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August 2024 by Dixon
Edit- I’m revising my review down from 2 stars to 1 star as I cannot in good conscience recommend anyone to live here.
Right before move out, they sent an email necessitating that I get my apartment professionally cleaned. When I asked them to confirm where in the lease this is stated (spoiler alert, it isn’t), they sent back a vague passage about cleaning my apartment. So already, they lied about my lease obligations.
After move out, they charged a $125 cleaning fee without explanation. After sending 4 emails over the course of 2 weeks, I still haven’t gotten any reply. Which is even more proof of how much you have to pull teeth here to speak with management.
Hint to whomever is replying to the bad reviews asking us to send them an email to address issues, maybe if you replied to anyone on your normal email, these problems wouldn’t boil in the first place.
Original review.
Lived at the Bartlett for one year (not renewing). If my apartment was $500 a month less, I would have a more favorable review, but given the Bartlett bills itself as a luxury apartment, I have to review it against that standard.
- Nothing in this building works. Frustrating so. It's very obvious when they built this building they either a) prioritized form over function so that everything would look nice during tours but not actually work and/or b) spent too much money up front without thinking about upkeep. Here are just a few examples that I've noticed during the the year I've lived here. None of these on their own are too terrible, but having all of these pile on top of each other is indicative of the broader theme that nothing in this building works.
1. The panels used to change the TVs in the roof areas often crash and go unresponsive, leading you to not be able to change them. To my earlier point, they could have just used these things called remotes to let residents change channels but opted for these fancy panels because...reasons?
2. Building on the above, there was a solid week or two where the TVs in one of the roof rooms was so loud it wasn't possible to go in there. And the panel had crashed, leading to it being impossible to turn the volume down.
3. In one of the bathrooms, the built in soap dispenser stopped working, so they put in a standalone soap dispenser, which in turn stopped working, so you had to go back to your apartment to wash your hands. Then, instead of fixing the original soap dispenser, they got a new standalone soap dispenser. Keep in mind this was over the course of months, not weeks.
4. People already mentioned the elevators in other reviews. But we were down to one elevator for a solid couple of months, leading to double digit long wait times, to then be packed in like sardines. I legit was able to go to Whole foods, shop, check out, and come back to the elevator before it arrived once.
There are other examples I could point to but hopefully this gets the point across that everything is always broken.
- The internet (LEO) they make you sign up for is awful. If you do end up signing here, I would highly recommend you try to negotiate them letting you use your own provider. I didn't have internet at all in my unit for the first 2 months here because of issues with LEO. Luckily I was able to cowork in various places around the building, because as a remote worker, it's hard to do my job without internet [citation needed]. Finally after requesting a rent reduction, they let me switch to Verizon, which was both $20/month cheaper and had no issues.
- The $2500/month you pay for rent unfortunately doesn't include responses to your emails. Anytime I would email the Bartlett, it would take a good 1-2 follow ups before anyone replied. There's also no property manager that I can reach out to directly that I know of. So even when I was dealing with the above internet issue, I
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August 2024 by C E
Highly recommend touring w Malik; he was extremely professional and welcoming. Apartment hunting can be a daunting task, but he was so welcoming and knowledgeable, the search felt easier with him. Probably toured eight apartments in the past two weeks and the experience w him at the Bartlett has been the best. The Bartlett also seems to sell itself with location, amenities and lounging space.
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July 2024 by Rico Mendiola
The people make this building 5 stars! Shairee at the front desk is always so kind and helpful as well as the maintenance staff who went out of their way to help me find my lost key! Cannot recommend this building or the area surrounding the apartment enough.
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July 2024 by Liz Lucas
While the apartment may appear nice... as a potential resident the reviews are absolutely right about the random people being in empty apartments.
I verified business hours and rushed after work one day only to be told that tours stop an hour prior to closing. That is nowhere listed on the website.
I made an appointment the following day and would have appreciated being seen on time but one of the staff members had me wait for a while before he showed up to show me an apartment. When we arrived to the apartment the door was locked, despite him having the key. The agent had me attempt to open the door but I couldn’t open it either. I told him that I did hear voices inside the apartment but he acted like the key was the issue. The agent ended up calling maintenance and at that moment two people exited the apartment and I don’t even want to imagine what they did inside. The agent acted like that was the first time it had ever happened but in reading past reviews it looks like this is a common occurrence here.
I’ve also attempted to contact them via email and phone but not response beside and out of office email from a few agents and the main property manager just completely ignoring all correspondence.
For what it’s worth, I would really consider searching other apartments before agreeing to sign a contract here.
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July 2024 by Sean Long
There's a lot to like about living in the Bartlett, but unfortunately, the building moved to require the use of a JBG Smith contracted internet provider, leaving residents routinely and consistently without internet, with little recourse. Over the past five weeks, I experienced five separate disruptions in internet service with the building's internet provider. Each time, the Bartlett was unable to provide any assistance and instead directed me to contact their vendor. On the phone with tech support, it takes 20-30 minutes to get my unit's access point reset and resume connectivity. It's very disappointing for a building that is otherwise lovely.
UPDATE Unfortunately, this issue continues to be unresolved. The JBG Smith vendor replaced my unit's access point, but the issues continue. Reading discussions on the internal resident facebook group, it's clear this is a widespread issue in the building. Unfortunately, JBG Smith began requiring the use of a specific internet vendor in 2023 for this building. If you need reliable internet, you may wish to plan on paying for a second ISP in addition to the one required in the lease.
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July 2024 by Beck Sigizmund
Bartlett is the finest residential community in the area. There is excellent infrastructure inside the building and unique apartments. I especially want to mention the rental managers, Julia and Charmaine. They are the most pleasant, kind, and professional managers who made the rental and moving process very pleasant and easy. Both Charmaine and Julia deserve all the praise and promotion from management. Also, I would like to thank the rental manager, Alex, for his immediate assistance with the paperwork. After a month of stay I've got to know the Residential Manager Daniel who is also a great professional and a kind person. He pays attention to all the details and manages to solve any kind of issues for all the residents. The kind of person who makes the Bartlett a more comfortable place to stay for its tenants.
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July 2024 by Bella Willyard
I lived at the Bartlett for about 2.5 years. I moved last fall because of the big rent increase. I enjoyed the Bartlett’s amenities and close proximity to Whole Foods. However, the leasing office was a nightmare to work with and they were always so unresponsive. The other reviewers are correct — the parking garage door literally broke monthly (it is the only way to get in/out of the garage with your car) and there have been multiple incidents of homeless people/non-residents hanging out in the common areas. I will also add that the printer that they have in the office space for residents was ALWAYS broken which was soooo annoying. The package system was also a pain. Packages always got lost and the concierge could never locate them. I heard last week that there was a homicide recently in the building too. Safety seems to be a bigger issue there than it was before. Considering how much more expensive the Bartlett has gotten in the past few years, I’d recommend moving to other apartment buildings in the area.
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July 2024 by John Kim
Lived at the Bartlett between 2022 - 2024.
I will admit the first 6 months at the Bartlett was great. Location, facilities, etc. But I no longer feel this way.
1. Do not expect the leasing office to respond to your emails/inquiries UNLESS you go in person. We've wasted so much of our time having to go in-person to the office just to wait for an agent to help us. It's like they don't bother responding to any emails.
2. Elevator issues that other reviewers commented on.
3. Murder/Suicide in the building and I have to find out through a news report instead of an immediate email?!
4. Random fire alarms at night that amount to nothing.
5. Their washer will ruin any drawstrings in your clothes.
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June 2024 by Nouf Alanazi
DONT BELIEVE the positive reviews. I lived here for almost 2 years, since February 2024, and this place has dramatically declined. Before I talk about my personal experience, let me tell you what you will deal with if you consider living here:
1)mistreatment against woman by the leasing office manager James
2) Safety concerns, including incidents of murder and homeless entering the building at night.
3) Serious leaks on the building that go on for months
4) Broken elevators that could have you waiting for up to 15 minutes.
Dealing with the leasing office has become a total nightmare since February 2024. My terrible experience with the leasing office manager, James . It started when I had an scheduled appointment with him back in march21,2024 he did not show up, even though I waited for over 30 minutes thinking that finally my concerns will be resolved, clearly I was wrong this manger didn’t even bother him self to step out of his office or reschedule the appointment, which is very frustrating and I’m not the first resident who he skipped the meeting with without an explanation.
What made me write this review? Is what happened today May 20 at the office and I’ve already reported it to the corporate office and I’m waiting for a response but I want people to be aware of what they getting themselves into if they think of living here.
I visited the office for follow-up email that I sent over a week ago and haven’t received any response since then. I was first talking to Evelyn then he decided to get involved he looked at me in a way that made me feel uncomfortable as a woman and rudely said, "Yes, how can I help you?" in a loud, dismissive manner. As I tried to explain what I was offered during my renewal discussion with Julia since early may , he accused me of dishonesty and was trying his best to make me feel uncomfortable, I mentioned that I sent an email last week and I will forward it to him, He interrupted me with, "Okay? What’s the date that email was sent? Just send it NOW to me " in a manner that implied I was not being truthful. And trying to make me feel confused I said sure I will forward the email to you as I continue addressing my concerns he interrupted me again In very disrespectful way saying OkYOU still did not send the email you said u sent last week where is it !!! He start shouting with angry voice SEND ME THE EMAIL NOW!
Like Who hired this disrespectful person? and how he became a property manager ?!! did he got proper training before being hired as a manager? A serious question, Does JBG smith aware of what type of people they are hiring and how they treat residents?! Not only that this manager James repeatedly interrupted me loudly, not allowing me to finish my explanation. His behavior was extremely unprofessional and shameful, especially towards a valid resident who has lived here for almost two years. He was using his position as manager to disrespect people whenever he feel like it . One day he doesn’t care about resident concerns skipping appointments other day he decides to get involved aggressively and be rude to resident?. Based on what happened Its clear that he don’t respect resident specially woman more specifically woman of color, and his actions felt discriminatory. What was weird is that he was comfortably shouting , interrupting and accusing me as a resident of dishonesty in front of the assistant manager, Evelin, as if shes fine of what he’s doing and would never report what happened since he’s the manager. They rarely respond to emails unless pressured, and even when going to the office, they are unresponsive.
Finally If you are a woman, think twice before living here, as you will have to deal with rude manager with poor management that has no respect for women.
READ OTHER COMMENTS where people are getting treated HORRIBLY and don’t believe the good reviews UNLESS you want to waste your money and be poorly treated by
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June 2024 by Andrew C
Just wanted to say how grateful I am of the staffs and management team here at The Bartlett. James and Evelin are great, they are so helpful and are always here to support the residents here. Living here has been an awesome experience - you can't beat the location with Whole Foods right downstairs and Costco 5 min walk away - highly recommended!
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May 2024 by Katie Truitt
UPDATE: I have spoken to Property Manager and we are on the same page. Therefore am upping the review. Hoping with this new management, this apartment will turn itself around for the better.
I renewed my lease recently due to proximity to work. Amongst the issues I have experienced since:
- ghosted by property manager to discuss safety concerns (homeless entering the building). Mentioned multiple times that I am available for a call whenever. I was ghosted since.
- no response from leasing department regarding lease special they were running… I’ve emailed THREE times in a week.
- unresponsiveness to maintenance requests regarding rotting wood, pest control, etc.) and then they close them out randomly
This is not including the prior issues I’ve experienced, which can be found from 2 months ago (around Feb. or March 2024) on Yelp. That’s a lengthy read…
I really don’t understand the lack of customer service. It’s really simple: take care of your renters. Be responsive. Then, no one complains and everything is OK! It’s shameful. I am paying a ridiculous amount to be ignored in a PLACE WHERE I LIVE. Unfortunately, this isn’t just happening to me. Take a look at all the reviews… You’ll notice the manufactured 5 star reviews commending a certain staffer, but if you scroll long enough, you’ll notice the comments from residents about lack of safety, ignored maintenance requests, lack of adequate communication, poor sanitation, etc. If not for those manufactured reviews, Google would have this place at 2.5-3.0 stars.
And you know what stinks about all of this? The concierge folks and janitors are the SWEETEST people ever. Truly wonderful humans ??. I hate it for them, because they carry this place. Think carefully before leasing here. JBGSmith cares about the almighty dollar, not about you, the renter.
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May 2024 by lucy rosario
While I have appreciated certain aspects of living here, I have been consistently disappointed with the overall quality and management of the apartment.
Throughout my tenancy, I have encountered several issues that have significantly impacted my living experience. Among these issues are incidents such as the maggot infestation, multiple appliance breakdowns, frequent elevator malfunctions, and most notably, the persistently broken dishwasher in my unit since October (It is now May and my lease ends July).
The continued malfunction of the dishwasher has been particularly frustrating and inconvenient. Despite numerous requests for repair, it has yet to be resolved.
Furthermore, the disparity between the price of the apartments and the quality of service and maintenance provided is glaring. As a tenant, I expect a certain level of quality and responsiveness from the management, which unfortunately has not been met during my time here.
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May 2024 by Jordan
Alex was an excellent tour guide. He answered all of our questions and informed us of everything we would need to know before moving to the Bartlett. He continues communication and follows up well. I cannot enough good things about him or the apartment complex!
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May 2024 by Sasha Booeu
Do NOT live here. I went for a tour and Charmaine is the rudest leasing agent I've met. She seems nice at first, but finds sneaky ways to insult you which is honestly disgusting. She made comments about my weight, made fun of me for not watching the news, and was rude in answering my questions. If this is how the Bartlett treats people that just come in for a tour, I can't imagine how residents must feel. Save your money (up to $2,700 for a 1BR apartment is RIDICULOUS) and don't live here.
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May 2024 by Razan Al Humaidi
I gave them 1 star for the location. Reasons why I dislike living here:
- the leasing office are unresponsive to complaints. They don’t reply to emails. you have to physically go and wait for them at their office just for them to respond. This has got to be the biggest red flag ????
- too expensive for what they provide as a service.
- their communication overall sucks ESPECIALLY about incidents that take place within the building and the community.
- there are areas WITHIN the apartments where the network is just absent, I mean you won’t even be able to take phone calls.
- they force you to sign up with a horrible internet provider called LEO and their WiFi sucks 90% of the time.
- elevators are down half of the time.
- they have a smoking issue that they deal with the wrong way, putting notices on the wrong apartments.
