Let’s start with the pros: bed is super comfortable, kitchen has everything you need to cook a meal, and overall the apartment is well equipped. Location could not be better — close to the new metro station and steps from the Ave and UW campus. Check-in and out was easy and smooth.
Now to the cons: the building is extremely run-down. As you enter, you’re met by a dark, dusty hallway with wall-to-wall carpet that may never have been cleaned. Someone had dropped food that was never cleaned up (in 5 days). No elevator. Once you enter the apartment, there is a distinct odor. Not sure how to describe it (and not sure if this is always the case or just when I stayed there), but it’s like a mix of sewage and mold. I bought two scented candles in the minimart downstairs (loved that store!) which helped, but my clothes still smell after arriving home. The other big problem was construction (which I had read from other reviewers but it was more and louder than I expected). The building is standing alone in a sea of construction. On one side, machines work all day to remove massive amounts of concrete from a demolished building and across the street new high rises are being built. Work goes on from around 5:30am to 4pm Mon-Fri and 6:30am to 2pm on Sat. Quiet on Sundays.
Overall, I don’t recommend this stay. For me, the smell inside, the dilapidated building, and the loud construction unfortunately outweighed the pros.