I've lived in Alto towers for 3 years. In that time from start to finish I can highly recommend the management team, the maintenance crew, and the location. Let me speak a little about all of the above. The management team goes out of their way to be friendly, helpful, and prompt. They will work with you on anything and are always willing and able to help problem solve or fix issues with the apartment. For instance when we first moved in Antonio let us mail our packages (including a bed frame) to the office before we had actually moved in. I've also run into him with too many groceries in my hands and he helped me get everything into the building. The maintenance crew and the folks who clean the building are great. Friendly and quick to fix issues. They do their jobs well, communicate clearly, and are great to interact with especially when you are home when they are doing work. The location is unbeatable. I'm so spoiled by living a 3 minute walk from a grocery store and being across from the Cathedral is magical. Waking up and listening to the bells through the window has been a highlight of living here. The building IS a little on the older side. BUT there was recently a lot of work done on the brick facade so it is also clear that the owners put in the time and money to keep this building solid and very affordable for the area! read more

Lived in this apartment for about 5 months. Below is my review; LOCATION- Located on Wisconsin Avenue across the street from the National Cathedral. It is between Glover Park and Tenleytown. There are a few nice restaurants and a Giant grocery store all within a 400 meter radius. My only knock on this aspect is it is pretty far fom the metro as the closest on is about 2.5 miles away in Tenleytown. However, the are 3 bus stops right outside the front door. 4/5 stars STAFF- I found Antonio to be extremely appeoachable and helpful in my dealings with him. He was always willing to let people in my apartment or give information about upcoming availiabilities. In addition, the maintenance team is extremely responsive to service requests. 5/5 stars FACILITIES- The building itself is pretty old, however they have done a decent job in renovating it. There is laundary facility in the basement that requires you to use a card to access. In addition there is key fob entry as well as bike racks. The appliances in the apartment are also fairly new. The main issue I have is the water pressure in both the sink and the shower. 3.5/5 stars PRICE-Paid $1550 per month for a studio apartment with utilities included. The apartment was about 430 sqft. DC has rent control but it seems like they will charge you the max anyway. You can probably find cheaper but you def should do a cost benefit analysis as it pertains to other factors. Again price isnt terrible but I believe it can be more reasonable 3.5/5 stars Overall, Alto Towers is a good place to live whether a student at nearby American University or a young DC professional. read more

We truly enjoyed our time living in Alto Towers! We lived in a renovated unit for about 2 years and loved it. The building is older, but well maintained. There are thick walls (so you can't hear your neighbors) and the renovated units are especially nice, with loads of natural light especially on the Wisconsin Avenue side. The shared spaces are kept clean and in working order. While you do have to walk to the next door building to get your packages, you get used to it and I never had issues. In terms of location, it can't be beat. You have a bunch of buses that pick you up right outside the building that can take you to Georgetown, Glover Park, Tenleytown, Friendship Heights, as well as Cleveland Park and Woodley Park. There's a Giant and CVS less than 5 minutes away, as well as some really great restaurants. Antonio and his team are kind, professional, and super responsive to any issues you might have, which is especially appreciated in an older building. Definitely give this place a shot - you won't regret it! read more

I have lived in Alto Towers for a year and overall it was a great apartment. Some pros: haven't seen a single rodent or roach while I lived here, utilities are all included, Antonio and the maintenance team are incredibly helpful and kind, it is in a great area with a the 30s and 96 buses stopping right in front of the building and tons of restaurants and a Giant a block away, there are a lot of college kids in the apartment (myself included) but I haven't had any problem with noise like some other apartments in the area. Cons: It's expensive for the size but unfortunately on par or cheaper with other apartments in the area, drains in the sinks and shower don't work great and can get backed up even if you're very careful about using food/hair stoppers, packages are very difficult to get as they arrive to the next door building The Elaine where the management office for both buildings is located. They deliver slips under your door once they process the package (usually a day or two) and during business hours there is supposed to be someone in the office but often there is not and there is sometimes a night guard outside of those hours but never at a set time. Expect it to take 3-6 days to get anything you have delivered. That being said, I liked living here and would probably stay if it were closer to my job and a little cheaper. read more

I moved in at the beginning of this month and will update this review if something changes. So far though, this has been a very good experience. Antonio the manger and his porters have dealt with every issue I have brought to him the same day. Antonio has even jogged things up to my front door on one of the upper floors himself. As the other reviewers have noted this building has one bus stop right outside the door and two right around the corner that will take you to anywhere in the city. There is a Giant grocery store and a CVS 2 blocks up Wisconsin so if you plan to not own wheels it's not going to be a very hard walk to resupply your pantry. The price is painful for me but it's competitive for DC. If you are able to get an upper floor apartment you will have an amazing view of the National Cathedral and even the dome of the capital building off in the distance! Only down side I can think of is that at least in my unit half the shelving in the kitchen is very old. With the price of rent in the area it seems absurd that it hasn't been torn out and replaced by now. But if they did any remodeling I'm sure it would be used to jack the rent up a few hundred so perhaps I should just be happy with what I got. One of these ancient cabinets was a tall, thin, pantry in the corner of the kitchen. I'm sure at one point it had shelves going all the way up to the top but as of my move in it only had two at the very top so it amounted to a huge empty space that was basically unusable unless I wanted to throw my food in a pile at it's base. I was able to buy 6ft of wire shelving at home depot and install them at intervals from the bottom up but yeah, would've been nice if I didn't have to build shelves at move in. Other than the kitchen cabinets though, I would recommend this place to another renter; Especially if you are going to American U or Georgetown. read more

Don't live here if you can help it. The building is old and rundown. For starters, my apartment was filthy when I moved in. There was all kinds of gunk on the walls in the kitchen. The stove was well over 5 years old and falling apart. It didn't take long for all of the bugs to start showing up -- it's a serious issue. The elevators were constantly breaking down, the laundry machines were always broke, and the dryers didn't even dry. So many of my clothes got ruined by those stupid washers leaving lint and puffballs all over them. It's actually ridiculous that they charge tenants to use these broken-down machines. Management isn't any better. I constantly had to email the manager for my security deposit long after the 45-day wait period. I eventually got it after hounding the manager. It's really not worth it. Sure the Cathedral is right there but Wisconsin Avenue is really busy and noisy which can be annoying at night time. read more

The location is excellent. There is a bus stop right outside of the door. Antonio, the manager, is most helpful and professional. It is reasonably priced and the apartments have nice, high ceilings. You might get a wonderful view of the cathedral and D.C. depending on the unit. Unfortunately, there is a bug problem. Maybe it is building wide issue because no matter what you do in your unit, they always return. The laundry is questionable. The washers are pretty old and always leave a ton of lint and residue on the clothes. There is no bicycle storage. We had two bikes stolen within 6 months. Receiving mail is an issue. USPS takes the packages to the office because the mailboxes are too small for anything bigger than a letter. Nothing can be left at the mailbox area because it will get stolen. Someone stole HALF of your newspaper that was delivered at the lobby. Then it takes 1-2 days to get a notification slip for a package. Forget ordering anything fresh or perishable. read more

My partner and I lived in Alto Towers for 4 years, and had a wonderful time living there. Our one-bedroom apartment was spacious, full of natural light, and well-maintained by the maintenance staff. It also had some beautiful architectural features that we definitely weren't expecting to get in that price range. Alto is an older building, and we did have some problems with bugs in the kitchen, but Antonio asked the terminators to spray inside the walls, and we haven't had issues since. I'd rate the overall condition of the building 4 stars, but the prompt maintenance for issues big and small really makes up the difference. There is laundry in the basement, and all utilities are included in your rent, which is really convenient. The location is fabulous - lots of bus lines, a beautiful neighborhood, new supermarket complex opening this fall, and you can hear the Cathedral bells if you open your windows! read more

Just wanted to give an update to my previous review. I moved out on August 1st and between my last review and my move-out date, my experience changed pretty drastically. First of all, like one of the other reviews, bugs became an issue. I came home from a long-weekend vacation and found tiny cockroaches all over my kitchen, even though I hadn't left any food out and was sure to tidy up before I left. Luckily, management was very quick about having come in to spray so that was a positive. The problem got better, but it was still an issue. Second, the laundry machines were all broken for a while leading up to my move out date, so unfortunately I had to bring a heap of dirty laundry with me. The machines were down for over two weeks which is pretty ridiculous for a fairly large-size apartment building. Third, and probably the most notable of my experience, I emailed the property manager (who, up until this point, had been very communicative and helpful) multiple times (beginning about a month and a half before my move-out date) asking for instructions on things I needed to do in order to move out without any issues. Unfortunately, he was continually too busy to reply and finally said that I was good to go. I was not aware that I needed to reserve the elevator ahead of time because when I asked him for further instructions, I was not given any. He told me the morning of my move-out date that this was something that needed to be reserved in advanced, and that someone else had requested it the week before so she had it. ((Again, I had emailed him about 45 days in advance.)) Throughout my move-out process, there was nobody else moving out of my building so I could've easily had the key for the morning hours, and returned it upon my departure. Unfortunately, the moving company explicitly told me that because we did not have the elevator key to reserve and efficiently pack the elevator, it took an additional hour or so to move which cost me a whole lot more money. read more

Here's a rare review, from nearly 30 years past. I lived in Alto Towers from 1986 to 1989 and I'm happy to see that it's still there, facing the National Cathedral, letting tenants grab the Metro to Georgetown and back again (go drink and not drive!), and being convenient for walking about. When I was there you could pick up flowers on the way home from the corner grocer (a florist was next to the Giant Foods), and general stores and gift shops were nearby (including a shop that smelled of hyacinths). The Zebra Room was the closest restaurant, and the Bishop's Garden was across the street; it was my "yard," I liked to think. I paid $550/month for a one-bedroom in the late '80s; I can't imagine paying the rent now! read more

I absolutely love my apartment! The million dollar view is just for starters. Antonio, the resident manager is very attentive and responsive to my questions and concerns. In fact, one of the biggest reasons for my choosing Alto Towers was Antonio's top notch customer service, attention to detail as well as his accommodating my move-in needs. There were a few things that needed some fixing before I moved in, Antonio kept in touch with me, providing status...can't beat that customer service! About the building. It is very, very well maintained. Escobar, one of the maintenance staff, is so charming and sweet. He greets me each morning with a smile and has the building and grounds in tip-top shape. He makes me feel like family. William, another member of the staff, is always quick to answer any emergencies in the building. He takes real ownership in his work. Between the two of them...there's nothing they can't fix! These are just two examples of the top notch staff members in the building..I could just go on and on. The Apartment. Absolutely charming! I feel like I've stepped back in time because they kept pretty much all of the vintage fixtures. Since the apartments are kept in such great shape, I felt like I was walking into a time capsule (in a good way) when I first viewed my apartment...love at first sight! :) I could just go on and on! It's the jewel of D.C. hands down and all for a bargain!! Glad I made the move!! read more

Antonio the building manager is super helpful and friendly. I lived in this building for a year. I had problems with plumbing, but Antonio always got the issues resolved quickly. The apartments are clean and safe. Laundry room is always clean. Location is convenient for getting around DC. Never had any bug problems. As long as Antonio is the building manager, you can move-in with confidence. read more

I've lived at alto towers for almost fourteen years now and i am still enjoying my experience here! My daughter grew up in alto towers, and with all the activities she does everything is convenient! She can walk to her school, she can go to the park and most importantly she is in a family friendly neighborhood! Alto towers is the place to be! Everyone is so nice in the apartment, even though i am not friends with them. IN addition, the bus stops going to friendship heights and go to Georgetown are right in front of this building! It is incredible how everything is so easy to get to! Moreover, coming this fall there will be a variety of shops down the block. it is said that it will be mostly like be done at the end of fall 2014. Thus, making it easier to go to shops and getting groceries. All you have to do is take a 2-3 minute walk down the block and BAM! you have a mini mall! In addition, you get a great view of the national cathedral. Look at it like this, people from all over the world come to see the national cathedral and you could live right in front of it! how cool would that be! Its pretty awesome, if you ask me! Therefore, i gave alto towers 4 stars because it is a place where everything is convenient, family friendly neighborhood and you get an awesome view! read more

As a resident of Alto Towers for two years, I have to say I am satisfied with my keeping of the building. Antonio is fantastic, he goes the extra mile for all his tenants. However one of the maintenance workers, William Cruz has been wonderful to us throughout the two years. His handy work has made living in Alto Towers so much easier. He is always kind, and willing to hang up a photo for me since I can't reach, haha! Overall Alto Towers is a great location, great price, and decently sized apartments. Plenty of local restaurants, and Giant supermarket (finally!). read more