I have just finished my first year at the University of Leicester, and i have to say, without a doubt, that it was the best year of my life, and the reason for this was the halls that i stayed in.

The Catered University Halls are located in a small town called Oadby on the outskirts of the city. There are 5 main halls, Digby, Stamford, Beaumont, Gilbert murray and Villiers. They all have a victorian house which fronts the hall, but most are new buildings behind them.

I knew a girl who lived in digby,so i have some information about how life was! The blocks are named by colours, and are arranged in two story quad with 3 sides bein rooms, and one side being the dining hall, with an old house as the communal rooms. This is the first hall i visited when i went to view the university. Each block is arranged with a common area as you walk in, which contains the stair case, and a kitchen, and 4 boys rooms off one side, and 4 off another side, with a bathroom at the end of each mini corridor, the same upstairs, but girls rooms. Overall, the state of the rooms is good for a unviversity hall, but in terms of Leicester accomodation, the room are just adequate.

Stamford hall is the place that i have lived for the past year, so i am able to say much about this! My first impressions of stamford when i got out of the car was that it looked like a prison block, but this is soon dispelled when you see the grounds that it is set in! It is set in about three of four acres of green grass, trees and green basically! The old building at the front is where the stamford hall bar is, the common room, computer room, toilets, tv room etc. The bar is open every night, has cheep booze and some very funny bar men! everyone drinks there before they go out, as the bus stop is just outside. The common room has 2 pool tables, 2 table tennis tables and a fusball table, and a huge tv for match days!

As you walk out of the building to the rear, you see a l
ong line of garish building that looks very out of place, and a wide building at 1 end, which is the dining hall. You get provided breakfast and dinner each night, and brunch and dinner at the weekends. The food here is good compared to most places and offers a reasonable amount of choice, but most of the food is deep fried!

The long builing adjacent to this is the actual halls of residence. They comprise of 10 blocks (alphabetically), with 3 floors, with 6 rooms on each floor, 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. All the rooms are refurbished so all look brand new inside, and all the bathrooms were refitted for my year, so are all relatively new. Everything is conveniable, and there are never any queues for the bathrooms, even in girls corridors. The kitchen does not have any major cooking facilities as they are catered halls, but most things can me cooked in the kitchen, as it has a microwave and a 2 ring hob. The furnature in the rooms is all new as it has been refurbished, so it is all comfortable! You get a single bed, a bedside table, an easychair, a desk, a set of movable drawers and a built in wardrobe and shelves. Each room has its' own lock and you are the only one who get a key. The rooms are cleaned once a fortnight, and the common areas are cleaned 2wice a week.

In terms of people wise, the blocks do not mix as much as in Digby, as there is no common area for each block, but as long as you make the effort to go and say hello to everyone in the surrounding rooms and your block, there is usually no problems! You soon get talking to everyone anyway as there is a fanstastic junior common room comittee, who organise events every weeks, and 3 term balls a year, which are always so much fun, lots of free alcohol and food, and all that for the grand price og 65 pounds junior common room fee! The cost of teh halls however is slighlt more than that! The cost works out to be about 83 pounds a weeks, which is not bad considering you get 2
meals a day!

Beaumont halls hall far prettier than stamford, as its buildings are set in a victorian quad like seting, and the common rooms and dining hall are all in a huge old victorial hall. I dont know much about beaumont, but the rooms are o.k., a bit better than Digby, but not as good as stamford!

Gilbert murray and Villiers are collective although they are in separate locations, as they are bothe very small halls! I ave only ever ventured to Villiers once when i was drunk, but the rooms seemed o.k.

All in all, i think stamford is the best hall, but probably because i had a fantastic time there! All the halls have there own benefits, Digby-the halls are more socail as they have a common room, Stamford-the actual rooms are nicer, and we have a good common room, and lots of grounds, Beaumont-Prettier halls, prettier bars, GMV-has a huge bar!

Hope that help any prospective Leicester students but remember to choose Stamford!!