I have a friend who lives in the Buchanan in Crystal City and he hasn’t ever seen a roach or rat. Water Park Tower is also very nice.

All of the apartments I’ve researched or lived in across Arlington and Alexandria have roach issues. They come and treat but honestly, there are a ton of people on top of each other which creates tons of garbage - there’s really no way to avoid it.

An engineer friend explained to me that the sewer system in this area wasn’t built to support this many people which is what led to the rats. I don’t recall his whole explanation but it made sense to me at the time.

The area definitely has rats and there are cockroaches in every building in this area. The amenities aren’t bad and while not everyone is disrespectful, loud music and tvs can be a whole thing. You can hear them on the street from 4-5 stories up.

As for the staff, Felicia moved over there from The Wellington and was well known for being a lazy jerk who would do the bare minimum only if forced. The evening concierge is amazing.

If you don’t need an updated kitchen/floors (early 2000 white is ok) then check out 2121 and 2200 Columbia Pike (that’s both their name and address). If you want something a bit more updated check out The Wellington. If you don’t need updated AT ALL you’ll want to look at Dorchester Towers (and you also have no pets). All of these are on 30 bazillion bus lines and just a few stops from the Pentagon or Pentagon City metros.

If you can spent a bit more and want to be closer check out River House. If you want to be closer, updated, and don’t mind stretching the 1 bedroom cost check out The Buchanan. Their elevators and water go out a lot and the gym is small which is why they’re so far down the list. I really struggled between them and the Wellington and ultimately chose the Well.