this dorm is always so cold. Even in the wintertime.</p>
<p>Food:
I have never eaten in a more poorly managed place in my life. The staff is disgustingly rude and crass. It is a joke how bad the food is. I'm not a chef, and I can make something tastier with my eyes closed. The meat is either dry like chalk or smelly and half-frozen. The eggs are always watery because they are undercooked. The fruit they serve is fresh for one day, but then they re-use it over and over again until it eaten-meaning the fruit is usually brown and rotting. Aside from the meat and produce, all other items on the menu have no flavor. Everyone sits around at the table talking about how bad the food is, at every meal! And the dorm REQUIRES you to buy a meal plan. If you want to take food-to-go, the Nazi cafeteria staff will chase you to give the apple or whatever back.They sometimes let the homeless people in Austin eat there, which I agree is a very nice gesture, but is super unsanitary and inappropriate when resident who pay good money are trying to eat with their friends. Also, I have definitely gotten sick from eating the food numerous times...won't go into detail. :)</p>
<p>Price:
With a required meal plan, living fees, parking spot fee, internet access fee, and rent, you are paying roughly $1100 a month if you don't have a single room. If you are fixing to spend that kind of money, PLEASE do it anywhere else. This place is old, smelly dirty, etc.</p>
<p>Parking:
They charge an obscene dollar amount for a parking slot in their garage. There are garages in west campus that charge about half the price that Castilian does for a parking space lease. Over $100 a month for parking, keep your money.In addition, the garage itself is so poorly designed, people have almost-accidents on a daily basis. Lastly, The back of my car was hit while I was parked one night, and the management said there was nothing they could do to help.
Internet: Numerous friends and myself experienced internet crashes, where the network turned off our internet capability, and even though we paid for internet, we had to walk all the way to the library on campus to do our work for a whole week while they tried "diagnosing" the problem.</p>
<p>Laundry Room:
Most of the time, more than half of the machines are broken, so there's a line just to do your laundry. They fix the machines and tidy up the dorm right before leasing season so that you won't see any problems. But trust me, they are always broken. </p>
<p>Elevators:
The slowest ones you'll ever ride on. It will take you AT LEAST ten minutes to go from your floor to the first floor. And the building only has 12 resident floors. The walls of the elevator are always greasy, I have no idea why, and are not ventilated or air conditioned so they're always hot, humid, and smelly.
Roommate matching: They don't match up roommates unless you specifically ask for someone you know.And if you get someone you don't like, they will not switch it, unless someone else in the dorm is actively looking for a new roommate, and all people involved agree to a change. </p>
<p>Computer Lab: The printing NEVER works. It will be 10 minutes before your class and you won't be able to print. The computers often freeze, and stay frozen for days before theyre fixed.</p>
<p>Pool/Gym:
I don't think the pool has ever been cleaned. The majority of time, the machines in the weight room are broken or have pieces missing that makes them unusable. </p>
<p>Maintenance:
I don't know why they even have a staff. When anything has broken in my dorm, and my roommate or I reported it, it took three weeks for the problem to be fixed. Each week, I had to call and remind them there was a problem. </p>
<p>I could go on and on, but I'll just tell you this: Please, spend the money somewhere else, because you can get a WAY better deal somewhere else. I regret the day I signed my lease. I more so regret that I paid an entire year up front, because if I hadn't, I would take the same money and live somewhere much nicer, cleaner, and more comfortable.</p>
<p>Best wishes in your dorm searching!</p>