Another accom....

do all rooms have "safes" to put some of your things when you have to leave the room (holidays)?
how big are these "safes"?

I'm in Penny C and it's amazing!
I'm so glad to have an en-suite, the rooms are lovely and the people are too. As others have said, there is a good mix of people; it's big enough to have a good variety but small enough to know everyone.
I'm so so happy here, and don't want to go, ever! There's a lovely lawn that we all play frisbee on, then there's Lopes Hall and Randy P too where theres loads of people. It's in the best location- 10 min walk into city centre, 5 mins to lectures whereas Birks/Holland the walk is a lot longer.
Oh and we have proper showers. Nice one. Done, tick, next.

P.S In relation to the Holland waiting list thing- we've had 3 people from Holland who moved in at Christmas. That said, it is only 3 out God knows how many?!

I stayed in JOC overnight, and I wasn't that impressed - the room was smaller than mine, and you're right next to where Firehouse throws out all its wine bottles for recycling (what a wonderful wake up call...) It is close to Arena and Firehouse and Hole In The Wall and Timepiece, but I wasn't that impressed for what it was...

£56 extra for food PER WEEK is shockingly bad value for money though, surely you can see that? That would probably feed most people for a month (assuming you cook properly using fresh ingredients etc - it really doesn't take that long!).

Are you sure you're not thinking of Northernhay House - the private accommodation by Unite that Exeter has access to? That's right across the road from the Firehouse and just around the corner from Timepiece. Just along from Exeter Central station. James Owen Court is literally right next to the Odeon at the top of Sidwell Street, closer still to Arena but a bit further out of the city centre in contrast to Northernhay which is right in the centre of town. The only chance that we would be exposed to the Firehouse recycling their bottles would be if they happened to have bins on Well Street or sharing with the Odeon, which would be a bit strange really.

Not had much experience of viewing other accommodation but having lived in James Owen Court for the past 6 months I would swap if I could apply all over again. It wasn't one of my choices, but I would have chosen something on campus and perhaps gone catered instead. I've behaved awfully, more so in the second term than the first where I was generally better behaved, and ate fast food on too many occasions. Not helped by the fact I live near so many takeaway places - anything you could possibly want is within walking distance, particularly Subway and Pizza Hut/Dominoes. I could have done without the hassle of cooking during my first year thus far, never mind the fact that its been so expensive given my bad habits. Do note however I am rather negative about my experiences in JOC which I shall not elaborate on, so perhaps take what I've said here with a pinch of salt. I would finish though by saying I would trade either the ensuite or the self-catered to have been somewhere else in hindsight. The actual accommodation isn't too bad but it would be nice not to be subject to having to cope with the loud drunken people walking up Sidwell Street at the end of their night, very disruptive and annoying when you want to get some sleep. It isn't pleasant to have drunkards sat on a bench below your window shouting at people and cars as they walk by. Not to mention the boy racers speeding around the roundabout with cars which should not have passed the noise test that their exhausts are subject to when they are put through MOTs.

I would advise you to consider that you might not stay at Exeter over the holidays - I don't know anybody that does other than international students and even then some I know have gone back to their home countries for the easter break. In consideration of that, you will be seeing 9 weeks accommodation going unused which could be £842.40 if you were staying in JOC with this years prices(~£93.60, cheaper than St.Gs). If you consider that catered accommodation isn't as bad as it will appear by comparing weekly prices. At ~£56 extra for the same facilities but catered you're only paying an extra £900 over the year to be fed. Think about if you want to stay here, if you really do think you will cook for yourself or if you be lazy like I am and go for fast food, and how strict your budget is. I'm sure I will be shot down and told you can eat for 50p a week if you go Sainsbury's Basics but I am a fussy eater and can't go down that route. Fair play if you do, you're a lot more disciplined than I am!

Hmm to me it's just not even a contest, I'm definitely going self catered... and it's not like I'm a whiz in the kitchen (working on it though.)

So St Germans and JOC are both bad? Hmmm, looks like I can't go en-suite then if I want SC. So what accommodation is SC and not en-suite?

Also out of interest, which blocks are closest to the archaeology department?

Self-Catered
+ Freedom to eat when and where I want
+ I can choose exactly what I want to eat
+ SC accom. is cheaper
+ You often don't have to empty your rooms after terms if you go SC
+ It'd make me learn how to cook and become more independent in that respect
- I'm a terrible cook
- I haven't got very good eating habits, and sometimes when I have to make my own food, I just snack instead because it's easier and quicker
- Buying food could be a little expensive

Catered
+ A chance to socialise further with housemates
+ Don't have to worry about making my own meals
+ It'd make me eat properly
- More expensive
- Usually have to empty room after terms
- Food may not always be nice
- Less freedom
- Set times to eat could interfere with wanting to do other things around that time

On the cons of self-catered: you learn fast and there's no need for it to be expensive at all. As a vegetarian, I managed to eat quite well for £10-£12 a week. Even when I started eating meat and fish again, I'd still say my food bill is less than £20 a week, whereas when you work out the deficit on catered accommodation, they factor in £30+ a week for food that isn't as nice.

The set times for catered are a real bugbear for me - if you're the sort of person who likes to eat your dinner later at night normally (say 8pm or later) it could be a real nightmare.

tis_me_lord: non-ensuite self-catered options are Lafrowda (Standard and Enhanced), Ransom Pickard, St Davids, Cook Mews and Llewellyn Mews. Don't think I've forgotten any None are especially close to the archaeology department though Lafrowda and Randy P are probably the closest of them all.