Durdham Hall (Accommodation in general)

Member Name: mikee_p_uk

Product:	Accommodation in general
Date:	02/08/00 (824 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: See above but mainly en suite rooms

Disadvantages: The distance to the uni - slightly expensive but cheaper than private sector

Durdham Hall is basically fantastic. A self catered hall built in 1994 it has one of the best reputations of all the University of Bristol Halls. The rooms are organised in flats of 6 or 7 people, each room has ensuite shower, toilet and sink AND heated towel rail!! What more could you ask for (other than a bath!!) The kitchens are more than ample - supplied with 2 fridges and 2 freezers, 2 sinks, and two cookers (or 1 cooker and 1 microwave). There is a loads of cupboard and shelf space to stash your economy tins of beans and pots and pans.

Each room also has its own telephone on a university network - no queuing at the payphone, bills are sent monthly with no rental charges. There is also a computer network socket in each room to connect you to the university network where you can check your email every 10 seconds if you want and browse the entire world wide web for anything from the comfort and privacy of your own room. You'll wonder how you ever lived without it and get serious withdrawal symptoms when you leave.

The hall itself has a really friendly atmosphere, its easy to meet people and life long friends in the halls own bar, which is reputably the best hall bar with its extremely wide selection of drinks, particularly spirits. The bar also has Sky TV, a pool table, table tennis, darts, Playstation and a selection of board games you can borrow. The walls are covered in weird yet exciting murals to liven the place up a bit and the Junior Common Room committee have an excellent reputation for putting on fantastic entertainments (ents) to cater for all tastes. It is quite common to see residents from other halls visiting regularly as well as ex Durdhamites who can't resist coming back. The bar has an electric vibe on these fun nights and a nice chilled feeling the rest of the week, with the comfy seats and the ambient lighting. Bar work is also an excellent way to earn a few extra pennies.

Other facilities include a 2
4Hr computer room if you haven't got one in your room, a laundry and a music room/conference room with a piano.

The hall staff, particularly the porters are really friendly - if you come to Durdham look out for Chris and the new porter Doug who always seems to be beaming to make you feel welcome and both ready to sort out any maintenance problems you have. The housekeeper, Julie, is wonderful, any problem large or small she'll be there or just pop in for a chat. The compliment of tutors is also excellent, very approachable and willing to help out beyond the call of duty.

The hall is situated right in the middle of the Stoke Bishop halls and just up the hill from the new Hiatt Baker Union Shop for all your needs (well nearly all - its definitely very handy). All the halls are within a few minutes walk from each other - ideal for bar crawls, to meet new faces or course mates. The Downs, a vast expance of open grass land, are also so close by to play sport or relax in the summer sun (!?!), you are also very close to Coombe Dingle - the universities sports site.

There is so much more I could say, such as the oodles of tennis courts, squash courts freely available for use by the halls the green, relaxed out of town feel - its just so nice. As you can tell I really enjoyed living here.

The only minor thing is the distance to the university but walk in with friends and you'll not notice the distance and you can do a bit of window shopping down Whiteladies or catch a bus or cycle or if you wealthy enough hire a taxi. All in all Durdham is a fantastic hall to live in - everyone I know loved it as much as me and I would certainly recommend it to anyone.

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