Instrata Pentagon City

Beware of Bozzuto, they’ll rip you off every chance they get.
The only saving grace of this building is the location. The management is terrible ever since Bozzuto took over the building, the maintenance staff are unprofessional and noisy/​sloppy neighbors all around.
Save your money and rent elsewhere.
Side note — I’d lived in this building for 8.5 years prior to moving out, and had no major issues until Bozzuto took over. The 10% rent increase to live in what was turning into a dump was beyond ridiculous.
Addition — Sanjay’s response is bogus considering he authorized this obscene behavior on more than one occasion (see other Unilocal reviewers). Forcing a rent increase on tenants isn’t legal and I’m still within my window to sue Bozzuto.

My husband and I recently moved into the Instrata Pentagon City. So far we have been extremely impressed with the building and its staff members. Upon move-​in, the unit itself was impeccably clean and the building staff even left us champagne to celebrate our new home. It’s those little touches that make this apartment feel special. The location of Instrata PC is great — you are super close to the Metro and lots of stores and restaurants.
Recently we did experience one tiny bump in the road when we discovered a leak from an exterior wall underneath our living room carpet. This leak took place after a wild rainstorm when they were doing construction outside. I reached out to the building manager, Sanjay, and within an hour he had deployed a whole team of people to address the problem. He also called me to discuss their plans for remedying the situation and kept me in the loop with frequent updates. Within 2 days our apartment was back to normal. We were extremely grateful for Sanjay’s excellent leadership, communication, and professionalism in handling the issue.
In addition, Instrata Pentagon City has a strong sense of community — they offer fun, free activities for its tenants. In just our two months there, we have attended a hockey game with our neighbors and I took a floral decorating class. We really enjoy those little perks!
Overall we think the building is great and highly recommend it!

The location is great. The metro is right there along with shopping. That is where it ends. It is like a hotel with people staying for a week here and there. My heat did not work on 2 separate occasions requiring maintenance which apparently goes home at 5:00. My internet hardly ever worked and it was a struggle to get it repaired. The towels were what you would expect from motel 7 or to wash your dog or car with. It was just unacceptable. And honestly no one cared. All I can say is «Don’t.» You will regret it.

We lived at Instrata for 18 months in a 2-​bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. The location is perfect in the walking distance of metro, Fashion Center mall, Pentagon Row, and a lot more. I believe it is located in the best spot in that area location-​wise. The front-​desk staff were nice and the community was always clean.
We had no problem at all with the management until we received our lease renewal rates (which was supposed to be given to us 60 day prior to expiration date and was not). They INCREASED the rent by more than $ 1000 for renewal! Let me give you a flashback, 18 months earlier when we signed the lease they assured us the highest increase rate they had for renewal was around $ 50 to $ 100. In fact, we were not the only people that happen to face such a rent increase. A friend of mine who had moved in 1 month prior to us and encouraged us to lease an apartment at Instrata experienced the same rent increase upon renewal. So, if you are thinking about signing a lease hoping to renew for successive years, this should be big RED FLAG for you.
PS: In addition, after we moved out, we received a bill of the amount a little more than $ 800 for carpet damage (the carpet was already a few years old according to their inspection guy). We did not have a pet and above normal wear and tear, we had made a less than 2 inch black spot in one of the bedrooms.
Overall, although we had a great experience there at Instrata (except for the last two months, and even after moving out), we DO NOT recommend anyone to sign a lease with Instrata!

$ 170 a night with a five minute walk to the Yellow and Blue line metro. There is a four story mall out the back entrance with a huge food court (didn’t shop or eat there, but it is convenient if you need to grab clothes or a quick bite).
The apartments have a kitchen with a full complement of cookware and tableware, so the quick (6 – 8 minute) walk to Costco or Harris Teeter means frugal meals during the week and splurge dining out on the weekends. Additional conveniences within 5 – 8 minute walks include a dry cleaner, a Rite-​Aid and a World Market. Another 2 minute walk will get you to an outdoor ice rink and plenty of chain and local sports bars, spas and nail salons. Oh, and there is a USAA branch within minutes.
We could never get the TV/​cable box remotes to work to turn on the system (had to do it manually. every. single. time), and had no way of turning off the closed captioning. Not a big deal, but attention to detail for $$$/​night was unacceptable.
My biggest complaint, and no fault of Instrata, was the late night construction in the adjacent parking garage. The jackhammering and other assorted construction noises from midnight to 0700 was maddening. My guests insisted on setting the thermostat at 78 degrees; I’m a 62 degree guy. Needless to say, I couldn’t keep my suite window open due to the incessant construction noise. On a positive note, the apartment was noise neutral with windows closed… I never heard a neighbor in my week’s stay and the construction noises were significantly muted for a good night’s sleep.
Need to know 1: Buy a $ 10 metro card. You get $ 8 credit for fares, so the card net cost is $ 2. If you use paper cards, there is a $ 1 surcharge per trip, so buy the metro card and refill using you credit card.
Need to know 2: BWI to Instrata using a metro card is ~$ 13 Take the B30 bus to Greenbelt, then take the Yellow line to Pentagon City. Door to door 55 minutes.
Need to know 3: Blue line to Arlington Cemetery is two stops from Pentagon City station and nine stops to Smithsonian (direction Largo Town). L’enfant station is two stops on the yellow line (direction Fort Totten).
Need to know 4: If this is your first trip to DC, use a one day hop on/​off $ 35 Big Bus tour to acclimate yourself. You can get the terminus at Union Station, but you can buy a ticket at any one of their stops, credit cards accepted. You won’t be disappointed in the number of stops and frequency of service, although the on-​board service pales in comparison to the NYC bus tours [yes, take advantage of local city bus tours to get a feel for what you want to explore more in depth]
Of course this has been a review of Instrata Pentagon City. But I’ve included much more information than you may need. But the Instrata Pentagon City is centrally located within minutes of shopping, grocers, pharmacies, restaurants and most important, quick access via metro to everything you ever wanted to see in the district. Highly recommended.

I love this place. I lived here for one year and was so happy with this place I decided to renew my lease. Sanjay and Debbie worked really hard to get me a decent rate so that I could continue living here.
The concierge staff is also wonderful. Always smiling and make you feel like home. They have fresh baked cookies twice a week and events for every holiday of the year!
I visited the apartment buildings next door before I moved here and this was the only place where you get your money’s worth. The other buildings have comparable rates for worse apartments. Instrata PC has renovated apartments and is extremely clean. Their level of service for maintenance requests is also very great.
Really recommend that anyone looking for an apartment in this area consider this place.

We lived at the «Instrata» for two years. The first year was outstanding! Kettler owned the property and managed it well. It was a warm friendly atmosphere and the staff was outstanding. We paid more in rent, simple because the building was secure. Celebrity athletes, and high ranking officials lived in the building and everyone was very respectful and discrete. My husband was deploying so having that security as well as a friendly caring staff made living there a great experience. Then Bozzuto took over. They started renting apartments out like a hotel. Young Students 18 – 22 year olds from Penn State (three of my children graduated from Penn State) occupied the building like a dorm room. The management did nothing about it. It was not uncommon to go to the front desk to get a package and have people checking in and out like a hotel. These individuals treated it like a hotel as well. Trash in the elevator, dogs peeing in the halls, teenagers yelling down to girls passing on the sidewalk, loud teenagers partying around the pool and parents who allowed kids as young as 3 years old to «swim» in the hot tub. The «amenities» became gathering places for the short term «hotel» guests so using the pool table, muti purpose room, swimming pool, hot tub and gym were always crowded. Instead of respecting the building as their home like long term tenants, these short terms also allowed their children to run wild through the building. Again, dominating the hot tub, playing on the gym equipment, ruining the pool table, spilling drinks in the theatre. Same goes for their pets! They allowed their pets to urinate on or near the front and back doors so you would walk through dog urine just to get in the building. They also allowed their pets to jump in those beautiful gardens you see in the pictures which also smelled nothing like flowers but more like a kennel. Management cares more about making money than taking care of their tenants. We moved to the building right next door, pay close to $ 1000 less a month for an apartment 200 square feet bigger. Don’t allow the beautiful foyer and granite countertops to fool you. You can put lipstick on a pig…

We just spent 8 nights (2 br/​2bath) and LOVED IT — bring your DVDs and reserve the movie theater room — play pool — huge gym — great business center — next to high end mall and close to tons of restaurants & grocery. Best — ½ block to metro and just a couple of stops to major attractions. LOVED IT!

I am not reviewing as a resident, but as a visitor. My two good friends have a unit at this apartment and have visited them many times since they moved in last year. I love the spacious computer room on the main floor with the nice party room not too far from it. The party room is also attached to a conference room. Their unit is a nice one-​bedroom, with a huge bathroom, and up-​to-​date kitchen. Balcony is a good size as well, overlooking the roundabout at the front of the building. The building itself is located just steps away from the shopping mall and is only a block away from other necessary stores and shops. I personally gave this place 4 stars only because there is a $ 100 per hour rental fee for the common/​party room! The other apartments in the area that I have been to offer free usage of their function rooms per reservation on a first-​come-​first-​serve basis.

Looked here while exploring places to rent. Great location and nice building with nice interiors. However, it’s very expensive compared to others in the area, even the new, high end high rises on the other side of Costco.

I visit a friend who lives here a few times a year, so I feel like I now have a good feeling for the place. Neighborhood wise, you are across the street from a mall (very convenient) and there is a Harris Teeter within a few blocks walk too. There are also a few stores/​restaurants close by too. There are a lot of dogs in the building, which I like, but if you don’t really like dogs, maybe pick another building. The Gym is clean, bright, and cheerful with a nice room for classes. I love the sauna in the gym, it takes a few mins to heat up, but gets good and hot once it gets going. The pool is a good size and has a nice shelf to sit on at one end, and the spa was nice and hot. There is always a life-​guard on duty and they seemed to do a good job checking the chlorine levels throughout the day. My friend who lives here has had a few issues with neighbors/​maintenance/​management, but in a big building like this you are always going to have some kind of issue, and overall I think it’s a good building. If you are looking at apartments here make sure you stay away from the side of the building where the garbage is collected as it can be very noisy late at night.