Ancient Oaks Apartments

You may be tempted to live at Ancient Oaks for the great location, safe neighborhood, and unbeatable prices. That would be a huge mistake, which you will realize about a month or two in, when you figure out that no matter what you do, the roaches will never go away. You won't see them, or any plumbing damage when you first see the apt, because they paint and bomb each unit before it goes back on the rental market, but in a couple months, you'll start to see the roaches, and the problem only goes... downhill as time goes on. There is an ant problem as well, especially in the summer. I've had numerous plumbing issues, both kitchen and bathroom, maintenance repeatedly fixed my caved in bathroom ceiling with a piece of cardboard. There is also black mold all inside the walls, you might not see it, but you'll definitely breath it in. That's not to even mention the rats that live in the dumpster, but like to move into the building in the winter, and the bedbug infestations that have befallen many of my neighbors. I gave the staff 2 stars, because the maintenance staff are real nice guys, but the management staff is rude and unhelpful, and without investment from the landlords, the maintenance guys can't really do anything besides shoddy patch jobs. Aside from infestation and poor management issues, you also can't get packages delivered here without getting stolen; there is no assigned parking, and not enough spots, so if you get home after 8pm you'll have to walk far to park, or risk getting towed. Also, this place attracts really weird and creepy tenants, there is this one guy who lives here, so presumably has a toilet very close by, but he chooses repeatedly to pee in the hallway. There was another guy that flooded half the building (about 4 units) because he let his bathwater overflow for like a day and a half straight, and was completely naked when the fire dept showed up. There was also one guy that lived here a couple years ago that tried to just follow me into my apartment multiple times. And a couple that would have screaming matches in front of the building. And a lady selling crack out of her basement. I could go on, but probably don't need to. Please run away from this place, as fast as you can. Good luck! Lee mas

I am currently a resident at Ancient Oaks in the Court House/Lyon Village neighborhood of Arlington. I will echo what has already been said: the bug problem is unyielding and amenities limited. I had a pretty good idea this would be the case when I signed my lease, which I did because price and convenience of location.

What prompted me to write this review, however, was an experience I had this past month. On two separate occasions in a single week, sewage--mostly food from other residents'... garbage disposals--backed up into my shower. This was not the first time this had happened (the first time I treated myself with Drain-O). This time around, the first occasion was a Saturday morning. I could not fix this myself. I called S&S Properties, which I knew was closed on weekends, and listened to the menu of options. I pressed "two" to contact maintenance. When I did this, I was redirected to the home menu. This happened over and over again. I could not get through to maintenance until the office opened on Monday, and consequently went without access to my shower for two days.

To their credit, maintenance turned up quickly and snaked my drain. This solved things until Wednesday evening, when I returned from work. My shower was, once again, flooded with garbage. I knew I couldn't get through to maintenance when the office was closed, so I called Thursday morning. Things were working again by Thursday night, but there was a follow-up plumbing appointment Friday morning that nobody had mentioned to me.

All told, I did not have complete access to my shower on five days this month, and on two of these days I had no means of contacting management. When I asked management to discount my month's rent due to the fact that they failed to provide basic utilities, they refused. And so here we are.

Do not rent here if you can help it. Lee mas

Hi there! I love the apartment I live in, but there are things that annoy me more than others. Loves: the one bedroom I have is huge and has a very open layout. The sliding door that can be perceived to lead to a fake balcony faces a nice little wooded area which keeps the apartment cool in the summer and is very nice to look at. It is conveniently located on the bike trail, near-ish groceries and a metro stop. It's about a 15 min walk to Clarendon, which is great, but not right in the middle of... all the buzz. The price is very reasonable for the location. Management tends to respond to inquiries very fast, and are very professional.

Bugs: literally, bugs. Because it is in a wooded area, the management allows cats, and the buildings are old, there tends to be cockroaches of all shapes and sizes in the apartments. Management does offer free extermination once in a while, but do you really have the time to take out and put back everything from your kitchen cabinet every month or two? If you don't have a car, don't get one! Parking can be a nightmare. There aren't any assigned spots, and there is no regulation of who parks in the lot. In the summer months, I notice there are a lot more cars. I blame the close proximity to a hookah bar, but that's me. The walls are thin, so have an air filter on hand for some background noise. Smoking is allowed in the apartment, so the filter has two uses.

All in all, you will like this apartment building if you don't need the extra frills and thrills of apartment living, you want to be close to the bike trail, and you want a little bit of nature but to be close enough to the young city life of Clarendon. Lee mas

This place caught my eye for its great location and great price. Both of those held up throughout my lease, but you realize that you get what you pay for. Maintenance will respond fairly quickly to problems, but always make a cheap fix. This place is ok if you don't mind a tiny living space with things that don't always work in order to get a cheap place near the orange line.