Holy hell, after reading some of these reviews I can't believe I lived in the same place…read more
My year here was one of the best in recent memory, as I came from a sleepy, angry beach town in LA to a place with energy like this. Full disclosure, it was a temporary move with work, so my entire place was furnished and they took care of everything with the lease. From what I've read, some of the leasing staff were subpar.
It's a new building that really took some care in its green, industrial modern design; some very cool, thoughtful work. I lived on the east side on the 8th floor and all of my neighbors were cool and quiet. No smoke, no noise, no drama. And the view on the District Square side was energizing, there's nothing quite like waking up to river views to the south and the Square below. Being so close to Reagan National was pretty wild too. With soundproof windows and doors, I could rarely hear the crowds below on the weekends, or the planes (and it does get loud there).
The gym on 6 is one of the best maintained I've seen in a while, with great equipment and courteous people both in the AM and after work, of all ages, and I mean ALL ages (if you see an elderly man in the gym, his name is Abdul and tell him Mike says hello).
The courtyard was enjoyable, as I grilled there a number of times. The pool wasn't perfect, but it was always clean and you just couldn't beat the view. On sunny days, you had full sun on the deck for most of the day. Same goes for the terrace overlooking the slips on the Potomac, it was roomy and never packed. A great spot just to sit and watch the river, or the people below.
The concierge staff were consistently cool, although the main dude Henry didn't really talk much. They made an honest effort for community soirees (movie night, etc), which often weren't heavily attended but fun enough in some respects. The front desk are usually buried in packages, but are attentive enough. The mail lockers on the MR floor were a nice touch, as was the food delivery area near the concierge.
Yeahhh the traffic is nuts on show nights at Anthem and on weekends, but that's part of life there. Parking as you can imagine is insanely expensive, and a little treacherous; you have to drive over a bike lane, sidewalk, down a walkway to the wharf, and around a bike shop on the corner as you pull in. I nearly clipped a handful of people each weekend. If you don't have a car, good. It costs like $300/mo to park there anyway, and Le Infant is about a ten minute walk.
Tons of restaurants and bars downstairs, and albeit a bit on the pricier side, were enjoyable and pretty lively.
The only downside for me was even as a resident it cost me $500 to rent the club room for 2 hours for my girlfriend's birthday. You'd expect when paying that much each month, they'd give you a break. That was just insane, especially when it wasn't used much in the first place (but granted a nice area).
I know this review is skewed a bit given my previous experience in California, but if you're here on a TDWhy with the USG, or coming in to experience DC living for a year, you could do a lot worse than the Waterfront. Thanks to The Channel for a really pleasant experience.