I Hate Archstone Smith

I had the misfortune to rend from this management company once, and won't make that mistake again. From the $300/month rent increase after the first year's lease expired, to the fees for just about anything they can think of, the company made living in a nice looking building a horrible experience.

The Washington Post has a Saturday Apartment living guide that spotlights a different property each week. The reporter interviews tenants and writes up the property. The stories end up being love fests, every tenant is happy with something about the building.

This week they picked an Archstone Smith building at Pentagon City. And those happy we love the place tenants? See for yourself here. The article starts out with the great view (the place is across the Potomac from DC and the focus is on the view of Arlington, Virginia? - I don't know the place, but does that mean there's no view of DC? One of the best "must view" views in the area?

The tenants start talking about those Archstone Smith touches.

• "The expenses will kill you," said Nathaniel Kulyk, 25, a research associate at a government information technology consultancy. He moved from Northwest Washington to Parc Vista in January 2006 because the building was close to just about every type of transportation and offered underground parking. When his 10-month lease expired, the rent for his one-bedroom surged $130 per month.

• The rates for water, gas and electricity use, which vary month to month, are based not on personal use, but rather on the square footage and the number of people in the unit. Residents noted that they have to pay even for periods when they are on vacation. Josh Baker, 26, who moved to Parc Vista three years ago, said that this is not "the most equitable way" of handling utilities. The consultant and his wife chose Parc Vista partly because utilities were included in rent at the time.