I relocated to Reston in late-May 2009 to pursue a career opportunity and overall I have been quite pleased living here at Archstone Charter Oak. While away on business a "condensation drain hose" from the air conditioner became clogged and caused water damage to the ceiling and flooring (from the resulting leak). I arrived home, contacted maintenance, and they ensured that everything was back to normal in no time. Another time my toilet seat broke, and within an hour it was fixed. I can't praise Hector, the maintenance manager, enough for the good job he and his staff do here. The leasing agents are generally very polite and helpful. Verna Yrure still knows me on a first-name basis, and Casey Goodman, the manager, even typed up a letter on Archstone-Smith letterhead to help lend credibility to my assertions of living here when the DMV was giving me a hassle. I really don't know what most of these other folks are complaining about, but overall I'm happy here. Utilities are in-line with the going rate (despite this weird "socialized" policy), the location can't be beat for convenience, and the neighbors are generally respectful. On the downside parking is TERRIBLE for a suburban complex. I have only one assigned spot for my own vehicle, and on a couple of occasions I have arrived home in the evenings to someone else illegally parked there. I would have expected better on that front for a complex with so much room for expansion, especially when most of my colleagues in other Reston complexes have such abundant parking that they don't even need assigned spaces. I feel VERY safe here and have inadvertently left my door unlocked without incident on a few occasions. Back in June there was some sort of vehicular break-in spree, but management stuffed warning notices in everyone's door jambs to keep us abreast of the situation. My only fear is that Archstone-Smith is going to likely jack up the rent prices when the Metro station is completed nearby in a few years---meaning I will no longer be able to afford to live here and will be relegated to a slum like Loudoun County. All in all this isn't a bad complex. It COULD be better, but I'm getting the most "bang for my buck" in terms of square footage here than any other place in Reston.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/13/2009
Hey, even a broken clock is correct twice a day, right? It's like you go to your favorite restaurant for 10 years with exceptional customer service, and the one day you bring someone you want to impress with you, all hell breaks loose. Just because you had a few happy (exceptional) moments with management and maintenance doesn't mean the rest of us are lying. To each his own.
From: paullaure	Date: 09/14/2009
Regardless I'm floored that this complex only has a 28% approval rating---wasn't that approximately the same former President Bush had before leaving office? SOMEBODY has to speak up to give prospective renters at least SOME semblance of hope that they can have a good tenure here, as I have been. Maybe I just don't expect much out of life, but I have very limited complaints about this complex besides the parking situation, the socialized utility structure, and the cricket/spider infestation (which was ironically worse than usual last night). I don't expect stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, badminton courts, a yacht club, "Welcome Wagon" neighbors, etc. After all this is RESTON---not Arlington---and you accordingly get what you pay for. If you only dwell upon the drawbacks, then you're going to be quite unhappy ANYWHERE. I've noticed that some of my colleagues' complexes are also horribly rated on here, and yet they, too, are all content where they are living. I'm not trying to "discredit" some of your assertions, but when a complex that should have a 75% rating only has a 28% rating I AM going to come to its defense!
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/14/2009
I left Charter Oak one year ago, after having lived there three years. I did not have any good experiences, but did have several not-so-good experiences, which is consistent with the complaints of most reviewers. The names mentioned by Mr. Laure, however, are unfamiliar to me. Perhaps Archstone has gotten its act together with a new management team. In my mind, Charter Oak always had the potential to be a great place to live. I'm glad to hear that such potential may now have been met.

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