Colonies reviews and ratings

I arrived on a Sunday evening with two suitcases: bed made, kitchen equipped, wifi already working. My housemates had even left me a welcome note on the garden table.

They only returned 242 euros of my 693 euro security deposit and charged me for cleaning, major damage, and lost keys, even though I never lost my keys.

Given the dilapidated and unclean state of room #8 at the Artynia Residence in Nantes, I was unable to move in on Saturday, October 17, 2026, and conduct an entry inspection (photos attached – no joint inspection report was provided): • Broken headboard • Moldy and stained sheets • Crumbs and dirt in the sheets • Very dirty carpet • Dirty floor • Broken office chair! • Missing duvet! • Worn pillows • Broken toilet seat and bowl • Mold in the shower • No shared toilet in the building (despite what I was assured over the phone) I also noted the rest of the building: Broken dry food cupboard, broken door on one of the two ovens, and the safety of the residents is compromised by the balcony. Since it's impossible to visit the house before signing the lease, I had no way of realizing all of this beforehand. Furthermore, the listing stated that bedroom #8 was 19m² on the website (photo attached). However, it's barely 9m² according to the Carrez Law (living space). This is misleading. The actual size isn't specified in the lease agreement either. I'm currently trying to get my deposit and rent refunded. So far, I've received no response from them.

The refund wasn't even mandatory, yet they granted it. Respect.

I can't find the words to describe my experience with Colonies. I arrived in August 2026 to an apartment in a pitiful state of filth (bordering on unsanitary). I was only staying two days before leaving for another two weeks. So I contacted Colonies with photos, demanding that a cleaning be done as soon as possible before my new roommates arrived. I also contacted my future roommates to let them know. Colonies did NOTHING. My roommate arrived a few days later and found the apartment just as dirty. She even had a panic attack. She harassed Colonies, who finally allocated us two hours of cleaning (lol). The person who came to clean then contacted the agency to request more hours because two hours seemed like a joke given the state of the apartment. In the end, it took them more than ten hours for a better result, but there was still work to be done on our end. Since the previous roommates had kindly left behind tons of stuff to throw away, my poor roommate had to spend two days emptying and disposing of it. She also had to keep cleaning. Finally, once everyone was more or less settled in, we realized the apartment had multiple problems: a malfunctioning dishwasher (it wasn't actually just plugged in), a lock that wouldn't stay closed, doors with holes, a stovetop that only worked one out of three times, a radiator that wouldn't stay attached to the wall, missing window seals... So, Colonies had the bright idea of ​​calling in an outside company to fix EACH problem, one at a time. I lost count of the number of times I went back and forth to that apartment. I understand it's difficult to manage everything, but managing all those appointments with my roommates was even harder. We're all students with schedules that change every week, and one of my roommates didn't speak French. In short, the problems took over six months to be more or less resolved. Having completely lost it and decided to move out in February, imagine my surprise when I received an email from Colonies asking us to schedule a visit to inspect the apartment. It might seem surprising that I was, but I tried for months to get someone from this damn agency to come and plan real improvements to our living conditions. Don't expect to meet anyone, especially if you have a problem; dealing with these issues is a nightmare. I paid over 700 euros a month for a room in Saint-Denis (93) only to end up living in a dysfunctional apartment that created an enormous mental burden. My advice: don't give your money to these scammers; they won't do anything for you except take your money. Ps: I even tried threatening to stop paying my rent but the agency doesn't give a damn, I think they have lawyers behind them.

Everything I'm saying can be proven, with (plenty of) evidence that I've provided to my lawyer. Colonies (Super Living SAS), to be clear about who's behind this, is the company that shows a particular lack of respect for you if you've been in an apartment for a long time, especially if you're the original signatory of the lease, regardless of the law. Changing the rent without the mandatory rent review on an existing lease? No problem for them, even though it's illegal. Expect to get a room that's worse than the others, not even as originally agreed, for more money, because the rents have been changed in the meantime without respecting the law. You don't choose your roommates, which is already a problem, and even if it complies with my lease (not certain about the law), Colonies reserves the right not to provide me with the addenda after I've signed them (illegal, not in accordance with the lease or the addenda themselves, which state that they are signed with knowledge of the other addenda). Are you launching legal proceedings? Several at the same time? No problem, Colonies will tell you that you haven't done anything at all. As for me, several SEPARATE proceedings, independent of the lawsuit being prepared following the failure of conciliation (a FREE alternative to mediation indicated in the addenda I have in my possession): TWO complaints to the DGCCRF (French Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control), the first of which received a response containing defamation, ILLEGAL, and the second a reference to the first response which was supposed to explain everything. The DGCCRF (a consumer protection agency) is a legal procedure, which in my case is in addition to others: the DGCCRF has judicial powers. Colonies doesn't seem to understand (and neither do some of the unilaterally imposed roommates) that the law is not open to compromise. It must be respected; it is not negotiable. If, exasperated by their practices, you persist, Colonies will block you, removing the button to submit a new request in the chat, the only way to contact them since they don't have physical offices accessible to their customers. Even the customer service phone number (which used to go to voicemail) no longer works for me, although I don't yet know if it has been removed or blacklisted (which would be extremely serious for an existing customer who pays on time and respects the rules, at least the legal ones). But if you are a new tenant, it's no better. Do you think the photos (exaggerated with a fisheye lens and HDR) accurately represent the place where you're going to live, and for which you're being refused an actual visit? Think again. Regardless of image enhancement techniques used at the time of shooting, you have no idea what the room's current condition is. Colonies no longer conducts a move-in/move-out inspection (even though it's stipulated in my lease) between tenants, which results in arriving in a room very different from what was promised. And I'm talking about damage, not cleanliness (now Colonies is trying to impose a systematic cleaning in the Île-de-France region, paid for by the security deposit without any justification through a move-in/move-out inspection, which is no more legal and doesn't repair the damage). So, the glowing reviews, naming specific agents and appearing several times in a row following criticism, seem all the less credible to me because I know how Colonies operates: a sales department on one side, a customer service department on the other. I'm not even going to mention the "managers" who have no business being involved in customer relations for a shared apartment, whereas renting an apartment, even for shared use, legally grants us exclusive use (exclusive between roommates, of course). The person in question will know who they are. A salesperson left the company (in my case, I had a phone interview to verify that I was a suitable tenant, which is no longer practiced), and there's no follow-up whatsoever.

From the start, I knew exactly what to expect regarding the rules and conditions. There were no gray areas, and frankly, that saved a lot of unnecessary stress.

Based on my experience, I do not recommend this company. After a long struggle to obtain the keys, I discovered a dirty and dilapidated room, which I immediately reported with supporting photos. I never lived or slept there, yet I still paid the required rent. Despite returning the keys on July 28, 2026, I still haven't received my €811 security deposit back. Colonies informed me of a €611 refund, which I still haven't received, and is withholding €200 without providing the requested documentation. Their explanation for this €200 also changed throughout our correspondence. After numerous follow-ups, I had to send a formal notice by registered mail. An exhausting experience, a lack of transparency, and management that I find unacceptable. I advise future tenants to be extremely vigilant.

Hello, having been unable to reach anyone on the Colonies team despite several attempts, I am contacting you here. I still haven't received my deposit, even though the legal deadline for its return has passed. I would appreciate it if the person responsible could contact me as soon as possible to resolve this situation.

The room I wanted, thanks to Emma.