Shirlington House

The epitome of average. There’s nothing wrong with these apartments but there’s nothing special about them. But way over-​priced for what you get.
+: My apartment is fairly large for a 1 bedroom apartment. My fellow residents are nice and there doesn’t appear to be any shady characters living here. The common areas are kept clean.
-: The furnshings are cheap. In particular, the blinds are barely functional. Maintenance is slow. The building isn’t maintained as well as it should be, for example, in the past 3 months there have been a number of malfunctions with the doors for the parking garages. The people who work here aren’t terribly helpful. As I said earlier, the apartments are over-​priced.

No mixed feelings about this one. Do not move here. My list of reasons:
* Even though the building is old and in bad shape, the rent goes up like crazy. It used to be affordable. In 3 years living here, my rent went up $ 300 per month.
* Leasing office personnel are THE WORST. They don’t know what they’re doing. Had to hunt them down to renew my lease. God forbid you had questions. Calls, messages and emails go unanswered for weeks.
* The building staff is awkward and rarely helpful.
* 0 amenities. The gym has 2 treadmills, 2 stationary bicycles and that’s about it.
* Parking is available on a first come first serve basis. You need a sticker to park, but guess what?! It’s not enforced! Plenty of cars park there without the ticket and I am yet to see cars being towed away in my 3 years living here.
* Air conditioning is a joke. Those thermostats are date back to the ice age. You can’t control the temperature. Good Luck trying to sleep in May and October.
Just stay away from Shirlington House and pay a little more somewhere else.

I have been a resident for the past two years with no complaints. I never had issues with bugs, maintenance, or any other aspect of living here. The complex was clean and pretty affordable for the area. The only real issue I ever had was trying to pick up packages from Elizabeth, who would sometimes hand them over (depending on her mood) and sometimes not.
However, in the past six months or so the complex has really taken a dive. From really rude leasing agents (Jerome), to boarded over elevators, people throwing up in the hallway and maintenance covering it with paper towels, and water and AC that is routinely turned off at least once every two weeks.
If you want an honest look at the issues with this complex, take a look at the facebook group: Shirlington House Tenants.

This particular leasing staff was «temp» and he really didn’t know much about the property. We asked for 2 bedrooms and all he talked about was 1 bedroom and a den. Which obviously didn’t meet our search. Then we asked how many laundry machines in the laundry room, he said «I really don’t know» when he could’ve unlock the laundry room door and looked. So we thought that was awkward.
Anyways, we are not coming back…

I have mixed feelings about this apartment, but I did stay for a while for its many positive qualities.
It’s like a hidden gem in the Shirlington neighborhood, where you get a great price to live in a burgeoning neighborhood with an easy access to 395.
LEASING OFFICE
I’ll start with my biggest issue, which is the leasing office. When you first meet with them, you might get the impression that they know what they’re doing. You’ll quickly come to realize that they don’t communicate with each other, and messages get lost between them. Make sure to follow everything up with an email to ensure follow-​through on their part. Otherwise, it becomes a «he said/​she said/​when did you say that» kind of thing. They are very polite, but are very scattered. You must take it upon yourself to ensure that you receive a response… otherwise, things get lost.
They have a very odd leasing system, where pricing is set in their favor, even if it means that a 8 – 10 month lease is cheaper than a 12 month lease, for some reason.
STAFF
The staff are kind and courteous. The afternoon lady, whose name I believe is Elizabeth, has her good days and her bad days, but she is generally well-​intentioned.
AMENITIES
Ahahahaha! Amenities? No.
There’s a pool in the back with a couple of charcoal grills around the perimeter.
The gym has two treadmills, two stationary bikes, and about five weight lifting machines. There’s a tiny little room inside the «gym» that has debris on the floor that one might call an assortment of mismatched kettle bells and free weights.
APARTMENT
The apartments are nice and clean, walls made of solid concrete. Hallways are very quiet, and you don’t hear your neighbors through the walls (although I did hear some sexy-​time once…). One tip: The building is located adjacent to the highway, so keep that in mind when selecting the unit. If your bedroom faces the highway, you’ll have an amazing view of Alexandria (and even the National Harbor if you’re high enough), but you *will* hear the traffic during morning rush hour. Opening the windows to let in some fresh air will also let in the din of the cars rushing by. No quiet evenings with gentle breezes here.
PESTS
None. Absolutely none. Thank goodness.
TRANSPORTATION/​PARKING
Parking is available on a first come first serve basis. If you want garage parking, it’s $ 40 per spot. The Shirlington strip is within walking distance, and 395 is less than a five minute drive.
SUMMARY
In general, I stayed for as long as I did because it was clean, quiet, pest free, and in a prime location. Since it’s not like I have to deal with the leasing office on a regular basis, I felt that it was worth the trouble to stay despite inconsistent service. It’s a very simple apartment with costs lower than neighboring apartments, possibly due to its age and lack of amenities. I’d suggest carefully considering what you value in an apartment before making your choice.