34 Berry Apartments

This is a 7 story luxury elevator building in North Williamsburg right near McCarren Park. The amenities are great - free gym, 24 hour doorman, small courtyard, lounge and roof deck. Each apartment has a washer and dryer - which is great, but they're not very efficient and quite small, so I end up sending larger items and even most of my towels to a cleaner, which has it's own costs, but it seems to balance out with the electric bill. The other appliances are great, dishwasher, microwave, all... full size. The bathroom vanity and sink are kind of hard to work with - the vanity mirror swings wide and low, so you have to have a small soap dispenser or bar soap to not continuously have the mirror push your soap dispenser off the counter. There is also a lot of splashing and water everywhere with the sink - not sure if it's just my apartment, but it seems that the sink size and the faucets have a lot to do with it.

Service is great - all staff and doormen are super friendly, remembered our names really fast after moving in.

The heating and air units are not very efficient - in a one bedroom you have to blast the AC in the living room to get the whole living room, dining area and kitchen cool, and the air doesn't move effectively in the space, but cracking a window can help get a cross breeze in the room. So needless to say, even after years at other apartments, including luxury buildings, this has been my first horror story electric bill opening situation, but we've since learned to moderate it a bit more.

The location is nice. Tons of street parking, and a great little neighborhood with a lot of awesome restaurants within a few blocks.

Oh, and the closets! The closets are amazing. The laundry closet is huge and has a ton of space for storage on a very wide and deep shelf, and the bedrooms have walk in closets and a regular closet, which is deep and wide on it's own. It's nice to avoid storage fees or having to cram everything under the bed.

But beware, the closet doors swing into each other and the bedroom door, and a number of doors aren't hung properly. And there is NO overhead lighting in the main rooms, so get some lamps. Or just live with the light coming from the kitchen, foyer and bathroom. (The walk in closet has a light in it though, so that helps us in the bedroom!).

Water and propane (gas stove) are included in rent. And there is a gas grill on the roof deck! Read More