| Product: |
Accommodation in general |
| Date: |
26/01/01 (116 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Excellent facilities, en-suite
Disadvantages: Lonely reputation
Situated on the North Haugh, 10 minutes or less from the town centre (depending on how quickly you walk / stagger home) New Hall, is easy to spot from the main road heading into St Andrews. It's the sprawling, pinkish grey breezeblock structure with the turrets, yes turrets, although I've never figured out if they actually have a functional use... On the ugliness meter, New Hall actually isn't that bad. Large areas of ugliness, namely the Biomedical Sciences Building and Andrew Melville Hall, between which New Hall is sandwiched, actually tone down the hall, making it quite pleasing to the eye.
Down to the important stuff. What's it like to live there? Well, it's modern hall, built in 1993 or therabouts. Looks and feels a lot like a travellodge. New Hall is primarily a self catered Hall of Residence, with 12 people on a coridoor sharing one large kitchen. There -are- catered places in New Hall (about 50 out of the 500 odd) but I believe they're quite pricey. The rooms are also mainly single but, again, there's about 50 shared places. In a single room, there is a double bed, large desk with a fluorescent lamp, computer chair, normal chair, bedside lamp, chest of drawers, built in wardrobe and bookcase. And of course, there's the en-suite bathroom; nicely tiled with a huge mirror. Because of the double bed, space is a premium, but all in all, it's a pretty nice setting. Oh, and there's a large noticeboard above the bed to put posters on. The rooms are all identical and are painted beige, pink or a rather vile shade of mint green, depending on what floor you're based on. This colour coding is very useful if you wake up on the wrong floor after a night's drinking. The furnishings are also identical. If you want unique, then think about applying to one of the older halls, St Salvators or St Regulus for example. Once a week, your room is cleaned and, depending on your cleaner, your waste basket ca
n be emptied every day. Like most university owned rooms in St Andrews, there is an ethernet connection available to the tune of 50 pounds for the year and a telephone. The telephone system is operated by Ericsson and a tad extortionate. Think about investing in a mobile instead!
On to the kitchens. They are large enough for 12 people and you do get your own food locker to prevent food-theft. It can get a bit crowded if all 12 people decide to cook at once. The kitchen is well fitted out with two electric cookers, microwave, two fridge-freezers, two toasters, iron and ironing board and numerous pots and pans, utensils and cupboards. I'd suggest bringing your own knives. The hall ones wouldn't cut hot butter :)
New Hall has a number of study rooms on each floor, a large foyer with a cafe, two chocolate machines and a drinks machine and a TV room with a very large screen. There are often charity video nights held there. It's got a pool table too! For the musically inclined, there are two practice rooms, each containing a piano. The hall also has it's own computer room for accessing email.
As for the atmosphere, New Hall is what you make it. Because of the self-catering, there's no one time that everyone in the hall congregates, ie for dinner. So, it is more difficult to make friends outside your own coridoor at first. With 500 people living there, it can seem a bit faceless too and the coridoors are quite narrow and dark. There is the temptation to hole up in your room and only venture out to whip up the odd cheese toastie if you're not careful! If you're worried about making friends and would like a more close knit community then New Hall isn't for you. It is very handy for scientists though - you can get up literally 5 minutes before your first lecture and still make it on time. Despite the lonely reputation, I had a great time there in New Hall in my first year. The university accommodat
ion service does try to put first years on the same coridoors and levels and 4th years up on the 4th floor to prevent conflicts over noise. It's rarer to find 2nd and 3rd years living in New Hall.
You'll maybe find a coridoor full of 4th years and one 1st year but it's not usually a problem.
I think the main comment I'd make about New Hall is that you can be as social or as antisocial as you like. If community spirit isn't your thing then fine but there's plenty of fun to be had if you look for it.
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