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.

You could always rent a house if rooms and bathrooms are not good enough if money no object.

I think the O2 used to be the ice rink. And Orchard Heights is right next door (Unite house next door to that).
OH is modern, large, has great communal social and study areas. Big double bedrooms with en suites. And a v large internal courtyard for parties.
DD loves cooking and they had large dinner parties - covid allowing with other flats.
I'll say it again. Where ever they end up they'll find friends and have fun.

I must admit I don't really get the thing about all trotting off to the dining hall together means that you will automatically become chums, and in a way that sharing the kitchen back in your flat just won't do, but obviously it has worked well for some people's DC. It's just that if you are the kind of person who couldn't make friends over negotiating / sharing cooking space, I can't really see why you would want to get together with the same bunch of people to go down for meals and eat together in a different setting? Unless the availability of food is so time-constrained that you really don't have a lot of choice? Some of the places we looked at with DS1 started service in the evening while he was likely still to be in a lab and would have all but finished by the time he could have got there. Admittedly not Bristol, which he didn't look at for undergrad and several years ago, so things may have changed.

And people change. Previously hermit-like DS2 is at a university with no catered accommodation, in a flat of 10. I had visions of him scuttling out of his room to cook for himself at the weirdest times, but within a few days, he had discovered that whereas he was quite good at cooking, but hopeless at remembering to go shopping, one flatmate had 'got' the food shopping bit, but was hopeless at cooking. So they teamed up and soon he was producing meals for most of the flat to eat together. He is also known as the most sociable one (and I've met some of the others, who are not at all the 'unable to meet a stranger's eye' type).

@MarchingFrogs
i think that’s your DS’s experience but all eating together means lots of DC sit down together. They chat. They laugh. They get to know a broader range of students. Its what she did at school so the transition to university was similar. She found it easy and enjoyable. Food wasn’t great apparently! In some flats, students hardly come out of their rooms. DD met loads of friends via the meals. I can’t say I ever wanted DD to be a flat chef. There were three more years for cooking! First year: not on her agenda. However some do find their cooking skills. I doubt DD will ever be a great cook but she has other skills.

I think it's safe to say they'll find their friends whatever hall they get given. Stick a load of young people together and they'll find others like them. Even in a pandemic.
Probably background does come into it - if you have boarded and are used to communal eating then it's probably normal for you. Was v weird for my eldest and she hated having to get dressed to eat in the mornings - tea and toast taken back to bed was her normal.
But no one type is 'better' than the other. They're just somewhere to live until you get the house in Redlands.

For my 3 in Bristol they found year 1 in Stoke Bishop in catered halls (Wills/Churchill in their case) helped them make friends and they had not been to boarding school. They just liked the routine of meal times, the structure even if they did not get to every meal although they tried - late breakfast on Sunday followed by lunch that day (as I think one day they had lunch not a dinner) was quite a joke thing - getting your two meals after your lie in and before breakfast and lunch closed was fun on Sundays.

My kids have had friends at Wills, Churchill, Goldey, Riverside, Courtrooms and Hyatt Baker - and been to parties at all of them. They've all had a great time, made friends and mixed with other students.
The hall does not really matter socially.

The advantage of catered is that if a student actually doesn't get on with flatmates they are more likely to find other friends in a setting where they sit, eat and chat (at least initially) than a lecture hall where they frequently, sit, listen to a lecture and run on elsewhere .

Had to laugh at @Bobnotpop comment of Nice But Dim. None of those private school kids you want to label are there on a contextual offer ......

This is exactly the kind of reverse snobbery that should be avoided.

Sitting outside the Fry building now with Dd after her offer holder seminar.

it’s been a lovely visit - there was glorious weather yesterday and we visited the 3 main areas.

Dd really favours Clifton area and can see herself there so hopefully she’ll get one of her choices but she knows that it’s just for 1 year even if she doesn’t and that she’ll make friends wherever.

I can be of some help as my DD is first year at Bristol. I remember she found it hard to get proper info but she got her first choice accommodation which was Hiatt Baker self catered with no en suite (makes the room too small apparently), she's in a flat of 24 (!) with a huge shared kitchen and I think 6 bathrooms between them. It has recently been refurbished (unlike the self catered which is pretty grotty looking but I believe being rebuilt soon) and is really fantastic, I couldn't believe it when we walked in and saw how nice it was! She and her flat mates feel they really lucked out as the size of the flat means that there were plenty of people to form friendships with. They have split into 4 groups of 6 for the second year but are all great friends. They all, without exception, put this accommodation first.

The other advantage they have is that the U1 bus stops right outside (included in cost of the accommodation) and it runs all night pretty much. If you are in some of the other SB halls it's quite a walk to the bus I believe. It's very sociable as the flats all hold parties as they have the large kitchens, so you get invited to all the other flats too. They cook and eat together a lot in groups so that's very sociable too.

Her top tip is if you want SB only apply for that, if you want HB SC put all permutations of that first, there are also some townhouses with I think 8 bedrooms but the kitchens are much smaller. I think from memory she applied to all the various permutations of Hiatt Baker self catered and then University as a back up as it's apparently very friendly and down to earth. Out of the 24 in her flat only two were privately educated, which was another reason she wanted self catered (she is one of them but wanted to meet different sorts of people!)

Pics attached, the bedrooms are spacious too and very well kitted out with basins and plenty of storage, also they have 3/4 size beds.

HTH, and good luck to your dd, I hope she has as good a time as mine has had in the first year!

Sorry I should add each big flat has a post grad student living in too (I think they get it free for agreeing to put up with the freshers lol) so there is someone there keeping an eye, albeit in a very low key way. I don't think the one in dd's flat ever had to do anything much, but they are there in case of any dispute or incident that the students need help with.

I wonder if that's the same for all SB accommodation with the post grad student?
Good information thanks. DD has put in all the SB catered options on her form.

@CountessDracula - thanks for that. Can I check, do you mean that the HB ‘catered’ are grotty rather than the self catered?

Dd submitted her application at the weekend but knows she can tweak.

That HB room looks very nice!

Yes, sorry, the catered at Hiatt Baker is pretty grotty in comparison (but fine I'm sure!)

I believe it's only the larger flats that have the postgrads, I will ask dd when I speak to her later and let you know.

If anyone has any other qs they want asked please let me know!

DD was in Wills and the bus stop was handy enough. A short walk. I really don’t think students mind somewhere not being top drawer as long as it’s serviceable and clean. Plus not overpriced if it’s old. SB was Shite Baker back in the day so any improvement is good.,

@CountessDracula that looks really nice. My dd is in Clifton Hill House (her first choice) which could probably do with a refurb. Her room is nice enough but a bit tired looking. But that said, they are students! University accommodation is not the height of luxury as long as they are clean, safe and comfortable.

Wills is DDs first choice

I’m a bit late to this discussion, but I wouldn’t discount University Hall if you’re looking for somewhere right in the center of Stoke Bishop, next to the handy bus stop, friendly down to earth people and considerably cheaper than most other options. My daughter moved in this year to a basic room , which form the majority of the rooms at University Hall. They are 5 bedroom mixed flats, shared shower and toilet, no sink in the room but sharing with 4 others means you’re never far from the bathroom. It was her 9th choice ( she seriously wanted an en suite) but is adapting quickly. The flats are cost and quite homely. A bit ugly from the outside, but like everywhere in Stoke Bishop surrounded by lovely greenery. Yes, the kitchens are small so no big parties, but they have had a basic refurb fairly recently and are fine for the flat to have a meal together.
They are not as swanky as some of the other accommodation but the rooms are a decent size and perfectly fine. As I see it the main downside is that the small size of the flatshare means you are more dependent on the luck of the draw in getting like minded flat mates. You can of course meet other flats but I don’t think the bar has opened again post covid which is a real shame, and the current JCR seem non existent. Outside of your flat the corridors are outdoor stairwells so not somewhere you’d hang out so it takes time to meet other flats. My own daughter has 3 boys and 1 other girl in her flat- the other girl made it clear from day one that she’s not interested in communal living and is rarely seen, so it’s essentially it’s my daughter plus the 3 boys, but luckily they are getting on well, and she’s starting to meet the other flats but it can take longer than with the catered flats.
Overall university hall is great value for what you get compared with the other Stoke Bishop Halls, and a good option if you want something a bit more down to earth, if you’re relatively independent and don’t need lots of organized events or an instant big party flat.

@WhyAreAllTheGoodUserNamesUsedUp
I think all
the halls are ok. You don’t need swanky. Will old quad is anything but! My DD also had a flatmate that didn’t join in anything. In fact she was up all night but was on the Vet course! DD thought she was in contact with home as she was an international student. She just linked up with others from her country. Other than her, the rest of them were girls but the flats alternated, boy block, girl block. Stoke Bishop is a home from
home. More relaxing. Wills has a decent garden for example.

Mine's a Vet and is very often up all night. In a variety of clubs and bars 😂. Hope everyone has settled into their accommodation wherever it may be.

And if anyone has lost a very nice coat it is not at my house! My son was in Bristol. I saw this coat / jacket the other day - looks about £100 or £200 worth. The kind owner I suspect when everyone was quite drunk gave it to my son's friend who was cold who let my son borrow it but no one knows the originally very kind young man (probably a fresher) to whom it belongs. I went through the pockets again last night but there is nothing in there. It looks almost new.

I am not comfortable having someone else's coat which is not our property in the house. Some poor mother of a new student in Bristol is probably cursing her son for letting go of his new coat when out late and drunk to help shield a girl from the cold without getting her name or details.

@Xenia could your son put a photo of it on the group for his course/sport etc ? Someone might know whose it is.

Not easily because he left in 2020 and he and his friend just went back for 3 nights recently to see old friends there. If the person who gave him the coat had more details of the boy who handed it to her that might be the best way to get it back to its rightful owner. It has a lovely white wooly lining (much nicer than any of the other coats in our coat cupboard downstairs). It is awful to think some fresher boy has no coat now. I will keep on top of this as I want it sent back to the right boy even if I have to post it.

@Xenia 😂😂😂 apologies. Forgot they'd all left.