The Bennington

5 stars! From the beginning of the process to a year later. KB and the leasing office has been extremely hospitable and they always look to go the extra mile. The concierge/​front desk staff is always pleasant and very helpful. The building is well built. Rarely do you ever hear neighbors or people in the hallways– very quite place to live. I would encourage any of my friends to live here. Great building, parking, metro access, staff, etc.

We have lived here for almost a year and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. From the beginning, KB helped us through the process which was simple and he was open to working around our chaotic schedules to get things done and turned in. Since moving in we have had nothing but exceptional interactions. The maintenance staff is amazing and does a fantastic job, concierge is always helpful and KB and Alex from leasing continue to be friendly and kind making sure that we have everything we need to be happy in our home. Overall everyone that works here is fantastic.
The apartment itself has been clearly well kept. I never hear our neighbors when we are in the apartment and the building is very structurally sound. If anything comes up we have always been able to have it fixed very quickly (always just little things like changing filters, fixing the drain and such). In the summer months the energy bill goes up because the apartments are so well lit and insulated that the apartment gets pretty toasty. However, that also means that in the winter we didn’t have to use the heat barely at all. The building feels safe and secure including the parking garage. It is also so nice to have the walkway from the garage to the metro station mostly in the garage so that you don’t have to be out in the elements when it is snowing or raining.
All in all we love it here. We have lived in many other places in the area and out of state and have never been so impressed with facilities and staff as we are here.

We moved here from California and thanks to KB, we coordinated everything over the phone and email and the apartment was ready for me when I arrived. This coordination also saved me a trip for apartment search. The leasing office team, Alex and KB, have always been very courteous, cordial, and remembers everyone’s name, even our newly adopted pooch. The concierge service is very convenient, especially for vacation mail holds and package delivery. We enjoyed living at the Bennington and its convenience to Metro, grocery store, and downtown Silver Spring. The summer and end-​of-​the-​year resident gathering are definitely a plus. When our apartment had water damage during this past winter from our neighbor’s burst pipes, Alex and the concierge team followed up with us, almost daily, to make sure repairs and replacements were done properly. We enjoyed our stay here so far and feel that it’s a well-​managed residence.

Having lived in a variety of apartment complexes literally all over the country, some wonderfully managed and some terribly managed, I can say with some experience that the Bennington is one of the best-​managed, nicest places I’ve lived in thus far. On the day we moved in, almost a year ago now (June 2013), I immediately noticed that the apartment was spotless – no need for an entire re-​cleaning of the place. I did notice that the sill of the floor-​to-​ceiling window in the living room had a small splintery area. When I mentioned this to Alex, the problem was taken care of within literally two hours. I was astonished – talk about a responsive staff! In the months since that first day last June, we have had really nothing but positive experiences living here. I know – when I read super-​duper positive reviews I immediately get suspicious but in this particular case the only negative things I can say about the place are that 1. The windows are not great (they are not the «eco-​friendly, energy/​money-​saving» double-​paned kind (this means that the floor-​to-​ceiling windows essentially make the living room a greenhouse – definitely not ideal) and that 2. the blinds on those less-​than-​awesome windows are actually pretty pathetic – at some point, the management should probably spring for blinds with wider slats, especially for the huge windows in the living room. That said, the building is beautifully maintained, the maintenance staff is fast to respond to issues (whether placed personally with the concierge or office folks or via the online system). The concierges are not all equally personable – specifically, some of the folks on the weekend/​holiday shifts are less-​than-​friendly – but the ones we see often are never anything but cheerful, sweet, and warm (especially Juliette – she’s wonderful). The office staff (Susan, Alex, and company) are also fantastic – they know many of their tenants by name and in general make the place feel much less like an apartment building and much more like an apartment community. Oh and don’t forget the delicious cookies baked daily, as well as the free breakfast once a month! Overall, as I told Susan last week while chatting with her, if the building somehow magically ended up with three bedroom apartments available (there are only one and two bedrooms available), I would move into one of those with my family of almost-​four and never leave. :) As it is, we are happy to stay here for as long as possible – I just hope the great people that are largely responsible for making this such a great place to live will stick around for a long time to come!

I have lived here for almost four years now. It’s by far the best apartment building I’ve ever lived in and seems to be run much better than the others in the area I’ve heard about. It’s smaller than some of the mega buildings nearby so the staff actually knows who is supposed to be there and won’t let everyone up like some buildings. Never had a worry about security and there are many families and older professionals living here so there’s not a big problem with noise or strangers on the hall. Maintenance staff is fast and effective but they’re rarely needed because this building is fairly new with quality appliances.
Yes, the trains are noisy if you live on that end of the building, but I got used to it, and it’s not like it’s a surprise if you pick a building next to train tracks…

We moved in a few months ago and LOVE it here. Our leasing agent, Paul Voorhees, is by far the best leasing agent I’ve ever worked with in my 13 years of leasing properties. Paul’s professional demeanor and warm personality immediately put us at ease, making us feel welcome, comfortable, and that our time was important to him. On move in day, Paul was there to greet us and checked in throughout the day to make sure we had everything we needed. Every time we bump into him, he still asks how things are and if we need anything.
All of the concierges are friendly and helpful, especially the day time concierge Juliette. So far we have only had to submit one maintenance request and it was taken care of immediately within one business day.
The location of this apartment is perfect. Just a short walk from the Silver Spring metro and the Downtown area. There’s also a GREAT sushi restaurant on the ground floor of the building! Yes we are right next to the metro so we hear the trains if we have our window or balcony door open (we’re on the South side of the building), but we don’t notice it most of the time. Having lived previously in a busy part of DC, the noise doesn’t bother us. If you want to live in a super quiet place, don’t move near a big city.
Our apartment has very nice amenities (new appliances, granite counter tops, washer dryer in unit), and though fairly small our one-​bedroom apartment is perfect for me, my fiancée, and our cat. We also rent parking spaces in the garage (there’s always plenty of parking) and have a storage unit in the building as well.
Overall, the staff is fantastic, the location is fantastic, the apartment is fantastic. We won’t be moving until we’re ready to buy a place in the next few years.

I’ve lived here over a year, and plan on moving by the end of this year (2008). Just thought I’d give a heads-​up about the place. The management company used to be Bozzuto, and things were okay. It’s now Foulger-​Pratt (which, I believe, also owns the building), and things have gone downhill:
1) The service level of the Bennington’s concierges varies, with some taking long breaks of unspecified length away from the front desk. There’s also a lot of «I don’t know’s» in response to residents’ inquiries (about leaving packages for pickup, etc.), especially on weekends. The concierge will receive packages for you, but will sometimes fail to leave a key in your mailbox, indicating that the package is waiting for you; you’ll have to track the item, and figure out that it indeed has arrived, and that you should ask the concierge if it’s not in fact waiting for you in the package holding closet.
2) Air conditioning on your floor’s hallway may be spotty; it’s not atypical, in the summer, for hallways to be around 80 degrees, and for some reason building management is slow on having this problem «fixed.»
3) There is construction on the ground floor (of a deli), and it’s noisy and there has been one scheduled water shutoff that lasted two days instead of the intended one day. Paneling on the ground floor has been removed, apparently to make way for a door connecting the lobby with the deli, even though the deli has an entrance on the exterior of the building. MID-​SEPTEMBER 2008 UPDATE: Water has been shut off more than just two times, as of now: because of repeated «repairs» to «neighbors’ apartments,» water has been shut off an additional two times this month. I suspect the deli is simply having plumbing issues; the deli’s future rents matter much more than residents’ early-​morning water needs (shut off on 9÷18÷08 was at 8:00 AM).
4) Every morning, around 7AM, jack hammering begins on the condo being built across East West Highway. It’ll wake you up if you’re not wearing earplugs.
5) Hallways are occasionally cluttered with furniture, and a few of your neighbors may regularly dispose of their trash in recycling bins, just outside the trash chute, or just kind of wedged/​stuck in the door of the chute (because their trash bag was so large).
6) Electrical outlets are upside-​down (single prong on top of paired prongs).
7) The men’s restroom on the ground floor lacks any circulation and is very hot because of energy-​inefficient lighting.
8) There have been window-​smashings of cars in the underground garage, and at least one attempted burglary, with non-​residents apparently coming in the building through its garage.
9) The gym is not consistently stocked with towels to use during workouts.
Bottom line: from my experience, the Bennington looks nice, and it’s just a five-​minute walk to the Silver Spring Metro station, but there are serious deficiencies that, at least in my opinion, make this place highly deficient.