Summer Storage Options

<p>Just starting to seriously think about where to store things over the summer. It seems a bit silly to bring home the same bedding, printer & household items we bought S & bring up to his dorm for him, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to fly the stuff home. His room mate also is from far away Boston & will need to store things over the summer as well. Anyone have positive experiences with storage? Companies?</p>

<p>I've read mixed things from various companies & would life feedback of what has worked for different USCers. Thanks!</p>

<p>Last summer I used A-American Self Storage on Grand Ave. (<a href="http://www.aamericanselfstorage.com/losangel.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.aamericanselfstorage.com/losangel.html&lt;/a&gt;) The facility is just east of campus, on the other side of the 110 freeway. They charged $312 for a 5'x10' unit for 3 months.</p>

<p>It wasn't a terrible facility, but it's not the cleanest. It is extremely convenient because it's so close to campus, which makes a major difference if you are making multiple runs with a small car.</p>

<p>Some of the units can only be accessed by freight elevator, which gets very crowded during peak times. Also, there is a limited number of carts and dollies in the building, so I would recommend bringing your own if you have a lot to move.</p>

<p>Call early to make a reservation, and call again to confirm it before you show up. I had originally reserved a smaller unit, but they "lost" my reservation and I was forced to rent the larger space and pay more money.</p>

<p>CollegeBoxes.com is a popular company for students without a lot of stuff. The company arranges for pick-up and storage, then re-delivers your boxes in August via UPS. However, I had several large items such as a desk chair, and I wanted my belongings to be accessible as soon as I returned to campus.</p>

<p>Thanks--this is helpful. Anyone other folks with experiences to share?</p>

<p>That self storage facility quoted me $89/month for a 5x5 unit, so perhaps the rates have gone up since last year? Probably a good idea to get things in writing so they won't "lose" your reservation.</p>

<p>My daughter studied abroad last semester, and we needed to find a place to store her belongings. She did not have a car, so using a local storage facility would have been difficult. At the time, I called all of the local storage places, and one did offer the use of a truck. However, we ended up going with a company called "Door to Door Storage" (<a href="http://www.doortodoor.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.doortodoor.com&lt;/a&gt;) which worked out wonderfully! They deliver a locking storage "crate" and will give you up to five days to fill it. They pick it up, and haul it away to a warehouse until you schedule it to be redelivered. If your son does not have furniture, one crate would be plenty big enough for his roommate's things, as well. The price (including pick-up and re-delivery) was comparable to the local storage places, but this was much easier as it could be filled at a more leisurely pace and no vehicle was needed. My daughter lived in an apartment near campus, and the crate was parked in the street in front of her place. You would have to check with the housing office to see how long they would allow it to stay outside the dorm. I also noticed crates by "PS Storage", so you might want to check them out, too. Door to Door also sells moving boxes and supplies, which can be delivered when they drop off the crate. You order more than you think you need, and they will take back the unused ones. The price seemed fair--much cheaper than the people who sold them on campus. I had purchased a carton of Allied moving boxes from Costco, but was disappointed in the quality. They were very thin. Hope this is helpful. It must be hard to be so far away.</p>

<p>people seem to love those giant storage crates that they drop off and pick up a few days later. I don't have any particular experience with them though, sorry.</p>

<p>Thanks for these ideas. I've read some bad reports about collegeboxes.com from different campuses. Would still love to read more of folks experiences.
Thanks!</p>