When I moved into Pooks Hill Towers in 2003, the rent was very low for Bethesda. Location is and always will be the only real asset the place has. A resident is positioned right on the Beltway AND on Wisconsin, allowing easy access to Downtown DC and the surrounding areas if one drives. Moreover, the walkable proximity to NIH will guarantee that no matter how crappy the building is, it will always have residents.

The building had issues and the half-hearted upkeep left much to be desired. By 2005, there was an unstoppable building-wide infestation of roaches. I left just as the renovations were getting underway full-swing (Fall, 2007), but I have my doubts that these will improve the quality of the residences to justify the massive spike in the rent. Some of the best things about the place--the vintage metal kitchen cabinets and parquet floors--will definitely go the way of dodo.

The biggest warning that I would pass on to anyone considering Pooks Hill Towers is this: the staff at the rental office is egregiously incompetent. In the four years I lived there, there was a very high turnover of employees--three complete regime changes. Everyone I know who has lived at Pooks Hill has had great difficulty in the return of their security deposit. For my part, it took three months of squabbling over the telephone until I finally told the manager I had contacted a lawyer: my security deposit was returned to me within two days.

Gables is a big management corporation and Pooks Hill Towers is obviously not one of their star properties; don't expect the regional manager to return your calls. Ever. About anything.

There was a lot I was willing to tolerate a lot when it was cheap. You might not find it worth your while now.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/15/2008
Everyone make note that there is a law that your security deposit must be returned within a certain amount of time, I believe it is 60 days. AFter that they owe you several times the amount plus interest. I stopped hassling them when I read this, let time go by, and received a check for over 1,000 dollars for my 250 security deposit in 24 hours, overnighted to me, when I reminded them of this LAW 2 days after the deadline.
From: cloclo	Date: 12/08/2008
Are all these things about pooks hill true? I was thinking of moving in, visited the place and saturday but none of these could meet my eyes. Can you elaborate on your experience or are you just upset?
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/09/2008
FROM THE ORIGINAL POSTER: I haven't done a lot of apartment hunting around the Bethesda area recently, so the rent at Pooks Hill MAY very well be competitive still. I also have not been inside the building since the renovations were completed and I do not know who's working there now. The roaches and those who ran the place poorly may be gone--I don't know. If you feel comfortable with the price and the location is convenient for you, then go for it. But now you know what I experienced before I moved out just a little over a year ago. Do with that information what you will.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/08/2009
I live here and the RENOVATIONS ARE STILL NOT COMPLETED and I kind of hope they will not finish, because there is not much to look forward to, except the dishwasher and ?hopefully they will think of changing cabinets, but hopefully not for the worse, as with the case of the floors! INSTEAD OF THE NICE HARDWOOD FLOORS THEY ARE PUTTING CARPETS IN! what a waste of money and still decent wood...I would rather have tiles in the kitchen and bathroom and hardwood floors in the living and bedroom areas... for me this/carpets just will not work, it just does not have the same effect/feel/atmosphere and I will be moving soon mostly because I don't want carpets! BUT THE RENOVATIONS ARE NOT COMPLETE - they are still working on the 8th and 9th floors and those are the only floors that have no one living there.

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