Uni Hall (Halls of Residence at Cardiff University in general)

Member Name: rosielee

Product:	Halls of Residence at Cardiff University in general
Date:	19/03/02 (1821 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Nice location, plenty of facilities

Disadvantages: Long way to walk from main campus

I lived in Uni Hall, Cardiff University from 1998-1999. It was my third choice (after the Gordon Road Halls) and I went for the catered option.
Uni Hall is much maligned by those who don't live there. The one thing to remember when considering choosing it is that a lot of its 2 miles from the main uni buildings is up a very steep hill.
When I was there, Uni Hall had the cheapest accommodation going and also the most expensive. It is split up into smaller buildings, and the facilities vary between each.
The cheapest buildings were self catered, not en-suite. These weren't particularly glamorous but the rooms were a fairly decent size (compared to some in other halls anyway).
I lived in catered, not en-suite. The rooms were fairly large, with a sink. There is a kitchen between about 10, a few have microwaves and most have a fridge. Plenty of showers and toilets. Catered en-suite rooms were a little smaller, and self catered en-suite looked small from the outside, but the people who lived here never seemed to come out so I can only conclude it must be great in there.
The dining room is large and a good place to meet people- time it to go down during Neighbours and you won't have to queue for too long. The food is hit and miss- but generally ok. Fish on Fridays, sponge pudding on Mondays, curry on Thursdays, weird brunch type thing on Sundays, always a veggie option- you'll get the hang of it.
There are tennis courts, squash courts, a gym, a lot of grass and a fantastic view. When I was there we had a great view of the Millennium Stadium being built, although you can't see into it now it's finished. There are quite a few parking spaces. The Hall Bar is good too- it gets packed in there on match days. The disco on Wednesdays and Saturdays is probably best avoided though, unless the DJ's bought a new record since 1999.
A taxi from town is about £4. Once you've moved into the big wide world you'll see
that this isn't bad at all, as it can cost £5 to get to parts of Cathays. The nightbus is also an option, as are the Cardiff Buses which don't run too far away.
The biggest moan we had was the sometimes dodgy food and the bloody big hill. A lot of people also moaned about not getting an en-suite room, but I was happier with a bigger room.
Uni Hall is in a very very nice bit of Cardiff. It's fairly quiet (outside, not necessarily inside the flats!) and the rooms are generally nice and big. I enjoyed my year there and would recommend it to others.

Summary: