Bodington Hall - all fun and games (Accommodation in general)

Member Name: iazcac

Product:	Accommodation in general
Date:	26/03/02 (1709 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of students, Facilities

Disadvantages: Bus journey

Many people are put off coming to Bodington Hall because of its distance from Uni. However, the bus journey although annoying simply becomes a routine and the buses are so regular (at least every ten minutes) you never spend long waiting for the bus. Even though the bus can be expensive, it works out a lot cheaper than living in the accommodation nearer to the Uni. The bus journey can be very useful for catching up on reading, sleeping or eating breakfast first thing in the morning.

The first thing that will hit you about Bodington (except for the ridiculously high speed bumps!!) is its size. Around 1200 students live there in a mixture of catered and self catered so what ever time you visit day or night there is always someone wandering around. All of my friends who came to visit were in awe of its size, but once you live there it seems very cosy and secure.

Some may think that being out at Bodington means that nothing goes. In fact this is quite the opposite. The centre block has its own large bar, snooker tables, squash courts, a shop, music rooms and the dining room so everything you could need is provided for you. Bodington is also set in acres of fields where all the Uni sports teams play so there is no excuse for not keeping fit!!

On the social side, there are some formally organised events but most is organised privately like it would be in any other University Hall. However, Bodington does organise two balls a year, the Freshers Ball and the Valentine Ball. The latter is a massive event lasting until 6am and features some big name acts (such as this year where Liberty and the James Taylor Quartet performed). It is at times like this that you are glad you are staying at Bodington as none of the other halls to my knowledge have a ball on this scale.

The bar also organise regular events such as quizes, party games nights, debating competitions and recently a "Blind Date" competition. All of this leads to friendly b
ut ferocious competition between the different houses


On the more boring side, Bodington offers catered houses, which are in the process of being renovated (they?ve been there since the 1960s!) and self catered flats which are only around seven years old, where you are in a single sex flat sharing with four others. I went self catering and was quite happy as I could eat when I wanted and what I wanted, but if you want your tea on the table when you get back from lectures then the catered option is for you.

The actual rooms are not brilliant but what you would expect for University accommodation. You are given a bed, wardrobe, desk, bedside table and two chairs but you are free to bring in any more furniture you want. You can decorate your room as much as you want (this year?s craze seems to be fairy lights!!) with posters and the like but nothing more such as painting it. The size of the rooms are fairly good they give you more than enough space to live in. After looking round some of the other halls of residences in Leeds these rooms are larger than average. (the rooms on campus seem very small indeed). In terms of costs, the self catering costs £1800 for the year, excluding food and utilities (around £100 for the year). As for the catered houses, I am not exactly sure of price as I did not live there, but from memory I remember them to be around the £2500 point. The two equal out by the time you pay for food and bills.

Overall, I would highly recommend spending your first year at Bodington, no where else have you got the chance to make more friends and have more fun then here

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