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University of the West of England, Bristol

Bristol

where to live for uwe bower ashton?

I'm moving from Belfast to Bristol in September to study Fine Art at UWE. I don't know anyone who has ever studied in Bristol from home (part of the appeal) and have no idea which accommodation to choose, anyone have any advice? If it helps i'm very arty and very outgoing and love going out, im not one for the quiet life.

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Reply 1

Cypriots

I am going to UWE in september. There is a uwe forum on this website: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=292
I am going to stay in the student village (frenchay campus) for the first year.

University of the West of England, Bristol

Bristol

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Reply 2

QueenAli

Original post by mrdeeds

If you are studying at Bower Ashton, then do not live on Frenchay Campus, as it will feel a whole world away from Bower Ashton (especially during rush hour!).

There are two options for you really, you could live in the City Centre and rely on U1 (university bus) to get you Bower Ashton, or cycle. OR you could live closer to the campus in Bedminster or Hotwells. The accomodation in the City Centre is hit and miss, Unite run several Halls. I wouldn't touch Waverley or Favell with a barge pole as they are so grimey. Marketgate has ensuites and is better. If you are looking for a studio style apartment, then iQ over the bus station offers really nice rooms.

It depends on your budget. Living in a shared house in Bedminster/Hotwells you would most definitely be living with arty students who are studying at Bower, and it would be cheaper than the Centre. In the City Centre you would live with a whole mix of students from all Campuses. I think that the accomodation in the Centre is over-priced and not really worth it.

People pay to live in the Centre because of its proximity to bars and clubs on the plus side, but on the negative side, it makes the accomodation noisy and full of drunks, and you may regret it if you want a quiet night in.

Reply 3

natalietc

im in the same position, i'll be at bower ashton this sept and ive booked viewings of the unite accommodations and mansionstudent (hotwells and fitzwhatever its called) for tomorrow, i'll post some thorough descriptions after seeing them firsthand if you want!!

Reply 4

hicharley

im starting photography this september, and ive applied for marketgate purely because its close to city centre and theres a bus pass to bower ashton in the price, and the size of the place is pretty good too :smile:

Reply 5

beckyrw

Yeah I'm having the same problem. I saw Marketgate on the open day and it's really nice there, having my own bathroom would definitely be a plus, but it's pretty expensive. So I was looking at Favell and Waverley but there's nothing about them in the UWE accommodation video and very few photos of the inside of them. I know there's all the other Unite places, but seeing as they're not listed on the UWE accommodation website I wouldn't know how to go about applying for them...

Reply 6

natalietc

Original post by beckyrw

http://www.unite-students.com/student-accommodation-bristol?

http://www.mansionstudent.co.uk/locations/bristol/

book online, post or phonee.........

Reply 7

mrdeeds

yeh ive been looking at nelson and drake house? they seem alright like, plus wayyyy cheaper than marketgate! thanks for the mansion student link ive never even heard of that but it looks amazing!

Reply 8

Bananasocks

Original post by natalietc

Hi!
I'm also starting at Bower Ashton this September and would love to hear what you thought of the mansion student houses and how they compare to the unite accommodations.

Thanks!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 9

natalietc

Original post by Bananasocks

Hi!
I'm also starting at Bower Ashton this September and would love to hear what you thought of the mansion student houses and how they compare to the unite accommodations.

Thanks!

hi! welll mansion student properties have waaaayyyyy better furnishings than the unite accommodation, the unite ones i saw were tv-less which distressed me abit. hotwells house was generally better decorated i thought and more like a flat than student halls, black leather sofas n the kitchens were really nice.
culver house that unite offer....awful. looked old and damp, everything peeling etc was just baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!

transom house has been refurbished and the bedrooms are really big, bigger than the hotwells house ones. a standard £110 room is around 13msquared, and the £112 bedrooms (which they have two left) are absolutely massive, 18msquared and 21.6mquared. the 21.6 is the biggest bedroom in the building and was still available last week. they had loads of storage in the bedrooms, and its 3 or 4 to a bathroom. even though its been refurbished, i notcied the show bathroom still had some funny colours in which put me off tho (and no tv :frown:

). the ulink bus stop is 10 seconds outside as well.

cherry court is a bit nicer but horrendo on the purse, about £130 p/week

i did notice on a more personal note the students that were walking around the unite buildings got ignored by the unite staff...but at hotwells the mansion student staff that showed me round knew some of them by name and were friendly and chatty to the students living there - something to think about in case of maintenance problems or other issues i thought! m student also referred to me by name all day but unite staff kept calling me "the customer" to colleagues/on phone, pfft rude.

overall i thought that most unite accom offered more space, but the mansion student one inside just looked so much more appealing. unite is a 43week tenancy and mansion student is 48weeks sept-aug, so the cheapest unite ones, even though they are more £ per week than mansion. end up around the same price because they have a shorter let. she also said they have quite a few bower ashton students living there because its the closest, and its going to be the bower ashton recommonded accommodation next year. some students re-booking to stay there another year too so must be doing something right!

so depends what youre looking for, if a huge bedroom and more bathroom time (3 or 4 to bathroom, whereas hotwells only has 5 bedroom sharing flats left) is what u prioritise though id go for transom house and ASK for the 21.6msq bedroom!

this is the most ridiculously long post ever i apologise.

Reply 10

Bananasocks

Hey!
Thanks a lot, that was really helpful!

Ill definitely go check out the mansions student houses, they seem really nice.

Reply 11

Gob Bluth

Original post by mrdeeds

yeh ive been looking at nelson and drake house? they seem alright like, plus wayyyy cheaper than marketgate! thanks for the mansion student link ive never even heard of that but it looks amazing!

nelson is great and cheap. they are changing management for next year though, which means the type of people here will change a lot, as it is majority bower ashton students (80% at least), and the crowd generally are really cool and nice people, so i imagine the crowd will be more varied next year. I would say Marketgate if you can afford it, and if you like a good social life. If Nelson stayed the same i would have highly recommended it too.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 12

ellenwilson

I am also going to bower ashton next year and can't decide wear to live. I have a look but all the city sentre ones apear quite quiet, as i am a first year i want something livley with freshers so i could make friends. Is there any other options and is Frencay really far away from bower ashton.

thanks, Ellen.

Reply 13

Gob Bluth

Original post by ellenwilson

City Centre is not quiet by any means... Marketgate is seen as the party halls of the whole uni, and all the halls are pretty mental. Frenchay is crappy, and it takes about an hour on the bus to get to bower, plus you will be with zero art students so would be highly dumb to go there!!!

Reply 14

catrin87

Nelson and Drake are both in a really good location, right in the middle of the city, and they are not quiet by any means! (I'm just coming to the end of my year in Drake, so I have first hand experience!)

However, if any of you are looking to go into private accommodation rather than halls, I will be renting out my room in a house near Bower Ashton campus as I have decided to leave Uni for personal reasons. I have posted a thread about the room on this forum, should be somewhere near the top of the page as I only recently posted it. Please contact me if interested or for further info, thanks!

Reply 15

TomCollier

Hi. Natalietc. You seem to know what your talking about. I applied for waverley and faverley house having no idea you could apply for different student accommodation. Ive been up their yesterday and i have to say they look dire.

I still have time to apply somewhere else. But my question is im going to be studying a media practice course at bower ashton. Im looking for somewhere value for money, convenient and with the option to have a party atmosphere or to be quite depending on my mood.
What im asking is, is their how many people generally go to hotwell house and if so from your experience do they enjoy having a laugh, fun but also respectful if your feeling a bit less so?

Ive been on the unite site too. And i feel like going for Drake, Nelson or Blenheim court. Do you know anything about these places

Many thanks. Tom

Reply 16

aday1

considering that drake and nelson house are changing this year and are not the recommended accomodation for uwe anymore are people still appling to go there?