Apartment Review for The Wellington - Arlington, VA

Where do I begin...I moved in during late-2008. Being new to the area, I was mostly concerned with accesibility to the city and metro, along with the typical concerns (i.e. safety, parking, am I going to hear my neighbors, what's the management like...) Well, here are a few of my experiences that may help you in your search - I won't waste time listing out the numerous details upon details that have gone wrong since literally day one. However, I will say if you are a young, hardworking, responsible, and professional person seeking a place to feel safe and that will offer modern day conveniences such as AIR CONDITIONING in the summer and HEAT in the winter, that will allow you to relax when you get home from work, and generally not whince when you mention where you live - THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU. On the other hand, if you tend to cram as many irresponsible, cigarette smoking, partygo'ing, and downright disgusting people into one apartment as possible, while allowing your dog to urinate and deficate in the elevator and hallways, feel free to move in - you'll be right at home. You won't likely be inconvenienced by the piles of trash left by your neighbors NEXT to the trash room (because obviously, going another three feet to actually open the door and drop it down the chute would be way to much effort) nor will you mind the fact your shower consistently takes 45 mins to drain, or the fact that it's not uncommon for your apartment on the upper level to reach 90 degrees during the summer despite the supposed AC being turned on in the building, the random electrical sockets not working, or the steady stream of cigarette smokers who, in not wanting to step out into the rain or snow to kill themselves, decide it's perfectly acceptable to pollute the common areas, hallways, and stairwells for all to reap the rewards. Yes sadly, among those few of us that actually take pride in where we live, generally get along with each other, and are friendly, these are the types of people that live here: individuals who don't mind walking through dog urine and feces to get to their apartments, generally have little respect for anyone other than themselves, and have no problem vandalizing the place. Oh, and it's especially a delightful elevator ride when you also have to step through trash while trying to not rub up against spit that has been cast upon the walls, and balancing groceries between two hands as to not let them touch the floor to be christened by feces. If you've taken the tour through the North Building and wonder what the stinch in the elevator is, hopefully this review will shed light on that. Needless to say, having friends over is humiliating. Which, leads me to my next point. There is absolutely zero Visitors/Guest Parking in the parking lot. Of course, they'll tell you their visitors lot is across from the Central Buidling, a good 1/2 mile from the front entrance of the North Bldg, but no worries on parking there because there are NEVER any available spots because residents in the central building take them all. The last straw came for me when a friend of mine dropped me off after dinner last night, parked in an UNRESERVED/NON MARKED parking space and within 20 minutes was towed!!! A hefty $115 fee to get the car back. Not sure why towing cars from unmarked spaces seems to be such a priority when I can list a host of basic living functions that could garner some of management's attentions. And the laundry situation...every weekend it's like Lake Heron in the basement. Literally, there's a constant 2 inches of water on the tile floor because all of the washers leak - I slipped and fell this morning, and sadly, I know if I would have reported it to management, absolutely nothing would have been done about it. Two inches of water in the laundry room is status quo for this place, along with more than half of the dryers being broken on any given day. Onto the management...in general, the staff in the front office are as pleasant as the next. However, they have little-to-no power in affecting change. I will also say the maintenance staff are very friendly and seem to try to do their best in handling your work orders quickly. But again, the responsibility of making sure your electricty works, your AC actually pumps cold air, and the laundry room washers don't leak falls at the doorstep of head management, not to those who are simply trying to work for a living. With that being said, the woman that apparently is the "Manager" from the South building is by far the most unreasonable and unprofessional person I believe I've had the unfortunate luck of dealing with. I absolutely, 100% will NOT be renewing my lease. If you care at all where you live, do not consider the Wellington - you will be better off for it.