Cardiff Accommodation Help ! Current students come on in

Here's 4 things that would sum up which accommodations I'm applying for and I hope you can just shoot out the names of the accommodations that pop instantly into your mind upon reading it. This is for undergraduates. Current students I need your actual views since your already there !

1. En-Suite (Need my own bathroom mate)
2. Not run-down (Broken moldy table/mattress, smelly, pests etc..)
3. Quiet (Either a place thats not party focus or at least semi 'soundproof', I reckon most people want to know this because we still need proper sleep and to study)
4. Decent space/bathroom


This is not entirely necessary as long as the above requirements are met but if any of the above accommodations are near the engineering/computer science building it would be even better. Gordon hall and 'sennghetto court & hall' are all I'm getting and the reviews aren't that pleasant or is it ? But the walking distance to most stuff is still awesome.

How's your budget? There is also private student accomodation that would meet your requirements much better. Fitzalan place is just across the street from Queens Buildings which is the engineering/computer science one. It is a lot more expensive tho.

Taly accomodation is higher quality but it's basically a party accomodation and far away.

Senghennyd is good for the quiet bit and short walk because you can also select quiet living with that. So you're housed with people who also prefer silent living. It is a bit on the smaller size tho and not the most modern place, it still isn't too bad tho.

Uni accommodations are still preferred as I feel I’ll get to meet more students from the Uni as well and its more affordable. What you just said about Senghennyd seems to be opposite from what I read online as it states its also a party accomodation that ISNT quiet generally and run down. How true is it. Did not know theres a silent living option does that come as a choice for every accomodation? Any thoughts on gordon hall too ?

Well at private you'd still meet loads of students, just some possibly from other universities since we do have 3 in Cardiff.

Every uni accomodation is a party accomodation unfortunately (or fortunately for some). The difference is that at taly, there's a party somewhere basically every night. At senghennyd, that's once a week.

If you filter by suitability there is an option for quiet living undergrad or postgrad. You can't fully avoid parties just because there are more halls nearby but quiet living is an option you can select so they will try to put together a flat of people who all selected the quiet living option.

Come to one of the UCAS days, computer science at least takes students to check out one of the rooms there for themselves. Or just contact uni and ask if it would be possible to check it out yourself. Would give a better idea.

For Gordon hall, don't know anyone who lived there so unfortunately can't help

there are no en suite rooms in seng court? well there are, but only for postgrads. i was in seng court last year and arofan house (private halls; long story) this year.

arofan is fine, not as expensive as other private halls i've seen (still more than uni halls obviously - about £140 a week), all en suite and literally about 2 minutes from queen's buildings. there's definitely parties here but they're mainly confined to one flat (which i was assigned to but requested to be moved which was done instantly). they also have a lot of community events, which i haven't been to but if that's your thing you'd definitely meet people.

seng is... a bit grim tbh. it's just a normal student halls - shared bathroom, shared tiny kitchen, and if you're unlucky enough to be assigned room 4 in your flat you have 0 space. but with your requirements it sounds like you don't want regular halls, haha. it's definitely run-down.

if you go taly, you'll be miles away from queen's buildings. they're also super loud - the posh ones (court, i think) are really nice but again, you'd be about 40 minutes from your lectures, i think. all of the flats in taly are nicer than seng though. cleanliness is better but silverfish are a problem.

gordon is ??? i've never met anyone from gordon tbh, seems fine. until just now i didn't even know cardiff had catered halls.

hope this helps!

there are no en suite rooms in seng court? well there are, but only for postgrads. i was in seng court last year and arofan house (private halls; long story) this year.

seng is... a bit grim tbh. it's just a normal student halls - shared bathroom, shared tiny kitchen, and if you're unlucky enough to be assigned room 4 in your flat you have 0 space. but with your requirements it sounds like you don't want regular halls, haha. it's definitely run-down.

gordon is ??? i've never met anyone from gordon tbh, seems fine. until just now i didn't even know cardiff had catered halls.

I know someone who was in Gordon Hall last year. En-suite room was fine (then again, it was bound to be better than my room in Senghennydd Court). Only downside I noticed were the kitchens which were boiling;

Do you mind sharing your opinion on the en suite rooms ? In terms of space, bathroom, how 'run-down' it is.

Arofan house > Gordon > Senghennydd ?

there are no en suite rooms in seng court? well there are, but only for postgrads. i was in seng court last year and arofan house (private halls; long story) this year.

arofan is fine, not as expensive as other private halls i've seen (still more than uni halls obviously - about £140 a week), all en suite and literally about 2 minutes from queen's buildings. there's definitely parties here but they're mainly confined to one flat (which i was assigned to but requested to be moved which was done instantly). they also have a lot of community events, which i haven't been to but if that's your thing you'd definitely meet people.

seng is... a bit grim tbh. it's just a normal student halls - shared bathroom, shared tiny kitchen, and if you're unlucky enough to be assigned room 4 in your flat you have 0 space. but with your requirements it sounds like you don't want regular halls, haha. it's definitely run-down.

if you go taly, you'll be miles away from queen's buildings. they're also super loud - the posh ones (court, i think) are really nice but again, you'd be about 40 minutes from your lectures, i think. all of the flats in taly are nicer than seng though. cleanliness is better but silverfish are a problem.

gordon is ??? i've never met anyone from gordon tbh, seems fine. until just now i didn't even know cardiff had catered halls.

hope this helps!

Never seen Arofan so can't help you there, sorry. Gordon Hall was really quite nice if you don't mind the kitchens. Hallways are clean, generally quiet (then again a firing range is quieter than Senghennydd). The en-suite rooms in Gordon hall are spacious (equivalent to those in Senghennydd Hall, I'd say). Bathrooms are nice, above the standard of the private properties in the area (incl. the one in my current flat). Overall you've got plenty of space for books and such, and a decent desk. Communal areas might be slightly less clean than Senghennydd (we had a cleaner that visited weekly, unsure if that's the case there), and as I said, it's always boiling.

Seems like Senghennyd is indeed as bad as what reviews say. Wow if Gordon is able to match some privates it should be pretty good other then the kitchen. Whats the security like in Gordon and Senghennyd ? Do you guys use modern electronic keypads or a traditional 'lock & key' ? Also do you guys control your rooms own heating or its determined by the buildings central heating ?

When I took part in Student Advice last September Senghennydd Hall and Court had updated from our key system to a card system (which was apparently already in place in Taly, don't quote me on that though PS: You still get a key just in case). You have no control over the heating.

Well at least things are improving. Last question for now as I seem to already have a rough idea of the accommodations, are there any hidden fees or cost in the accommodation ? Private housing looks like they stated one fee where everything is covered (cleaning, utilities etc..). Is the fee that you paid the same as whats stated on the Uni's residence brochure ?

As far as I can remember yes.

Alright any idea what kind of student population lives in the different accommodations ? Typical stereotypes. Like is Gordon hall or Private housings full of welsh speakers/international students/Londoners etc ...

What are some reputable private accommodation that Cardiff students use ? Arofan house from the student housing company seems to be the most popular, any more ?