Renting or GradPad or Goodenough College? (overseas postgraduate)

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I live at Goodenough and I completely disagree. Its very social and I've made so many great friends. There are a few pesky PhD students and families who complain about the noise but all parties have to end at 11pm so it is very tame. I wouldn't move into student halls if you wanted 100% peace and quiet. But the college really does their best to keep everyone happy and keep a quiet study environment whilst creating a social fun atmosphere

FWIW, I moved out of Goodenough College because of the noise. I broke my contract and lost my deposit, but I was just so relieved to get out of there that it didn't matter what the cost was.

And oddly enough, the 'pesky families' were the ones who made so much of the noise.

At the weekends there were extended games of tag carried on by unsupervised kids in the corridor directly above my room. So yes, the overhead 'thudding' the other poster mentioned is very real. Children talking loudly and laughing on their way to school at 7-7.30 every morning would wake me up on their way to the lift. Parents also regularly let their children ride Razor scooters up and down the interior corridors. Like WTF? These are just a few examples, but the noise wasn't really drunken late night partying (although sometimes it was), it was more inconsiderate residents, and mainly the parents from my experience.

(And if you don't believe that last bit about the bratty scooter-riding kids, watch Goodenough's own video advert for how accommodating they are to families. It clearly shows a child leaving their flat on an effing Razor scooter and riding it into an interior corridor. This is VERY NOISY if you have to listen to it above your head. Video is on YouTube called: I am Goodenough - Meet Lucia, Will, Josie and Willie Mae.)

The fire alarms at all hours are also DEFINITELY a thing in William Goodenough House. I've no idea who is setting them off or why, but false alarms happened bi-weekly at least.

It has nothing to do with the noise, but the wifi really does suck. The wifi speed was less than 1 Mbps so I couldn't make a Skype video call, but could do voice only. There was no other option for the internet (like you couldn't pay more to get anything faster) so this was annoying.

(edited 8 years ago)

Imperial College London

London

Reply 21

jack20311

Just wondering if anyone has experience living at Gradpad Orient House?

Sure its not as nice as Woodlane and Griffon, but for me it is the closet to Imperial, Fulham looks like a nice area, it's the cheapest of the 3 Gradpads, and the sharing options mean you should have a good social aspect, and access to a full kitchen!

Anybody have any reasons why you would really not want to choose Orient House?

Reply 22

ihavemooedtoday

Original post by jack20311

It is a bit closer, but will probably take longer to travel (assuming you will be at the South Kensington campus), because you'd be taking buses instead of tubes, and buses can be very very slow during rush hour, especially in the South Ken area.

The common area doesn't look as nice as Wood Lane, but that's just judging by the pictures (I live at Wood Lane, and never visited Orient House because I don't know anyone living there).

Fulham is a very nice area, but it's largely residential. It would be harder to find stores, etc. Westfield is one of the biggest reasons I chose Wood Lane.

Reply 23

asdasdqeqe

Sorry to review a long time ago thread. I'm currently deciding between Unite - Oreint House and Gradpad - Wolburn place or any other recommendaitons for accommodation in London. Any advice?

Reply 24

username1674139

Original post by asdasdqeqe

Sorry to review a long time ago thread. I'm currently deciding between Unite - Oreint House and Gradpad - Wolburn place or any other recommendaitons for accommodation in London. Any advice?

Same boat as you right now. How did u manage ? Any advice ? :smile:

Reply 25

thpeu

Hi!

Can anyone share their experience with Wood Lane? I visited it in January and loved it, but I've read a lot of bad things about White City (the area), and I'm really unsure about living there. Is it really that bad?

Reply 26

resident12

As someone who is actually not a student but a resident of the flats next to Goodenough House I think you'll find the 'pesky PhD students and families who complain about the noise' are joined by the people who have to live next to these student halls. Friday or Saturday night noise we could live with (never mind students deciding to dump their rubbish in our bins rather than use the street bin on the corner), but now there's Sunday night gigs, with soundchecks, and I can hear every note through my closed window. Not acceptable when I have to go to work the next day.