Observatory of Georgetown the-A Condominium

The Observatory is a pricey condo building conveniently located in Georgetown. The location is perfect in between a 24 hour new Safeway, Whole Foods, CVS, and right on the bus line. It’s a 15 min walk from Georgetown campus. I recommend living in this neighborhood however I do NOT recommend living in this building. There is someone at the desk 24 hours, which is nice except a lot of the time I would be coming in late or leaving early for work and these people would be sleeping. Or let anyone in the building without calling me first so it’s not a real layer of security. The gym in the basement is really, really minimal. 1 – 2 working treadmills and some free weights basically. The hot tub/​sauna were «closed» the entire 3 years I lived there. The outdoor pool is nice and is open Memorial Day thru September. They have a social room you can rent as well, but there is a hefty fee to use it that is non-​refundable and they usually take some portion of your deposit as well for use of the room. Speaking of fees, to move OUT of the apartment you are charged $ 200 move out fee on weekdays, and $ 400 move out fee on weekends (this is a fee — you do not get any of it back) and a $ 750 deposit that you will get back if no damage occurs while moving. Also, while living here my windows were covered for 6 months straight so I could not see out of them for construction. They did this to the entire building in stages. It is such a poorly managed project that my windows were covered twice as long as I was originally told they would be and was offered minimal updates and no compensation or apology as the time extended. In fact, they wanted to charge me $ 25 per window to install plastic on the interior since the construction was creating so much dust. For once, residents rebelled and this fee was waived. So, in conclusion it’s in a great location, but poorly managed by the board who will try and nickel and dime you at every possible instant. Look at Carillion House as another option in the neighborhood. Although it’s not as updated, it’s cheaper and I’ve heard better things.