Apartment Review for Crystal Plaza Apartments - Arlington, VA

The units are large with lots of closet room, however when it comes to the power bill, it is not good. They measure your unit size then take acct. of the people on the lease and you pay BIG. The units are not metered individually, mgmt takes the one big power bill for the entire bldg. and decides what each unit must pay. Be prepared, someone is getting very rich off your power. I have been told...When prospective tenants ask about the power bill mgmt tells them no more than 50.00/month. That is a flat out LIE! They charge the studio apartments $100.00 and mine was close to $200.00. The carpet is changed every few years and not with each tenant. It is old stained and wears. Not what you would expect in an "upscale" bldg. Noise: It is the loudest bldg. I have ever encountered in my many places I have rented, nothing ever done about it. It has to do with college students living here and has that college dorm atmosphere. Elevators: They have 3 cars but seem to only run one at the busiest high traffic times, be prepared to wait. Washer/Dryers: Not only do you have to pay a huge power bill and water bill that mgmt deems you owe, you still have to pay to use their washer & dryer's at $1.75 per load. Many times, the change machine does not work and some washer's & dryers are broken. They are fixed in a timely manner but don't expect any sort of refund when machines don't function properly. Rent: The rent is high for what you don't get in the ways of many amenities that other area apartments offer. I implore you to look at other places. Management: I moved in before management merged with Archstone to become ArchstoneSmith, go back 4 years here and will notice the decline in ratings from then. Things began to decline when mgmt. wanted all tenants on the same move in move out schedule. They offered leases for 3 months to 8 months as long as they ended during a 3 month span. You could only move in and out from June to Sept. This was nothing short of crazy but allowed mgmt to raise the rent 2x's in one year. I have been told this is no longer a practice, who knows' They did it once they can do it again. I see a lot of move outs here but not many move in's. Parking: Some ratings show parking being crowded but I have never found any problems in that area. I will admit the garages leak and with heavy rains tends to flood down on G2 level (non assigned parking). Moving as soon as humanly possible...