Blog Posts

In Your Own Backyard Places to Visit in the Williamsville Area

In our last post, the Renaissance Place Apartments Blog shared some tips for day trips, and as promised, this time we are highlighting several places within driving distance of Williamsville, NY to visit this summer. When was the last time you visited Niagara Falls? Places to Visit Niagara Falls State Park When was the last time you visited Niagara Falls State Park? If it’s been awhile, there’s no time like now to plan a trip. It takes about 40 minutes to get to the park, and once you have arrived there are plenty of activities including the Adventure Theater, the Aquarium of Niagara, Cave of Winds, and don’t miss Illuminations. For details, visit the website! Buffalo Zoo The Buffalo Zoo is the perfect place to go for a day trip. Located about 25 minutes away from Renaissance Place, the zoo offers a variety of animals and events to experience. Hours are 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (Grounds close at 5:00 PM). Check the website for holiday and special event hours. “My wife and I make it a point to get out to the zoo every so often, usually 2-3 times a year I'd estimate. We've been to a number of them all around the North East and honestly the Buffalo one stands up pretty well, and in my opinion only trails Toronto and Cleveland.” — Yelp Review Helpful Websites and Apps TripAdvisor is a useful app for planning road trips. You can put in the location you are interested in traveling to and it will come up with a Top Ten list of places to visit, which you can narrow down by category. To determine if you want to visit a specific place, we suggest heading over to Yelp and reading reviews about your proposed location to get a better idea of what to expect and if it meets your criteria for a good place to spend time and money. You can find many apps out there that will make your trip go much smoother. KOA has a few different app suggestions to use for your next trip: INRIX is a traffic app that will let you know of accidents, traffic jams, and other road alerts. It will then help you find the best way around the traffic. GasBuddy is perfect for finding the nearest and cheapest gas around. Roadtrippers is a great app to find the best local information. Find reviews about cool places and hidden gems in each city you visit. We hope you have a fabulous summer filled with visits to wonderful places here in Western New York. Where is your favorite local getaway spot? Let us know in the comments so we can visit too.

Day Trip Tips

Chances are you’ve had friends who are coming to town who have asked for recommendations for places to go and things to see while they are in the area, and you roll off a list of must-see attractions — but how long has it been since you’ve actually visited those places yourself? Or perhaps you’ve always been meaning to go, but never actually made it? Change that this summer by getting out of your apartment and enjoying some day trips right here in the Williamsville, NY area. We’ve got tips for doing day trips in today’s Renaissance Place Apartments Blog post. Think Like a Tourist Think of the list of places you suggest to visitors to the area. Choose one you haven’t visited for awhile or that is new to you. If none of those sound all that interesting, broaden your horizons and plan an overnight road trip a little further afield. Check out Airbnb or VRBO for accommodations. Get online and check out hours, admission costs, and other details. Plan your trip for a weekday if possible to avoid crowds and take advantage of possible lower rates. Read up before you go, so the visit will be more interesting once you get there. Take Advantage of Local Perks Being a local has its advantages. Check with the venue you are interested in visiting to determine if they offer discounts for local residents. Knowing the area also has advantages including a knowledge of how long it will take to get where you’re going, and time-saving routes to use. Be sure to check for construction or other delays on your proposed route. Take the weather into consideration too while you are making plans as this may determine whether you visit an indoor or outdoor site. Prepare in Advance Plan ahead with water and snacks for the ride. Build some leisure time into your day just to relax — that’s the point, right? Read some reviews beforehand and make reservations at a favorite restaurant or try something new to you. Check public transportation schedules and find out if you can get a day or weekend pass or if you’ll be driving your car, get it serviced and clean it out several days before you are planning to leave. Be sure to take lots of pictures to remember your weekend adventure! Do you know where you’re going to head first? If not, stay tuned, next time we’ll have some suggestions for places to visit that make an excellent day trip. Thanks for reading our post today.

Games for the Great Outdoors

Welcome back to the Renaissance Place Apartments Blog! In our last month’s post, we shared some tasty recipes for grilled cheese — we hope you were able to try some of them. Today, we’re offering suggestions for outdoor games for summertime fun. Try some of these games at your next barbecue or when you visit the park here in Williamsville, NY. Quoits — Popular with soldiers in ancient Greece and Rome, quoits became one of the original five events in the Greek pentathlon. Since quoits requires little equipment, it became a favorite pastime among peasants during the Middle Ages. Did you know that it’s a staple of backyard barbecues, family gatherings, and camping trips? Played with rings and a stake , you’ll find Quoits very similar to horseshoes. Croquet — Croquet can be played by two or four players. The object of the game is to hit your ball through a course of six hoops in the correct sequence and then back, finishing by hitting them against the center peg. Whoever completes the course first wins. It is easily portable, which makes it perfect for taking along on a picnic at the park. Tag Games — Who would think that running around chasing others could be so much fun? Take a step back to your childhood and get a group together to play a game of tag. We found this awesome resource that has three pages of tag game variations. Bocce — Also called lawn bowling, bocce has been around for ages. This game is easily played in any grassy area. Players take turns bowling brightly colored balls in an attempt to get closest to the jack (marker) ball. Amazon has a variety of bocce games to choose from for purchase. Giant Jenga — This classic stacking game goes outdoors. Having the right strategy is important, as well as Tetris skills. There are commercial varieties available, but if you are interested in building your own, Home Depot offers these easy to follow instructions . We hope you enjoy trying out some of these games this summer! What are your favorite summer-time outdoor games? Share with our apartment community in the comments!

DIY Mother's Day Cards

Mother’s Day is coming up on May 13th. We want to help you celebrate with some ideas for DIY Mother’s Day cards on the Renaissance Place Apartment Blog. However you note the day, we hope you have a great month here in Williamsville, NY. DIY: Mother's Day Card With Flowers from Lovely Clusters We love this pretty and very simple card. It requires these supplies: colored paper, a blank envelope and card, ribbon, a pen, a pencil, scissors, and a hot glue gun with glue sticks. DIY: Watercolor Mother’s Day Card from Adventures in Making These watercolor cards are so beautiful and are sure to make your mom smile. They take some detail and patience, but it will be worth it! To make one of these cards you’ll need a ruler, a pencil, an eraser, watercolor paper, a paintbrush, and watercolors. DIY Mother’s Day Cut Out Card from She Makes a Home This card is a perfect way to share your love. Be sure to pick out your favorite childhood photo with your mom to put inside the card. To make this card you’ll need cardstock, a pencil, a craft knife, an eraser, your photo, a calligraphy pen or marker, and an envelope. DIY String Art Flower Cards from Hello, Wonderful This card is easy enough for a kid to make, so we think it’s perfect for the person who may feel a little less crafty. To make these cards you’ll need cardstock, scissors, a pencil, yarn, a thick needle, a flower template, pom poms, and glue. Mother’s Day Card with Origami Letters from Zakka Life These origami cards are so fun to make and will be perfect to give to your mom this month. To make this card you’ll need three-inch by three-inch origami paper, glue dots, cardstock, and a ruler. That’s it! Be sure to include a heartfelt note or letter about why you love and appreciate your mom with your card. Include specifics about what she taught you, favorite memories, and things you learned from her.

Get Your Grill On & Create the Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Grilled cheese sandwiches are a comfort food, for sure. What’s not to love? Creamy cheese and toasted bread is a combination that says home, love, and comfort. Pair grilled cheese with a salad or soup and you have a satisfying lunch. Grilled cheese is also a go-to on those nights when you have a minimum amount of time to get something on the table before you have to head out for the evening. We get that, and today the Renaissance Place Apartments Blog is bringing you some variations on the grilled cheese sandwich theme with five recipes that take them to a whole new level. Put your apartment kitchen to good use and try all five recipes this month! Ultimate Gourmet Grilled Cheese from The Chunky Chef Herbed caramelized onions, rosemary butter, and creamy cheeses combine in this gourmet grilled cheese sandwich to light up your palate with gooey goodness. You’ll never want to go back to regular grilled cheese! Crab and Avocado Grilled Cheese from Foodie Crush Invest in some flavorful sourdough bread and a ripe avocado for this delectable recipe! The only other ingredients it calls for is Havarti cheese and crab meat (and butter for cooking). Make this for a classy way to sneak in some nutrition with your carbs. Monte Cristo Style Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Allrecipes.com This Monte Cristo sandwich combines a cheesy, meaty filling sandwiched between to slices of bread, which are dipped in an egg-batter then grilled to perfection. Dust it with powdered sugar and add preserves for dipping to turn it into a dessert. Blueberry Brie Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Simply Stacie For another dessert-inspired sweet grilled cheese sandwich, try this recipe! It will always catch our eye when we’re scrolling through Pinterest and looking for something fruity sweet. All you need is honey wheat bread, brie, and blueberry pie filling to create a masterpiece you surely won’t forget. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto from Once Upon a Chef Reviewers agree this is a delightful twist on an old favorite. Sun-dried tomatoes and pesto turn this sandwich into a stroll through an Italian herb garden. The author’s son calls them “pesto paninis” because they are rather like a “hot crispy pizza sandwich.” Pair with tomato soup for lunch. Making grilled cheese at your apartment isn’t the only way to enjoy this sandwich; getting grilled cheese for lunch makes a nice change from tacos or burgers. Where is your favorite place to get a good grilled cheese in the Williamsville, NY area? Let us know in the comments. Happy cooking! Thanks for reading today’s post.

Renaissance Place: Highly Rated by ApartmentRatings.com

Renaissance Place Apartments in Williamsville is always striving to make our apartment community the best place to live in New York, and when surveys speak, we listen. Renaissance Place was recently included in the top tier of ApartmentRatings.com ’s annual ranking, a prestigious accomplishment. To do it two years in a row (for 2016 and 2017) is nothing short of remarkable! ApartmentRatings.com reaches about 30% of the population looking for apartments nationwide. It ranks in the top five most-visited apartment hunting sites online, so to be part of the top 5% is a prestigious distinction . The criteria used to rank the properties nationwide for the award includes the achieving all of the following: — 10+ total reviews — 5+ reviews in 2017 — Overall recommended score of 70% or greater Our Recommendation Score was 98% — well above the required 70%. A hearty thank you goes out to members of our apartment community who took the time to write a review for Renaissance Place. We take the information you bring to us, at our offices or in a review, to heart. Our residents are simply the best! If you would like to leave a review but you aren’t quite sure what to include or how to format it, you may find this blog post about why reviews are important , which appears on our Luxury Apts WNY Blog , helpful. Write a review for Renaissance Place Apartments by clicking on “Submit a Review” on our reviews page. As a team, we are committed to providing our residents with an awesome living experience in our community. We know having things like online payments, a responsive team for apartment maintenance, updated amenities, and, of course, an excellent location all contribute to being one of the best places to live in the area. We’re happy to provide these features. Thanks for choosing us! What is your favorite thing about living at Renaissance Place Apartments? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for reading today’s post.