I was moving to the area from out of town and found Carlyle Place online. The apartments was new and seemed like it was in a good location so I came to visit for a weekend, viewed two other apartments and then decided to rent at Carlyle Place.
The main thing the apartments have going for it is location. The walk from my front door to the metro platform is about five minutes. I basically only use my car on the weekends to run errands. Also I am a single, young woman and I have never felt unsafe walking to/from the metro from all hours of the morning and evening. I have taken it from as early as 6 a.m. and came home on it as late as after midnight. The Alexandria Police Station is probably about a block away so you tend to see alot of cop of cars.
I am in a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment that is very spacious. The finishes in the apartment are really nice. There are granite countertops, tile floors in the kitchen, bathroom and foyer, and lots of storage. In my unit I also have a separate tub and shower in my master bath. The one thing I think is SO lame is that every unit gets ONE parking space. So even though I have a two bedroom apartment and it comes with ONE space and you have to pay an additional fee for the second spot. I know alot of people that just rent a space in the parking lot behind the building because it is alot cheaper.
Noise. I honestly don't know if I have very courteous neighbors or if the interior insulation is superior but I do NOT hear my neighbors EVER. I will even say sometimes I leave my apartment the minute I step out I hear one of their dogs barking or one of their babies crying. So I am thinking the interior insulation has got to be great. However the exterior noise is VERY loud even though I am on one of the higher floors. I can hear cars from Eisenhower very frequently. On my days off it is SO annoying to hear the garbage truck and everything else going by at 7 and 8 in the morning. But my unit faces Eisenhower so maybe this is a factor although I have heard the units that face the opposite direction have to deal with metro noise but I cannot attest to how loud or quiet that is.
Safety. I have personally never felt unsafe in or around the property. After living here for about a month, however, there were a rash of car break-ins and we also received notice that some residents reported missing items from their apartments after staff members (I am assuming maintenance workers) had been in it. Of course that is very unacceptable as the property managers should be responsible for properly screening the employees they hire.
One more note about the parking garage. I have an SUV and if I had to maneuver in and out of the parking garage every day I would probably want to kill myself. It is VERY tight and often you have to back up, turn, back up, turn to get around corners. Also some of the spots are VERY tight. It hasn't been too much of an issue right now because there are a decent amount of empty spots the level I park but if the spots begin to fill up I can imagine you would have all kinds of dings and dents on your car.
The facility is very pet friendly. You see people walking their dogs all hours of the day and night. There is a dog park nearby that alot of dog owners tend to use. My dogs are small and are mainly apartment dogs so they have adjusted fine here.
The gym is horrifically small for an apartment building this size. If you work normal hours and go after work goodluck finding a machine to use. It's very annoying how they scrimped on the gym space and equipment. There is no business center but the clubroom is very nice, it can be rented out for special events and I believe has wifi. I have not used the pool because it hasn't been opened since I moved here.
The location of the building is great. As mentioned before it's close to the metro, it's also close to Old Town, the Hoffman Center, Whole Foods, Starbucks, and other various businesses.
My overall feeling is that I lucked out in finding this place with having ZERO knowledge of Alexandria. I got a special when I leased my unit and although I qualify for way more than the market rate I just cannot bring myself to pay THAT much money just in rent. Of course what you are paying for is the location. After my special ends my rent will increase to the market rate which is $500 from what I am paying now. Also my boyfriend and I will be living together so add in another parking fee (I think the second spot is $100) and I already pay pet rent on top of that. As you can see you could end up paying $2,700 JUST for a two bedroom. Now that I am more familiar with the areas if they don't offer a decent renewal rate I am going to move. There are alot of condos for rent my private owners that are much cheaper. I can forgo granite countertops to save myself $500 a month. The place is great at the rent I am paying now but personally I don't think any apartment that is not in the heart of D.C. or right in Old Town is worth the market rate these are going for. mgFDbN4-dhkSMZ7zRmVH

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/18/2009
I found your review quite useful. Have you any idea how much your rent will increase at the end of your special?

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