Accommodation
Offers
Reviews
 |
Teesside House (Middlesbrough)
by musicmad2020 Teesside House, is and I quote a "luxury student apartment complex", located close to Teesside university in Middlesbrough. Although it houses many hundreds of students, you will find little in the way of information or indeed reviews, on the internet. Even it's website, contains limited information and stock ... imagery which doesn't even appear to have been taken within the UK, let alone this decade. I personally felt it was important to write a review on Teesside House, because I feel there are some issues with it, disconcerting issues which in all honesty are a disgrace, considering the amount of money it costs to live there. Although you may have never heard of this accommodation, I hope you will read and rate my review, as I feel this is probably one of the most important reviews I will ever write on Dooyoo. So, what attracted me to Teesside House in the first place? I wanted an accommodation place sorted for the following year as my friends had sorted a house together, so I decided to sign a contract for a room here so that no matter what, I had a place sorted. It later turned out, a couple of my friends then had a spare place with their accommodation which they asked me to fill. You cannot leave a contract with Teesside House once you have signed it unless you find someone to fill your place (even if you are months away from moving in). However, that wasn't my real issue with Teesside House, although I know it's a factor which creates nightmare situations for students, particularly those who drop out of uni or have found a place to live elsewhere. Before I get into greater detail, I realise this particular accommodation review may not be of much relevance to those on Dooyoo, however given the lack of information (particularly on the internet) the company has for potential and current tenants, I feel this review will bridge the gap and hopefully answer those unanswered questions, as well as giving a detailed opinion from someone who has experienced living here. To make it easier to pinpoint a specific matter of interest, I am going to divide my review into sections. OVERVIEW: Teesside House is located on Borough Road, in Middlesbrough. It is within close proximity to the main university buildings, and so makes for a popular choice for students as university accommodation is only available to 1st years. The accommodation comprises of either 4,5 or 6 rooms, each ensuite with a shared kitchen/dining area. The building has 10 floors and approximately 380 places, based on a 50 week contract. SIGNING UP: To enquire about getting a place here, it is probably best to go in (there is an office located next to the main entrance) at around Christmas time, the sooner the better really, especially if you are looking to move in as a group and want to secure a place. When you do go in, you will be shown around by Stacey J, who fronts the office and you will later deal with when it comes to moving in. I have to say the tour is quite brief, and you don't get to look in any of the rooms just the kitchen area, so I would advise to ask as many questions whilst you have the opportunity. After the tour, and given you wish to proceed, you are asked to read and sign the contract. Perhaps what they should do at this stage is give you a copy of the contract, and some additional information as it's a further 8 months until you hear from them again! A list of contact numbers can be found on the website: http://www.campuslifestyle.com/ MOVING IN: The move in date is typically around the 13th of September, although it's worth double checking as they seem to be incredible sketchy on detail. Needless to say, the whole moving in process was the area in which I had most difficulty with the company, and at one point questioned why I went with them in the first place. The Situation: A couple of months after signing my contract, I asked Teesside House when we would be receiving our information packs about our new accommodation. I asked this because when signing my contract, I was told we would receive a pack. One of the ladies in the office informed me "ohhh she won't be doing those yet". Well okay then. I later found out they don't do information packs whatsoever. Why on earth miss match information? Time passes and I received an invoice via email by the main lady which runs Teesside House, or so we think. This email honestly appeared like spam, as it had no header nor was it addressed from Teesside House. This invoice demanded £500 plus a £35 "admin fee" before we were allowed to move in, due before 31st August. I made sure everything was sent in, and was given no conformation that the money was received. As far as I knew, the rent was from the 13th September so that's when we were due to move in. The 13th September arrives, and I make the 3 hour journey to Middlesbrough to collect my keys to my new place, intending to move in 2 weeks later. I asked the lady if "this was the place where you collect keys", to which she replied "well don't you have an appointment?" Err... what are you talking about? Apparently, we were "emailed" appointments to when we were allowed to collect our keys and be shown our rooms etc. I swiftly informed her I had NOT received such an email, and even had my BlackBerry out, with my email inbox to prove this was the case incase she then denied it. Other new tenants in the office seemed to be repeating the same thing, that they had not been informed about the appointment. She tried to tell me to come back on Thursday of that week for my keys. I told her otherwise. £35 admin fee on what exactly? This is where it made me rather angry. How unorganized can you be? What on earth did that £35 of admin fee go on... staples?!! Forty minutes of my time passed as I waited in the office for someone to get back to me. Finally a lady came out to show me my room (without the welcome appointment bit), with the words "she has come down and she will see you now" as if it was my fault they had stuffed up. Then to my horror, and probably the most shocking part of the day... she leads me to my room in the apartment only to open the door, to find there is a guy in there painting it.... My room wasn't even ready, even though it's moving in day, and I'm now paying rent on the place! Needless to say this lady swiftly left without explaining the situation and handed me my keys. I know I wasn't the only person with problems that day or since with Teesside House, but I have to say the situation really angered me. It seems they can't do enough for you until they have your money, then they fail to organize any sort of efficiently from there on after. The staff in the office didn't want to give out much information, which really wasn't good enough. THE ROOMS: All of the rooms in Teesside House are finished to a high standard, and it's certainly one of the leading factors which attracts students. Each room is painted white, with a blue carpet. The size and layout of the rooms differ depending on the price you pay, which is typically between £77-£83 per week. In each room you will typically find: *¾ bed (if you are given a single you can asked for it to be changed or vice versa) *Wardrobe *Shelves *Heater, *Large desk with draws *An additional bedside cabinet, as well as a coat hook. For those rooms which are ensuite (I think there are only a couple of flats which aren't), you will find a fully fitted bathroom with a shower, however it doesn't have any towel rails or additional storage. My bathroom is quite small compared to others in the building, despite having a larger room and paying more per week. It's really the luck of the draw! Overall the bathroom is finished to a high standard, although there are some mold issues which were not rectified from the previous tenant(s). I would also like to add something which a couple the 1st years I live with have asked me, which is "what is the difference between the rooms here and the university halls". Well, the university halls are run to a much higher standard in terms of organization, although the standard of furnishing and fittings, is considerably less than what you'd find at Teesside House. Halls also have internet included within the rent, where as Teesside House charge astronomical rates to sign up to it, so most students end up sorting their own mobile broadband contracts. You can also stay at Teesside House for the duration of your course, were as with halls you can only live there for the 1st year. I would also stress that university halls are more sympathetic towards those moving away from home for the first time, in the way of greater information, wardens on call, and also carefully pairing each flat, i.e with those on the same course, or from similar locations. SHARED AREAS: In each flat, there is a shared Kitchen/living room area. Again the size really does vary, as does if you have a large window similar to a balcony, or if you just have normal windows. Our kitchen contains 12 cupboards (6 normal ones and 6 overhead ones), one per person. There are also 2 fridges and 2 cookers, as well as a table and chairs, 2 settees and a television affixed to the wall. The overall the quality of the kitchen is quite satisfactory, and it was repainted within the first couple of weeks of us being here, although I can't say it needed doing really. ADDITIONAL: Teesside House has 2 lifts, meaning if you live on the 10th floor you don't need to climb the stairs every time! More importantly, it is ideal for those requiring disabled access. There is also a small laundry room located next to the post area, although to be honest it's not really cut out for the amount of students in the building. There are 5 washers/dryers and 380+ tenants! Granted, we don't all need to use it at the same time, however I do think they could do with a couple more. Also, it is £2 a time so it gets a little pricey as your student loan balance decreases! Out of office hours, if you have a problem, there is a number you can call to speak to one of the staff on duty. I recently had to do this when faced with a noisy neighbour. I must say they are quick to respond to such issues, and the matter was later passed on to management who swiftly dealt with the situation. It's very reassuring to have someone on hand in such situations, so I can't fault them for this. OVERALL Having been a tenant here for a little while now, I have certainly warmed to the place a lot more than when I arrived and was faced with such disorganization and general chaos. As a flat, we have also noticed the staff in the office seems to have slightly changed and although we have had to report several issues, generally we have been satisfied with the response. What I would like to see happen from the company, is a better informed and up to date website (I have the skills to do this... let's call it a months rent?!), better information for new arrivals, and also a more organized system, especially when it comes to moving in. Also, all maintenance work should really be completed before the tenant starts paying rent... what if I had brought all my stuff up with me on the day I had come to collect my keys? It really doesn't make for good practice. If you are a potential student who has stumbled across this article, I would advise having a viewing of Teesside House, although it might not all be plain sailing. I do think they are striving to improve their practices, certainly when we have spoken to them about certain issues they do respond and take on board what we have said. I also appreciate that dealing effectively with the sheer numbers of tenants, must be quite an undertaking and hence the situations which arise from this, however when you are charged £35 admin you really do expect such issues to be dealt with. I've really thought about this, and I'm going to give Teesside House 3 out of 5 Dooyoo stars. The three stars are for the high quality of the rooms, and the fact there are lifts and laundry facilities, as well as help when you need it. The other two stars cannot be presently awarded because of the cost of the internet (which was free in halls!), and the chaos which surrounded the moving in, which honestly left me feeling very stressed and helpless towards the whole situation... not good when you've paid so much money to just move in! If they strive to improve the areas where the stars were not awarded, then becoming top class for student accommodation, is certainly within their reach. Read the complete review |
 |
Halls Of Residence At The University Of Hull
by Alex Needler Hall is where i lived in the first year. It's great it gives you the chance to meet lots and lots of new people. It's not the flat based accomodation you find in most universities but it works really well as you can mix with much more people than you would usually in a flat type environment. The food is not the ritz ... standard but it beats cooking anyday, there is a lot of variety to choose from and it tastes good. Most of the staff are great except the noisy early morning cleaners. The rooms are what you expect from university living, basic: bed, desk and wardrobe if you live in new wing you don't get a personal sink but you get used to it. The pubs are a little expensive in Cottingham but there good if you dont fancy a wild night out once in a while. The shops are good for food and essentials 'rythym and booze' sells the cheapeast alcohol around and it's only five mins walk away. The buses run quite frequently and i advise everyone to buy a bus pass there such value for money. Overall it's a great place for 1st year students. Make it what you want, if you want crazy wild drunken parties then have them, when i lived there new wing was where the parties were at. Old wing was still awesome tho. if you dont like that then it's ok too as you can mix with others who feel the same. It's cheap and got everything you expect from university living. NEEDLER, NEEDLER, NEEDLER!!!!! Read the complete review |
 |
Halls Of Residence At Kingston University in general
by dramaxxqueenxx05 I have just recently moved into my halls of residence at Kingston university and I can honestly say that I am having the most amazing time here even though I've only been living in London for four days! I have made loads of friends, met some unique, lovely and interesting people and had some good nights out and in! There are quite a ... few disavantages about halls of residence, and they don't sound appealing either! I am living in clayhill, which is located in Surbition, however the university say it's a 15 minute walk, but actually it's half an hour! And the buses don't always arrive at the time you need to be at the university or Kingston town centre. But the bus service is only free if you are a Kingston university student - which saves you a few pennies! So it's kind of good in a way! The rooms are actually quite small, unless you are living in room 1 which is the biggest and I am lucky to have room number one! (there are about 50 blocks on campus with three floors in each block with four rooms) But the kitchens are very small, which I found dissapointing cause when you see the kitchen you won't have any idea how you can fit in four people in one small kitchen, also the view I have isn't very pleasant as my block kitchen window views a graveyard which is depressing as hell. The university are quite strict on how tidy and how well you treat the rooms, and they do have ocassional checks however when you arrive and see damage or something that shouldn't be in the room then you must fill in a form (which can be found on your arrival) or report to reception. Otherwise you will get fined and that's out of a three hundred deposit you pay the university for your room! (which is normally £50) The showers are the worst in the rooms, but it is good that all rooms have en suite to them. But the showers are really annoying as you turn on the shower full power and the water sprays every where and when you step out the shower it looks like a swimming pool and you had to use one of your towels (if you bring it with you to the university which you should do!) to soak up the water, however I do recommend any one with this problem to buy a bath mat (which I must do at some point because I have this problem!) When it comes to the evening you would have to keep the noise level down around the area, as it does disturb the local residents, otherwise you could get a police record or loose your place at the university. Or even both depending on the situation. The storage in the rooms is quite good, but if you have a small room this could be a problem for some. Before you move into your room you must read the rules of the halls of residence as this will tell you if you break any of the rules you will face consquences, possibly face fines or even loosing your place at the university. So for god's sake don't break any of them! The shopping areas are good, as it is a 15 minute walk to the Surbiton shops which have banks, supermarkets, take aways, off lisence so if you need anything in emergency then you can always pop down there. Or if you want something like clothes shopping the best place to go is Kingston town centre or even catch a tube to central London which is 20 minutes away. Overall, there are good points about Clayhill at Kingston halls of residence and bad points about Clayhill, but I will promise you that you will have an amazing time at Kingston whether it's your last year, 2nd year, 1st year and by day three of your first year you will love it and settle in very quickly, meet new people and make loads of friends! Read the complete review |
Accommodation |
||
|---|---|---|
|
3 reviews Accommodation / If your halls aren't included here please suggest them. |
|
|
3 reviews Accommodation / If your halls aren't included here please suggest them. |
|
|
3 reviews Student accommodation at the University of Dundee, Scotland. |
|
|
3 reviews Accommodation / |
|
|
2 reviews Accommodation / The Maltings of University College Birmingham offers 827 purpose-built study bedrooms clustered around communal dining and kitchen areas. |
|
|
2 reviews Accommodation / If your halls aren't included here please suggest them. |
|
|
|
3 reviews Accommodation / |
|
|
|
3 reviews Accommodation / |
|
|
|
3 reviews Accommodation / |
|
|
|
3 reviews Accommodation / |
|
| Accommodation recommendations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... back next | ||
| dooyoo Results 51 - 60 of 409 | ||
