Royal Holloway accomodation

A quick question about the food serve at the dining hall. When I went for an Ucas open day I had some fish and chips and well you can't really get the chips bit wrong but the fish didn't taste so good. How do you guys find the food there? I really liked founders atmosphere but I cant think of living in a self-catered residence hall. I think I one of the few students who would like to cook my own meals ^^

Reply 4

NeonIndian

Original post by floratheo

A quick question about the food serve at the dining hall. When I went for an Ucas open day I had some fish and chips and well you can't really get the chips bit wrong but the fish didn't taste so good. How do you guys find the food there? I really liked founders atmosphere but I cant think of living in a self-catered residence hall. I think I one of the few students who would like to cook my own meals ^^

Yeah to be honest the food there isn't the best- in freshers week they served better food, but I've found it's gone downhill a bit. Don't get me wrong there are some good days, but there isn't a great deal of variety.
Another thing that annoys me about the dining hall is the fact they serve things you'd typically have for an evening meal (lasagne, stews, curry) at lunchtime. I'd rather have something lighter for lunch, so sometimes (particularly if I'm
In a rush) i'll just grab something from the college shop. On the other hand it's arguably cheaper than doing a weekly shop at Tesco. Don't let it put you off though- there are lots of other pros to living in Founders :smile:

Reply 5

biba94

Original post by NeonIndian

Yeah to be honest the food there isn't the best- in freshers week they served better food, but I've found it's gone downhill a bit. Don't get me wrong there are some good days, but there isn't a great deal of variety.
Another thing that annoys me about the dining hall is the fact they serve things you'd typically have for an evening meal (lasagne, stews, curry) at lunchtime. I'd rather have something lighter for lunch, so sometimes (particularly if I'm
In a rush) i'll just grab something from the college shop. On the other hand it's arguably cheaper than doing a weekly shop at Tesco. Don't let it put you off though- there are lots of other pros to living in Founders :smile:

Thanks for the insight! I'm deciding between catered and self-catered halls right now, and there's one crucial point - do the dining halls offer vegetarian (I have no hope for vegan, but at least vegetarian would be nice) meals? Would you say that the meals are healthy, or just your typical fast food / canteen crap?

Reply 6

toastehmonstah

There's always a vegetarian option, when I was in founders it was better than the other options half the time anyway :tongue:

I think they make an effort to be healthy, or at least everything isn't always deep fried!

Reply 7

NeonIndian

Original post by biba94

Thanks for the insight! I'm deciding between catered and self-catered halls right now, and there's one crucial point - do the dining halls offer vegetarian (I have no hope for vegan, but at least vegetarian would be nice) meals? Would you say that the meals are healthy, or just your typical fast food / canteen crap?

Yes there's always a vegetarian option, which can actually be nicer than the non-veg option. Erm, I guess it's pretty healthy, there's a salad bar, and there's always a range of vegetables to choose from. I just find a lot of their lunches too heavy, and a lot of it tastes the same. (The yum-yums are good though!) It's also quite convenient if you don't have much time to cook during the day, or say you're really tired in the evening and can't face cooking it's just easier.

Reply 8

biba94

Thanks a lot to both of you :smile:

I probably won't go for a catered hall, since I need a sessional contract and I don't really fancy the idea of living far from the campus - with Kingswood being the only hall that offers both catering & 38 week letting period -, but it's good to know that there's always such option.

Reply 9

Original post by NeonIndian

Yeah to be honest the food there isn't the best- in freshers week they served better food, but I've found it's gone downhill a bit. Don't get me wrong there are some good days, but there isn't a great deal of variety.
Another thing that annoys me about the dining hall is the fact they serve things you'd typically have for an evening meal (lasagne, stews, curry) at lunchtime. I'd rather have something lighter for lunch, so sometimes (particularly if I'm
In a rush) i'll just grab something from the college shop. On the other hand it's arguably cheaper than doing a weekly shop at Tesco. Don't let it put you off though- there are lots of other pros to living in Founders :smile:

Thanks for the reply. Im still not sure about my accommodation choice though, I really dont want to come home during Christmas and Easter and Founders only offers 30 week contract. I keep making a decision then changing my mind. By my calculations if I lived off-campus I could save about a £1000 on rent which is a huge amount of money. Did you live on campus? If you did, would you say the experience is worth the money? Sorry for so many questions but I really cant decide on my accommodation and I feel like I have no time to think this through as the applications will open in early May. Thank you :smile:

Reply 10

Original post by floratheo

Thanks for the reply. Im still not sure about my accommodation choice though, I really dont want to come home during Christmas and Easter and Founders only offers 30 week contract. I keep making a decision then changing my mind. By my calculations if I lived off-campus I could save about a £1000 on rent which is a huge amount of money. Did you live on campus? If you did, would you say the experience is worth the money? Sorry for so many questions but I really cant decide on my accommodation and I feel like I have no time to think this through as the applications will open in early May. Thank you :smile:

Sorry to butt in, but by off-campus, do you mean commuting or renting a room in a house?

Reply 11

Original post by llacerta

Sorry to butt in, but by off-campus, do you mean commuting or renting a room in a house?

Renting a room in a house around Egham or even closer to the campus at Enfield Green :smile:

Reply 12

Original post by floratheo

Renting a room in a house around Egham or even closer to the campus at Enfield Green :smile:

As a first year, I wouldn't recommend it. I was in a rented house for my second year and it's amazing how much stress and hassle it involves- more than I ever would have predicted. It's beyond the usual issues of bill payment (can you really trust the people you're sharing with to pay their contributions on time?) and cleanliness (unlike halls, no cleaner to tidy up the kitchen or clean the bathroom). Even beyond these things, it's the ruddy letting agents that make life difficult- though as an aside, I have heard that private landlords can be better.

Thing is, with accommodation owned by Holloway, if something breaks they'll come and fix it, and they'll do it pretty quickly. Whereas, in a house, well, one example is that I had a broken toilet seat in my bathroom for 6 months. 6 MONTHS. It was a five minute job to replace it with another one but our stupid letting agent was so incompetent they kept 'forgetting' to do it.

I'm not the only person who's had issues- I don't think I know of a single person who's gone through a year in a rented house without some issues, major or minor. At best, they end up losing half of their deposit (so £200 to £400) for petty or non-existent problems. In short, the letting agents in this area are rubbish.

And yes, this is something that most second and third years will have to deal with, as I and my friends did. However, I don't think I could have dealt with this whilst also being a fresher and trying to get used to the new surroundings. Also, having house parties is not as easy as it seems- lots of old neighbours around in Egham who will definitely spoil the evening. If you want to have a rave-up in the comfort of your own home, it's much easier to do so in halls where everyone else is also having a rave-up!

It's not that living in a house itself is bad, it's just that as a second year most students are more equipped by that point to deal with all of the rubbish that comes with living in a house.

Sorry for the rant- I didn't mean for this to be so long, haha!- but I'm just giving you my opinion. I can understand the appeal of wanting to save money, and if you do end up going for a rented house, all I can say is: avoid Mulberry's. AT ALL COSTS. (And New Let. They're not great either.)

Reply 13

Original post by llacerta

As a first year, I wouldn't recommend it. I was in a rented house for my second year and it's amazing how much stress and hassle it involves- more than I ever would have predicted. It's beyond the usual issues of bill payment (can you really trust the people you're sharing with to pay their contributions on time?) and cleanliness (unlike halls, no cleaner to tidy up the kitchen or clean the bathroom). Even beyond these things, it's the ruddy letting agents that make life difficult- though as an aside, I have heard that private landlords can be better.

Thing is, with accommodation owned by Holloway, if something breaks they'll come and fix it, and they'll do it pretty quickly. Whereas, in a house, well, one example is that I had a broken toilet seat in my bathroom for 6 months. 6 MONTHS. It was a five minute job to replace it with another one but our stupid letting agent was so incompetent they kept 'forgetting' to do it.

I'm not the only person who's had issues- I don't think I know of a single person who's gone through a year in a rented house without some issues, major or minor. At best, they end up losing half of their deposit (so £200 to £400) for petty or non-existent problems. In short, the letting agents in this area are rubbish.

And yes, this is something that most second and third years will have to deal with, as I and my friends did. However, I don't think I could have dealt with this whilst also being a fresher and trying to get used to the new surroundings. Also, having house parties is not as easy as it seems- lots of old neighbours around in Egham who will definitely spoil the evening. If you want to have a rave-up in the comfort of your own home, it's much easier to do so in halls where everyone else is also having a rave-up!

It's not that living in a house itself is bad, it's just that as a second year most students are more equipped by that point to deal with all of the rubbish that comes with living in a house.

Sorry for the rant- I didn't mean for this to be so long, haha!- but I'm just giving you my opinion. I can understand the appeal of wanting to save money, and if you do end up going for a rented house, all I can say is: avoid Mulberry's. AT ALL COSTS. (And New Let. They're not great either.)

Thanks you soooo much for this. I've been feeling that living in halls would actually be the best option for me and your answer definitely made me think about stuff I didn't really considered. I have friends who already rent rooms in flats and they have similar issues, my friend waited almost two months to get her microwave fixed and the list goes on and on. I'll have plenty of time to worry about stuff like that on the second year (and I'm sure I will) but the first year should be hassle-free.

Again, thank you so much for your reply, your a real life saver. Its just so hard to make up your mind when you have so many good options. And I'll remember your advice when I'm renting a house next year and avoid these state agencies hahhaha :smile:

Reply 14

MeGuinness

Original post by llacerta

As a first year, I wouldn't recommend it. I was in a rented house for my second year and it's amazing how much stress and hassle it involves- more than I ever would have predicted. It's beyond the usual issues of bill payment (can you really trust the people you're sharing with to pay their contributions on time?) and cleanliness (unlike halls, no cleaner to tidy up the kitchen or clean the bathroom). Even beyond these things, it's the ruddy letting agents that make life difficult- though as an aside, I have heard that private landlords can be better.

Thing is, with accommodation owned by Holloway, if something breaks they'll come and fix it, and they'll do it pretty quickly. Whereas, in a house, well, one example is that I had a broken toilet seat in my bathroom for 6 months. 6 MONTHS. It was a five minute job to replace it with another one but our stupid letting agent was so incompetent they kept 'forgetting' to do it.

I'm not the only person who's had issues- I don't think I know of a single person who's gone through a year in a rented house without some issues, major or minor. At best, they end up losing half of their deposit (so £200 to £400) for petty or non-existent problems. In short, the letting agents in this area are rubbish.

And yes, this is something that most second and third years will have to deal with, as I and my friends did. However, I don't think I could have dealt with this whilst also being a fresher and trying to get used to the new surroundings. Also, having house parties is not as easy as it seems- lots of old neighbours around in Egham who will definitely spoil the evening. If you want to have a rave-up in the comfort of your own home, it's much easier to do so in halls where everyone else is also having a rave-up!

It's not that living in a house itself is bad, it's just that as a second year most students are more equipped by that point to deal with all of the rubbish that comes with living in a house.

Sorry for the rant- I didn't mean for this to be so long, haha!- but I'm just giving you my opinion. I can understand the appeal of wanting to save money, and if you do end up going for a rented house, all I can say is: avoid Mulberry's. AT ALL COSTS. (And New Let. They're not great either.)

I'm not a student but I can confirm that some local estate agents are there to rip students off big time, especially the one named on the quoted post. I would suggest to try to deal directly with the houses owner and bypassing the agent.

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Reply 15

If anyone wants to see a few photos of a Founder's room (albeit a turret, so a bit different to most of the other rooms) see my post on this thread: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1217395&page=172&p=42379667#post42379667

Reply 16

vantuz86

I will do PhD at Royal Holloway starting with this September. As far as I can see, Runnymede is better to stay. But I am not sure about my decision. Any recommendation for a postgrad student ?

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Reply 17

xasmf

Hello guys. So,as all of you know, the deadline regarding your firm/insurance choices is 8th of May. I have been offered conditional offers at Kent, Royal Holloway, Greenwich and Westminster. I would like to pick RH being a great university. My questions are:

- Will it be hard for me to find accomodation? Is it hard to apply for accomodation (are there more methods)? Being a foreigner I am not so informed on this subject :frown:

Reply 18