The Gardens - disappointing quality

Review On Eta Star, Chennai

ETA Star has ready to move in apartments in Bangalore. "The Gardens" project is located in the heart of the city, literally within a stone's throw from Majestic railway station.

We visited after speaking to their marketing rep & he had mailed us a price list which quoted a rate of Rs. 4700 per square feet (revised from an earlier rate of Rs. 4300).

During our site visit, this figure magically jumped to Rs.5000 --> cause for instant irritation.

They showed us 2 model appartments, 3 BHKs which had been done. I noticed that the false ceiling in the bathrooms were crumbling / damaged. We then asked them to show us other appartments. The quality of woodwork was terrible.

The room doors were stained, cracked & in some cases had started peeling. Door knobs were rusty. The balcony sliding doors were not aligned & could not close completely. The ceramic tiles in some appartments were again stained, damaged, misaligned.

The false ceiling in most bathrooms were crumbling / missing / blackened. The wash basins & WCs were again in a pathetic condition.

Age of the project remains a mystery - we got varying responses as to how old the building was. One person said 2 years, another 4 years and yet another said a year.

Looking at the state of the living spaces, it is hard to believe that it is a new project. Having said that, we felt that it was completed a while ago & then the builder was stuck because of the recession in 2008 & earlier part of 2009.

Coming to the other amenities & facilities - the layout is impressive with 10 towers housing 900+ appartments. The outdoor swimming pool is huge & a visual treat. The club house, tennis courts, badminton & squash courts looked good too.

Sore point is that there are a couple of ponds that resemble muddy ditches, very poorly maintained. A big let down was the ladies pool & gym - these are located in the basement of a building.

Felt utterly suffocated. When asked about this, was promptly shown an exhaust fan which faces an internal corridor (?!!), so no chance of fresh air.

There were some water tank type covers on the fringe of the pool which were lying open with exposed wiring & the covers were rusty.

The builder rep had obnoxious answers to concerns raised by us. For eg, he claimed that they were "growing fungus" in the water body to give it a natural look (?!!).

Important quality concerns about the living space itself (floor, woodwork etc) were brushed aside with a "we will repair it".

I looked for reviews online before & found none prior to my visit. Conclusion - would definitely not recommend this place as quality if questionable (highly).

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