I don't have time to write a long review, but the last one struck as so far off the mark that I thought I should say something. Particularly bizarre is the criticism that the walls are so thin you can hear a pin drop next door. My problem with the walls is that they are solid concrete and you need a drill with a masonry bit to hang a picture. A bomb could go off next door and I wouldn't hear it.

The noise you do get comes from the apartment above, and the neighbor below had some complaints about noise from my apartment (guests in high heels waking her baby at 2 a.m.) until I broke down and bought rugs. I'm on the top floor so I hear people walking on the roof -- which offers the best view of the city that you can get except for the top of the National Cathedral up the street, but you can't live in the Cathedral. We're on top of Observatory Hill, which is the highest elevation in Washington, a few hundred yards from VP Cheney's residence on the grounds of the National Observatory.

If you live on the front-side of the building, on one of the upper floors, you can get that view from your apartment. Believe me, it will impress that date in high heels at 2 a.m. with the Capitol and Washington Monument lit up outside your window. And you can watch Cheney coming and going in Huey helicopters. But the front side of the building is also noisier because you have a lot of traffic on Wisc. Ave., and the ambulances on the way to Georgetown Hospital pass by, sirens blaring, 2-3 times/day. You get used to it. It's like my last residence, out in the suburbs, under the flight path into National Airport along the Potomac River. You stop talking until the noise passes, and then resume the conversation.

The staff is very friendly, with one front-desk exception as someone else pointed out. She's not even nasty -- she just doesn't make eye contact or smile, and if she has to buzz you in because you don't have your key-card, she'll make you sign in even though she's seen you come and go for five years. It's annoying, but you can live with it.

The maintenance staff is quick to respond to leaky faucets and burned out light bulbs (high ceilings -- you need a ladder), and willing to do almost anything outside their job description for a few bucks.

Everything you need is nearby. Good restaurants: Italian at Mama's, German at Old Europe, Mexican at Marguerita's, Tex-Mex at Austin Grill, Pizza at Kavanaugh's, sandwiches at Subway. There's a Whole Foods, a hair-dresser, a hardware store, a book store, a Post Office, a Blockbusters, a Starbucks, and two strip-joints -- all within a block. And that hotel across the street' -- it has a contract with United Airlines to put up their international flight attendants. Whether you're --- or straight, it's good hunting.

Here's the main thing: the owners actually care. Shortly after I first moved in five years ago there was a fire on the ninth floor. The residents who couldn't stay in their apartments because of fire or smoke damage were put up at the hotel across the street for a week -- at the owner's expense. There's nothing in the lease that required them to do that. Also, they could easily raise rents by 50%, but they haven't.

John Noble
Apt. 910

User Responses
From: BenIsAPutz	Date: 10/12/2005
For someone who "doesn't have time to write a LONG review," you sure lied. You seem to be a very lonely guy who ONLY has time to write long reviews on a stupid apartment rating board. Hey, BEN. We know it's you. Get a LIFE, you GEEK LOSER. LMAO!

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