Even the doors are nice.

Watt’s up with Watt? Other than being an all-around beautiful and conveniently-located building, Watt also offers students nice, apartment-style living with an off-campus feel. Read on for more deets.

Location: 549 W. 113th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam

  • Nearby dorms: Right across from McBain & the brownstones (Symposium, Greek row, etc.)
  • Stores and restaurants: Symposium, literally anything on 113th/Broadway (Junzi, Nuss, Community, Dig Inn)

Cost: Standardized at $9,538/year.

Amenities:

  • Bathrooms: Bougie and apartment-style. Each dorm has its own private bathroom.
  • AC/Heating: None.
  • Kitchen/Lounge: Again, Watt’s apartment-style dorms each have a private, fully-functional kitchen (sink, fridge, stove, the whole shabang). No common lounge between suites.
  • Laundry: One washer/dryer on each floor.
  • Fire Escapes: There are fire escapes between rooms that give it that nice, New-Yorky feel.
  • Gym: None. McBain across the street has one, though.
  • Bike Storage: None.
  • Intra-transportation: One very slow elevator, which you must use to reach the basement when taking out trash. Stairs are also an option for six-story Watt.
  • Hardwood/Carpet: Hardwood. What, you expected carpet, in Watt?

Room variety:

  • 32 Studio Singles: 2 on each floor. Either 171 or 185 sq. ft.
  • 66 Studio Doubles: 9 on each floor. Vary from 200-276 sq. ft. There’s one on the first floor that’s 317 feet.
  • 12 one-bedroom apartments: 2 on each floor. Total floor area of 365 sq. ft. The one bedroom is meant to be shared by 2 roommates, but often they convert the living room into a second bedroom.
  • 11 two-bedroom apartments: 2 on each floor. Total floor area is either 458 or 480 sq. ft. Includes a bedroom for each roommate, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

Numbers:

  • One-bedroom apartments: 26.6667/1647. These go very fast, usually to seniors and maybe an extremely lucky junior pair.
  • Two-bedroom apartments: 30/1229. Seniors with a pretty good lottery number.
  • Studio doubles: 20/2981. Most go to juniors, and maybe incredibly lucky sophomores.
  • Studio singles: 30/67. Seniors with a great lottery number.

Bwog recommendations: Definitely a great choice if you’re looking to get that New York, off-campus apartment feel and aesthetic, yet still have housing that’s very close to Campus and near a lot of convenient businesses. However, just be wary that Watt tends to be one of the quieter dorms, i.e. neighbors don’t really talk to neighbors (perhaps influenced by the lack of a common floor lounge).

Resident opinions: 

  • “I really like living in Watt! My roommate and I have a private bathroom & kitchen which is great and the building is pretty quiet which means the elevators and printer are never very busy.”
  • “Watt is a great apartment-style dorm. You’re really independent as you have your own bathroom and kitchen. However it’s not social at all, I barely know my neighbors, but it makes it very quiet. The only major drawback is that there is only one very slow elevator that you must take to the basement to empty the trash, which can be frustrating.”
  • “Downsides are that there’s only one set of laundry machines on every floor and you have to take your trash all the way to the basement whenever and you can only use the elevator to get there which is a small price to pay for your own space”