Scarborough campus accomodation... {updated} (Accommodation in general)

Name: ronniec

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Product:	Accommodation in general
Date:	10/11/00 (216 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice building, all en-suite rooms, nice area.

Disadvantages: No conventional ovens, funny atmosphere.

At the moment I'm a first-year student at the Scarborough campus of Hull uni. The summer of 2000 saw the final integration of Hull University with what used to be University College Scarborough, so you may still find references to UCS in places. You should be aware that all your dealings will primarily go through Hull uni before you come into contact with the specific admin people at the Scarborough campus.

I joined in something of a rush, initially having decided not to bother going to uni, but in the end I was lucky to get a room in the halls of residence - or so I thought. Eight weeks into the first term, they were still advertising the spare, unoccupied rooms and I can see why.

There isn't anything intrinsically wrong with the halls. It's a single modern building (built around 1992 as conference accomodation, then bought by the uni), and the rooms themselves are all en-suite and quite attractive. The en-suite facilities in particular are a real bonus as the thought of traipsing up and down the halls every time you want a shower doesn't sound too great to me. The small shower/toilet room is functional so there can be no complaints there.

You may be lucky enough to get one of the second/third floor disabled rooms (as ridiculous as that sounds, especially considering there is no lift access) which are slightly larger than all the others on the floor. With blocks from A-F and 3 floors in each with 10 rooms a floor, it is quite a large building with something like 180 rooms. This caters for the majority of freshers who wish to stay in halls; this year it even proved to be an excess as they are not filled.

There is something niggling that just doesn't let the place... appeal to me. The atmosphere is quite strange, as the building encircles a central grass area, so it feels like you're always under scrutiny. If you're lucky enough to get one of the very few rooms that face outwards with a sea view (I was :
)), you're not so bad though. Lighting is also a little unusual, employing softer yellow tones which can make the corridors feel a little gloomy.

One kitchen is shared per floor (10 people), which is OK as most people in the halls get £5 worth of food a day to spend at the canteen which isn't all that bad. If you're anything like me, you'll probably only use the kitchen maybe once a day at nights. Unfortunately there is no cooker in the kitchens, only a microwave, which can be a major inconvenience for some who like to eat something better than endless microwave food.

Halls aside, the uni accomodation office runs an impressive list of local properties available for private rent. This seems to be a popular option among students, many of whom only come to Scarborough as a last resort and find it too late to get into the halls. Scarborough has many fine housing areas and they are all very reasonably priced.

Which brings me to perhaps the worst aspect of the halls, the price. Cayley Hall, the big main building, costs £2500/36 weeks, which I'm told by friends at other institutions is well above average. This price does include £500 worth of food from the canteen (or more accurately, £5/day) but when you consider it is possible to rent a room privately for as little as £25/week plus food, you can see how expensive the halls are at around £70-80/week.

It's hard to summarise the halls at Scarborough. There's nothing wrong with the building itself, and it's located in one of the nicest areas in Scarborough, around 15 minutes from the town centre (along The Most Boring Road In The World). But at times it has a funny atmosphere and I for one, am already looking forward to getting my own place for the second year.

Summary: