Southampton Uni halls

[snowyowl70]

Does anyone have DCs at Southampton who can explain to me why the same room type is more expensive at Glen Eyre than Wessex Lane ? We visited Wessex Lane on Open Day and thought it was ok but didn't get chance to look at Glen Eyre - before DD thinks of applying for halls can anyone offer any insight into these or other halls ?

I am sure someone will be along with modern knowledge but Glen Eyre is a bit nearer and greener. However Monte has better bus connections and the 15-20 min walk isn't a big deal, especially as you pass the food shops en route. Also the main railway line runs past Monte with some very large heavy cargo trains passing through at night. You get used to it though. Monte nearer the sports pitches as well , if that is relevant. Whichever your DD ends up in she will have an equal chance of having a good time and will probably decide it is far superior to the other

local to area but not involved in uni.
glen eyre is more central greener nicer neighbourhood

Wessex nearer train line not so nice surroundings further from city

Glenn was where the posh kids went in my day. They had carpets in their rooms.

Wessex Halls were far more down to earth. Bit of a walk up the hill to keep you fit, but not far. Connaughton had the best bar in the university by a mile.

Connaught, sorry. Iphone did something weird there...

Hi, ds1 was at Glenn for his 1st year. They are in much nicer landscaping & only a 5-10 min stroll to the main campus. (IMO)
There was a lot of info to be gleaned from the student room about the popularity of the different room types. Unless more has been built in the last 2 years, en suite is always over subscribed and so students tend to get put in the unite housing to give them en-suite. DS opted for mainly Glenn and was lucky to get allocated chancellors Courts. 3 boys & 3 girls with their own self contained flat and 2 bathrooms between them.

It's nearly 24 years since I left Soton but I remember things as described by sitting - Glen had all the kids from private schools, while the comp kids (me!) went to Wessex Lane. I would however, suggest that the best bar was actually in Monte… sadly I don't think it's there any longer.

I spent four years in Monte. The Monte flats were the better option - we had seven students, one shower/wc and a separate loo between us. In my first year, I was in (what was then called) A block - my bedroom overlooked the railway line, which was fine, but pretty basic - I don't know how much they've been improved.

Thanks everyone. If she applies for the halls at Wessex Lane can she specify Monte or do you just get allocated ?

My ds is currently at Glen Eyre. He has a premium room which has a small double bed, big corner desk and lots of storage. Six per flat with two bathrooms. Bathrooms and kitchen are cleaned several times a week. Glen Eyre itself is quite leafy. I don't know about the historical private school thing but that is not the case now.

I was at Wessex Lane 20 years ago, and we all knew that Glen Eyre was for the public school kids. I was in South Stoneham House. Connaught was where I really wanted to be.

With all due respect, the world has moved on in 20 years.....

Thank goodness! :)

En suite? Oversubscribed? Premium rooms? Good grief, do students live in the lap of luxury these days? How are they going to adjust to that shared student slum house in Portswood or Derby Road in the second year? I couldn't bear to go in the loo in my DD's shared ex council flat (which for some unfathomable reason they loved, nylon swirly 70s carpet and all) but I do think the experience of stalagmites on the insides of the window of Overdell Court have left me with a lifelong appreciation of what it must be like to have to live in sub standard housing, and how lucky I am to be able to afford a nice home. Both my DDs know not to even ask for ensuite.

And that shared basin between 2 rooms in Monte1 became less of an amenity when I kept finding my sinkmates boyfriend, and worse still my sinkmate, peeing in it............

No they don't live in the lap of luxury Shootingatpigeons but they're not expected to live in squalour these days either. The shared house ds will be living in next year (in Portswood) also has five double bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen equipped with mod cons and this is in no way at the top end of the student housing on offer.

I went to Southampton and spent my first year in Glen. At the time I was full of us people who didn't quite fit in elsewhere, there were a number of Private school kids but plenty of comp kids too, including me! At the time I think it simply represented the demographic of the uni in that most kids seemed to come from a private education background.

Should also have said, I was tucked away with the other misfits in Brunai House at the back of Glen Eyre, it was a fab green site and a pleasant walk to uni if you avoided the Flower Estate!

Ising my DD has two friends who have been at Southampton, one was actually in the same student house a lot of us passed through in Handel Road, still with the same slug slime trails through the kitchen and the same milk crate for empty wine bottles outside the door. He enjoyed living there as much as we did and doesn't sound as if it was the bottom of the market either.

Providing a property is dry and not a health hazard then I think it is not our job as parents to be concerned about how salubrious their student accommodation is. That is their decision, according to what they can afford.

I am though currently supporting my DD and her flatmates in a battle with mice. This years modern flat has a lovely kitchen with all the mod cons but with a presumably perfect environment for rodents in the plasterboard walls.

Overdell wasn't slum accommodation either, it was built as luxury flats but occupied by the students union who then bought it in a compromise to avoid being imprisoned. One flat at least still has the same kitchen www.homesinhants.co.uk/property-details.asp?ID=19699&IDbed=2&IDtype=1&move=25&LA=0&Bed=0&Type=0&Tenure=0&Scheme=16&Dev=0 The trouble was that at 9 stories the wind blew the ice straight off the Solent and none of us could afford to heat it. Great view of Southampton games though and renting out space on the balcony paid the rent

I think a lot of us were there at the same time (1989-1992 anyone? ).

The short answer, OP, is that Glenn was, and probably still is, a nicer location, but there is nothing wrong with Wessex Lane.

This might help:

I was in Glen Eyre many years ago. It is by far the nicest-situated hall - leafy and near to campus. After a disastrous house sharing experience (pursued by knife-wielding cocaine-addicted housemate...) I managed to get in there for part of the second year as well and had a really nice room in one of the old blocks. The room was huge with a wooden floor and big sash windows. The Glen discos were the best too (ahem, that would be the 80s).

Dh was in Monte. He enjoyed it but boy, was it a crappy heap of concrete.

Southampton currently has one of the lowest percentages of private school students amongst all Russell Groups. I don't see how it can be true that Glen Eyre is mostly private school students these days and I know a number of state school/foreign students who are housed there.

Southampton is currently building many more halls rooms and refurbishing older halls. There is still some shortage of en suite rooms but less than there was a couple of years ago. Glen Eyre is more expensive just because it is closer and in an upmarket location.

As I said at the start whichever your DD ends up at she will think it is the best

Shootingatpigeons I completely agree - I thought my hall was the best ! She will be fine just was curious why there was a price difference !!

Well she has applied for three choices , two at Glen Eyre and one at Wessex Lane. She isn't bothered about ensuite so has applied for standard rooms with washbasin and an enhanced room - we will see where she eventually gets allocated !

snowy don't forget that she will get a bus pass included with her accommodation fees - the unilink buses are great for getting around the town. Also, as long as she is paying the full fees (ie not a nhs bursary student) she will get an Entitlement Card worth £300 which can be used in the uni book shop, gym membership etc.

A warning about Wessex Lane. At Connaught and maybe Monte this year, the single rooms had to accommodate 2 students until the uni could find rooms to move the second student into. This lasted through the exams and into February. The room was allocated to DC1, but he spent all that time on a zed-bed. There was 1 desk and 1 internet connection per room.

Thankfully, he is far more easy-going than I was at his age.

Southampton often has issues with its uni accommodation I've been told.