Close to school, reasonable rent for the area and great apartment!

The apartment itself is incredible. It is huge and has two balconies, one with an incredible view of the Watergate and the Kennedy Center. Definitely the best bang-for-your buck in Foggy Bottom. That being said, the location is less-than-desirable for things to do. It is walking distance to GW, so it serves its function for what I wanted, but there is nothing around the building. Not ideal if you want a city-feel with bars and restaurants right outside your door.

Very nice for the price.

- Central A/C (warm enough in winter, almost cold enough in summer)
- If your apartment is clean, you won't have pests.
- No undergrads, so mostly serious people in this quiet building

The apt is nice. The kitchen, bathroom, and lighting is all out dated. I have also seen cockroaches in my apartment. I know that other apartments in the building have been infested with them. The leasing office has some very rude people to deal with. Luckily my interactions with them are few and far between. Front desk staff is a mixed bag. Some are super friendly, while others are not.

The staff is extremely understanding and helpful and will bend over backwards for you if you take the time to get to know them. The gym has recently been completely renovated which has just about everything that you need with brand new floors, machines, weights, and mirrors. Not sure about the other buildings, but my particular building had a lot of older residents. Which meant the floor was nice and quiet, but never got any complaints whenever I had people over.. or when my music was blasting on my speakers (which is basically everyday). Maintenance is quick to respond with the online service request system, sometimes responding within 20 minutes. Laundry is in the basement and the washers have recently been replaced as of Feb 2017.

What I like best about living at Columbia Plaza is the location. It's really close to my school, within walking distance of grocery stores, a hospital, the metro, Georgetown, and the Mall. The building is pretty quiet, never had any noise problems with tenants. I felt like my studio was spacious, not cramped. I enjoy having a balcony, especially in the warmer months. One side of my studio is almost all window, from floor to ceiling, so I get amazing light and a nice view of the Kennedy Center. My rent was very reasonable considering the great location and that it was all inclusive, with no separate payments for utilities. The only extras you have to pay for are laundry (just got new machines in February 2017) and parking (I didn't have a car because public transportation was so easily accessible to me). The complex also just got all new machines for the gym (January 2017), so it's nice and updated.

What I liked least about living in this apartment is the AC unit. The complex only turns on heating in the winter and AC in the summer. It's terrible when they switch from AC to heat too soon, before the heat outside actually dies down. Definitely invest in a good fan! Also, the AC units are really old and mine constantly leaked. In the past three years, I've had that section of my ceiling torn out and new drywall put in because of leaks about ten times (NOT an exaggeration). But maintenance is immediately responsive and they always fix it ASAP without any charge to me, so it's more of a nuisance than anything.
Other drawbacks are that there's only paid parking (not cheap), no guest parking spots for friends/family that want to visit. The highway is right behind my building, but after a couple weeks, I didn't even notice the sound of cars anymore. Also, there's no dishwasher in my apartment, but that's not unusual for studios.

If you want o be close to GW campus and find a decent place with low rent, this would be the best option. Includes all utilities, the plaza has a market that has all you need.

Columbia Plaza is very conveniently located - it's just a short walk (<10 minutes) from GW campus, the Foggy Bottom metro, and Whole Foods. It's close to undergrad dorms and frats/sororities so the streets are well lit and usually populated, making walks home late night feel safe. Recent renovations made the gym pretty amazing (variety of cardio machines, weight machines, dumbbells, exercise mats, weighted balls, etc). There's also a front desk person there 24/7 for package pick ups, security, etc. On the downside, the building itself is quite old so the elevators are slow and unreliable (breakdowns are frequent), the temperature is on a single system so it's either providing heating or cooling (and the air is almost unbearably dry), and there are a lot of maintenance issues (problems with heating/cooling, water, etc). Thankfully, the maintenance team is very responsive and incredibly nice, so there's typically a quick turn around time with requests. Additionally, there are a lot of pests (roaches, millipedes aka "Columbia Plaza bugs", etc) but pest control comes once a week, so it's easy to get on a list and get that under control.

Majority of my experience has been very positive. The studio is very large and spacious compared to other studios in the area. Heat and air conditioning is included which is convenient. The only downside with this is that they switch to heat mid October, which was a bit uncomfortable during the 70 degree weeks in November. The kitchen is nice with many cupboards for storage. The other con of the apartment is that there are bugs usually seen around the oven usually once every few months or when it gets super warm out.

In other regards it is a nice apartment complex. I rarely hear neighbors. It is about a 10 minute walk to campus/the metro which is extremely convenient. There is also a mini market in the plaza which is convenient.

The updated rooms are very nice and the location is amazing. Some of the front desk staff can be really rude and the gym needs to be increased in size for such a large apartment complex. Additionally, the rent is a little expensive and maintenance and security needs work.