Colonial Arms

While I will agree with the below comments on the lobby smelling less than fresh my overall experience at Colonial Arms was great. I found the management to be patient, responsive, and generally try to work with us (i.e. one time I sent in rent late and they waived the late payment penalty no questions asked.) They always informed us when they would be coming through to do work on the apartment and were up front with us about all the terms. Perhaps it is under new management now? (Fitzgerald Properties is who manages it now and we had a great experience)
I wonder if Ronnie did not look at the apartment before he moved in because I don’t understand how complaining about the décor of a kitchen that you surely looked at prior to signing a lease is valid. If you had that much of a problem with the kitchen don’t move in. That being said– our kitchen was nicely updated– granite counters, nice looking, decent appliances, tile floors. It wasn’t top of the line but it looked nice and worked well.
Noise concerns are going to occur in any older building– but we couldn’t hear our upstairs neighbor walking around. We only heard when he made loud banging noises (we think he practiced parcour up there or something occasionally). We couldn’t hear our next door neighbors at all and had several small parties without any complaint from our neighbors.
Our move out experience was easy and they worked with us through several «we’re moving out now… oh just kidding… we need a few more days» flip flops we made. It clearly stated in our lease (we were month to month) that we had to give 60 days notice on our move out so we did. They were great though and filled the apartment promptly so we didn’t have to continue paying rent on it. We weren’t present at the inspection but they refunded us our full security deposit promptly, a very nice experience compared to a few others I’ve had.
It wasn’t perfect but my roomie and I were very sad to have to move out. Overall a lovely place to live at a reasonable price for the area.

Rachel speaks the truth. The hallways constantly smell like the bathroom of an Ethiopian restaurant… that is also located in Ethiopia. Sadly, once you get past that, you find yourself at an old metal door with numerous scratches and dents in it. Try not to think about whether your structurally comprised door will actually keep anyone out.
In my apartment, the wooden floor creaked with every step, large portions were scratched to hell and the floor slanted towards a depression in the middle of the room. It would gradually pull any chair with rollers into it like a black hole. I bet if you got enough speed, you could use it as a ramp. Oh, and the kitchen appears to have not been updated since Kennedy got shot. The oven is tiny and the countertops are clad in a totally mod orange and green paisley design.
Oh, and apparently the creaky floors are a pretty common problem, as you will be able to tell exactly where your upstairs neighbors are at all times. You may not feel comfortable constantly knowing their location, but don’t worry, the person below you knows where you are too. Prepare to hear every party thrown, both above and below you and look forward to hearing your next door neighbor enjoy coitus through the thin walls.
I believe the management company behaves like a retarded version of the mafia. When our lease was about to expire, I started looking for a new place, except, the management company said we owed another month’s rent because we didn’t give 30 days notice? Surprise! Hey douchebags, the damned lease agreement was your notice. It’s cheaper and easier to NOT get sued though, so of course we paid another month’s «bonus rent.» I hope the extra $ 1300 keeps you warm at night, you greedy pricks.
I know, I know, you’re probably a GW student and this seems like a reasonably priced place, but it will be awful, your grades will go down and you will die alone.

The lobby and hallways have an rotating smell schedule, between: cat piss, an ashtray, Chinese Food, and «burnt salmon» as one friend describes.
The place is filled with health hazards — outside of my windows is about 2 inches of mold, pigeon shit, and some fluid leaking down the side of the building from my neighbors air conditioner.
The management sucks — was lied to about pet rules, they will go through your garbage and return it with a nasty note to your door handle if it wasn’t placed in the correct dumpster, and they still haven’t dealt with the rotting wood underneath my sink.