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

@Fabfabfab When DD was there students did like SB as it was nearer the sports facilities. My friend’s DS chose a city centre hall as it was nearer the drinking.

My dd has gotten hillside Woodside,
does anyone know anything about the bus pass?

Buses aren't allowed on the Suspension Bridge so it is far quicker to walk the 15 mins to the campus.

@Calcite
Bristol university says 30 mins walk! I guess depends which faculty. Or 27 mins on bus. 10 mins on bike. It’s one of the well priced self catered halls and the accommodation web site actually mentions bike trails nearby. So - I’d take a bike @Maximusdecimus

DS is very excited to be going to Bristol next weekend. He got his place through clearing and then first choice accommodation in Hiatt Bdker. Or Shite Bunker as I will now think of it! 😂

Wills Hall residents were not spared hall rivalry ridicule- as the old song used to go, “The Wills on the bus go ‘rah, rah, rah’…” 😅

Next weekend though! Pretty sure in my day start of term/moving in weekend was the beginning of October!

@curliegirlie , yes they have moved to 2 semesters from 3 terms. The second semester ends on 31 May.

was it not always semesters? I mean, obviously there was always the Easter break, is that a bit shorter now then? 🤷‍♀️

@poppybuttons My dd did semesters at Bris 15 years ago. Yes, moving in was early Oct and semester 1 was around mid Oct. @curliegirlie So boring. My DDs friend from Wills had a pretty difficult and poor background. Do the ones ridiculed get to chant similar about the poor students in other halls I wonder? Or do they have better manners? Some people need to grow up.

Oh absolutely it was childish. But silly and not taken seriously. I was state school, first generation at uni etc, and never felt out of place at Bristol, had friends of all backgrounds and ended up marrying a former Habs Boy. I hope your daughter didn’t feel out of place in Wills. In a similar vein, the HB version of the bus chant was, as noted below, being called Shite Bunker and having a terrible reputation for the state of the catered food. BUT none of the hall “rivalries” were actually real, I don’t think.

None of them had great food!

Food at Badock was ok. I’m sure Hiatt Baker wasn’t as bad as its reputation and equally sure Wills wasn’t actually fine dining 😂

@curliegirlie DD said you could stand your fork upright in the casseroles!

I remember the brekkies at Hiatt Baker were pretty good!

At Badock I remember with fondness a lamb and apricot pie thing they sometimes served. And formals were always a step up. And yes, the cooked breakfast was fabulous hangover curing stuff!

Can anyone get breakfast wrong?

Yeah! Soggy hash browns, underdone sausages, runny egg, sloppy scrambled egg, cold beans, barely cooked toast - I think breakfast is one of the hardest meals to get right on a mass scale.

@Ozgirl76 I like runny eggs!

Bleugh!

DD dropped off at Wills Halls. Accommodation doesn’t seem to have been updated for at least 20 years! I am sure she will have fun and is off out for the night.

My son lived his absolute best life when at uni in Bristol @Doublethecuddles. Hope she does too.

Dropped DD off at Churchill on Saturday. She seems to be having a good time so far-out both nights, last night til 3am at the North Village welcome party. Went for a walk around campus and Clifton yesterday with some girls she met at breakfast so exploring about a bit. Her room was clean and not as small as she feared, though the bathroom situation didn’t appeal to her much :). I’m happy and relieved she seems to be settling in ok but I feel a bit bereft. Trying to resist checking life 360 every half an hour and missing tripping over all her trainers in the hallway. Weird the things that hit you the hardest.
I had Covid all last week and still feel a bit rough so I’m having an extra day off work today and will go for a walk later with the Dogs if I can manage it and try and shake myself a bit.
We lost my lovely Dad in August and his funeral was last week, been properly poorly with Covid this time, DD has gone and we are moving house in 2 weeks. It all feels a lot and I think I need a day to just sit with it a bit.

@Doublethecuddles 15 years ago, DDs room in Wills had a fireplace (used the hearth for shoe storage) and the shared bathroom looked 1930s. Initially, yes, a bit depressing but only for me apparently! This was in the old quad. In the end, who cares! Life revolves around who you meet, not your bathroom. DD was happy and made the best of her time there. Enjoyed the dining and not shopping for food and cooking. You e gif the rest of your life for that.

This thread has been a lovely nostalgic read for me (Clifton Hill House, late 80s). One phone on the landing, bathroom shared between 12 (and constant thick dark hair in the plugholes 🤮🤮🤮), terrible vegetarian options so I lived on pizza and green burgers from Eddie's Burger Bar in the SU. Would I go back? In a heartbeat. I wish all your Bristol-bound dc the very best, there is a lot to love once you settle in 🙂.