IQ Bloomsbury Accommodation

did you stay at bloomsbury? i might be going to icl so looking for accommodation! dd you like it?

Yeah I am staying there and happy with it. But as far as I know, most of their rooms are already booked.

Booked for 2015 academic year?! Are you in first year? Is it hard to socialise not being in a campus university??xx

Yeah I think they are booked already You can check the website, most of the rooms are "sold out".

http://www.iq-student-accommodation.com/student-accommodation/london/iq-bloomsbury

I am a postgrad and don't have much time to socialise to be honest... But there are plenty of activities to do if you have time. So, don't worry about it.

I will invite you to have a look at the ratings of IQ's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/iQStudents?fref=ts

I am living in IQ Hoxton and both IQ Hoxton and IQ team have been treated us like idiots and don't want to compensate us fairly despite the services that they failed to provide us (water, hot water, heating) and the misreprenstation of the accomodation (roof garden, sky TV and pool table).
Cheers,

Since you guys mentioned problems about IQ, I think I should tell about my experience at the beginning of the term as well. I should say that I am satisfied with the accommodation in general right now but it is really overpriced, that's a fact... Anyway, here is what happened with IQ Bloomsbury this year:

At the beginning of this term, the building was still under construction and they kept delaying it for various reasons. We ended up moving in early November... All tenants had a hard time staying at a hotel for more than a month and we totally lost our confidence in IQ. We did not pay anything extra for the hotel but still...I think what they did was completely unprofessional! The amounts they offered as compensation was like a joke as well. We kept having maintenance issues after moving in:
-Water was not hot enough to take a shower (Took them like a week to fix it...)
-Broken heating system (I had to freeze in my room for weeks!) Most of the rooms experienced this for a while but they fixed it eventually. Mine kept freezing for weeks and they ended up buying me a heater until they find a solution.
-Nowadays maintenance team still keep visiting the rooms to fix minor issues because they had to complete the construction so fast lol. Ex: My bathroom door was kinda stuck and there was a small leak in the window.

I am pretty sure these problems will not occur again for next year. But this should give you an idea about how much you should trust them :/ Still, IQ bloomsbury has a perfect location and thats why it was worth waiting for me. But you should consider other options too ofc...

Hi Olivia !
Yep they spend all their money on advertising and enjoy a strong brand image. However, there are many other accomodations which can offer similar/better services at the same/cheaper price. Just to give you an example, IQ Hoxton promote on their website a pool table, a roof garden and sky TV. These services were not available from Setpember to March, until we spoke with one of the top manager of IQ during a meeting. They fixed Sky TV and the pool table a few days later (it took only 2 days and cost less than a 100 pound.) whilst the on site management team were always finding excuses to don't fix things. The roof garden will not be ready before the end of most tenants contract, who obviously will not rebook with IQ later. Despite all of that, they judged that a compensation for the misrepresentation of the services is not necessary and keep advertising it on their website.

The misrepresentation of the services available is unfortunately not the only problem in IQ Hoxton. There is a a collective or an individual problem every time !! The most recent thing is the non-supply of water for 72 hours. They had a problem or whatever but did not offer us any contingency plans. Some tenants missed their interview, others spend more than 100 on restaurants as they could not cook. Do you know how much they offered for that, after a collective complain, the bad ratings etc and a meeting with some IQ managers ? Only 60 pound !!! This represent only 18% of my rent per week. Most of tenants will of course not accept this "joke" and we will continue to fight to be fairly compensate for all the services they failed to provide us. It can be therefore clearly seen that these issues are ridiculous and show why you should not book to IQ Hoxton or any IQ in general.

Hope it helps and I am sorry if it seems exaggerated but all I said is true and IQ tenant's satisfaction is as its lowest ebb !!
Cheers,
Jad

Just saw this ! thanks for the reply! can i ask what the rooms ACTUALLY look like cos online they are gorgeous and the colour scheme and interior is unlike any accommodation I've seen. I this just false marketing or is it for real? also how was socialising? I am going into first year, should i stay here or in actual school halls provided by icl?? thanks xx

No it is not false marketing, the rooms are actually pretty good. I was also surprised since London is full of very old and crappy buildings...
About socialising, it is up to you. If you wanna socialize there are plenty of activities/student clubs in UCL. Since IQ is really close to UCL, attending to those activities would not be a problem. IQ also organizes activities in the building as well but not too often. I didn't like UCL's accommodation to be honest. But I am an international postgrad. So I had limited options. As an undergrad I am sure you will have more options.

Since you guys mentioned problems about IQ, I think I should tell about my experience at the beginning of the term as well. I should say that I am satisfied with the accommodation in general right now but it is really overpriced, that's a fact... Anyway, here is what happened with IQ Bloomsbury this year:

At the beginning of this term, the building was still under construction and they kept delaying it for various reasons. We ended up moving in early November... All tenants had a hard time staying at a hotel for more than a month and we totally lost our confidence in IQ. We did not pay anything extra for the hotel but still...I think what they did was completely unprofessional! The amounts they offered as compensation was like a joke as well. We kept having maintenance issues after moving in:
-Water was not hot enough to take a shower (Took them like a week to fix it...)
-Broken heating system (I had to freeze in my room for weeks!) Most of the rooms experienced this for a while but they fixed it eventually. Mine kept freezing for weeks and they ended up buying me a heater until they find a solution.
-Nowadays maintenance team still keep visiting the rooms to fix minor issues because they had to complete the construction so fast lol. Ex: My bathroom door was kinda stuck and there was a small leak in the window.

I am pretty sure these problems will not occur again for next year. But this should give you an idea about how much you should trust them :/ Still, IQ bloomsbury has a perfect location and thats why it was worth waiting for me. But you should consider other options too ofc...

Hi there!

And what about the policies? Did u have to check in or check out when u come to the apartment and when u leave? Could ur friends come to u and stay overnight?

Cheers)

You can get in and out whenever you can without saying anything to anyone. All you need is your key.

Yeah, your friends can stay overnight. Normally, your guests need to check-in at the reception. But to be honest, my boyfriend visits every two weeks for the weekends and I never bothered to do that. He visits regularly so I was too lazy to check-in every time he comes here. But I never had a problem until now. So basically, if your guests can "behave" and do not disturb anyone you guys will be fine without even telling anyone

Ok thank you very much)

And what about living on the ground floor (if u know anything abbout it). Because this is the only option for me

One thing I can say is that it can be noisy if your room is facing Euston road. I'm on the 4th floor but I can still hear the buzzing of cars clearly... The isolation of the windows is not the best. Also, there is a hospital across the street and you will constantly hear ambulances passing by.

oh god damn, i have to make a decision as soon as possible.

Does it generally distract u? (the noises and stuff) or is it all right?

Thank you for ur help!)