1200 East West - Silver Spring

I rented in a 2 bed/2 bath apartment in 2016. The rooms are not a bad size, but get poor lighting; the kitchen and bathrooms are nice and look updated. Each room has an ensuite bathroom, which is the best roommate setup you can get! But I asked the building management to clean the room and wash the blinds and fix some items before I moved in, and they did not. I had to move in my furniture and then they came to do all I had asked.The gym is small and usually full. I could never get a free machine. I noticed the area is not really for runners, though if you look for trails a few minutes away you can find them. I did not feel quite as safe in the area as in other parts of the DMV, but I was still new.There's free coffee and hot chocolate in the lobby, and I definitely hit that up. It beats the Flavia machine in some offices.I only lived here for 3 weeks before I had an emergency and had to move out. But when it came time to move out, the building management gave me a hard time with the lease, that was still unsigned by the management. I had to explain that it was not a binding contract until it was signed, which they were not quick to do for some reason. My legalese was good enough to talk my way out of it. It took some time to rent the room to someone else, but I finally did.The apt was right next to a coffee shop, maybe a 15 min walk to metro and the WSC and the downtown restaurants. The WSC had a good zumba class, but it's nothing compared to the sensazao classes I used to take in Arlington. Jazmin has the energy and Diego has the legs. The WSC staff here in SS warned me I needed a stun gun and maybe a dog or three for my safety in the area. Not a great start.Very convenient if you are commuting to the FDA campus in White Oak, you can catch the shuttle by metro.Silver Spring is bustling with cool things, like dance studios and an acapella group.I wished I had a car for the area, but I still got by as a pedestrian. The Giant grocery store is just 2 blocks down, but I found it pricey and not great quality. If you have a car, I'm sure you can find the Trader Joe's an easy 15 min drive away.People pretty much leave you alone, but I'm sure you can find people to socialize with if you'd like. My roommate was very kind, but also mostly kept to herself.I really only made the move to Silver Spring because what was supposed to be a remote role at the FDA was not being approved by my consulting manager. This building was as convenient as it got to commute to the campus every day without a car.I think there was pee or water on the elevator floor at one point, so it's not always the cleanest, but our unit had no problems.I did not get to check out much of the rest of the building before I had to move out. But I was, in fact, getting ready to settle in for 2-3 years while I planned to get the healthcare experience I went there for.

Roaches, poor service, and bed bugs, oh my! I’ve had a lot issues since I moved into this building. Mainly: 1) it’s disgusting. The cleaning team is kind and works REALLY hard — but know all cleanliness is due to them. Dog pee on floors and in elevators, every kind of pest (and I live on the fourth floor), and I was recently notified of nearby bedbugs with no follow up from the building beyond inspecting the closest apartments one time. The building is fairly clean during business hours but once tours are done can get pretty foul. 2) the office is horrid at communicating and nearly impossible to get in touch with if you don’t catch them in the office. I was tricked into an 11-month lease after being offered and accepting a month to month to month lease. Rather than updating my information in their system, the admin team just didn’t and demanded I abide an incorrect lease as “that’s how it was in their system”. Just don’t trust them and even though they try to make it impossible, get things in writing. 3) they’ve been making “improvements” over the last 6 or so months to make the building aesthetically look better while all of these underlying issues remain. Don’t fall for it! The units are indeed nice in features and layout but know you can’t enjoy them without delayed maintenance, nasty encounters, and little access to building managers.

This is a great place to live, with in-unit w/d, a fitness center, balcony in every unit, and plenty of natural light in the apartment.

I should have known not to apply for the building after my horrible experience trying to do a self-guided tour.For one- where are the leasing agents and people in the front office? No one is ever there. When you call the number for the apartments for support- an operator answers from a remote location with absolutely nothing useful to provide for support.The self-guided tour was unorganized and the apartment they sent me to tour was under renovation. First unorganized red flag in addition to the fact I had to wait 30min to even see the unit since no one was there to assist and the front desk girl was asleep and didn’t even realize I had been there waiting.Next- against my better judgment. I apply! No one still has contacted me about the apartment but I receive an email less that 24 hrs later citing rejected due to rent-income-ratio and still no one has called me. I make over 5x the rent but that’s another story and I’m okay with being rejected as a sign from the powers that be that this was not the place for me!But the main issue here is when you apply- they automatically take a reservation fee over $200 that should not be taken if rejected from the apartment. This building never called, never returned the fee and is not providing assistance over the phone considering no one actually works at the apartment itself!I will be seeking legal action.DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY.

Listing office, no respect.I had apartment @3:30 pm , i was on time, no one was there ?