The Mason on Chestnut is a TERRIBLE place to live, I do not recommend it at all. The building is old and the facilities are not very nice. However, the biggest problem is the staff. There are over 15 staff members who work at the building and take turns manning the front desk. They are extremely unprofessional. For example, they play loud music, play board games, and drink beer while on the job. It’s very disruptive to the peaceful atmosphere that one expects living in a managed apartment. In addition, the mail often gets stolen. Overall, I do not recommend this apartment at all.

When apartment hunting, The Mason seemed the most reliable being a fully-furnished unit with rent below $1200. However, instead of moving in to a two person apartment, I moved in to a dorm style living space. There are 9 other people (same gender) living on my floor and every two people share a bathroom. All 10 of us share a "kitchen" space that only includes an electric stovetop and two microwaves. Storage space is very tight (about one shelf per person) with barely any space in the fridge or freezer. The upside is a minifridge installed in the individual bedroom.

The bedroom itself is also dorm style and pretty standard sized for a dorm room with a dresser and a desk. There is also a shared living room area that is also available to 3 other units to share on the same floor. The building has some other amenities but very basic at that including a game room, a gym, and laundry room. There have been incidents of fire alarms going off, elevator still out of use, leaking from ceilings, cold rooms, and continued construction of study rooms that are unavailable. There is no inclusion of toiletries, kitchen utensils, or cleaning besides a basic clean of the shared spaces. Very subpar residence.

Pros: close to school, easy to find, within walking distance from restaurants, grocery store, public transportation, regular cleaning service, standard rent price includes everything so there are no additional or surprising fees, good community, occasional access to free events (or reduced prices to events)

Cons: poor internet connectivity at times, small rooms, some pest problems, elevators constantly broken

I was looking for something cheap that was close to the law school. The International House fits that description. I have a small room with a mini-fridge, closet, bed and desk. I do, however, have to share the bathroom/showers and kitchen with the ten other girls living on my floor.

The International House is a really great place for students to live. There are a lot of international students from all across the world that live here which makes for a really cool cultural experience. I've been able to make a lot of great friends while living here. The building is fairly old and isn't fancy by any means, but I think it is very reasonably priced and is an excellent value.