Bristol University Accommodation

[Doublethecuddles]

DD has accepted a place at Bristol, we are in Scotland and won’t have a chance to have a look around. Looking for recommendations for accommodation. On the website they all look good but would like some personal experiences.
I am slightly surprised how big some of the flats are.
Thank you

I'll say it again. They'll have a fantastic time whatever halls they are in. They'll make friends with lots of people who live all over the city. And next year will live in a house where they will be sharing a bathroom and doing their own cooking.
Go enjoy.

DD was in Tower on Rupert St. was vvvv expensive (she went last minute so was all we could get). Room was as stifling as vent didn’t work and windows didn’t open. Lift often smelt of vomit. Shower kept breaking.

DC has a catered place at Baddock and seems fairly happy, though wasn't first choice.

How much do you think they need to live on, after rent, if they are in catered halls? If the rent covers all bills, most food and a bus pass, I am hoping it won't be too much more. DC not really into partying, though of course that might change!

@Bristolfreshers25 , I'm not sure too but they need to pay for all lunches, evening meal on Sat and Sun and laundry as well as socialising. The gym membership seems quite reasonable.

@Bristolfreshers25 We just worked up costs from £0 based on what known expenditure is - so clothes, fares, going out, toiletries etc. Then looked at socialising costs. Many do want to go out with new friends or will feel a bit isolated. It’s a case of choosing like minded people regarding where and frequency. Look at sports costs and don’t assume no socialising with them either. Then decide on how much books might be and phone. Who is paying for expensive clothes - you or them? You can pay monthly and up it if it’s leaving them short. Most costs come at the beginning though so plan what they want to do and look at costs. Going to a party is cheaper than going out for a meal!

I see one person on the thread got Churchill and one Wills. My twin sons were in those 2 (they didn't want to be under each other's feet at the same university) so one was at Wills and the other Churchill. Both liked those places and made friends for life there. Good luck to those going there soon. My son in Chruchill was in the block nicknamed Shanty (as in Shanty Town) as it was fairly small rooms but that did not detract from the fun he had and he had a bathroom right next door to his bed room and a kitchen very close down the corridor. His twin in the old quad black at Wills and a room about 3x as big with mullioned windows and a sink which looked circa 1930s in a wardrobe type thing in the room.

True! So much anxiety associated with first year accommodation. Very often in cities with housing shortages there’s also the pressure of finding second year housemates in the first term of uni and hall flatmates seem the obvious choice.
My advice would be to look beyond your hall flatmates and consider people from your course, extra activities etc as possibilities.

@Xenia My DD had a shared room in Wills which involved another girl getting to her room through DDs. Diagonally. DD stored her shoes in the fireplace but no basin! A 1930s shared bathroom. She was perfectly happy though and I agree, most students are happy wherever they end up.

@poppybuttonsmy DD got allocated that same type of room at Churchill. She is very tall so worried about the single bed, and a bit perturbed by having to share a bathroom. (Which I find quite funny tbh, she shares a bathroom now with us and her three siblings after all). We were trying to make out how many people the bathroom is shared between but couldn’t see it anywhere? Are the rooms In Churchill in sort of flats with a pantry kitchen/bathroom shared between them or just long corridors do you know?
Either wag I’m sure she will be fine she just likes to know what to expect :)
Im so excited for her. (But also preparing to be very sad and miss her when she goes. And I’m also very envious of her getting to study in such a great place!)

Have dc never been camping or on a school residential trip with shared bathrooms? My DD boarded and the bathroom issue never arose but it’s just like a prolonged school trip. My dd had single sex shared bathroom that was as old as the hills but they work it out. The halls aren’t hotels. Why not ask the accommodations offline for bed dimensions? I guess the tall boys are ok?

@piscofrisco , if you go on TikTok and type in university of Bristol Churchill hall you can see various videos and there is a good 1 of a room.

Not offline - accommodations office.

Having your own bathroom was never something that mattered to my children (perhaps being one of 5 siblings meant they felt tgrategul to have their own bed at home - the twins shared a bed room until they left for university). I think people will be happy wherever they end up. My oldest many years before went to Wills and we thought on day 1 she might have to share but we were told usually at least 5 people don't turn up on the day, change their mind, drop out, choose a gap year or something and that was so - she got her own room in the new bit of Wills.

My own view is that if you are a happy person you are fine. Some people are miserable wherever they are and that is more an internal feeling than external.

My Churchill son asked for a very quiet Churchill corridor which he got and then completely changed how he was at university and became really out going so I am not sure the quiet corridor was the right choice but he certainly made friends on other corridors.

Good luck to everyone starting. My son at Wills had to arrive a few days early for a geography field trip which was complicated but nice of the university to get the subject group to bond before term even started. The other son was not prepared to arrive a few days early so what I did was two moves a few days apart as starting is such a big deal - took son 1 early for the trip and then a few days later son 2 on the proper start of term day.

Other than the bus is every 10 to 15 mins now until 4am it sounds similar. Indeed my friend who went in the 80s says she thinks my DS'a room hadn't been decorated since then but he loved it anyway.

This was a fun thread to read. I was at Bristol 97-2000 and was in Durdham. Slightly galling to hear it described as “old” because it was new when I moved in 😩
My flatmates and I would spend Friday nights at a different hall bar and they all had socials and we had a great time. Pulled some posh blokes in Wills!
Also, the walk up the hill to SB was good because it kept you fit and also I managed to walk back with a handsome boy from my economics class, who lived in Hiatt Baker (nicknamed Shite Bunker back then as it was the oldest!) and he asked me out and we’ve now been married 21 years….

Ahh yes, Shite Bunker 🤣 I can’t remember if I ever visited anyone there, but it wasn’t that much older than Badock was it?! I was in Unit 8 (2000-2001) in its full brutalist concrete glory!

I get Churchill and Badock mixed up in my mind now, I can remember bars but not much else!
I know Goldney used to be the fancy one as they had a really good end of year party there that we went to.
Bristol is obviously much bigger now so there are heaps of places that are new and I’ve never heard of.

My DS was in Favell House (Riverside). Was very central and convenient for uni. A bit of a shithole and shared bathroom but he wasn’t bothered. He made friends from his halls and shared house in 2 and now going in to third w the same lads. It was one of the cheapest halls - we put 10 down I think.

Does anyone know which accommodation is near the tennis centre (which I believe is off campus)? DC is quite sporty and although I know they rarely get their first choice she would be quite keen to be near the sport facilities. At this stage it's one of the factors in deciding on which University to pick

I think there are - or were - tennis courts around Badock in Stoke Bishop, but no idea about a tennis centre.

I was in Badock years ago. Still on shared pay phones, one to a floor, and 4 computers to share in a teeny room! Met my now husband, he was in Hiatt Baker (affectionately known as the Shite Bunker, although the pics seem to indicate it has improved)

astounded that the bus is now every 6 minutes, we walked 40min there and back almost daily as there was one wee hopper bus about every half an hour.

I hope they all enjoy it - my eldest had Bristol as her first choice for next year which will be a blast from the past!

Ahh, the phones! I was there 2000/2001. There was the phone at the end of the corridor, but we also had phones in our rooms. However the phone companies the university signed up to were completely shocking and you could rarely get a decent line. They could also never bill us properly! In my second year I got my first mobile (a Nokia brick hand me down from my Dad) so didn’t need to worry about non functional landlines!

The sports centre which includes tennis is based at Coombe Dingle. This is closer to the Stoke Bishop halls of residence.

Thank you. Does anyone know what the sport programme is like at Bristol e.g. is it pretty good? I assume so although it's a shame it's so far away from the University. I wonder if more of the sporty people end up at the Stoke Bishop halls.

The AU (Athletic Union) certainly always used to be very active within the SU.