The Envoy

Visited this location this morning. Bizarre experience. First I entered the leasing office and asked to use the restroom. Maintenance guy intentionally misdirected me to the basement, where, of course, there was no restroom. When I returned and asked a manager for the restroom, it was inside the leasing office. All this in the presence of some lady chatting on the phone who didn’t think it appropriate to intervene while the buffoon sent me on a wild goose chase. Additionally, I saw a tenant asking the front desk about the wandering pest control team. The guy was clueless and couldn’t figure out where they were. I considered just leaving right there and then. But, I was there to see this real estate agent who appeared to be living in the building according to his advertisement on
. This «L. Napoleon Cooper» sent someone down to show me around the location. When I entered the apartment he sat there blank-​faced, quietly staring at me. She then took me into a bedroom and told me he would be with me soon. She closed the door and left. I waited a few minutes, and at that point knew something was wrong. I left the room, only to find him sleeping on his desk. I opened the front door and he then «woke up.» He told me to close the door, I said I was leaving and left. This is some type of scam for sure. Disaster.

I’ve lived in this building for YEARS & I have to say 2014 is the best I’ve ever seen this building, from the staff to the renovation, it exceeds exceptions. Even the tenants are more friendlier, I must say, the Envoy is a prime location, nice price & from a males prospective, great bachelorette pad.

My friend lived here for a year. Maintenance is excellent (always responds within a day or two). They have annual pest inspection (preemptively) but I’ve never had a problem. They also regularly come in to check that my air filter is clean! The front desk and leasing office is super friendly and accommodating. They are willing to work with you to make sure that you are happy living here, which means working with your budget etc. Also I love living 30 secs from Harris Teeter and the Park, and once a year in Sept, they have a free BBQ for you to meet the neighbors. The only negative thing I will say (and granted, it’s superficial) is that the recent repainting/​renovations of the walls and carpet are not so aesthetically pleasing. But it’s still the most beautiful apartment I’ve ever lived in. I also heard recently that there is a roof deck but I’ve never checked it out myself.

I love living here Its a classic building on scenic 16^th street across from Meridian Hill Park Near Adams Morgan Columbia Heights U Street/​14^th street and Dupont 24 hour front desk property with excellent repairs
Clean building with no urban critter visitors Bus stop in front of building Harris Teeter 4 minute walk Bike racks and secured parking (fee)
Attentive staff Moderate amentities keeps the rent attractive A find in a great location

Let me preface this by saying that it does not give me pleasure to write this review… in fact, I have been putting this off for quite some time, but I feel that it is my responsibility to warn potential residents of this building.
Pros: the location is wonderful, the price is reasonable for the area, and the apartments are in decent condition
Cons: well, sit back folks, and let me tell you a little story. My roommate and I happily moved into our apartment with little to no trouble (I do want to say that John, at the front desk, is wonderful and does everything to make Envoy residents feel taken care of). After about 4 months, we started hearing some noises coming from inside the walls. We promptly notified maintenance, who had an exterminator come to do a routine check of the inside of our apartment and checked the exterior of the building and informed us that there were no apparent signs of holes. So, we left the issue alone for a while, but the noises kept coming back (note: by noises, I mean scurrying along the baseboards and scratching around the ceilings, in air vents, etc. All signs pointed to furry critters of some sort). I contacted maintenance again and personally contacted the building manager to make sure he was aware of the situation. He didn’t respond, so I emailed him again, stressing that this was turning into a serious issue. Finally, he got back to me and said that he would check the exterior of the building again with the exterminator. No word after that… for a month.
Then, I followed up to see what was going on. They said that they did in fact find a couple of holes in the building and they patched it up. I said that we were still hearing the noises. No response. Again, I followed up with maintenance and said that the problem was persisting (now, getting as descriptive as possible to make sure they understood what we were experiencing), and they said they returned to enforce the holes with metal so nothing could scratch its way in. That was in the fall… I decided to let it go for a while to see if perhaps that would solve the issue. It, of course, came back. We continued to hear sounds, while woke us both up in the middle of the night.
Then winter came. In the middle of December, I started smelling something foul in my bedroom. I checked everywhere, thinking maybe I had accidentally left food in a bag. No. The smell would not go away. So, I told maintenance once again. Then I personally emailed the building manager and spoke with him on the phone. (Strangely, he did not want this in writing…) We agreed that the best thing to do would be to open up the walls in my bedroom to see if it could be a dead animal. I told him to wait for me to be home to do this. He did not listen, but luckily my roommate was home to witness the maintenance crew saw open my wall to be confronted with a horrendous odor. They patched up the wall, and I got home to bits of plaster on the rug and the odor was still there. I call the building manager and he seemed dumbfounded that I was still bothering them about this. He said they didn’t find anything. I said, well, the odor is still there… it seems like they have to open up more of the wall. And this time, I want to be there when they do it. (Oh, and by the way, how do they expect me to sleep in a dead animal infested construction zone?! Not a single apology from anyone in management… finally I made a big enough deal that they agreed to put me up in the guest suite – which no one had ever mentioned – free of charge. How gracious.)
The next morning, the maintenance crew returned, cut open more of my wall (I personally witnessed the odor that came after cutting into the wall – there could be no doubt that it was coming from there.), and lo and behold, they discovered TWO DEAD RATS. Call it sleep deprivation, psychological trauma, but this was the last straw. I took pictures and promptly went to the building manager’s office to see what he was going to do about it. Again, dumbfounded. He reacted as if the problem was solved, and never offered a single apology for what I was going through. I said, well, I will give it one more chance. If this was indeed the only issue, perhaps the problem was solved. I also started talking to the building manager about transferring us to another apartment or another building owned by Borger Management, after much prodding.
It was fine for about a week, and then the smell came back, this time in my bedroom closet. Again, I moved all of my clothes out and contacted the building manager. This was actually the last straw. I told him that there was no way I could continue living in an apartment under these conditions. In fact, it violated D.C. Housing Codes and I could call in an inspector. Finally, I think he took me seriously. After battling over prices or compensation for 2 weeks, I finally convinced them to let us break the lease to live elsewhere, far far away from the hell hole that is the Envoy. Consider yourself warned.

The building manager has been replaced and I have to say it has made all the difference. The new manager is much better about responding to emails and phone calls. Maintenance is excellent in the building and I still haven’t had mice or roaches like some of the other reviewers, so I can’t complain too much.
Also, the management company now accepts auto-​pay, which is much appreciated.

I am very much with laura w. We share a similar experience. Being the significant other of a tenant can be an awkward thing but, you definitely get to see the building for what it is.
I give The Envoy *** because of the location, the lovely lobby of course, and because they have several different apt. styles that cater to all types of residents.
Mark and John are great concierge staff. They are sweet and helpful as is the other weekend smiley Indian gentleman except when he gets too nice and wants to talk to you while you do your laundry. Awkward monotone guy is just that… awkward. If you can keep that in mind then you won’t be disappointed when you see him see you and not look up from his book to buzz you in, tenant or not.
The location is ideal. I like that the building has parking, is next to Harris Teeter, across from the park, although it gets loud on Sundays with drumming in the park, bus stop right out front, trash chute, and when people aren’t beating their significant others above your head or someone’s not drying their underwear using your dryer… it’s really a great place to rent.
I don’t think it’s the cheapest place in the world but for the location, door security and don’t forget the stunning lobby again… it’s a good deal.
Also, I’ve lived there off and on as a guest/​semi-​tenant and I have never seen a mouse. If I ever do see one, I will be calling a moving service ASAP.

OK, first let me start out by saying that getting a cheap place in this locatio that is ALSO decent is hard to come by, but I believe the Envoy comes pretty damn close. It saves money by not having the crazy amenities you don’t need that other apartments have and there are no washer/​dryers in the apartments, but there is a nice laundry room downstairs in the building. The concierge is not bad, but watch out for one of the guys, he really isn’t friendly at all. The apartments are nice, especially for the prices and the best thing about the place is the location. Three metro stations are more than accessible, a bus stop right outside of the building, Harris Teeter basically next door, and the DCUSA Mall a couple of blocks away, and did I mention it’s right in the heart of Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, U Street, Columbia Heights area… so again for the price, this place is almost a steal. I can only take away stars b/​c it isn’t a luxury apartment building, and there is a bit of a mice problem in the building.

I don’t live here, but I come over to visit Chris C enough :)
The front desk is… well they are an experience. I come in often enough without a key to know how all of the different concierge security guards will react. Mark is the nicest guy, he always says hello and buzzes me in, like any person with common sense enough to know if you see me coming in with my boyfriend on a regular basis, I’m probably a legit visitor.
But there’s this one other concierge… he’s a doozy. One night there were three girls, myself including, standing in the lobby, probably all going to visit our boyfriends or friends in the building. This guy has seen me enough times to noticeably give me a disapproving glare whenever I come in. I mean, come on, my boyfriend and I have even talked to him in the elevator on one awkward occasion. But does he buzz us in? No. He always pretends to ignore us and read a book while we stand there twiddling our thumbs.
I had the pleasure of standing here in such a fashion on another occasion. While I was waiting, a woman came in to inquire about renting an apartment and had the unfortunate luck to talk to Awkward Concierge.
woman: Does this apartment have a pool?
Awkward concierge: No.
Woman: Does this apartment have a fitness center?
Awkward concierge: No.
Woman: Internet lounge?
Awkward concierge: Ma’am, we have a laundry room. In the basement.
He also says everything in monotone.