Cortland at McLean

Current Resident 25282

Verified Resident • 2013

The entire staff has...

The entire staff has been wonderful and very resposnive to any questions or needs. The move-in process was so smooth and our apartment home looked great and we are so excited to be living here!! They have goone above and beyond in customer service when asked who had the best pizza in town and within minutes there was a response and a menu at our door! I recommend the Ashby to anyone wanting to move here!

Current Resident 23907

Verified Resident • 2009 - 2013

The office staff as well...

The office staff as well as the maintenance staff are great and dependable.

Current Resident 19296

Verified Resident • 2012 - 2013

Would not rent again....

Would not rent again. Garbage smell near elevators is quite bad. Windows need replacing.

Current Resident 18692

Verified Resident • 2008 - 2013

Staff is professional,...

Staff is professional, efficient and hard working. The bldg owners have not invested in maintaining and modernizing either the water pump, heating, electrical services or the building itself, which is starting to look shabby. The Ashby is not going to be competitive with new construction done in the area, which will all have standard modern amenities and appearance. For some reason, the Ashby believes that raising rental will keep it at a par with new construction, instead of trying to stay competitive by maintaining reasonable rents and investing in bringing back (and actually upgrading) its lost luxury appeal. Instead, the Ashby has taken away existing basic services such as a 24 hr desk service etc. (which residents paid for anyway). It truly has lost its luster over the past several years. It used to be the place to live in McLean.

Current Resident 17885

Verified Resident • 2012 - 2013

I have enjoyed living...

I have enjoyed living at the Ashby. It is very convenient to my work, and there are many stores and restaurants within easy walking distance. Overall, it has been a great experience. Currently, the community is in the process of becoming smoke free, and until then, I have a neighbor who smokes. That smokes seeps into my apartment, which is extremely unpleasant and frustrating.

Current Resident 16299

Verified Resident • 2013

The community has a lot...

The community has a lot going for it, probably its location is the best feature. However, staff could be a bit more proactive in handling issues that arise and a bit more understanding of tenant's concerns. There seems to be some resistance with staff when you try to raise an issue. I think staff may be overworked, i.e., required to handle too much at this location. That may be some of the problem, they're simply overworked and a bit stressed with so many tenant requests.

Current Resident 15208

Verified Resident • 2007 - 2013

Until 2011 it was very...

Until 2011 it was very good. Since then it has declined. It is simply too expensive.

Current Resident 15197

Verified Resident • 2012 - 2013

Has been very nice ...

Has been very nice

Current Resident 11351

Verified Resident • 2012 - 2014

We are very happy with our apartment and The Ashby! The office staff is very responsive, the front desk concierge service is great, and the property is well maintained. The only noise issue has been an extensive balcony replacement project at a neighboring condo building that has been going on for many months. Construction noise from this project is loud during the day. There are no noise issues in the evening or at night.

susanlaz

Resident • 2012 - 2013

I've been living in the Ashby for six months now and absolutely love it here. My apartment is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath with an oversize balcony that faces the back of the building. It's been totally renovated so I have all new appliances, tile floors and baths. I moved from a condo in Fairfax to be closer to DC. I love everything about this place. The management staff is wonderful and on top of everything. Maintenance problems get fixed the same day. There is tons of parking and my guests have commented on how easy it is to find parking here. The front desk is friendly and helpful. No bugs or rodents whatsoever. I think the building is very well kept. Clean grounds, no animal refuse. Love having a deli and hairdresser that you can get to from inside the building. Utility bills are well within reason ($100 for everything for a 2 bedroom?). I used to pay over $250 for the same size condo. I think this is a great place to live and would recommend it to anyone.

M.Franklin15

Resident • 2011 - 2012

I love my apartment and everything about it! Except for the construction but the renovations to the apartments are necessary. It shows goes to show that office and the owners care of the appearance of the apartments. We like most of our neighbors and all of the office staff. There are a few people living here that should leave. Because they are so mean and negative and they are bringing us down. I met a few recently who were talking nonsense and want to make you believe lies. They are probably the same people putting down the staff in this website. These apartments could not be any BETTER! You are always received with a smile in the office and the front desk staff is always kind. We will stay as long as we can since we have lived in many apartments and none have been as wonderful as this one.

ashbyresident11

Resident • 2012

This apartment complex is fantastic! Spacious and great amenities. The staff is friendly & usually competent. The residents are very friendly, whenever you happen to see/meet them. No damage in the apartments at all. It is somewhat affordable, depending on which day (literally) you decided to rent from them. The pet deposit is horrendously expensive ($300) in addition to paying the pet rent each month ($30). You pay for utilities such as electric & cable (separately from rent), but they just added water to that list. It helps that you can use the laundry room on each floor to utilize the dryer/washer if you want to save on your electric/water bill. The rent is going up due to the newly built metro opening up nearby in January 2013. That is a big thing to consider. I still recommend living here, because it is so far the best place in the Metro DC area that I have lived. My ratings: Parking, there is not always enough parking & you end up parking way behind the building. You really don't hear your neighbors at all, but you definitely hear ear shattering construction that they perform on the apartment building itself. The grounds are immaculate & very useful (pool, tennis courts, shops with friendly merchants/workers, etc.). I feel very safe living here, enough to walk around at 3am. Some floor layouts are better than others (using space efficiently, etc.) & there are varying levels of renovated apartments. Definitely ask to see at least 3 examples when visiting! The maintenance folks do a great job & are very efficient. Staff - My one complaint is this horribly annoying woman who works in the management office & always seems to have a bad attitude. She's very condescending, so just avoid her & you're good! The rest of the office (out of 3-ish people) is wonderful, friendly, very down to earth, etc. Still great place though! Located near two grocery stores, bus stops, gas stations, coffee shops, restaurants - all within easy walking distance (less than 10-15 minutes).

K.James

Resident • 2011 - 2012

You will not find a better place

I have been here almost a year and I love this place. From the leasing staff to the maintenance staff you could not find greater people in one place. No matter who you deal with your problems will be solved almost immediately. I can walk in to the leasing office and just sit and chat for a moment or put in a work order and the staff will always greet me with a warm welcoming smile. I don t understand why people decide to blame the management company and/or the staff of being greedy or careless, I guess people rather be negative than positive. I have been looking at other communities but they are as pricey and the staff is mean or they don t care. Or they treat you like you are a bother. Now when looking for an apartment I don t only think of the price but I look at whom will I be dealing with. This apartment complex is not new but they try their hardest to keep the entire place looking amazing. Who can say that about any apartment complexes nowadays? Close to ZERO. I love this place and I will hate when I leave. But I know that the only reason I will leave is if/when I buy my first home. The Ashby is the BEST because their employees LOVE their job and Their RESIDENTS.

Current Resident 287482

Resident • 2006 - 2012

Good management; bad PR

We have lived at The Ashby for almost 5 years -- four years in one unit, and now almost one year in another. The Ashby is a well-run place and the on-site management is very good, except for one of the office team that is off-putting and not courteous. We have had on-going flush problems with all toilets in both units. In the first unit, management finally installed an in-tank super flush toilet and it worked perfectly thereafter. So we moved to a 3 bath unit and, sure 'nough, all toilets clog. Of course they blame us and refuse to install even one new super flush. And they of course threw in the fact that the toilets are government reg. We actually love living at The Ashby. The problem is that the management team are "middlemen." They cannot act on their own.

un_anonymous

Resident • 2011

Had a good time (most of the time)

I've lived here for just 6 months here and I feel very bad moving out! Staff is friendly and maintenance fixes problems quickly. The amenities are great. The pool and the gyms are awesome. Rent is pretty pricey. But, you get what you pay for. The interior is beautiful with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. The restaurants and shopping is close by. The utility bill is very very less. May be around $70 to $80 for everything. But, there are few negatives. The neighbors are not so friendly. Mostly elderly folks. Sometimes it is difficult to get the parking. Overall, I had a very good time living in this luxurious apartment.

tipstorent

Resident • 2009 - 2011

finally moved out

The Ashby is one of the nicer apartment complexes in the McLean-Tysons Corner area. However, there is simply not many high rise apartments in the area to choose from. The apartment complex inside overall has a nice appearance as well as the apartments are nice looking. Unfortunately, the apartments have very old windows and sliding porch doors. The seals in my apartment were all cracked letting cold air in and heat escape. I complained but was told that they had no intention on addressing the problem. I was informed by other residents that they had similar issues. The washing machine and dishwasher also had repeated issues. I finally gave up with the the dishwasher and hand washed my dishes. There was a problem with smells from other apartments coming in through the vents in the apartment. This meant that I often endured the smells of whatever cooking was going on in the adjacent apartments. The front desk person was always helpful with package deliveries. However, management was often very rude and seemed incapable of providing notices about issues in understandable English. This resulted often resulted in confusion. For the entire time I was there, management promised that online rent payments would be coming shortly. They finally actually implemented this when I moved out! The business room with Internet access was horrible. It was dank and the computers were usually not working right. The printer cartridge is only replaced once a month. Once the ink runs out you are out of luck printing anything until the following month! This was ridiculous. For the amount of rent money being charged they should be able to replace the ink cartridges when they run out of ink. Also, paper was frequently depleted when you needed to print something. Parking is a drag and many spaces are dedicated to the businesses operating on the first floor of the building. The residents seemed to be families with young children-probably because they want to get their kids into McLean schools and cannot afford to buy a home in McLean, and many retired older residents. The property seemed pretty safe and is close to many stores. However, you forget your in fancy McLean on Beverly Road. It is filled with corporate buildings and there is a plethora of various working vehicles parked along Beverly Road for extended periods of time making the neighborhood look more like a warehouse district. I sometimes thought some folks were using the parking lot for extended parking that didn't live there too. Finally, you will likely be woken up and disturbed by leaf blowers who were known to come late into the evening or very early in the morning-outside the legal limits for this activity. The UPS store also has a driver who parks every day in front of the building often blocking the way in the parking lot and blasting music from his truck even though he is inside the UPS store. So enjoying your porch that seems so nice is often not possible if you do get bothered by endless noise.

Current Resident 318226

Resident • 2010 - 2011

not anymore

Once was a prestigious place now nowhere near. After super DC area land lord writ owned properties this place has becomes a total disaster. Management doesn't care anymore rents are always being hidden feed and not to mention the management's blind eye to the new coackroch rodent problem. Bottom line before writ this place was amazing now I'm just trying to get out of this whole

Current Resident 22885

Resident • 2009 - 2013

Looks like some of the responses have been removed. Could it be because they questioned the authenticity and sole interest of the original comments as comming from a tenant? If so the objectivity of this site comes into question. Regardless the love fest about how wonderful The Ashby is remains questionable!

djhs

Resident • 2010 - 2011

The Ashby is generally a nice place to live.

PROs: -Convenient location. The Ashby is in the fairly quiet north McLean which has plenty of grocery stores and shops. It's less than 10 minutes from the West Falls Church Metro. It's only about 2 miles north of Tysons Corner. It's near onramps to GW Parkway, 267, 66, and 495. It's equidistant from Reagan and Dulles airports. There's a bus stop right outside the building. -McLean is one of the safest(read: affluent) places in the whole DC area. Most of the tenants in the Ashby are multicultural, older, and wealthy. This lends a calm and safe feeling to the Ashby's atmosphere. -The Ashby is one of the few apartment buildings(as opposed to private condominiums) inside the beltway with a washer/dryer in every unit. -Ample free outdoor parking. I never saw the parking lot get more than 75% full. -Very helpful building staff and leasing office. CONs: -Expensive rent for small spaces. The value is not great. -Sound isolation could be better. The air vents were especially good at carrying sound from neighboring units. -The aforementioned permeable air vents occasionally wafted the smell of cigarette smoke from neighboring units. -Windows were leaky. Cold and hot air seeped in and, worse, my bedroom window was so poorly sealed when shut that strong evening winds made it howl. -The Ashby is the kind of building where only heat or AC can be active for the building's thermostats one at a time. Normally this isn't a problem, but the Ashby seemed to be conservative on when to make the switch for the season, and there was a week both in the autumn and spring where the apartments were uncomfortably warm. -The building materials are old and can appear a bit dirty even when they're clean. -My small 1BR had only one functioning air vent, and it was located directly above the thermostat, such that I had to set temperates much hotter or colder than I should have needed to. The single air vent also was not well able to provide heating and cooling to the adjacent bedroom. -I'm not sure if I had a representative experience, but it seems that the Ashby is unusually susceptible to power outages. During my 1 year stay, there were at least three power outages (some because of storms and some not), and it took, on average, about 12 hours to restore the power. Keep in mind that the Ashby's ability to run water and flush a toilet needs electricity. Backup generators did power the elevators, however.

Current Resident 825436

Resident • 2010

More good than bad

I have lived at Ashby for 4 months. For the most part I love it! The things that I don't particularly care for, management can not control. People will be people and when you pay what we pay for rent some people feel they can do whatever they want. They don't care who they offend. I would encourage people to talk TO their neighbors rather than talk ABOUT them. Now that the weather is turning I can see what another poster was talking about, there are some serious leaks in the window seals that I must address. I was taken aback when the note in the elevator said the heat would be on in the evenings. What about the daytime when I'm home on weekends trying to enjoy football???

Prospective Resident 247997

Prospect • Visited 2010

Worth the Money

I have a two bedroom apartment and with granite countertops. It s absolutely beautiful and very homey. I pay a high rent but to this day it is well worth every penny. I have the nicest neighbors and the staff is all ways willing to help. The deli is amazing and the UPS store is convenient. There is no other apartment community like the Ashby I know since I was recently checking condos and other apartments around McLean and none of them compare. I recommend the Ashby will great pride.

Current Resident 466896

Resident • 2009 - 2010

Could be better

All the windows in all rooms of the apartment have cracked seals and management is unwilling to repair them. The porch door is warped. The computer room and fitness room are not nice and computers and treadmills are often broken. There are many children in the building and they run in the halls. There are neighbors that cook bad smelling food on my floor and the floor above me and the smells penetrate my entire apartment via the airducts. Gross! Strange problem! Parking is inadequate. Positive: safe area and Maintenance is friendly and quick service. Leaf blowers start early before 8am on the commercially properties surrounding the apartment complex making noise while blowing leaves around and never really picking them up! Ugh!

lilxPrincess

Resident • 2009 - 2010

My Wonderful Home

Best place to live in the Tysons Corner area. Everyone here is polite and friendly. Everyone you interact with is willing to help and this is hard to find. A bit pricey but it is well worth it. My husband and I love it so much we have changed our minds about buying a home for now. There is no better place to live. You need to check it out! *Princess

FormerRentPayer

Resident • 2007 - 2009

Very Happy

I lived here for 2 years with my family. Very good location and apartment for the price. It's McLean and a similar 1-2BR condo in the building next door would cost at least 300-400k. Pool is nice and no parking issues other than the size of the spaces (small) your car may get dinged. Maintenance is great - quick and get the job done. Office staff are OK but they have "misplaced" my rent check a couple times and I've had to show them that they cashed it. I would move back in a second if I was looking for an apt.

Current Resident 81511

Resident • 2009

Great Place

I paid the same amount for a dive in Fairfax, the Apartments at Regents Park, same size, same number of bathrooms and a garage at each. No comparison whatsoever. The Ashby is heaven compared to the Apartments at Regents Park. There are no cons.