West End Residences — Local services in Washington

Big picture: I strongly discourage anyone from living here. West End Residences has low-quality management for a high-priced neighborhood. However, I’ll give a balanced review. The best part of living here was its location near Foggy Bottom, Georgetown & Dupont Circle. The worst part was that my unit gave me many problems (mold following a water leak, food dispenser not working multiple times).

My background: when I lived here, management changed from someone who was responsive to someone who was not. Unfortunately, with the unresponsive manager, I experienced water damage that leaked from my ceiling. The damage led to mold in my unit (I was reimbursed for the days I could not live in the unit only after sending a demand letter to the manager).

Pros 📞 Move-in was smooth (loading dock and elevator available), yet no one works there on weekends, so plan your move-in on a weekday if you choose to live here ☕️ Coffee machine in lobby (when it works, which is most of the time) 🌳🎾 Lots of trees and flowers nearby. Georgetown’s Rose Park & N Street Tennis Courts are walking distance 🚶‍♂️Walking distance to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, the George Washington University, the West End Library, Starbucks & restaurants Ⓜ️ Metro accessibility: walking distance to blue/orange/silver (Foggy Bottom) & red lines (Dupont Circle) + buses nearby 🖨️ Business center has a PrintWithMe printer( free black and white printing. Pay for color printing) 🏋️‍♀️ Fitness center that has the essential cardio and weight equipment. Small sized gym, yet it has natural light (the gym can fit 8 people. Gym can become smelly sometimes) 🔨 Responsive maintenance team 🤝 Residents were helpful to each other by sharing updates/asking for assistance in a tenants-only WhatsApp group chat

Cons 🆘 The property manager failed to communicate promptly with residents during a power outage & water damage crisis. After my apartment (and several others) experienced significant water damage, the apartment manager took several days to communicate with tenants. They also overcharged me for my final partial month at the property (I was refunded two months after move-out via paper check) 🔑 Old key knobs. My key hole once broke when trying to lock the door. They give you two keys, yet there’s no receptionist, which means if you lose your key, you need to call an emergency number and pay for a replacement key 💨📢 Loud air conditioner and washer/dryer. Freezer occasionally makes a loud buzzing noise 👩‍🍳 Kitchen fan is not super powerful. We accidentally triggered our room’s fire alarm while cooking steak. The alarm stopped on its own within 10 minutes 🛜 Resident is responsible for Wi-Fi, utilities and a trash fee 📦 A very disorganized package room was a consistent inconvenience ♻️ No recycling trash chute on each floor (there’s a small bin instead). You have to take big recycling bags and broken-down boxes to the trash room yourself 📢 The walls are thin, so I can hear my neighbors sometimes 🚿Occasional water outages for a few hours per outage (maybe a few times per year) 🐦🎶 Birdsong may wake up light sleepers in spring No substantive social events (they held an omelet event once or twice per year).

Good to know 🔑🔑 You receive two sets of traditional keys + key fob for front entrance 🆘 No 24-hour receptionist (yet there is an emergency number you can call) ❌ Business office accepted none of my amendments to my lease renewal. They were difficult to negotiate with when I requested a partial refund after I was displaced from my unit for six nights. 🐶 🏊‍♀️ 🏫 Near Francis Dog Park, Community Pool & Francis-Stevens Junior High School 🚨🚒 Near a fire station, so you may hear sirens frequently 🏨🏢 The immediate area has lots of hotels and office buildings nearby. If you face 24th St NW, light from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) building may seep in at night. I bought curtains, which solved the light issue. You need to walk a couple of blocks east on N St NW for it to...

This was a great living experience when we moved in, but it has become increasingly not worth the money. We are counting down the months until our lease is up so that we can move. The property manager when we moved in was fantastic, but ever since he left it has been a rotating cast of property managers and noticeably worse resident service. There was literally a fire in the building recently that caused flooding in the basement and days of pumps / fans running to dry everything out- not a word from management; we found out from another resident who discovered the flooding. Items like the handicap accessible button on the entrance frequently break and weeks pass before they are fixed (I will say the actual maintenance team is great- no complaints about them; they have always fixed things in our actual apartment quickly). Management will announce things like all lockboxes needing to be removed from the front of the building within a few days via a poster in the elevator vs. an actual email- despite giving permission for residents to place lock boxes there (e.g., for pet sitters to access an apt). I went and spoke to management about this latest posting and they were super helpful and told me we could keep it there for our pet sitter as long as I emailed her a photo with my details… only to promptly respond to my email with the same generic message that is posted in the elevator saying it needs to be removed in a few days. This is characteristic of most interactions with management here and it is infuriating. I wholeheartedly do...

I moved into WestEnd sight-unseen in August 2024. I had been abroad the previous semester and was trusting my roommate to do the in-person tours. As you can imagine, I was nervous about move-in and we had already been ghosted by many complexes. WestEnd was different. They answered all of our questions with urgency and were always available for consult--before and after signing the lease. The building is clean, well kept, and smells good (always a plus). The apartment is well maintained and homey. My roommate and I love it here. Maintenance is quick to answer calls or online requests. Neighbors are very kind. Cute...