I have spent 4 years sampling the delights of the University of Reading halls. I spent my first 3 years as an undergrad living in Childs Hall on Whiteknights campus. Childs is absolutely fine, as long as you aren't too fussy and don't mind living in an environment where everything just looks a little bit past its best. My room was pretty much as basic as they come, without even a sink, but the way I saw it, was that if I had to leave my room to use the communal toilets and shower, what difference did the sink make? I decided to save myself a few hundred quid a year and go sink-free.
The rooms themselves were basic but comfortable and all carpeted. They had everything you could need.
Because it is a fully catered hall, the kitchens are large but basic. There were plenty of seats and tables available and it was a real social gathering place. I shared my bathroom with about 15 other girls and there was one shower, one bath, about 5 sinks and 2 toilets. In 3 years though, I only recall having to wait for a shower a handful of times.
The food provided was basic but perfectly fine. Some people moaned that it wasn't as good as mummy's dinners, but really, it was absolutely fine.

As a post-grad I was in Bulmershe. I was based there so never had to trek over to Whiteknights for lectures. The rooms there were similar to Childs in layout and size but came with ensuite bathrooms! A big bonus, but one that you definitely paid for! We were in flats of 9 people, sharing a moderately large kitchen. However, only 2 small fridges were provided, meaning that you were doing very well to get a whole shelf to yourself... A fact we moaned about often, but the hall never did anything to rectify.
Bulmershe was also much quieter. The post-grads are slightly seperate from the under-grads, meaning that we got quiet nights and the under-grads were free to be as noisy as they'd like.
Note of warning, we had groundfloor rooms and my neighbour had a break-in when she left her window open just to nip to the kitchen for 5 minutes... A laptop was stolen. Please always shut your windows!