Please help- bristol accommodation options!

[questioner123]

Hi everyone,

Me again, I'm after some advice regarding Bristol accommodation choices.

DD finally decide after my last post to go with self-catered accommodation. She is both an introvert and extrovert- likes to be social, spend time with friends but isn't massively outgoing, loud, confident etc., doesn't do drugs and isn't a massive drinker, so she is a bit worried about choosing a hall say Hiatt Baker in Stoke Bishop which has a reputation for being druggy and full of people who want to party and get drunk.

Having said this, she does like to make friends, go out maybe once or twice a week, and do nice things- she prefers company rather than being on her own! This is all coming from her by the way, she wanted to see whether any of you have any experience with Bristol.

En-suite has always been a top priority, but she really likes the look of Goldney Hall, but has very few en-suites... so not sure what to do.

Can any of you help with some advice regarding city centre halls/Goldney hall/Stoke bishop halls please??

Many thanks :)

[MarchingFrogs]

In fact if everyone in the UK gave up breakfast we would all be a lot healthier - with an intermittent fast from dinner to lunch next day! Cheap too.

Well, we should shut down all school breakfast clubs immediately, then. Teachers aren't usually backward in coming forward about children's ability to concentrate being simply down to bad parenting, so it seems a little odd that schools should have pretended to believe that not getting enough to eat, and particularly, no breakfast, was anyrhing to do with it, but at least it would take a lot of guilt off the shoulders of the caring but skint to know that they are getting one over on those who can and do provide food at every mealtime when it comes to the health of their families.

[BubblesBuddy]

Who said no breakfast??? I suggested a cost effective alternative. I don’t think you get poor students in catered accommodation either. Buying your own breakfast one day a week is less than a coffee from Costa! Let’s put this in perspective.

A catered hall, as a number of us have said, does mean flat mates won’t party and it can be very sociable. You have to weigh this up against possibly getting your own breakfast, possibly for one day a week!

Yes, students work out snacks and microwave options if they miss the odd meal or it’s not provided. Some do when they are doing sport. It’s no big deal. That’s a perfectly ok solution and having most meals in hall does make it a relatively stress free start to university life. Picky DC might not like it but, universally, all the posters on here who have had DC in catered like it and haven’t had problems. No recent student has worried about the cost of missing the odd meal. That probably tells you something too. All the problems reported here with other students and their bad habits have been in self catered. Some are hearsay - someone else’s DC. Or someone last century.

I would agree overthinking is the enemy here. Just pick something and ask to move if it doesn’t work out. You cannot pick the other students so it type of accommodation, area and cost.

[teta]

Dd is in Goldney and very happy there.Not all her flat socialise together but she is good friends with a couple and has made other friends with course mates and their friends. I let her decide where to go and I remember she changed her mind several times. I wanted her to be responsible for her own decisions as she was, largely, during a gap year.
I think as parents you need to back off and let your nearly adults make the decision for themselves. You cannot predict who’s going to be in the halls with them. But you can encourage them to move in the first couple of weeks if things are badly wrong. Two individuals moved in and out of dds flat very early on.

[teta]

Incidentally Dd much prefers self catered as she makes her own packed lunch for uni every day. The catered have to organise food for themselves on Sundays and buy lunches. Also there are a lot of ‘pre’s’ in the shared kitchens that they all like going to.

[MariaNovella]

I think as parents you need to back off and let your nearly adults make the decision for the themselves.

There is a world of difference between letting children make their own decisions (good) and not talking through all the data and options with them ahead of taking a final decision.

[MariaNovella]

universally, all the posters on here who have had DC in catered like it and haven’t had problems. No recent student has worried about the cost of missing the odd meal

Bullshit, total bullshit. I know more students than I could possibly count who found catered hall impossible - disgusting food at inconvenient times that meant they spent a fortune eating out.

[teta]

Yes MariaNovella I’m not disputing that. I listened to my Dd going through the different options many times. But I left it up to her to make the final decision. Partially because she was on a gap year, working, had her own car and was pretty independent and sensible. I’m not sure I would have been quite the same a year earlier when she was still at school and in a very protected environment.
The point being if parents are getting involved to such a extent, is it the right thing to send their progeny to Uni? if they can’t be trusted to make sensible decisions st this stage?

[questioner123]

DD is very independent, has driven for way over a year with her own car, has jobs etc. I leave her to it with school work etc. She is just so confused with accommodation and so I thought I would post on here to get her some help/experiences maybe as we know no one at the uni.

DD has narrowed down her choices to Winkworth house, orchard heights and courtrooms. Anyone know much about these halls?

[UCOinanOCG]

I have never heard of those halls but I could ask my DD what they are like?

[questioner123]

UCO that would be great thank you. 😊

[questioner123]

Oh and Colston street. We are getting there- DD said this morning she wants self-catered, city centre or Clifton. And en-suite.

[questioner123]

Thank you all for your replies btw. Wasn’t expecting so many comments and advice from you all so many thanks. 😊

[Stopyourhavering64]

I understand your concerns and involvement, but is there any guarantees she'll actually get any of these halls?....I know with my 3 dcs they had to put their preferred choices but at end of day they were allocated accommodation randomly! So don't get too hung up on one particular hall as she may not even get it come results day when accommodation is allocated

[Watchingblueplanet]

Brevelino why do you suddenly find my comments offensive? Posters in this and other Bristol threads have personally insulted my DD implying that she is some sort of over pampered social misfit “who would have struggled anywhere”. Look back at this and other threads and the vitriol poured on my DD all because she wasn’t having a great experience as other DCs were. All I said was that some posters on here have DCs who are hard core party people and that’s why Bristol suits them. These party DCs do have parents and I am sure some will be on Mumsnet! However, I never said it was your DC. I think you are personalising this and choosing to take offence for no reason.

[UCOinanOCG]

Right - response from DD.

Orchard House is great. She has friends who were there and loved it. She knows nothing of the other ones you mentioned only that they aren't really in the uni area.

She said that any of the Clifton ones are great if self catering: Goldney, Clifton House and that Manor Hall is particularly nice.

Hope this helps. DD isn't a huge drinking, party animal sort and neither are her mates if that helps.

[UCOinanOCG]

Orchard Heights i meant.

[BubblesBuddy]

Which posters on here have DC who are “hard core party people” and that’s why Bristol suits them? It’s you who is offensive Watchingueplanet. I cannot see anyone who fits that description.

And as for Maria’s outburst: I clearly said people on this thread who have had DC at Bristol. Not any old random you dredge up to prove your point! No one with DC in catered halls on this thread has disliked them. However they probably don’t do packed lunches and can probably make one breakfast or two for themselves and sort out meals when the hall doesn’t provide them. Like adults. Gap year is irrelevant.

[BubblesBuddy]

Maria: how do you know the food at Bristol is disgusting? You haven’t been there. Have you ever had DC in the catered halls? I guess not. What is your advice actually worth to anyone?

[BubblesBuddy]

OP: Winkworth, Colston Street and Courtrooms are all city centre and near the bars. I think your DD doesn’t really want quiet. She want Party Central. It can get pretty lary on a Saturday night! Also two of these are first choice only. What odd choices - it’s en suite that’s driving this I guess. The university is up the hill from these locations and they are not really students. It the city centre.

[BubblesBuddy]

Really student areas.

[questioner123]

Bubbles my DD really does not want party central, these words have come out of my own DD’s mouth! It seems to me from speaking to people and from what DD has said is that Stoke Bishop is party central where drinking and drugs seem to be at their highest (of course not everyone at all, I understand that, just where it is most commonly seen). She is leaning towards Orchard Heights first choice and Winkworth house second (which is in Clifton). She wants the right balance of both social but not party central. At the end of the day you do not know who you will get in the halls- they have even removed the paragraph you used to do about yourself, so all you do now is get 4 preferences!! So all DD has to go on is people’s experiences and wait and see. 😊

[questioner123]

Thank you UCO for asking your DD and her response. If you don’t mind me asking, what halls is your DD in?

[UCOinanOCG]

Mine was in Badock. She loved it. She is about to graduate in the summer and has been in a flat in Cotham for two years which she also loved.

[questioner123]

Thanks UCO. Nice to hear a positive experience. Does your DD know much about Hiatt Baker SC flats?

[UCOinanOCG]

I have no idea about HB. I know she is out now so no point messaging her! She loved being out at SB though and never found it to be an issue.