Pros:
- Huge unit
- 5 min walk to campus
- Cheap
- Liquor and Convenience store
- Great chinese food
- Very responsive maintenance team

Cons:
- Rats and Roaches (I live on the 6th floor and have only seen one roach in my unit but a friend of mine on the 3rd floor has had many and even had a rat run across her living room; it appears as though lower floors are more susceptible to these issues)
- Laundry machines are lowkey expensive
- Parking is a fortune
- The building has a frustrating approach to a/c and heat. Rather than offer both simultaneously to tenants, the property has set dates for which they offer exclusively one or the other. For example, from roughly April-October you will only be able to cool your apartment and will only be able to heat your apartment for the remainder of the year. While the cost-conscious logic behind this is relatively sensible, it results in quite a few periods of discomfort when the weather fails to act in strict accordance with seasonal expectations.

I live in Ambassador building, which is the cheapeat apartment in the Columbia Plaza, but it's very nice. It's unfurnished, so I recommend renting your furnitures. I used Cort furnitures to rent my furnitures and I am very satisfied.

It's well maintained. Staff is responsive to maintenance request. 24 hour front desk so you can pick up your package any time (even at like 12 am when you get home after studying in the library). It has a small gym, which is nice enough. I do see some roaches but they are small and not too bad. My unit - a studio - is spacious and it has a walk-in closet. Water pressure is little weird when you turn in to shower but it's not too bad. It's got central heating system and they turned it from AC to heating little too early and because my unit gets direct sunlight all day long, it got little hot during the day for a while. It's got a convenience store, couple of restaurants and a cafe in the plaza which is very nice. The convenience store sells Asian food and as an international student from Korea, this was very nice.

Moved here for law school, and I have found its location and proximity to GW Law School to be ideal. Easy to walk home for lunch after class and then return to campus for afternoon/evening work. The neighborhood is very safe, and there are plenty of GW Law Students inside the buildings that can help facilitate friendships before school starts. I wish there were more food options around the area, but there are still 3-5 good places. If you are looking for a party or bar scene, skip this location. If you are looking for a quiet space to get work done and live safely, I recommend Columbia Plaza. Rent is reasonable, and after I put in maintenance requests things get fixed soon after. I had one water line break that poured water into my apartment, but the staff went above and beyond in fixing it.

Can't beat the convenient location

I've lived at Columbia Plaza for almost two years and have really enjoyed it. The studio is a perfect size heat/AC in unit and with a full kitchen (full size fridge, stove/oven, and microwave provided) and balcony. There is also great closet space with built in shelving and hanging space. the maintenance team here is the best best best part. They are so attentive and get your requests done very quickly! There is a huge laundry room on the basement floor, an easy to use PMI parking garage that directly connects to the Ambassador. Parking on the weekends has a $12 max each day which makes it very convenient if you have friends/family come to visit. I've never had huge noise problems, the units are well insulated. And last but not least, you are literally a 10 minute walk from school or the Lincoln Memorial, which is great for some nightly walks.

Columbia Plaza is great! The apartments are super close to campus and really spacious. The only caveat is that they are a little older. However, they are well-maintained. The gym is nothing special but I go most every day and it is functional. The management seems reasonable from my interactions and the desk staff are usually friendly (it is staffed 24/7).

Overall I've enjoyed living here. The units are spacious, but the buildings are fairly old. I had some issues with water leaking, but management was fairly responsive and got it taken care of. The main issue I have is that sound carries very easily through the heating/cooling units, so i can hear everything my upstairs neighbors do in their bedroom. Overall it's not the fanciest or most modern place, but its location is great.

I am a 1L at GW and am very happy with Columbia Plaza. It's quiet, spacious, and close to campus. Great for people moving to DC who haven't spent time in the area - no need to worry about commute time.

The apartment is good, comfortable and at a great location. However, it faces the highway, so it's noisy if you're a light sleeper.
There is also tendency for mice to get into your apartment even if it is at a higher floor. That's definitely a bad experience.
The apartment is spacious, and has good sunlight.