The Student Room Group
University of Manchester
University of Manchester
Manchester

Open House 27th March - Your opinions on accommodation!!

Since not everyone will be able to attend the open house this sunday i figured peeps can post their views on some of the accommodation they seen.

Size? Social? Convinience? Maybe even a little review

Any think that will help others make their choice any easier

:biggrin: :biggrin:

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
I only went to see 3 in all but I'll say a little about them anyway!

*Whitworth Park: It was great! Had everything you'd need, and it's really close to the uni, which is good with me being with arthritis and don't want to walk far! The only downside was that the rooms were tiny, and the kitchen was also very small and didn't have a table in, but I'm sure i could live with that!

*Hulme Hall (&Burkhardst) Really really nice! Looked traditional and a close community! Good choice of food for the catered option, and I also liked the fact that I could be self catered (doing music I'll be in concerts and stuff at night) but if I don't fancy cooking I could use the Hulme facilities. Nice sized bedrooms, although a little old fashioned, but was nice :smile:

*Dalton Ellis (&Pankhurst) Arrived there, and they started talking about how well known it was for being academic. We went to the bar and they said that it was only open 2 nights a week (Hulme said people from Dalton went to theirs, as the one in Dalton isn't very good). The girl touring us was a little snobby and said "well, it's shared bathrooms, but sometimes you've got to do what you've got to do" in a posh voice. Didn't seem very social there (I don't drink, but yet I do like a bit of life and not just working) and we weren't very impressed so me and my friend left before seeing the rooms and facilities!

What did everyone else think?
University of Manchester
University of Manchester
Manchester
Reply 2
I looked round quite a few today. A few of my thoughts:

Allen Hall
Central building was quite well equipped. The upstairs bar looked good, but the accomodation that we were shown didn't look brilliant. Bathrooms were well kept and all, but the whole building just felt a bit cramped and dark. A couple of the students showing people round said that it wasn't their first choice for accomodation, but they thought that it was good, all the same.

Ashburne Hall
Where to start. It felt just like an Oxbridge college from the moment I saw it. Really nice looking building, inside and out. Dining Hall was nice (good piano), and there were apparently lots of rooms for music practice. Library looked like a nice area to work in, and the bedroom that we saw was enormous for the price paid for it, as it had a bay window which made the room so much bigger. One of my three choices.

Sheavyn House
Corridors were a bit narrow, and the bedrooms felt a bit claustrophobic. Kitchen was a good size, but it felt a bit stuffy, even though it was out of the sunlight.

Oak House
I was rather disappointed with Oak House, to be honest. After the amount of praise it had on here for its atmosphere, I really didn't like it. The flat that we were shown round was very tight in terms of corridor space, how anyone with a bulky suitcase will be able to manoeuver it around there I don't know. The walls were literally breeze blocks covered with a coat of green paint. The "music room" advertised on the hall's page was literally two pianos missing half of their keys, bits of the mechanisms exposed to the elements through lack of certain panels. Disappointed me enormously, as I quite liked the idea of it from the website. Shows you the value of looking round places first. I was originally going to apply for there, but I definitely won't now.

Woolton Hall
I wasn't originally intending to look round this one, but after the shock of Oak House, I was thinking that anything would be nicer. This was. As soon as I entered the main entrance, it was a nice, welcoming place to be. Nice carpets, walls not just covered with one coat of paint etc. Nice little park area in between the different buildings. The rooms were probably the biggest that I saw on the day, and the bathrooms were nice as well. The bar was well equipped, and apparently they've been having a lot of open-mic nights for music recently, which is good for me (in case you hadn't guessed, I'm going to do Music in September). The surprise package of the day, Woolton Hall will be my first choice for accomodation for me.

Grosvenor Buildings and Bowden Court:
I'll condense these down into one, as they're all next door to each other and share a bar. Grosv Place had decent sized rooms, and the kitchen, to be frank, was enormous. Looked quite nice. Grosv St. Build was quite stuffy, and has the different layout of flats to the normal corridor method, in these there was one front door, and then the bedrooms and kitchen and bathroom in one self-contained area (just like Oak House, but I forgot to mention it then). Bedrooms were biggest here out of the three in this area. Bowden Court was very similar to Grosv St Build, with having the same layout of the flats, but the position of it meant that there was so much more light coming into the rooms. Bedrooms weren't especially big, about the same size as Grosv Place.
I'm not sure about which I'm going to apply for out of these three, but it'll be between Bowden Court and Grosv Place.

My biggest piece of advice would be to have a vague idea of which ones you'd like to go to, and then check them out for yourself! That way, you can get a feel for which one is right for you and you can see how accurate the website is on the information given. I'm so glad that I didn't end up applying for Oak House in the end.
I liked Oak House, yes it is a bit of a hole. But having said that, you get what you pay for - it's cheap and cheerful and I think you'll get a lot of down to earth people in it. It's known for having a good social life, not for being the lap of luxury. I'm putting it first, purely for the social element, that it'll be easier to meet people and it's cheap.
Richmond Park was nice if you want to spend a bit more, by having an en-suite etc. I've heard it can be a bit dull/cliquey due to the layout and stuff but I'll put it third because it was nice.
Sheavyn house, a bit oldy, boring, dull. I don't know I just didn't get a homely vibe from it so I won't be putting that down.
All in all the day helped me decide that my choices are 1. Oak House with sink 2. Oak House without sink 3. Richmond Park.
:biggrin:
Reply 4
For anyone looking into city center accomodation, i highly reccomend whitworth or grosvenor place

both are lovely places to be and you'll meet wonderful people for sure!
Original post by Noodlepants
I liked Oak House, yes it is a bit of a hole. But having said that, you get what you pay for - it's cheap and cheerful and I think you'll get a lot of down to earth people in it. It's known for having a good social life, not for being the lap of luxury. I'm putting it first, purely for the social element, that it'll be easier to meet people and it's cheap.
Richmond Park was nice if you want to spend a bit more, by having an en-suite etc. I've heard it can be a bit dull/cliquey due to the layout and stuff but I'll put it third because it was nice.
Sheavyn house, a bit oldy, boring, dull. I don't know I just didn't get a homely vibe from it so I won't be putting that down.
All in all the day helped me decide that my choices are 1. Oak House with sink 2. Oak House without sink 3. Richmond Park.
:biggrin:


Haha exactly the same choices as me :smile:
Did anyone take any pictures? :smile:
Reply 7
I was going to, but didn't in the end.
Original post by theultimateplu
Haha exactly the same choices as me :smile:


Still deciding between King's and Manchester but if I do pick Manchester, perhaps one day you'll be my flat mate? Aha! :smile:
Reply 9
my brother lives in oak house, and dont get me wrong when I first saw it I was sooo shocked (the prison numbers on the doors, green breeze blocks, cramped corridors) but after spending many nights there, knowing people in loads of other uni accomodation across the city, going on unofficial tours, i would not even think about applying for anywhere else. Richmond Park definately looks nicer, but whenever ive been there its been so dull, it felt likepeople barely left their rooms and although obviously everyones nice, even the guy i knew living there said that it want uncommon for people to be unfriendly there. My friends boyfriend lives in wright robinson in the city right by the station, and apparently its got quite a lot of international students who keep themselved to themselves a bit more, and I know everyone locks up there own food in their cupboards and the kitchens are gross. Oak House has the best vibe by far, the big kitchens are perfect communal areas, everyone seems so chilled and friendly there and ofcourse it's the cheapest. The rooms are definately a lot smaller than others, but they have the biggest kitchens, and noone seems to spend any time in their rooms anyway. The only other place I would consider applying would be Woolten (but I don't want catered), the rooms are big, everyone seems nice, and it is a stunning building surrounded by grass. Obviously everyone has their own opinions though, that is just my experience :smile: I definately wouldnt apply anywhere thats not fallowfield campus, Owens Park or Woolten Hall if you want catered, but it's got to be Oak House all the way for me :smile:
Original post by katiemo
my brother lives in oak house, and dont get me wrong when I first saw it I was sooo shocked (the prison numbers on the doors, green breeze blocks, cramped corridors) but after spending many nights there, knowing people in loads of other uni accomodation across the city, going on unofficial tours, i would not even think about applying for anywhere else. Richmond Park definately looks nicer, but whenever ive been there its been so dull, it felt likepeople barely left their rooms and although obviously everyones nice, even the guy i knew living there said that it want uncommon for people to be unfriendly there. My friends boyfriend lives in wright robinson in the city right by the station, and apparently its got quite a lot of international students who keep themselved to themselves a bit more, and I know everyone locks up there own food in their cupboards and the kitchens are gross. Oak House has the best vibe by far, the big kitchens are perfect communal areas, everyone seems so chilled and friendly there and ofcourse it's the cheapest. The rooms are definately a lot smaller than others, but they have the biggest kitchens, and noone seems to spend any time in their rooms anyway. The only other place I would consider applying would be Woolten (but I don't want catered), the rooms are big, everyone seems nice, and it is a stunning building surrounded by grass. Obviously everyone has their own opinions though, that is just my experience :smile: I definately wouldnt apply anywhere thats not fallowfield campus, Owens Park or Woolten Hall if you want catered, but it's got to be Oak House all the way for me :smile:


It's useful have an outsider's opinion, thank you!

What are the bathrooms like in Oak House? The bathrooms are the only feature that I can't seem to find pictures or comments about!
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 11
there's two, one for the four girls who are usually on the top floor, and one for the four boys on the lower floor. The boys one has a shower with lock, toilet with lock, two sinks and a big mirror. The girls is the same but with a bath and shower. It really depends how fussy you are, they're not by any means posh or "hotel standard", but they keep theirs very clean, so i guess that would be depend on who you lived with, but surely noone wants a dirty bathroom?sounds silly but they all just leave shower gel etc in there and you can help yourself to whatever which is nice and homely. The ones at woolten are shared between 15 on a corridor (or it might be ten) and they are quite different, almost more like showers/toilets at a camp site or sports changing rooms because theres about 5 toilets all ith looks and five showers all with looks and quite a few sinks, all in the same room, they are probably more modern though(i think this is similar to the city ones but im not completelyy sure) Richmond Park is ensuite and the bathrooms from what i remember had a toilet and shower and where more like travel lodge kinda standard. So it just depends on what suits you/how keen you are to have your own shower :smile:
Original post by katiemo
there's two, one for the four girls who are usually on the top floor, and one for the four boys on the lower floor. The boys one has a shower with lock, toilet with lock, two sinks and a big mirror. The girls is the same but with a bath and shower. It really depends how fussy you are, they're not by any means posh or "hotel standard", but they keep theirs very clean, so i guess that would be depend on who you lived with, but surely noone wants a dirty bathroom?sounds silly but they all just leave shower gel etc in there and you can help yourself to whatever which is nice and homely. The ones at woolten are shared between 15 on a corridor (or it might be ten) and they are quite different, almost more like showers/toilets at a camp site or sports changing rooms because theres about 5 toilets all ith looks and five showers all with looks and quite a few sinks, all in the same room, they are probably more modern though(i think this is similar to the city ones but im not completelyy sure) Richmond Park is ensuite and the bathrooms from what i remember had a toilet and shower and where more like travel lodge kinda standard. So it just depends on what suits you/how keen you are to have your own shower :smile:


Thanks for taking your time to write a lot, it's really appreciated!
I've applied for Oak house for my first two choices and I'm really excited. I know it's not going to be amazing but I think that's part of the fun :smile:
Original post by Noodlepants
Still deciding between King's and Manchester but if I do pick Manchester, perhaps one day you'll be my flat mate? Aha! :smile:


Still probably likely we'll be in the same hall! Roll on September :smile:
Original post by theultimateplu
Still probably likely we'll be in the same hall! Roll on September :smile:


Indeedy. I remember you helped me out on here once... I think anyway, isn't your girlfriend at Manchester or something? Did she live in halls?
Hope I've got the right person here... :tongue:
Original post by Noodlepants
Indeedy. I remember you helped me out on here once... I think anyway, isn't your girlfriend at Manchester or something? Did she live in halls?
Hope I've got the right person here... :tongue:


You are correct :P Ex-girlfriend but yes, she lives in St. Gabriels, not the greatest place :P
Original post by theultimateplu
You are correct :P Ex-girlfriend but yes, she lives in St. Gabriels, not the greatest place :P


Eeek, awkward, sorry aha! I'll avoid St. Gabriels then, OAK HOUSE, OAK HOUSE, OAK HOUSE :biggrin:
Original post by Noodlepants
Eeek, awkward, sorry aha! I'll avoid St. Gabriels then, OAK HOUSE, OAK HOUSE, OAK HOUSE :biggrin:


She's my girlfriend again now, it's all cool :P But yes, Oak House 2011 ^_^
Original post by theultimateplu
She's my girlfriend again now, it's all cool :P But yes, Oak House 2011 ^_^


Good good :tongue: Didn't realise you're doing Classical studies, I am to... if I can just decide between King's and Manchester :biggrin:
Original post by Noodlepants
Good good :tongue: Didn't realise you're doing Classical studies, I am to... if I can just decide between King's and Manchester :biggrin:


It is very important you firm Manchester, mainly because I will have a coursemate on TSR :P

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