Advice on Accommodation (2016 Entry)

Hi there,

Well done on getting an offer to Cardiff, I got one too and I'm planning to firm!

You should definitely go to the applicant day and ask some of the students in the courses the most recommended places of residence.

I cannot recall where but I think it's one of the Talybonts (North, I think) that all the people in my course claimed to be the ghetto area haha, so that may be something to consider. They also said university halls are a no-no because it's always really noisy.

You'll probably also want to consider the distance the accommodation is from the building where you learn. For example, I'll need to travel to Newport for my course so I'll need accommodation relatively close to Cathay's station - the closest one is Colum Hall I think.

Be sure to think about whether you want a shared or en-suite bathroom!

@RobML and @arfah currently go to Cardiff University, hopefully they'll be able to help you out more.

Hello!

I'm in my first here in Cardiff (Business & Japanese) and as I'm writing this I'm procrastinating so that I don't have to study for my statistics exam tomorrow lmfao.

Congrats on your offer, first of all!

As far as I know, the School of Chemistry is located inside the Main Building, so applying for University Halls would be horrible because: a) very, VERY far away from the city centre, you would have to take the bus daily from Uni Halls to the Main Building (luckily there's a free bus service run by the uni every 30 mins, but still...). And it would be a huge hassle to come back home from a night out because you would either have to walk for about 45 minutes or take a taxi; b) very noisy, as a Chemistry student there will be a lot of studying and you don't want people banging in your head, believe me.

Taly North is ok, it has the sweet advantage of an en-suite bathroom (Uni Halls is en-suite as well) but the rooms are so small you can barely move. There's the more expensive version of Taly North, Taly Court which is really nice. You can go on Cardiff Uni's website and look at the pictures or come here on Open Day!

Also, the division between Taly North and Taly South is real, lmao, just imagine Korea on a smaller scale.

Right now I'm living in Senghennydd Court, which is called Senghetto or just the Ghetto, mainly because of the 3-story blocks with no living room, shared bathroom and tiny bedrooms - not as tiny as Taly North en-suite, though! (and I was lucky to get the largest room possible in the flat haha, lucky number Room 1). It kind of looks like a Ghetto from the outside, hence the name.

The advantage of living in the Ghetto is the fact that it's sooooo close to everything. Literally, it takes me less than 7 minutes of walking to get to the city centre, and that's a blessing when you're wearing high heels and you just want to lie down faster after a big night out hahaha Also, very close to the Uni, I walk about 10 minutes compared to the poor souls in Uni Halls who have to take the bus...

The disadvantages of Senghennydd would have to be the shared bathroom, the constant noise (parties EVERY F-CKING NIGHT and also the train that runs close to the houses but you can't really hear it so it's ok) and 1 small fridge for 5 people (this is ridiculous). Buuuut, it's the cheapest accommodation you can get and tbh I feel so blessed for being close to everything that I stopped caring about the fridge and the noise, you get used to it.

PS: One Punch Man is awesome :'

Hello!

I'm in my first here in Cardiff (Business & Japanese) and as I'm writing this I'm procrastinating so that I don't have to study for my statistics exam tomorrow lmfao.

Congrats on your offer, first of all!

As far as I know, the School of Chemistry is located inside the Main Building, so applying for University Halls would be horrible because: a) very, VERY far away from the city centre, you would have to take the bus daily from Uni Halls to the Main Building (luckily there's a free bus service run by the uni every 30 mins, but still...). And it would be a huge hassle to come back home from a night out because you would either have to walk for about 45 minutes or take a taxi; b) very noisy, as a Chemistry student there will be a lot of studying and you don't want people banging in your head, believe me.

Taly North is ok, it has the sweet advantage of an en-suite bathroom (Uni Halls is en-suite as well) but the rooms are so small you can barely move. There's the more expensive version of Taly North, Taly Court which is really nice. You can go on Cardiff Uni's website and look at the pictures or come here on Open Day!

Also, the division between Taly North and Taly South is real, lmao, just imagine Korea on a smaller scale.

Right now I'm living in Senghennydd Court, which is called Senghetto or just the Ghetto, mainly because of the 3-story blocks with no living room, shared bathroom and tiny bedrooms - not as tiny as Taly North en-suite, though! (and I was lucky to get the largest room possible in the flat haha, lucky number Room 1). It kind of looks like a Ghetto from the outside, hence the name.

The advantage of living in the Ghetto is the fact that it's sooooo close to everything. Literally, it takes me less than 7 minutes of walking to get to the city centre, and that's a blessing when you're wearing high heels and you just want to lie down faster after a big night out hahaha Also, very close to the Uni, I walk about 10 minutes compared to the poor souls in Uni Halls who have to take the bus...

The disadvantages of Senghennydd would have to be the shared bathroom, the constant noise (parties EVERY F-CKING NIGHT and also the train that runs close to the houses but you can't really hear it so it's ok) and 1 small fridge for 5 people (this is ridiculous). Buuuut, it's the cheapest accommodation you can get and tbh I feel so blessed for being close to everything that I stopped caring about the fridge and the noise, you get used to it.

PS: One Punch Man is awesome :'

Hey, dont know if youve made your decision or not but Im a first year student living in Taly South and its honestly the best decision I have made.

Its a little more expensive than North, but cheaper than court and Gate. Id say social wise its amazing as you will meet a lot of people and it will never let you down for parties. Its really not that noisy here like people make it out to be. Yes during freshers, Halloween etc it is crazy but Taly south is in the very middle of Talybont and has equal distance to the column road (leads to the Uni) and tesco/mcdonalds.
I have been to uni halls as I have course mates who live there and can honestly say it does not compare to living in South. I am not a massive party goer and am not one for going out every night, I didnt in freshers.
Uni halls is so far out, my course mates complain about how early they have to wake up for their bus journey in, or its an hours long walk. I have noticed that there is a stronger friendship feel there though maybe because theyre so far out from everything?

You know my suggestion! put taly south, you wont regret it

Hi I was also looking at Senghennydd as my main choice, do you advise going for the ensuite or shared? And how many people to one bathroom/toilet? Also the boy/girl ratios are relatively equal or not? Thanks!

I'm in Senghennydd Hall so may be able to offer an ensuite part-catered opinion to this! For us, there's normally 8 per flat but in one flat it's 11. Kitchen is tiny in 2 of the houses but enormous in 1 of them. We don't even have a kitchen table! Boy/girl ratio wise we have 3 girls and 5 boys in the 3 flats I know of.
I've visited Senghennydd Court and they had 1 bathroom for a flat of 5 (separate toilet and shower though) and there were 2 girls and 3 guys. Because it's so close to engineering and maths and those are traditionally more popular with guys I think that ratio is to be expected. However the ratios are fairly balanced so I've never really noticed them.

alot of people on here talk about the taly south/north areas alot, do these tend to be the most popular? They are no where near the building where i'm studying so wondering which is the most popular accomodation

They are definitely the most popular but the walk back after nights out in the city are a bit of a nightmare (about 30-45 minutes). Please don't do it based on popularity- location is key!

Do you know why they are the most popular? Is it because of the amount of parties there or? Do you have an? opinion on the university halls