Went to this place for viewing today, hall way has a weird smell, some walls and almost the whole kitchen in the apartment is full of mould. This should be fixed before booking any viewing to save other people's time!
An absolute disaster. Came for a few days with family and was instantly met with construction works all over the block. There is scaffolding all over the apartment blocks as cladding work has been going on since July 2022. The main entryway, corridors, and our apartment reeked of garbage, food, and in general was very stuffy. Carpets in the corridor were stained with what must have been liquids from garbage. Presumably, this is due to the fact that due to the scaffolding, windows cannot be opened more than 5cm, and if opened, you're met with a stench. Our door had holes stuffed with tissues. Everywhere was dirty. There was a storage room in which the boiler was kept. It was full of grime and things were dumped on top of each other. Beds were ok however you can feel the metal springs, and when you move, it creaks. Sheets were rough and despite being summer, there was a heavy duvet on top. Bedroom floors were covered in a carpet and on picking up my shorts off the floor, found it covered in dust and hair. Bedside tables were covered in dust and there was a cobweb in the back corner of the bottom shelf. In the wardrobe, there were random bags dumped there and only 2 dusty hangers. In between furniture was also extremely dirty. Sofa was covered in grime as was the floor and coffee tables. There was a small desk with 2 drawers in which were random batteries and a broken pencil left by previous guests. There were stains left on the chairs and the glass, and the wooden legs of the glass dining table were covered in dust. The kitchen had appliances but kitchen utensils weren't organised neatly and were just stacked randomly. The best feature of the apartment was the bathroom. Thankfully it was relatively clean but the owners should have gotten better mats as ours got soaked. I had a bit of problem with the shower water pressure but thankfully it sorted itself out. Tongayi (in charge of our apartment) was often slow at replying and didn't even inform us about the cladding work and scaffolding. This information isn't shown on Booking.com either. On Booking.com it also says that there's the option of "cancelling cleaning services". To have cleaning services you must pay £35. The photos on Booking.com must have been edited. The view right now is scaffolding, not trees and grass. He/She never replied after we asked if we could have a refill of toilet paper. Tongayi however was fast in telling us that we had to take out the trash ourselves to the rubbish shoot. Never come here. If you do, it's at your own risk. It's that bad.
Like living in a mash up between Waterworld and the Green Mile! Continual water leaking makes the car park like an internal water feature, not just occasionally but every morning. Not just damp but 1-2 cms deep. I lived there for two years on the 5th floor. Scaffolding went up in July 2022 and it’s still there. You can’t use the balcony or indeed open the balcony door or windows which has been great over the last few really stiflingly hot weeks. No natural light for two years with no sign of the external repairs ever being completed. It’s like a prison and the noise during the day time in intrusive and continuous. Don’t even think you can work from the from there in the day time during working hours, You can’t. If it’s not the incessant drilling it’s the shouting and swearing workmen just outside your bedroom or living room window. No rubbish chutes on any floor so you have to drag your bin bags along the carpeted corridors to the lifts and then take them in the lift to the bins on the ground floor. Carpets and lifts stink of bin bag waste and are really stained. There are much better flats at the same price without the hassle. Be nice when it’s finished……
Gold plated brass. I lived there 2 years so I’m fully aware of exactly what’s going on. Underground gated car park is open a lot so ANYONE pulls in parking in anyone’s spot, middle of the lanes & reporting to concierge only gets a warning note posted on their car (no ticket despite the sign). The addicts that beg outside Aldi are constantly mooching around in the underground car park so make sure you hide your valuables & keep your car locked otherwise windows are going through. There’s a constant leaks everywhere: in car park causing huge puddles, bin stores so residents dump rubbish in entry instead (smell is horrendous), in hallways causing mould on carpet & ceiling. The leaks cause dripping mineral Stalactites that ruin your car paint (moaning to Concierge will only get them to stick a bit of cardboard in it so it drips NEXT to your car). Hallway Meter cupboards constantly unlocked so if you hate your neighbour, switch off their electricity meter/they can switch off yours. Scaffolding that’s been up since Glenfell cladding scam, still up. Residents balcony’s are obstructed, windows can only open so much. You only get 20 min of hot water from poor quality boiler to reheat. Theres no radiators/storage heaters only underfloor heating that takes about 3 hours to fully heat up. So be prepared to purchase other means of heating (increasing your electric bill). Management provides meter readings to energy company so pray they’re correct. The intercom system is linked to your mobile phone so you have to regularly provide your up to date phone number. Every 12 months your gate & internal door fob needs to be updated otherwise no longer works. Management has changed as of 2025 to a new company and it only got worse. None of the pre-mentioned issues have been resolved. If any cricket match is on at Edgbaston, the one and only road entrance into the so-called private complex is actually CLOSED so whether you pay rent or mortgage, they don’t care cause the cricket takes priority. Only residents/visitors should be parking in the complex outside on the street but everybody from Cannon Park & Aldi visitors will park there taking any and all visitor Spaces. Taxis and Uber drivers will be visiting every 2-3 minutes doing three point turns at the junction by the zebra crossing, no indication. Constant foot and road traffic from Cannon Hill Park will drive you absolutely crazy, including when the park has an event. Major events from the cricket ground will also close the road up to Pershore Rd and you’ll be lucky that they let you drive in via the wildlife nature Centre on Pershore Road and you will have to drive your vehicle through the wildlife Centre car park, in through Cannon Hill Park and then they drop a bollard for you, allowing you to enter via the other end of Hemisphere apartments complex. Due to the amount of people also doing, this prepare for this to take you 25 minutes. You will be notified by Concierge via notices in the lobby that the road will be closing almost every second day out of the week, but mostly on the weekends during Spring and summer. Don’t expect anything more. Mostly criminals and drug dealers live here and they will spend evenings sitting outside or parked up together. Locked doors are pulled open damaging them, rubbish dropped on floor inside, vandalism everywhere. Don’t move here
Nice neighborhood, not far from center. Currently there is cladding work going on. Likely to take long. Right next to a edgbaston cricket stadium, but a sixer wont reach this courtyard.
Very nice apartment complex. The conceirge service is good, great locality with Canon hill park literally in your backyard. Some of the flats have a weird layout though with one room being extremely small and having no built in wardrobe. Kitchen plan could be better. The most significant con I've noticed while living here is how THIN the walls are. You can hear EVERYTHING from everywhere. Literally can hear music on weekends playing from God knows where.
Awkward parking: Visiting a relative on numerous occasions I have found the parking for visitors dismal. I got fined £60 for visiting my relative for over the two hour parking time. The only other nearest parking available is on Cannon hill Road.......good luck finding a spot, virtually impossible. And, if you do it's then quite a long way to walk to apartments. Also, noted, that there is no sprinkler valve system in place god forbid there was a fire. In an emergency the lifts are sparsely placed at the extreme ends of the complex......this is a deathtrap, a calamity waiting to happen. This needs to be addressed asap, but who am I to say but a piddly smalltime reviewer. Entrance to apartments is via intercom that rings the owners' mobile to then let you in. In case of poor signal you are sometimes left standing outside for a wee while. Beware on cricket nights the parking is non existant.
Went to visit my friend. Love the place and it's location. The balcony has great view. I like how clean is the carrydore and the entrances. If I live in Birmingham,i would've thought to rent there.
Apartments are great. Have a modern interior with under floor heating. Close to the centre and has a bus stop near by as well as parking. Also has an Aldi opposite which is very handy.
Hemisphere Apartments is located at The Ashes, Birmingham B5 7SB, UK
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