Generally while the building is old, it's still is decent shape. The lobby and the entrance is clean, as is the laundry to some extent. However, the trash areas need to be kept more clean and odor free. The staff that receives packages and is responsible to ensure that the water to the building, and heating/cooling etc. works well could really use a course on being available and more helpful. You have to ask for packages repeatedly, the water supply is disrupted without notice and if the heating or cooling has a problem, it takes a while for it to be fixed. There is also no light on the roof, making it difficult to enjoy the terrance after 4:00pm in winter.

This is a good place to stay for 1-2 years in terms of location, value, transportation availability and places near by i.e. White House, World Bank, State Dept, Dupont Circle and Georgetown etc. The building is clean and safe.
Negative Aspects: frequent unexpected water outage , the building manager is lazy, rude and usually out of the office, delay in receiving mail package and lenient smoking policy.

The apartment management will switch off water without informing the residents and sometimes there is no hot water. You also rarely get your packages on time because the person in charge of receiving them does not want you going into the room to look for them but will not remember to tell you he has received any packages for you. Perhaps a system where they should put a you've got mail chit in your mailbox will be a good idea. building is very old so plumbing has a lot of problems and makes a lot of nice randomly. the cupboard doors are old too and perpetually hang. Unless the apartment is fully renovated (which ours is not) it could be described as basic at best. Location to GWU makes it worth the issues and the rent is not very high. Other locations around the area have a comparable rent though so they should be looked at as well if someone is looking to move into this area. We did do that but chose this location because of the landlady who is a nice person.

The Monroe House has a wonderful location, however the management is terrible. They routinely shut off water without informing the residents,sometimes for minutes but usually for hours! It might be the hot water or just the entire water supply for reasons which are not communicated to the tenant. The centrally controlled heating and air conditioning is also not great. The heating had issues during the winter and would be shut without notice. The air conditioning is switched on much too late in the summers. The on-site manager, Wallace is rude and unresponsive. He routinely agrees that he should inform residents of any maintenance work beforehand, but does not do so. He also has a tendency to keep your mail and packages in the mailroom and forget about them. He will then insist that he has not received anything. After forgetting about a Television and five packages this past 10 months, which were then found by the tenant, he had resorted to being rude with anyone who decides to walk into the mailroom to check for packages which they have been informed have arrived but which he is unaware of. Otherwise, minus the water, temperature and receipt of mail issue, the plumbing is old, you can hear pipes in your room, the walls are thin, and there are insects to be seen randomly in the building. The laundry machines which are in the basement are also very old and at least one of four machines is out-of-order. So if the laundry eats up your cash, no problem, just another thing the management forgot to do: put a sign that its not working! If you can afford to pay even $100 more in rent, try the President, the Empire or the Statesman, which are also in the same area.

My particular apartment was recently renovated, with an awesome landlord, and was FULLY furnished as part of the rent. This is not typical. It was pretty awesome.

I just want people to know that the management of Monroe House, like the management of the Aston, is utter bullshit for what you're paying. Particularly at Monroe house, good luck ever getting your packages. There's no system for distributing packages, it's just whatever the elderly front door guy remembers (when he's actually there, they're almost impossible to find even during business hours). Even if you KNOW you have a package, he'll likely tell you that you don't have one. Then you'll insist on checking the pile of people's packages he hoards in the office, and MAGICALLY you'll find yours and he'll just harrumph and go back to sitting on a chair in the lobby. Don't bother talking to him about it - he's not interested in communicating to people they have packages. If you shop online and get things delviered, or want to receive things people send you, don't live here.

The Monroe House is a wonderful value for students looking to live near GW Law School. The building is convenient to campus, the Metro, and Whole Foods, and is affordable compared to similar buildings in the Foggy Bottom area.