Luxury Apartment Amenities Have Gotten Out of Control
Media rooms. Yoga corners. Maker spaces. Why do we need this stuff in our own homes?
I’ve recently begun the infuriating process known as apartment hunting. In addition to the days or maybe weeks of my life I’ll never get back — precious time spent scanning rental listings and futilely calling landlords and agencies — I’m losing time to the predictably shady brokers and agents who don’t even bother to put a fresh coat of whitewash over the truths they stretch about square footage or building conditions.
The wackiest aspect of the first weekend of drudgery was the collection of over-the-top amenities new high-rises seem to think we home-seekers not only want but will actually use. I understand the appeal of a gym and in-unit laundry; I would even be thrilled to have them. I’d probably even hang out in a building’s great wrap-around outdoor space, complete with trees, a garden, and paths looking down over the welter of traffic a few stories below. But as I eyed the gas grills and fire pits, I began to feel myself inching down a slippery slope of absurdity.
These places start with a common room, which we can all probably agree isn’t a bad thing; it’s nice that you and your neighbors can hang out, watch a game together, and share a place for resident…
