Bristol University Accommodation

[AstroLoco]

Ds has an offer for History at Bristol university. He has been looking into accommodation options and has an idea of what he likes, although I'd love the know the reality from people who have experience from there.

Can anyone recommend accommodation and let me know any positives / negatives for each one please?

He is aware that it can be difficult to get your preferred accommodation at Bristol (or even to get accommodation at all), so any advice on this would be gratefully received.

Even those at Stoke Bishop seem to have very active nightlife clubbing etc. They have the free bus home and even an uber between 4 costs £2 each if they choose to go back that way.

As I mentioned above DS is Badock but in a house for 10 next year in Redland.

Hopefully OP's DC will get one of their 9 choices and remember a choice is a room type in a hall so indeed 4 choices could be for the same hall.

One thing DS factored in which hopefully OP won't have to is how many they would be isolating with in event of lockdown. He went for a high number to give him a better chance of liking someone!! He actually likes all his flat mates, many of his block mates and others in halls as well as sports team/society friends and course friends. I guess a larger flat may mean more chance of meeting people like them than say a flat of 4.

Public transport is good in the city but do remember it's rather hilly if they plan on cycling! I would suggest playing down the choosing aspect because it's more of a ballot

Electric scooters seem to be the transport of choice up St Michaels hill. Not down it though 🥺

DD was in a city centre Hall - Waverley. Fab location, especially if they want city centre clubs/bars, etc. She felt there was more of a mix of ex state school than Stoke Bishop.

It's been a while since I was at Bristol but I made a conscious decision NOT to go for the stoke bishop halls. I wanted the city centre experience, it was why I chose Bristol over a campus Uni. I was in Winkworth house (en suite rooms but still at the cheaper end). Stoke bishop always seemed like a slog to get to!
I guess it just depends what they are looking for in their accommodation?

I don't know it is because I commented on here but this appeared in my SM timeline

thetab.com/uk/bristol/2021/12/16/bristol-uni-students-are-paying-178-a-week-to-live-in-rat-and-silverfish-infested-accommodation-47524

@SeasonFinale 🤢 DD didn't have those. Probably too scared to go near her flat as she'd have dissected them (vet student).

SB may have a higher proportion of ex-fee paying types but it also has one of the cheapest halls - University Hall. DC is happily living there this year, spending far less ££ on rent than their neighbours in HB and Wills. It is rather cramped and in need of updating but 🤷‍♀️. They chose SB to be able to get their steps in, although the walk back uphill is not for the faint-hearted.

@SeasonFinale Badock is DDs first choice. She really wants catered and there seems to have more rooms than others so hopefully increasing the chances of getting it. It's good to hear there a couple more things than just a microwave and kettle as I don't see how they are expected to cook their other meals just with them.
What's the food like in catered halls? There didn't seem much cover from what I saw compared to other places, but dd has her heart set on Bristol.

[quote SeasonFinale]I don't know it is because I commented on here but this appeared in my SM timeline

thetab.com/uk/bristol/2021/12/16/bristol-uni-students-are-paying-178-a-week-to-live-in-rat-and-silverfish-infested-accommodation-47524[/quote]
They've taken to pickling one or two now, apparently, which hasn't gone down well in some quarters.

Is there a relatively modern accommodation in Bristol with (large) ensuite rooms, catered and within a short and easy walk to the uni? (even if expensive end is fine)

@OliveTreees

Is there a relatively modern accommodation in Bristol with (large) ensuite rooms, catered and within a short and easy walk to the uni? (even if expensive end is fine)

www.bristol.ac.uk/accommodation/about/residences/?filterUndergraduate=Yes&filterEnsuiteRooms=Yes&filterCatered=Yes&filterVillage=West+Residential+Village

You can play around with the filters for type and location, but the short answer would appear to be No.

There do seem to be some catered en suite in the North Village, aka Stoke Bishop, buy both very expensive and walking distance depends on your personal definition / tolerance (there is a bus, though).

There may be private halls with a choice of room size, as these seem to pop up in most university cities, but highly unlikely to be catered.

Stoke Bishop is too far out from
Both uni and town.

@knowinglesseveryday

Stoke Bishop is too far out from Both uni and town.

Personally, I wouldn't particularly fancy SB - and none of our DC wanted catered accommodation anywhere they looked, especially not of the set meal times, school dinners variety - but hundreds of first years do live there and there is a regular bus service. It's only a couple of miles and they could end up living further away in second year, given rents in Clifton and Redland? DS1 did a masters degree at Bristol 2020 / 21 and he and his friend got a very nice 2 bedroom flat to themselves in Stapleton for the same rent as a couple of rooms in a shared house in Redland (though granted, neither of them was going to need to be on campus every day that academic year).

DS chose SB , he's happy to walk in, get the bus back (it's up a steep hill).

Mine did really like the Stoke Bishop catered halls. My vegan son at Wills Hall had a lovely member of the catering staff who always made sure he had enough of what he needed and the meeting your friends for meals twice a day thing is quite a good way of getting to know people but it certainly good Bristol has a wide choice of different options for people.

In my view year 1 is all about making friends and years 2 and 3 they tend to have left the halls and rent closer to the university when work gets more serious as the degree is more imminent so that structure of Stoke Bishop first and then moving in a bit further to a private rented house was a good plan.

However everyone differs and as long as they make informed choices that is good. Also it may depend on your subject - for my twins one did a BSc with even an away field trip just as freshers arrived (so he arrived a day early in Bristol) and quite a lot of lectures. His twin with a BA had much less. Either way they both had no problem getting from Stoke Bishop into in person lectures (all of which are recorded anyway so if you have not got up on time you can watch them later in any event). The BSc one had course friends and hall friends. The BA one had mostly hall friends although some of those were on his course too.

@Xenia that's really reassuring.

@FleeceNavidadfromtheSheep

DS chose SB , he's happy to walk in, get the bus back (it's up a steep hill).

Everywhere is up a hill in Bristol, though, even if not quite of Exeter standards. The driver of the shuttle bus DD and I were on from Temple Meads when we we for an open day gave every impression of being unable to find a gear low enough at one point and I was quite convinced that we were about be asked to get out and push...

@NCTDN
The food wasn’t as good as DDs school dinners. Same catering supplier but the outcome at school was better!

Lots of ex boarders in Wills old quad and Churchill. Wills is pretty old fashioned and you have to want to be there. DD liked having meals in first year. Some meals are not provided but everyone copes. I don’t know about Badock although DDs school friend was there.

The transport issue is greatly over blown and some DC clearly want to fall out of bed into lectures. Halls like Wills are more of a social community. Students don’t have their own coming stuff and tend to mix pretty quickly.

They absolutely do go out. It’s no hardship to get the bus or an Uber. It’s only 1 year and there are plenty of rentals very near the university for subsequent years. No hills when you live on top of the hill! Undergrads tend to go for bigger flats and houses. DD didn’t know anyone outside about a 15 minute walk from uni or even each other.

A real treat in Bristol is the Lido! Try if out.

Oh that lido looks lovely!
DD isn't bothered about the distance and happy to use the buses. It appears like a mini campus up there anyway with lots of green space around.
The rooms do look v basic though...

@NCTDN, you do have to fend for yourself, but the self catered 'new' (c.2014 build, I think) flats in Hiatt Baker are very swish - at least, they still were when we looked in 2018.

Well DD had a very basic room in Wills with a fireplace but she didn’t mind. The girls sorted themselves out and managed without en suite bathrooms. It was more about friendships and they had a good social life in hall as well as in the city. DD did see it as a green retreat after a busy (ish) day.

I think Badock is less basic than old quad Wills. As DD didn’t have en suite at school she was used to sharing.

They'll have a good social life and make friends in any hall. So wherever they end up they'll be fine. Most kids don't have and en-suite at school (or at home) and have to share 😊.
It's a beautiful day in Bristol. I've driven down to surprise my DD and we are sitting on the river sharing some tapas.

My son had an absolutely massive room in the old quad at wills hall with sink in his bed room in a cupboard ( a huge sink which looked like it had been installed in 1930) and bathrooms on each floor- his top floor had a bath but the floor below had a shower and his floors were all boys and they were very happy with all that. His room had massive window sills and was very beautiful although it looked like it had not been altered for 50 years.

His sister over 10 years before had been in Wills Hall but in the modern bit which was more up to date.

His twin was in Churchill Hall in a room which was really tiny but loved it in a block called "Shanty" as a joke as it was like a Shanty Town in terms of being tiny rooms etc but he had the time of his life and although sharing a shower room in a very new block with a few others only he and one boy ever used that shower so it was all fine.

Wills were putting two beds into some of the big rooms this year, due to the pressure on accommodation at the start of term. Fortunately DC's friend got their own rooms elsewhere after a couple of weeks.