The only thing to recommend this massive 431-apt tower, which is still being cosmetically refurbished, is its convenient location (nearby restaurants, shopping, and public transportation) near the corner of Rockville Pike and Montrose Rd .

When Home Properties purchased Pavilion Apartments in 2001, one of the first things new management did was fire the permanent staff and hired a temp concierge service to staff the office and front desk.The dropoff in service was immediate and obvious.The staff can be very surly (it varies, 4/04), and as expected, uncaring.The front desk handles packages. Responses to complaints can be poor.

Home Properties also started updating the looks of the interior. The refurbishing projects have been ongoing for several years (and continue today, 4/04).At the moment the four elevators are in various states of disrepair (Still ongoing 4/04). You can not believe the amount of noise and vibration jackhammers make-- not stop from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (4/04)!!Do not expect a break on the rent for the noise and inconvenience (4/04). Upgrading the concrete garage parking may take a bit longer to complete than the great pyramids of Egypt (Still ongoing 4/04). The quality of design (style over substance,Please dont look too carefully during the walk through.) and workmanship (amateurish) say one thing about the owners, Home Properties: unlike the rents, theyre cheap.Not one wall in my apartment is squared properly (4/04).

The community is mixed into three noticeable groups; the elderly, the mentally disabled (owing in part to federal subsidies Home Properties receives to provide housing), and the recently immigrated (very transient).For me, its very interesting and nice to meet people from all over the world (4/04). There is a sizable school-aged population from third-world diplomatic consulate families and immigrants living there as well, both resulting in a lot of late night vehicular traffic with blaring car stereos (4/04).Whats your problem, dude?! Its only 12:30 AM.

Theres an elderly population that include tenants who have been there since the beginning, in the early 1970s.They live in the lobby areas during the day.In 2003, there was a major 3-alarm fire on the 12th floor in which an elderly tenant died in the blaze (Just for fun, ask renting agent about it--Fire? What fire?).It was reported that the tenant was smoking in bed.We dont know if he died and caused the fire or vice versa.Fire trucks everywhere, 50-foot flames shooting out the apartment.I saw the fire myself (4/04).As I stood outside, I thought the upper stories would catch fire and burn down the entire tower.But the superb concrete construction (remember this place was built originally as a hotel in the mid-1960s) and Rockvilles great fire department contained the fire!Do NOT skip renters insurance and check your policy for a smoke damage clause!

The good news-- the entire building is wired with smoke detectors in the halls and in every apartment.

The bad news-- there are no sprinklers!(1960s fire code permitted this). One more, very good reason Rockville Fire gets here so quickly (4/04).There is a fire alarm siren in every apartment-- it is so loud it will scare the hell out of you.The alarm will sound constantly until the fire department shuts it off.Average visit is 20 minutes.Tenants are to evacuate the building.There are numerous false alarms sending people outside day or night.Without exaggeration, there are, on average, two fire alarms per month (4/04).The main reason for false-alarms are tenants who burn their food in the kitchen and then open the door to let the smoke out.This in turn causes the buildings hallway smoke detectors to go off.

The elderly population also require frequent visits for emergency medical care.This means ambulance sirens.On one very unusual day, I personally, witnessed, three separate ambulance visits with sirens (4/04).Normally, its only a weekly occurrence, but noisy.Remember, the ambulance/fire truck keep their diesel engines running during their entire visit.

As someone else here pointed out, the security of the building is often compromised by various open doors to the outside that normally would be kept locked.(Thats the inconsiderate tenants fault, 4/04.)

The apts are old, albeit refurbished for new tenants and thus are sizeable by todays standards in the Wash DC metro area. The bath is larger than avg for a 1 br. Theres a kitchen and separate dining area. The heating/air conditioning is controlled centrally, with individual room controls for the current service. Utilities are included in the rent.The hallways are fairly well lit. There are common laundry areas and a trash chute on each floor. The mail drop is at the lobby level only. The parking situation is typical for a garage aside from the intrusions and disruptions of the aforementioned ongoing reconstruction. Theres an excellent exercise room which seems to be the requisite add-on of choice for every apt community in the area, plus a nice pool and sundry shops on site.

Aging water pipes require frequentemergencyrepairs, so much so, these are now considered routine.This means water leaking into the hallways and into apartments on multiple floors (4/04).To repair these frequent pipe problems, the buildings water supply is turned off for 8-12 hours.But on the positive side, you do receive prior notification from management and the repair staff are excellent, friendly, competent, and courteous.Unfortunately, Im on a first name basis with them (4/04).

If one can get by without calling upon the management for help, doesnt mind the lax security, ambulance sirens, fire alarms, sound of jackhammers breaking concrete, and can tolerate inconsiderate tenants, this just might be the place for those in search of strategic location.