Harvard housing is plentiful in Cambridge. Harvard pretty much owns all the real estate that you…read morecan see, so there are a lot of options to choose from. 10 Akron St is a brand new residence hall available to Harvard grad students, faculty, and staff. It's first year of operation was the 2008/2009 school year. Unsurprisingly, it feels like a brand new dorm. Everything is clean and works. There is AC and heat that you get to control! Study rooms and outdoor patio areas with beautiful views of the Charles. There are HDTV flatscreens in the common rooms and kitchens placed throughout the halls for the occasional late-night study party. There are even 3x3x3ft storage lockers for each room in the basement (I store my folded up shipping boxes there). The kitchen is well-equipped with a full-size refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher. (Beware: a lot of Harvard dorms do not have dishwashers). There are large 11' windows that pour light into the bedrooms. The location is great. It's right on the Charles and a 10-15 minute walk from Harvard Square and Central Square. There's a Whole Foods and Shaws within 5 minutes walk. The only downside I can imagine is the size of the apartments. I have a two-bedroom convertible, which means that there are two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. No living room. The bedrooms are ~11' x 15.5' and the kitchen is about 10' x 10'. The hallway opens to the kitchen and then the two bedrooms and bathroom are off of that. This means that my flatmate and I spend most of our time in our rooms. This hasn't been a problem at all for us but I can see how it might be for some. The way I figure, most of my free time is spent out in Harvard Sq. I have the option of studying in my room or, when I'm bugging out, going to a nearby study room for isolation with my books. Even dining hasn't proved to be a problem. I love to cook and have enjoyed using the kitchen. In my room, I have a dining room table in addition to all the normal bedroom stuff that allows me to dine in a fancy fashion when I like. Having seen a few of the other halls, I can say that I think HRES has done a pretty good job pricing these places. You get what you pay for. At 10 Akron, you get a great, clean dorm that functions very well but is a little different design than the tradition two-bedroom apartment. Rent includes all utilities and internet access, as well as, cable TV in the common rooms. It works well for me and I've enjoyed living here.

Ah Harvard...the university that will send any parent, hiring manager, etc, into a orgasmic frenzy…read moreonce they find out you're a student or alum of this renowned institution. I visited as a tourist while exploring Boston before heading to Providence, where I'm a Master's student at a fellow Ivy League. Harvard's campus is very beautiful, the quintessential blue print of a prestigious New England campus. It was worthwhile to walk around and explore the area.

For being such a prestigious and storied university, it's nice that anyone can walk on campus to…read moresee its historic buildings. There's a visitor center with restrooms, a cafeteria, and tours led by students. Several buildings on campus are open to the public like the Harvard Art Museums. The T has a station right there so it's easy to visit.

Gorgeous yard! During the summer, I love sitting in one of the yard chairs and just reflect on…read morelife. It's even more serene during the night. You have a beautiful view of the sky and see several constellations. A lot of great memories and conversations were made at The Quad.

Truly a poorly designed building with consistent physical problems that plague residents. It's…read moresurprising that a university as well-resourced as MIT can't get right a concept as simple as grad student housing. Let's start with the most severe issues. Over my two years here, the hot water supply was severely inconsistent. At its worst, I went through most of one winter with at least 2 showers a week lacking hot water (in below-zero Boston temperatures, mind you). The building was also designed without a consideration for heat in the common spaces and bathrooms of the "suite" apartments, exacerbating the lack of hot water. When I reached out to management about the issue, the best they could do was offer me a mobile space heater, as it was a structural issue. Many students utilize a common kitchen on each floor, which for some strange reason is cleaned only on the weekdays but not on weekends, despite that being the time of highest use. As a result, the trash cans are typically overflowing by Sunday evening. Theft is also a large problem in the common kitchens - my friends and I had pots, pans, bowls, ingredients, and one time even a fork and spoon stolen! The staff and academic faculty living on site also generally take an attitude to management as if this is an undergraduate dorm, when most of the grad students living on site are actually in their mid-to-late 20s. One time, the front desk staff held back an urgent package from me for 3 days until they had 'time' to enter it into their system. That would be unacceptable at any traditional apartment building. There is also a no-alcohol policy in the common spaces, the active enforcement of which some of the on-site academic faculty seem to relish - their attitude towards students was truly often demeaning. (The house manager is friendly and helpful, however.) I made some good friends here, but I'd advise any future residents to steer clear. When you see the size and poor quality of finishes in the apartments, not to mention the location deep in Cambridgeport with no surrounding retail, you'll see that this is not necessarily a below-market offering.

Pros: - Recently built (2008), both exteriors and interiors…read moreappear new, clean and modern - Rents are reasonable for Cambridge - House manager is helpful and responsive via email - New laundry machines, easy to use with an app - Cardio room and weight room within the building, especially convenient during winter - I had a studio with a private kitchen so I never had to use the public kitchens - Easy trash system: Leave your bagged trash and recycling outside your door and housekeeping will pick it up early morning - Fast service requests: Clogged toilets were serviced and cleaned within 24 hours of sending a request - Personally I had no issues with hot water (though I did receive emails stating that some residents were affected and that they were working on a fix) - Safe neighborhood, a 10-minute walk to class - Probably the best MIT graduate dorm overall! Cons: - Frontdesk can take up to a day to log my packages, but usually I can pick it up within a few hours of delivery

We lived here for a few years. While Dana was the assistant manager, we really enjoyed this…read moreapartment complex and had no major issues. Dana always answered her emails. Dana then left and was replaced by Jamie and Torrey. After Dana left, the consistent responding from management ended and I had to contact the Brookfield Properties general email twice because I could not get responses from the 91 Sidney St. managers. In November 2019, our heat broke and would not work consistently. We sent a maintenance request for it to be fixed. Torrey assured us that he was trying everything that he could to fix our heat, and sent out the poor maintenance people (who are VERY nice and awesome but are just not HVAC people and did not know how to fix our heat) several times to fiddle with our heat. We sent email after email, getting sporadic responses from Torrey and spending the winter in several layers of sweatshirts and pants. Finally, on FEBRUARY 24th 2020, I could not take it anymore. I sent an email to Brookfield properties letting them know that I would withhold my rent until our heat was fixed and that the Cambridge Housing Authority was sending out an inspector. I received a call the next day from Jamie saying that the heat would be fixed immediately. I am still so confused as to why we had to wait so long for something that seemed like a quick fix. PLEASE be careful if you decide to live here. Especially if you have small children, pets, or someone who is elderly. Besides freezing, we were okay, but I would be nervous for someone who is not perfectly healthy.

91 Sidney is part of the University Park system. It's one of the newer buildings…read more Pros: Location: It's located near the MIT graduate dorms so it has easily accessible transportation: #1, #70, #70A, EZ Ride, and MIT Shuttles. Also within walking distance to Central. Prices: So the prices for the 1 bedroom has come down significantly. Now, the 580 sq ft bedroom are on the market for about $1700!!! When I was looking around Feb, the prices were around $2100. I'm guessing the referral fee is around $750 because that's the referral fee for 100 Landsdowne. Gym: 91 Sidney has the full machines available. The gym is accessible to other residents within the University Park system though. Parking: If you sign up on the first day, you park at this deck for $100. If you live at KBL or Loft23, parking is also assigned to this deck. Cons: View: The view from the 1 bedroom is pretty ugly. I think I saw bricks. There are no good views from the 1 bedroom apartments as far as I can tell.

Another amenity Ari S. forgot to mention is the fitness room. It's small but it's usually never…read morefull. You are also close to the Charles River running trail that it is almost a better option especially in spring/summer/fall. There's also dry cleaning/laundry service that picks your clothes up at certain times and days of the week for affordable price. In fact, it is so cheap that the laundry rooms are generally empty and super clean (since nobody uses it) The Harvard shuttle stops also stops right in front of the building so in winter months, you'll realize this is quite a luxury. A/C and heaters are brand new and function as such. Rent also includes all utilities so you don't have to worry about your bills each month. There's a small dishwasher built in, no microwave though. All appliances are new. Two things though: - 5 Cowperthwaite is surrounded by undergrad dorms, which can be loud and annoying, especially on Fri. and Sat. nights. Your walls are also a bit thin so you can definitely hear your neighbors when they have friends over. - The mail room isn't secure. It is open to everyone who has access to the building. Packages are left on the floor near your mailbox and can go missing sometimes. UPS and FedEx sometimes just leave packages outside by the entry way because they are not able to get into the building. If you order things online a lot, prepare to deal with this issue. - some stain spots in the carpet.

I am a resident of 2014-2015. One of the new Grad student APTs of Harvard. Compared with Akron, it…read moreis nearer. Facilities are almost the same with Akron. Much better than Peabody in terms of facilities. We can not see the river because it is located right behind the college student dorm. Almost no problem. Overall super comfortable APT especially for runners. If you have good application date by lottery, I will recommend to reside here strongly.

You get for what you pay for- it's an affordable living space. Honestly, the house is really old…read moreand worn down. Recently a girl fell threw a glass pane near the hallway doors and had to go to the hospital. The glass here is old and isn't shatter proof so she impaled herself with glass. There's probably various health and safety violations due to the house being so old and ill kept. The rooms are private but pretty gross- when I moved in there was chipped paint, dirt everywhere, and a suspiciously stained carpet. A lot of girls I know had rooms with broken furniture and blinds. The house has free WiFi but it rarely works, if you want a reliable connection to the internet you'll either have to get a hot spot or a router. If you ask the landlord she'll hook you up with Xfinity and they'll deliver a router to you that you can plug up to the coax cable in your room. It gets really hot in the summer. You can either rent of buy your own window A/C unit and the maintained guy will install it for you. The bathrooms are communal like in a dorm. Toilet paper isn't provided, so unless you make a pact with your neighbor you'll have to remember to bring it in with you each time you need to go. Kitchens are communal as well- there's one on the 1st, 4th, 5th and maybe 6th floor. The largest is one the first and the others are kind of small. They all can get super crowded during meal time and if you leave things out in the kitchen or communal areas it will probably get stolen. Fridge space is very limited- you can ask the landlord if they have one for you to use but they rarely have them so you're better off buying your own mini fridge and putting it in your room. The communal areas are professionally cleaned, but honestly pretty much all the staff here don't care much for the tenant's comfort and are just phoning it in. Some of them are friendly, but others are incredibly rude and unprofessional. They have street parking behind the building if you have a car, you'll need to get a Fenway/kenmore resident parking permit to use it though. This is not an ideal place if you want to keep a car though- there's lots of parking rules about which side of the street you can park on and at which times. It's really easy to rack up parking tickets- also space is super limited. It's possible but I wouldn't recommend it. The no guests rule is annoying but it does keep it quiet and not a party house. The community of girls that live here are really nice- it's a great way to meet people who are new to Boston. I've meet a lot of friends through the house. Most tenants are early 20s students to young professionals or interns- most are also international. There are some older women who live here too, some are really sweet but others are mentally ill and kind of unhinged. Over all the positives are that it's a safe place to live in a really great location in the city for a great price- it's really close to the Fenway T stop and Newbury street. The rooms are pretty private as well and the community of other tenants that live here are really friendly. The negatives are just everything else.

I did my research before moving in, now I pass my knowledge along to you:…read more CONS: - The internet signal is spotty, depending on where you are in the building - While you can forward your mail in, you can't forward it out. - Cannot use the kitchen after 10 PM - No candles, irons, hot plates, rice cookers, space heaters, or microwaves allowed in your room - No alcohol allowed on the premises - Although they have coin-operated washing machines in the basement, there are no dryers - You are not allowed to leave your cooking unattended, so don't even think about preheating the oven and then going to the bathroom! - Monthly room checks to make sure you aren't breaking the rules - No men above the lobby - but you can entertain guests on the first floor PROS: - Great location, only a 2-3 minute walk from the Kenmore T stop - Very quiet - Affordable - Other lodgers are mostly kind and friendly - Full use of the three kitchens, including stove/oven, microwave, refrigerator, and toaster oven - Although the entrance doesn't seem to be handicap accessible, there are two elevators inside - Entrance monitored at all times and locked at night - security cameras, too. - Huge closets - Furnished - More private than your typical house share/roommate situation - Bathroom is cleaned twice a day by cleaning staff - No evidence of bedbugs or vermin of any kind I haven't had any problems with administration - everyone has been friendly, kind, helpful, and polite. I am super nice to them all, just in case! Mr. Guy is an absolute doll and will go out of his way to get you what you need, even without being asked. Yes, there are often a lot of annoying signs posted around, admonishing ladies for not cleaning up their messes, parking in front of the building, etc. If they don't apply to you, ignore them. Sometimes they are useful, like warning about parking bans, room inspections, or "anti-terrorist training exercises" happening nearby. The bottom line is, we're lucky that places like OLGH still exist, and I wish there were more of them. Are you sick and need to be close to your doctors in Boston? OLGH is there for you. Are you escaping an abusive relationship? OLGH is there. Are you a student but you're on a waiting list for a dorm? OLGH is the answer. You can sign a lease quickly and move in the next day if you need to. Don't expect to live in the lap of luxury, but do expect a roof over your head, a bed to sleep in, a kitchen to use, and running water. (I have had no issues with water temperatures as of yet.) OTHER TIPS: - Bring toilet paper and carry it with you to the bathroom; it is not supplied - You can have a mini fridge in your room, if you're worried about your food being stolen from the community fridge, which can happen. - Although space heaters are prohibited, the lease DOES NOT prohibit electric blankets, curling irons, or flat (hair) irons. - If you bring your own A/C (or rent one from the building) you'll have to pay extra for electric every month. If you buy your own fan/window fan, you don't. I'll update this sporadically if I think of anything else.

I've lived in the Piano Factory for almost five years now - I started in a small studio on the…read morefirst floor, and now am in a larger apartment on the fifth floor. In my time here, I've gotten to know the building, community, neighborhood, and management inside and out. The building is one of a kind. It has character rarely seen in such large complexes (exposed brick and beams, original floors), and they make an effort to respect that when modernizing the units. Amenities such as package service, grills, a pool, a gym, and a gorgeous private courtyard really make this everything you could want in a home. I also love that they let you paint and make it feel like your own. The community of people here is pretty special too. People are friends and get to know each other without being intrusive - I have genuine friends from this building, people I can call to come have a glass of wine or if I need a favor. That can be hard to find in a city. In terms of the neighborhood, I have read a lot of the reviews complain about the noise. This is fairly true - we are at the corner of Tremont and Mass Ave, so it can be noisy. But that's part of living in the city, isn't it? When I lived on the courtyard side, I almost never heard it, though I do more so now that I'm on the street side. That said, we are right in the middle of the South End, so I consider this a trade off. Finally, the management. They have been incredible since the first day I walked in: helpful, accommodating, kind, responsive. For example, after I had my baby and wanted to move into a bigger apartment, they worked tirelessly to get me the right unit, and then they remodeled the bathroom and installed a bathtub (rather than the usual standup shower) because we needed it. When something is broken, it is fixed immediately. They follow up when something is wrong. They've taken such great care of me all these years! I love living here, and cannot recommend it enough!

terrible management not supportive our helpful building is falling apart…read more Laundry room is a mess also it's honestly disgusting and there is so many mice.

Our daughter specifically asked to visit MIT during our trip to Boston, and it ended up being one…read moreof the highlights of her visit. As a parent, there's something special about watching your child stand in front of a place they've only heard about and start imagining what their future could look like. We spent time walking around campus, taking photos, and soaking in the atmosphere. What stood out most was how much the campus felt like a place where people are actively building and creating things. There was an energy to it that was hard to describe but easy to feel. We also had a memorable moment when a professor kindly let us inside one of the buildings. It wasn't something we expected, but it gave us a glimpse into the community and generosity that can make a place feel welcoming rather than intimidating. Even if you're not a prospective student, MIT is worth visiting for the architecture, history, and sense of innovation that seems to be woven into the campus. For our daughter, it was inspiring. For us, it was fun to see her dream a little bigger.

It was fun to visit MIT before I headed off to my Master's at Brown University in Rhode Island…read more There are some architectural gems (one reminded me of the Dancing House in Prague), and walk around the campus. Cool school to visit and walk around!