We moved to the townes at Herndon Center late in the summer of 2002, and it has been a downhill ride ever since. We came in the early summer to start our search, and fell in love with the community right off of the bat. Our "tour guide" showed off all of the wonderful features that we would have .. a new fitness center, large pool, a shuttle that ran to and from the Dunn Loring Metro station (which I don't think we have), etc.. Also, he promised that at the end of May, the new leasing center would be completed and ready for the residents.

WRONG ! That was like getting stood up at the altar (not that I really know what that is like). From the minute we moved into the house, we have had nothing but issues. We experienced no hot water for the first day after we moved in. After a quick maintenance fix, the door was left unlocked and we were shown how to manually restart our water heater any time we needed hot water. This had been fixed later on, only to crap out again in the mid winter months, leaving us both with no hot water, OR HEAT! As other reviews have mentioned, this heater must be run by some v12 engine, as it roars from the dining room, making it near impossible to eat there, or even watch TV.

Another issue that we were sold and swapped on was the driveway under the "oversized" deck. They assured us that all normal cars fit on the driveways. I have a small car, and my tailend sticks out into the road about 2 feet, with my front bumper touching the garage door. Since we live on an end unit, I can't park there fearing my car would be damaged. The 2 car garage we have is ok, but even empty, we had a hard time fitting both cars inside. we have relageted one side of the garage to storage, as there are no storage closets in the apartment. There is a closet off of the dining room, however, THERE ARE NO SHELVES IN IT, and it is such an odd shape, you cannot build ones to place in there.

Oversized deck you ask, well, because it runs the LENGTH of the house, it is oversized; however, it is only 5 1/2 to 6 feet out from the house, rendering it pretty much useless. Because of the small size, you cannot use a grill on the deck (County regulation), and patio furniture rarely fits.

While I am at it, the architects and builders should be executed!!! We had to hoist furniture over the deck to fit it in the house. Several people had to do this will a standard size couch, queen size box spring, entertainment centers, and other large items. I still cannot understand how you can build a house that doesn't accomdate moving furtniture. Our stairs, and fireplace mantle are actually CROOKED. I have placed a level on several walls, only to find them ALL Crooked too. It is funny when you hang a picture on a wall, level the picture, and it looks off, because the walls are not straight.

Many people have mentioned the temperature issues, which we have also encountered. We have an infant and it is near impossible maintain the inconsistant temperatures in the house. If we want to keep the main level at a nice temp, his room is a sauna. If we want to keep his room fair, the main level is a walk-in freezer. Ground level, HA, you can forget about that.

Moving in to a new place, you would expect nice new, high quality appliances and ammenities. Our master bathroom tub has so many dings, scratches, and chips, it looks like it was 10 years old. The fan over the oven actually BLOWS SMOKE BACK INTO THE HOUSE, not out. Whenever I cook at a high temp, or broil something, we need to open all of the windows, doors, and turn on the ceiling fans to keep those smoke detectors at bay (at least I know those work). The dishwasher is pretty cheap, as we can't fit our glasses on the top rack.

The amenities fee is a complete JOKE. we had ours waived, as we moved in before construction was complete. remember we were told May 31 .. It was mid to late Sept before it opened, because I remember the pool was never opened as it was after labor day. The gym is ok, there are a few machines there, but nothing to write home to. There is gated access, but that has never been utilized, as they are constantly in the open position. There are rarely functions held at the leasing office/community center.. which has one couch and 2 chairs. There is a coffee bar, but since the office is open at 9, and closed at 6, any working professional cannot take advantage of it.

As you can see, pretty much everything we were sold on was in part, a lie. We are VERY displeased with the original management, the property, and most other items associated with this place.

Maintenance has been pretty good from our standpoint, as we have had no major issues with that.

If you want to come here, make sure you ask about all of these issues, and others mentioned in the reviews.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates