The Baron

Columbia Plaza is ideal location if you want to be close to GW’s campus. My walk to the law school is less than 10 mins.

Columbia Plaza is an old building, but the apartments have had an upgrade, especially the kitchen and bathrooms in the Baron building. They’ve been doing construction on the elevators (with one working elevator) which has been ongoing for months and a bit annoying. Sometimes the fire alarm goes off by accident. The AC/heat is controlled by building, so the heat comes on around mid-October. You do have the ability to set the degrees, just not whether the system is on heat or cool. With the exception of a week in October, I haven’t had an issue with being uncomfortable due to the building AC system. There really aren’t very many amenities— supposedly there’s a gym but I’ve never been. I had read prior reviews that people had had pest problems, but I have never had any issue with pests in the Baron building. Laundry is located in the basement, and there are about 8 washers and dryers. You do have to pay $2 a load either through a card or through the app (which does keep a timer for you so you know when your laundry is done).

However, I’ll take all of that for the studio apt set up. I have huge wall to wall windows (my plants are happy), great kitchen counter space, and a walk-in closet. The apartment is small but with ample storage space. Front desk people are very nice and helpful, and there is a package room that collects your mail and texts when you receive something.There is someone at the front desk 24/7 who you can call with any concerns, and there is security on site as well that can be reached through the front desk. Lobby doors can only be accessed through a key fob and most of the place has security cameras which the front desk monitors.