It’ll definitely take you less time to read this housing review than it will to walk to this Columbia dorm. Carlton Arms may be the farthest dorm, but that Hudson breeze is worth it. 

Location: Riverside between 108th and 109th.

• Nearby dorms: Nothing… Harmony and 110 (Barnard) maybe?
• Stores and restaurants: Cascabel Taqueria, West End, Mels, 1020, Duane Reade, Chipotle, Five Guys, Vitamin Shoppe, Westside, Starbucks, Absolute Bagels, etc., etc.

Cost: The cost for upperclassman dorms is standard: $9,538.

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: Each suite has two bathrooms with two sinks, two stalls, and a shower.
• AC/Heating: No AC, but the heating is good. It’s too hot sometimes but you can open your window to the Hudson River blowing cool air in your face. The temperature is usually great.
• Lounge: There aren’t floor lounges the floor, but each suite has a common space.
• Kitchen: Each suite has one kitchen with an oven, microwave, fridge, stove, and medium cabinet space.
• Laundry: In the basement of the building, only accessible through an elevator. Normal busy-ness.
• Fire escapes: There are fire escapes that are accessible but you’re not allowed to go on them.
• Bike storage: In the basement.
• Computers/printers: In the first-floor lobby.
• Gym: On the top floor.
• Intra-transportation: Two elevators that are decent.
• Hardwood/carpet: Rooms have hardwood, the rest of the suite has carpet.

Room variety:

• Suites have anywhere from 4 to 10 rooms.
• The building has 25 singles and 53 doubles.
• Transfer students, SEAS combined plan (3-2) students, graduate students, and even a few “regular people” (i.e. non-Columbia students) live here alongside undergrads.

Numbers:

• The housing website doesn’t list the cutoff for Carlton Arms, and a mean comment from 2016 says it’s not in the housing lottery, so we’re gonna go with that.

Bwog recommendation:

If you don’t mind walking a lot, Carlton Arms is actually a solid option. If I wanted to take a bus to class I’d have gone to Stanford, but the residents whom I talked to really gassed it up. Even though they’re always late to everything, the walk to campus is really nice, especially on Riverside Drive. In compensation for the distance, you get an amazing view of the Hudson River and New Jersey. You get a nice single or a huge double in a suite with a decent kitchen and bathrooms, and you get some privacy, if that’s your thing.

Resident opinions:

• “A really nice to live in with spacious rooms.”
• “Close to amenities but far from classes.”
• “I’ve been on time to class half the time this semester.”
• “Rooms are big, which is nice.”
• “The walk here isn’t as bad as some people think it is.”
• “Close to Mels and 1020.”
• “Everything is on the way back from class, so if you need groceries or food it’s always on the way.”
• “Right next to the 110th station.”
• “Pretty quiet, depending on what suite you’re in.”
• “You get to explore further down Broadway.”
• “The only bad thing is the walk.”
• “A lot of wifi routers in each suite.”
• “The elevator has an annoying voice.”
• “If you’re gonna live in Harmony, you might as well live in Carlton Arms.”