The Remington

If you’re considering living at Remington House, do yourself a favor and don’t. The Remington themself might look decent from the outside, but the conditions inside are far from acceptable. Think rats, cockroaches, and “rooms” that shouldn’t even be called rooms — poorly partitioned spaces that barely count as private. But let’s be clear: the worst part isn’t even the state of the place. It’s that Harrington Housing (the company that runs the place) are essentially thieves. They will happily take your security deposit when you move in, but don’t expect to ever see it again. In my case, it’s been 8 months since my contract ended, and I’m still waiting for my $1,000 deposit. Also, when I first moved in, the property rating was around 2 stars. But then, quite miraculously, a flood of glowing reviews appeared, pushing the score up. Coincidence? Sure. Or maybe just a bit of creative “reputation management” on their part. If you don’t believe me, scroll through the reviews in chronological order and see for yourself. All the previous negative reviews are absolutely correct. Don’t waste your money, your time, or your sanity. There are far better (and more honest) places to live in DC.

I can attest that the conditions in this building are indeed abysmal. I rented an apartment here while serving in a summer internship, so I stayed at the Remington for all throughout June, July, and August of 2023. The building poses a significant health hazard, as rooms could be infested with mice and cockroaches. Don't call the maintenance to send an exterminator, because all they will do is spray in a few places and leave after five minutes (which doesn't solve anything). Bathrooms could have mildew/mold growing on shower curtains. The dumpster/trash cans are always overflowing with garbage. A lot of the rooms do not have any access to natural lighting, so if you want that, they make you pay an extra rate for a room with a balcony. Even if you do have a balcony room, some of the shading blinds may be falling off, which seriously compromises on your personal privacy. The Remington is currently being managed by Harrington Housing, which is a student housing corporation headquartered in Canada (which should be your first tip-off). I will be bold enough to say that the entire operation here is designed to scam tenants. The staff here are stupendously incompetent and lazy, which explains why the utilities are in such poor condition; even when they do fix things, it will take them forever to do it. My air conditioning randomly shut down in the middle of June and it took them more than THREE WEEKS to fix it; I had trouble sleeping at night for all those three weeks because of how hot it got in my room, making me sweat profusely and worried I would get sick from heat exhaustion. I could not even open the door to my balcony to let in cool air because my room was on the ground-level and opened out to the street (also, the cockroaches could crawl in from there). Harrington Housing tricks you into signing a lease due to how cheap the rates are when compared with other housing options offered in DC. Do NOT be fooled, they are low for a reason! Even if the building is close by to the Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro station and is in a relatively safer part of town (it is just south of GWU campus), it is not worth staying here for even one month, let alone three. Besides, it is probably a matter of time before they will shut this building down for serious health and safety violations, and they throw you and everyone else out with no substitution housing or accommodations. DO NOT RENT HERE!