whether or not to get climate control depends on what you are storing. if you are storing temperature sensitive stuff like, say, vinyl records, then you probably want climate controlled. but if you're storing stuff like dishes, books, wooden furniture, etc. then you can probably do without. really it just depends on how protective of your stuff you are.

i had a great experience with republic self storage in south austin over on manchaca. i only had my stuff there for three months, but they gave me a climate controlled unit for the non-climate control rate, the first two months were half off, and they also gave me as a perk a $20 or 30 gift certificate (i cant remember) toward the purchase of anything in their store. i used the gift certificate to buy a lock for my storage unit and some cam-buckle tie downs which was really useful. if you pay your rent late one month, they also give you a cheesy "get out of jail free" card which waives the late charge (which i ended up using so it was good to have). the proprietors live on site (and they are really nice) which is good in case an emergency happens. the only downside was that when i came back to get my stuff the unit was full of pill bug carcasses, but i guess that's to be expected.

here's their website:

http://www.self-store.net/selfstorage/austin/republicmanchaca/manchaca.htm

I can't recommend actual places, since I've never used any myself, but my brother told me about one little maneuver that he and his girlfriend pulled. Some storage places allow you to store stuff for the first month for free. He only needed about a month, so they put their stuff in storage and got it out before the 30 days were up. Voila -- it was free. If you're only going to be in Virginia for less than a month, you might give that a try. Check the phone book or websites for ads that cite the first month as being free.

I had a good expirience with Burnet Road Self Storage. Cheapest I found. not climate or pest controlled though. Nice people. I could call and pay my monthly over the phone with a credit card. Deposit was like $15, monthly was $29

I stored my whole apartment (full size bed, futon, desk, entertainment center, small dining table, most of my clothes, coffee table, endtables, and like 15 boxes, etc) in a 5x10. It had a really really tall ceiling (on top floor), otherwise I doubt we could've fit everything. It was $50 a month and I got the first month for $1, so I only spent $100 total. They had carts and elevators there to help you move your stuff too. I used the Public Storage at 183 and Lamar since it was between where I moved from and where I was moving to. It was climate controlled (if you got an indoor one) and pest controlled. All in all a good experience.

I'm using storage usa off of riverside right now. The first month is free. I suggest it.

" STUDENT SUMMER SPECIAL Watson & Taylor Mini Storage 6330 Harold Ct. 928-0109 5x5 $20 5x10 $30" also just saw this in the daily texan

the usual suspects are all ok. you definitely don't need climate control, unless you've got a collection of rare candles or something,

How can the bawls be empty... and blue at the same time?