The Towers Condominium, Washington DC

Living here is like living in the war zone - constantly under attack of angry rude disgruntled employees. The manager is complicit with them.
And yes I have photos and videos (one where an employee call me KAREN and accuses me of racism)
Tune is for the next installment.

THIS APP TIME SCHEDULES ARE NOT CORRECT AT ALL FOR ANY OF YOUR BUS ROUTES

Staff friendly we know that.but can you give us more cheaper price like years ago?

The staffs are friendly, but not well-trained for customer service.

This building’s valet dock receives all the USPS/Amazon packages for all rooms, but it take at least one whole day to process the packages and be ready to pick from the dock. Too bad. My package delivered Friday morning, but I could only pick from the dock on Monday.

Pool is outdoor, nice and neat. But it’s end of April now, Pool is not opened yet. Hope it’s opened soon.
Underground Gym is scary isolated place, air conditioning doesn’t feel fresh.
The little Library room is peaceful.

Close to American University, but the bus N2 and N6 is not following the schedule. Better walk to AU-13mins or WCL-30mins.

The only reason I’d be here is it’s close to AU.

The Towers is like that novel War and Peace.
On one hand, the staff is very friendly and will always welcome you into the lobby whether it is the hurried walk of the morning or the slow pace of night. They are always present and ready.

The convenience store at level B1 is really good, too. It's a family business run by a husband-wife team with a son who are very friendly and remember you, even when you make a special request a month prior. They have all the basics for a home, including stationary, natural ingredients, a few spirits, and more. I always used the metro and bus so I can’t say anything about the parking, but its private, secure, and easily accessible. The last thing is that although some units have more space, they have natural gas access. It’s a small thing but its great for cooking and tea.

This is where the good part ends, and unfortunately there is more to living at a place than a lobby and amenities.
As a former long-term resident at the Towers, I was really surprised by the living conditions.
First, they have the seasonal disinfectant that they apply throughout the ground: Including the lobby, the elevator shaft? , and the elevator exits.the staff has been kind enough to report that it is because there are some residents that receive long term care and they just want to make sure we're safe. I can definitely appreciate their steps, but its really prevalent to the point where I prepared for it with extra candles and natural air from the balcony with the fans pointing back into the hallway.

Second, the building is aged and adding basic touches like installed lighting, or small modifications is difficult. I remember my first year, I had to adjust to standing lamps with everything in an orange hue. Management caters to a certain demographic, namely older, which is not a bad thing. There are certain aspects of living in the towers that are great like the central garden and the summer pool (SO many rules though). However, my biggest hang up was with the lighting—the space felt dark and not truly my own only after a LOT of effort talking to management. The lobby was a great space and I hoped to slowly replicate its light in my own space but it was a Sisyphus moment and that boulder was simply adjusting the space to be comfortable.

Third, when I moved out the treatment was really jarring. It went from day to night and suddenly requesting for small things that took a mere 20 minutes with 3rd-party moving services seemed like a big ask for the Towers. Instead of an afternoon of helping a seemingly long-time friend, it actually took days and weeks of permission blocks-it was always calling the main office for “specific permission when they were on site” before they could act on anything. I will always appreciate my many seasons with the staff, but this was just weird treatment as if I was a stranger to them and was never in their system. This was particularly confusing as I was in touch with management the entire time throughout my move out about how I sought out cleaners and transporters weeks before the contract completion, easing the move out process and preserving the great sense of normalcy that was my time at the Towers. However, the post-move treatment was just a wall of “who are you again? ” Thankfully, I cleared out the space after several months by spring of last year. For any people considering moving in or out, I would highly, highly recommend covering ALL your actions before turning over your keys.

In conclusion, the Towers is not a bad place —its accessible and close to Maryland. However if you are a 30 or 40-something looking for normalcy there are a few tradeoffs. After my two years there, I’ll always remember the nice door people. However, I’m moving south for work and if I could redo my living situation I might consider somewhere else—maybe with less dependent-centric condo units with rules and more working resident-focused living conditions.