The apartment is nice and clean. Yes, it is on the 2nd floor, and the apartment itself has few steps to the bathroom and to the master bedroom, but four of us that stayed there are Marathon runners in our 40s and 50s, and we had absolutely no problem. It could be an issue for an old person or for someone with limited mobility, but not for a healthy young or middle-aged person.

The apartment is located in a historic African-American neighborhood with quite interesting architecture. It is just a few minutes away from the convention center, the Metro station “Mt.Vernon–Convention Center”, and about 25 minutes’ walk to the National Mall. As most houses in this historic neighborhood, it's old, and as a result, both the kitchen and bathroom sinks had drainage problems. In case of the kitchen sink, it was quite difficult to wash the dishes as the water would rise quite fast.

The apartment has all the necessary dishes, pots, utensils, but soap and shampoo aren't provided - bring yours.

If you plan to use only the small bedroom or a sofa in the living room, you are fine, but if you plan to sleep in the master bedroom, you must bring ear plugs.

Across the street from this apartment there is a large building that looks like low-income housing. Our first night (Thursday), there was a large crowd standing on the street between our house and that large building. They were talking, laughing, screaming, playing music, and acting as if they were at the stadium during World Series. Both my wife and I finally fell asleep at 4 am, so I don’t know when they actually left, but at 4 am they were still having a party.

On Friday night, they relocated to a different location – right in front of our windows! They brought chairs, boom-boxes, and were having a great time. Exhausted after previous short night, I called 9-1-1 at 11:30 pm. Nothing! I called again at 3:20 am, and they relocated 200 feet away from our house.

On Saturday night I went out and explained that we were running a Marathon next morning and had to wake up at 5 am. One of the guys, the loudest one, shook my hand in a very friendly way, told me that he respected our Marathon efforts, and they immediately moved away. We had a great night till we had to wake up at 5.

I was wondering what was going to happen on Sunday night, but I will never find out because Hurricane Sandy was rapidly approaching, and at 8 pm, before the party starts, we moved out to avoid moving the next morning in the middle of the hurricane.

So, if you plan to use the master bedroom, and there are no hurricanes to scare the street party away, just go out, talk to them in a friendly and respectful way, and you should have a good night sleep. Otherwise – ear plugs!!!