Placemakr Marymount Ballston

Location

Staff ,apartment size , location

All was great.

Great location, friendly staff and good facilities.

Only one night was poor with a party on a balcony below us with loud music and shouting in corridors

The location is excellent: a quiet and pleasant neighborhood, about a 10-minute walk from the Metro, with trains reaching the National Mall in approximately 15 minutes. There is also a supermarket within walking distance. There were also several positive aspects to the service. When we asked for additional towels and cleaning supplies, the staff responded pleasantly and helpfully. When we requested that the apartment be cleaned, someone came promptly and cleaned it. Maintenance staff also came to address the faulty bathroom light and replaced the broken toaster.

This makes the overall experience somewhat frustrating, because the property clearly has tremendous potential. With its excellent location and pleasant surroundings, it could be an outstanding place to stay. Unfortunately, inconsistent maintenance, poor communication, and lack of attention to some basic details prevent that potential from being fully realized. Several emails I sent to the property were completely ignored — I did not receive a single reply. The apartment also had a number of maintenance issues. The shower light was not working when we arrived, there was no hot water one morning, the stove had a fault, and the bathroom ventilation fan was extremely noisy. Although the toaster was eventually replaced and the light was attended to, these problems should ideally have been identified before guests arrived. Basic kitchen equipment was also incomplete. There were no teaspoons, and staff were unable to provide any. We were four guests, but the apartment had only three chairs. We asked both in writing and in person for one additional chair, but nothing was done. We were simply told, “We don’t have another chair.” When I suggested borrowing a chair for the six days of our stay from an unoccupied apartment, I was told there were no vacant apartments. Yet at around the same time, we were given a key to inspect another apartment that was clearly empty. The advertised balcony is also essentially unusable. Access to it is partly blocked by the sofa, and there is neither a table nor a single chair outside. It is difficult to understand the value of advertising the apartment as having a balcony when it cannot realistically be used. What is disappointing is that many of these issues are relatively simple to solve. The fact that staff responded well to some requests shows that good service is possible, but the overall experience lacked consistency. This could be a truly excellent property. The location is excellent and some staff members were helpful and respons