I lived in the Cambridge for almost 2 years. I had to find an apartment really fast in D.C. and I found the Cambridge. I was really thrilled with the price, but now I understand why it was so affordable.
For one, the apartment I had was fully carpeted. I admit that I am a messy person, but if your dining room table is over carpet, your carpet will get pretty nasty after a while. It also didn't help that my airconditioner flooded my apartment twice before they finally replaced it...and didn't even replace my DISGUSTING carpet. I think some of the apartments have hardwood and I highly recommend those for sanitary purposes.
Also, not having a dishwasher really sucks. When I saw that there was no dishwasher looking, I really didn't care. Having lived without a dishwasher, it sucks! One simple dinner (grilled chicken and pasta) can take a REALLY long time to clean up.
I lived on the second floor and had a TERRIBLE roach problem. I am not exagerrating...I tried everything but I think there must have been a nest or something because I had roaches everywhere. By the time I moved out, I was HAPPY to get out of that roach-mess.
Next, you need to realize that the building staff is generally very unfriendly. There was some older --------American lady working later hours who would never say hello back to me, but would say "hi" to others. I even gave the building staff a christmas gift and never heard back. I understand that this isn't the Ritz, but when you lock yourself out of your apartment, it's ridiculous to have to pay 25 dollars to get back in. One night, I went out with friends and came back and realized that my key was in my apartment. So, I asked to get back in, since the 24 hour front desk has the keys. I had to leave the building around 3 AM to walk around to find an ATM so I could get back into my apartment. That is so absurd and really made me lose respect for the building management. I understand getting charged to replace a lock, but simply getting back into your apartment since you left your key in the unit is not grounds to get charged.
Next, the pool sucks. The deck is carpeted (uuum I would prefer concrete) and the pool is basically a tiny sess-pool that I would never step foot in. Also, the laundry room is almost always full (since there are not enough washers/dryers) and the dryers are really poor quality.
Lastly, the area sucks! The area basically shuts down past 9 p.m. which makes it boring/dangerous. Getting a cup of coffee late at night (a priority for a graduate student) is a pain in the ass. You are much better off being a few blocks west around 14th/Rhode Island. It might be in the heart of the city, but not in a residential area! This is suprisingly inconvenient to tenants. Also, the people in the building can be CRAZY! Yeah, there are plenty of budget-concious young people, but there are several OBVIOUS drug dealers/addicts and just straight-up NUT JOBS.
P.S., don't be fooled by the lobby. There are plenty of upscale buildings in D.C. with drab lobbies. You will spend hardly any time in the lobby, and the apartments inside the building are not very nice comparatively.

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