to think University students without particular needs do not need an en-suite shower room?

[LindorDoubleChoc]

I'm so surprised that University Halls of Residence now offer this as an option to more or less all their students. What the hell? How many of you are indulging your offspring with this poncery and why? (exceptional needs aside of course).

When I went to Uni in the dark ages of the 1980s no one had an ensuite. Almost no one had a wash basin either. Is it a money making exercise?

New build houses are the same. Not every bedroom needs separate washing/bathing facilities. The first world's gone mad!

Many halls don't have cleaners post covid.

Lots of students worry about the state other students might leave shared bathrooms in (given the state of the kitchen and the rows it caused in my DD's flat in halls this is perfectly rational!)

Universities partly do it because they rent out accommodation in halls of residence over the holidays for conferences etc - which is much more attractive to conference organisers and delegates if it’s en-suite. So if they’re building a new block that’s what gets built.

I take it you only booked hotels and hostels with shared bathrooms, as an en-suite room would be too posh?

When I went to Uni in the dark ages of the 1980s no one had an ensuite. Almost no one had a wash basin either. Is it a money making exercise?

Back in the 80s, plenty of people still had outside toilets at home! The World moves on and "essentials" change. Same with hotels - pretty common to have shared bathrooms back then, but now almost unheard of except in the dingy old B&Bs. Same with central heating, etc. It's called progress.

As for "money making exercise", no, it's simply supply and demand. Unis know that students want en-suite rooms, so are catering to a need as they have to compete with other Unis for students. A Uni not offering en-suite rooms will soon find itself with empty lecture theatres. Of course, most offer a choice, so the student can decide whether they want to pay a bit extra for en-suite or pay less for shared facilities. Sounds like a win-win to me!

We had ensuite shower rooms in the dark ages of 1987 in Glasgow. Not a new thing at all.

Neither do you. Nobody does.

If they want to choose that option, it’s up to them.

But I do feel sorry for those who have a more expensive room forced on them.

I don't really have a problem with it unless parents are having to dig deep to spend more than they want to because 18 year olds expect an en-suite. Both my DC haven't had that luxury and they are surviving .

Lots of people see them as a necessity these days.

dd1 has just started uni and has a shared bathroom. She decided having more money to live on was more important to her than an en-suite. There’s only 4 in her flat with 2 shared toilets and 1 shared shower. It’s early days but all seems ok with regards to sharing the bathrooms.

Well,.next time you go on holiday to a hotel, make sure you book somewhere with a shared bathroom. None of this ensuite nonsense!!

"Allow not nature more than nature needs, man's life's as cheap as beast's." (King Lear)

Oh come on! You can't compare no en-suite shower room for a student to no inside toilet for an entire family!

Nothing poncey about it. You get what you're given in most circumstances. My daughter has just moved into halls and has an en suite. It's cute that you think she had a choice what kind of room she was given.
However, she's really glad she's got an en-suite, and so am I! Times have moved on. If you have a mobile phone or a laptop, a tablet, a computer - are you a yuppy? Do you have electric windows on your car? Power steering? How about that fangle dangled central heating?!? How poncey of you!! Go back to your economy seven right now! 😂

DD lived in a hall with shared facilities last year. She survived, but it wasn't entirely a pleasant experience. I think if she goes back into halls for 3rd year, she'll opt for en-suite.

My first year room had an en suite in 1999. Only a handful didn't.

It's not for the students, it's to make money from conferences and other commercial accommodation sales outside of term time.

@SarahAndQuack is correct, this is so they can be let out in the vacations which at some universities is half the year. No-one pays to stay with a shared bathroom in a hotel these days (or B and B), although hostels still have them, mixed dorms with bunk beds. After you, OP!

My DS has just finished at kings college London and he paid extra for an en-suite.

(We gave him a yearly budget and let him bid on the accommodation he wanted). He felt it was worth living on chilli.

I stayed in halls in the early 2000s and shared 4 bathrooms between 10 bedrooms (mixed sex). It was pretty grim.

I’d take a toilet and basin at a minimum - I could manage with the shower but the loo situation, no way.

I was glad there were shared options at my son's hall so that we could save ourselves the extra 2K a year the ensuite would have cost. It meant we could afford to pay him more to live on.

The shared bathrooms were private and had locks on the doors so privacy wasn't an issue. The cleaners cleaned the shared areas and bog roll was provided.

They end up sharing houses in second and third years so usually have to share a bathroom in the end.

Who suggested that was ever the case? Straw man, much?

I think that sounds wonderful tbh. Why wouldn't you want that?

I went to Uni in 1995 and had an ensuite in my hall of residence flat. Not all the halls had this but quite a lot did.

I had a washbasin cupboard thing and mirror in my room in the early nineties. Shared a bathroom with two boys, they were very nice! Didn't find going in my robe to the shower embarrassing. It was very clean though.

I had an en suite in my halls in the late 90’s and it was bloody marvellous, it was even cleaned weekly by the halls cleaners. As far as I recall it cost an extra £14 a week over rooms with shared bathrooms (where friends told me they would regularly walk into showers to find piss or vomit on the floor) and it was absolutely worth every penny!

Why makes things unnecessarily uncomfortable? I liked my room with its ensuite so I could shit and shower in peace.

I take it you only booked hotels and hostels with shared bathrooms, as an en-suite room would be too posh?

Exactly!!

OP, I was at uni in the 80s too and I wish I'd had an ensuite. It's not in any way character-building to have to share a bathroom, just unpleasant.