Apartment Review for Stafford Apartments - Baltimore, MD

Here's the lowdown as honest and descriptive as can be: THE BASICS The building is an old hotel converted to small apartments. This is definitely NOT luxury, but is good for the price. We paid $900 for a 2-bedrooom apartment. The second of the two bedrooms is very tiny, so it's really not appropriate for a second adult (maybe for 1 adult + 1 child). Hopkins students live here. THE GYM The gym is really just a small closet with 3 machines, and no one really uses it. LAUNDRY FACILITY Laundry is in the basement. It is a little creepy there, accepts coins via a laundry card that costs $5. There are 4 washing machines and 4 dryers. One or two are usually not working. From time to time the facility is closed for renovation but otherwise open 24 hours. The elevator does NOT go there. You walk down. THE ELEVATORS There are 2. The elevators are very slow. One is really a one-person elevator. Don't buy big furniture. Don't bother with the "Close Door" button; it does not speed things up. There is a grand spiral staircase that wraps around the elevator, so if you're a trooper, take it and you might even beat the elevator. THE MAIL You get packages, pick them up at the office. You'll get a little square slip with an image of a gift box on it with your last name and/or apt. number taped onto your actual mailbox, which is one of those conventional ones. You get 1 mailbox key. I don't think duplicates are allowed. THE STAFF The staff is amazing. Simone, Ann, and Jim are responsive, courteous, and reliable. Maintenance issues are addressed promptly. They put up notices for any news, which is nice. The office is open 9-5 or so, basic hours. Shorter hours on the weekend. Sunday closed, I think. THE LOUNGE There is a lounge, but it is small. It has a big flat-screen TV, nice couches, and hot cocoa and coffee available. Two vending machines, too. Good view to the statues out to a Mt. Vernon garden and walking path. THE APARTMENTS The apartments don't have dishwashers. The appliances are old, but work well. The kitchens are small. There is no counter space, so be aware of this. It is definitely not a chef's kitchen. Our fridge was replaced because it made a weird noise, so that was nice of the staff. There is a fire escape that can be used as a balcony if you desire. There are pipes running through the top part of apartments (near the ceiling) because they supply water for the sprinklers (which I assume were not installed at the time it was initially built). The windows do not have nets. PARKING There is no garage parking. There are nearby garages on Calvert and St. Paul streets. There is street parking from the city. SAFETY There is an access code to enter the building, which, as a further security precaution, they might disable. There is also your general keycard entry (controlled access). Once I found a homeless man sleeping in the foyer area (part BEFORE you wave your access card at the reader), but haven't seen him since. UTILITIES They are capped at $85 (might go up), so use all the hot water, electricity, and such as you want (but don't, really, because you should conserve these things). CRITTERS We've had no problems with bugs, ants, termites, mice, etc. FINGERS CROSSED. However, we did see a rise of mosquitos and fruit flies. It might be because of the warm weather, us opening the windows often, and the plants we have in the apartment. HEAT/AIR CONDITIONING The systems works SUPERBLY. However, please note that they are on an on/off switch system, where one (e.g., heat) is on and the other is off globally (for the entire apartment building). There are set dates that heat is on and AC is off, and vice versa. So you might be freezing for a week or two or sweltering for a week or two right around the time before the switch is made. Good luck!