Beautiful apartments- very spacious and many big windows for natural light. Location is also excellent for being close to GWU SMHS as well as the National Mall and other nearby locations.
Parking is an additional fee (under 200 if you get a tandem space w your roommate).
Staff/maintenance is very responsive and there is a mailroom for letters + front desk handles packages.
1 bad thing is that I do not always feel safe (recently had to get locks changed).
(Great for pets if you have an ESA - otherwise not allowed)

Great place to live thats in Foggy Bottom and only a 5 minute walk to Ross. We live in a 2 bed/2 bath BUT with 3 people in order to make the rent cheaper. The third person (me) lives in the living room. It is very spacious and we separated the "living area" from the "bedroom area" with 2 large Ikea closets. I would recommend it to any medical student. A negative thing, however, is we get noise complaints when we have parties or 4 people over just hanging out by 10:30 pm on weekends. (This might be different if you have different neighbors.) There is a pretty decent sized homeless population nearby since Miriam's kitchen is across the street, but we have not had any security issues. You need a fob and key to get into the building, get through to the elevators, and to get into the apartment door.

Very safe with 24 hr front desk service and responsive management. Clean apartments with decent walls (I have not been able to hear my neighbors through the walls). No pest concerns. Functional appliances and heating with 24 hr repair services available onsite (just call front desk). Packages arrive safely.

Building is a great mix of long-term residents, young families, and GWU students (mostly grad). Lot's of other med students are here too!

The downside is that Foggy Bottom is very boring. There are no restaurants/entertainment nearby.

Columbia Plaza

Pros:
- Huge unit
- 5 min walk to campus
- Cheap
- Liquor and Convenience store
- Great chinese food
- Very responsive maintenance team

Cons:
- Rats and Roaches (I live on the 6th floor and have only seen one roach in my unit but a friend of mine on the 3rd floor has had many and even had a rat run across her living room; it appears as though lower floors are more susceptible to these issues)
- Laundry machines are lowkey expensive
- Parking is a fortune
- The building has a frustrating approach to a/c and heat. Rather than offer both simultaneously to tenants, the property has set dates for which they offer exclusively one or the other. For example, from roughly April-October you will only be able to cool your apartment and will only be able to heat your apartment for the remainder of the year. While the cost-conscious logic behind this is relatively sensible, it results in quite a few periods of discomfort when the weather fails to act in strict accordance with seasonal expectations.

Good apt. Good price

I am a 1L at GW and am very happy with Columbia Plaza. It's quiet, spacious, and close to campus. Great for people moving to DC who haven't spent time in the area - no need to worry about commute time.

Moved here for law school, and I have found its location and proximity to GW Law School to be ideal. Easy to walk home for lunch after class and then return to campus for afternoon/evening work. The neighborhood is very safe, and there are plenty of GW Law Students inside the buildings that can help facilitate friendships before school starts. I wish there were more food options around the area, but there are still 3-5 good places. If you are looking for a party or bar scene, skip this location. If you are looking for a quiet space to get work done and live safely, I recommend Columbia Plaza. Rent is reasonable, and after I put in maintenance requests things get fixed soon after. I had one water line break that poured water into my apartment, but the staff went above and beyond in fixing it.

Can't beat the convenient location

I've lived at Columbia Plaza for almost two years and have really enjoyed it. The studio is a perfect size heat/AC in unit and with a full kitchen (full size fridge, stove/oven, and microwave provided) and balcony. There is also great closet space with built in shelving and hanging space. the maintenance team here is the best best best part. They are so attentive and get your requests done very quickly! There is a huge laundry room on the basement floor, an easy to use PMI parking garage that directly connects to the Ambassador. Parking on the weekends has a $12 max each day which makes it very convenient if you have friends/family come to visit. I've never had huge noise problems, the units are well insulated. And last but not least, you are literally a 10 minute walk from school or the Lincoln Memorial, which is great for some nightly walks.