What is the accommodation at Keele like????

I was only able to see the shared flats and the Holly oaks ensuite during the open day.
How are you supposed to share a kitchen with 20+people? Are any of the rooms recently new-ish apart from the Barnes ones (they are way too expensive for me to even look at)? What are the cleaners like? At the moment I'm considering the shared flats as they have less people in the kitchen and bathrooms, are the ones at Horwood nice, is there enough cupboard and fridge space? Does the wifi survive the countryside or does it cut out every so often?

Sorry for so many questions :smile:

Reply 1

Anonymous #1

Hey! the wifi's really great tbh as it's on the eduroam system, the only problem I have had was on the first few days as there was sooo many people on campus connecting to the wifi. I do live in Oaks so that may be different in other halls and I can only speak for my experiences there. In Oaks/Holly Cross we share a kitchen between 8 of us and it's never been a problem and I've never really heard of others complaining too much about sharing with more people. Yes it's very daunting and weird at first but eventually the kitchen becomes almost the hotspot of social activity and we tend to gather there a lot. The cleaners are lovely, just make sure you wake up and clear off your worktops before they come unlocking your door whilst you're still half asleep. :biggrin:

Feel free to ask any more questions! xx

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

I was only able to see the shared flats and the Holly oaks ensuite during the open day.
How are you supposed to share a kitchen with 20+people? Are any of the rooms recently new-ish apart from the Barnes ones (they are way too expensive for me to even look at)? What are the cleaners like? At the moment I'm considering the shared flats as they have less people in the kitchen and bathrooms, are the ones at Horwood nice, is there enough cupboard and fridge space? Does the wifi survive the countryside or does it cut out every so often?

Sorry for so many questions :smile:

Hey there! If you would like to live in an en-suite, you might want to check out the en-suites in the Barnes X and W blocks. They are the cheapest en-suites you can get. There are also the en-suites in Lindsay Court and Holly Cross and the Oaks. These are more expensive than the ones in Barnes W and X but cheaper than the new accommodation in Barnes Y and Z. You can also take a look at the four person shared flats in Barnes if you are not too keen on sharing the kitchen and the toilet with a lot of people. Horwood offers shared flats with 8 people as well. I will attach a link below that will take you to the page on the Keele website, with the different types of accommodation and prices so you can get a specific idea about the costs.

https://www.keele.ac.uk/discover/accommodation/undergraduateaccommodation/accommodationfees/

I lived in Barnes last year and I have to say that I never experienced any problems with the internet. My phone and laptop always connected to it without any problems and it was pretty fast as well. The cleaners were really nice and understanding. They will pass a note through your door the day before your room will get cleaned and all you have to do is clear your desk and floor so they can wipe down the surfaces and hoover the floor!
Hope this helps! If you have got any other questions, please don't hesitate ask!

Reply 3

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

22

Cupboard and fridge space in Horwood? Not a chance.

Barnes shared flat is a good one to get in my personal view, but regardless of where you are your experience in halls is going to be significantly affected by who you're living with.

In terms of age, after New Barnes the newest blocks on campus are Holly Cross and the Oaks. Which opened in the mid-late 90s. :ahee:

Reply 4

therandomperson

16

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

I was only able to see the shared flats and the Holly oaks ensuite during the open day.
How are you supposed to share a kitchen with 20+people? Are any of the rooms recently new-ish apart from the Barnes ones (they are way too expensive for me to even look at)? What are the cleaners like? At the moment I'm considering the shared flats as they have less people in the kitchen and bathrooms, are the ones at Horwood nice, is there enough cupboard and fridge space? Does the wifi survive the countryside or does it cut out every so often?

Sorry for so many questions :smile:

Hello, I'm currently in Lindsay Hall Block A but like Horwood we also have a high kitchen share ratio (we have 24 rooms, for 360 image of our kitchen see link below)
https://www.keele.ac.uk/docs/virtualtours/Lindsay_A_Kitchen/LindsayAKitchen1_.html

1) How are you supposed to share a kitchen with 20+ people?
I remember being in your situation but it really is true that not everyone will eat at the same time, The most I think I have seen in the kitchen at once was 4 (including myself) , 1 at the far oven, 1 waiting for a kettle to boil and another using a microwave and me drying my dishes. I can say with confidence that even after 10 weeks there is still probably some people in my block that I haven't seen. for space the freezers all come with 4 draws and the fridges come with about 4 spaces (not including the door which is usually just used for milk & butter). with 4 of each there in theory should only be space for 16 people but usually there is still a lot of spaces for the others to put things, (some people only take up half a shelf). One thing you will unfortunately notice is other people seem to not wash their dishes so the sides by the sinks will rarely be clear. (I guess this is just to be expected with a student accommodation). Most people do not eat in the Kitchen and will take their food to their rooms.

2) Are any of the rooms recently new-ish apart from the Barnes ones?
I believe Horwood may have had some work done recently however I am not too sure about this i'm afraid. after barns i think the newest are Holly Cross and the Oaks.

3) What are the cleaners like?
Different blocks will have different cleaners (change year by year, i believe male blocks get a male cleaner, female blocks get a female cleaner etc.) For us we have Andrew and he is a really chill guy, it's surprising how clean he can make the kitchen after the state in which some of the others in the block leave it. For accommodation in general the bins in the kitchen and by the entrance of the block are emptied very frequently (multiple times a week) and when the time comes to clean your room your blocks cleaner will leave a laminate sheet under your door a day before stating "YOUR ROOM WILL BE CLEANED TOMORROW, PLEASE CLEAR YOUR DESK TOPS AND FLOOR AREA PLACING ITEMS ON THE BED, Your waste will be emptied- larger rubbish should be separated for recycling and placed in the respective kitchen bins, Do not leave any rubbish outside your room causing obstruction and fire hazards. Please leave this notice on your desk top for collection." cleaning is usually vacuuming the carpet, (removing cobwebs from the summer break), emptying your bin and replacing the bag. wiping down desktops and windowsills. (the en-suites will also get cleaning of their bathroom probably)

4) At the moment I'm considering the shared flats as they have less people in the kitchen and bathrooms, are the ones at Horwood nice, is there enough cupboard and fridge space?
360 photo of horwood Kitchen
https://www.keele.ac.uk/docs/virtualtours/Horwood_Kitchen/HorwoodKitchen1_.html
I haven't seen the Horwood bathrooms so am unable to tell how many toilets and showers there are or the overall size. (For us in Lindsay A we have 3 floors with a bathroom (large with 3 showers, 3 sinks, 2 toilets) on the ground and second floor with the first floor having a smaller 1 toilet and 1 shower, The showers are actually the same ones used in the en-suite bathrooms (The non-touch ones that end up burning your back if you are turned away from it and accidentally stand too close to the sensor for increasing the heat.). Same thing as with the kitchen not everyone will need to use it at the same time so you are extremely likely to be in there on your own.)
^side note, unfortunately as people settle in most blocks will usually get at least one food thief so others tend to only put the essentials that have to be in the kitchen in the fridges,cupboards,freezers and keep the rest in their room. (for us our food thief started stealing on the second week onwards.)

5) Does the wifi survive the countryside or does it cut out every so often?
The wifi is good with a strong signal strength (currently for me -57 dBm) and hasn't cut out. throughout your block you will have routers which allow you to connect to the eduroam network (There's also a network called Keele 5 in some blocks) The speeds are okay but have been capped at 100mbps down and up (as opposed to other university like Lancaster where you can get over 400mbps on their own network.)

Reply 5

Tired_Sphinx

OP

8

Hi again,

Does anyone know what Taylor house is like???
Any advice for moving in or what stuff to bring that you wouldn't normally consider?
Can students use the allotments, how does that work?

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

Hi again,

Does anyone know what Taylor house is like???
Any advice for moving in or what stuff to bring that you wouldn't normally consider?
Can students use the allotments, how does that work?

To be honest I've never even heard of Taylor house but that might just be me being absolutely stupid. Advice = you don't need your whole wardrobe. No clue how I'm going to move everything out at the end of the year lmao

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

Hi again,

Does anyone know what Taylor house is like???
Any advice for moving in or what stuff to bring that you wouldn't normally consider?
Can students use the allotments, how does that work?

Hello there! Lindsay Taylor house consist of bedrooms in traditional university accommodation blocks. These have washbasins in bedrooms with shared bathrooms and kitchens with tables or breakfast bars.
If you want to know about Lindsay or the other halls and the types of room they have to offer you can use this link-https://www.keele.ac.uk/discover/accommodation/ouraccommodation/
If you click on "Lindsay" and go to the "360 photographs" option, you can see what the rooms look like. You will find the "classic" rooms in the Taylor house.

As for your question on the allotments, there are weekly gardening sessions in the allotments that you can join. If you want to grow anything specific you need to request it from "Student eats." You can simply talk to the leader of the gardening session about this and they will pas the information onto Student eats.

Hope this helps! Please don't hesitate to ask any other questions! :smile:

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 8

Tired_Sphinx

OP

8

Hi,

When you apply for the accommodation can you choose what block you would like to be in or is it just the halls and then the type of room? Also, can you put down preferences e.g. single/mix gender, quiet, non-alcoholic?
Is applying for accommodation on a first-come-first-served basis?

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

Hi,

When you apply for the accommodation can you choose what block you would like to be in or is it just the halls and then the type of room? Also, can you put down preferences e.g.single/mix gender, quiet, non-alcoholic?
Is applying for accommodation on a first-come-first-served basis?

Hello there!
From what I remember when I applied for accommodation last year, you can put down three choices on your application, in the order of most preferred type of room to least preferred type of room. Unfortunately, you can only put down the hall and type of room. However, you can ask for single or mixed gender flats. You can't ask for quiet or non-alcoholic flats specifically. However, I didn't use to drink myself when I was a first year but I was in a flat with a good mix of people who do and don't drink.

As for your question on whether accommodation is on a first come, first served basis, I don't think it is. Like I said before, you have to put down three preferences and the university will try their best to offer you your first choice.

Hope this helps :smile:

Please don't hesitate to ask any other questions!

Reply 10

sese20

5

hi! when applying for accommodation it asks whether you would like to be placed with mature students. as i will be 23 y/o and am a graduate who will be studying medicine (undergrad course) would I be classed as a 'mature' student? i'm not too sure whether to tick this box (about being placed with mature students) as i'm not sure if this will mean I am placed with adults such as those 30+, etc. i do enjoy socialising but am worried about noisy 18 y/o's who will be going out all the time lmao, however i'm not too fussed. i'm thinking of the Barnes ensuite superior rooms.. what are these like??

Original post by sese20

hi! when applying for accommodation it asks whether you would like to be placed with mature students. as i will be 23 y/o and am a graduate who will be studying medicine (undergrad course) would I be classed as a 'mature' student? i'm not too sure whether to tick this box (about being placed with mature students) as i'm not sure if this will mean I am placed with adults such as those 30+, etc. i do enjoy socialising but am worried about noisy 18 y/o's who will be going out all the time lmao, however i'm not too fussed. i'm thinking of the Barnes ensuite superior rooms.. what are these like??

Hello there! Keele classifies all students at the age 21 and over as mature students. If you do tick the option to be placed with mature students, you iwll most likely be placed in a flat with students who are 21 and over. I don't see how you will be placed with students who are all 30+! I lived in the en-suite superior rooms last year and our flat had a good mix of people age wise. We had a few 18-19 year olds, two 20 year olds and a 23 year old. We all got along really well despite being from different age groups. I am actually living with one of them this year and will be living with another flatmate of mine from uni halls, next year!
As for your question on what the rooms are like, they are the latest and best set of rooms at Keele. You will be in a flat with 8 people sharing a kitchen. You will have an en-suite and a double bed in your rooms, along with a table and lots of storage space (I miss the storage so much, now that I am not living there anymore)! I genuinely had one of the best years in my flat and it was really difficult to say goodbye to everyone at the end of the year! The best thing about the en-suite superior rooms is that you have space and independence when you need it, with the en-suites and the big rooms but your flatmates are still a door knock away!
Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask! :smile:

Reply 12

sese20

5

Original post by Keele Student Ambassador1

Hello there! Keele classifies all students at the age 21 and over as mature students. If you do tick the option to be placed with mature students, you iwll most likely be placed in a flat with students who are 21 and over. I don't see how you will be placed with students who are all 30+! I lived in the en-suite superior rooms last year and our flat had a good mix of people age wise. We had a few 18-19 year olds, two 20 year olds and a 23 year old. We all got along really well despite being from different age groups. I am actually living with one of them this year and will be living with another flatmate of mine from uni halls, next year!
As for your question on what the rooms are like, they are the latest and best set of rooms at Keele. You will be in a flat with 8 people sharing a kitchen. You will have an en-suite and a double bed in your rooms, along with a table and lots of storage space (I miss the storage so much, now that I am not living there anymore)! I genuinely had one of the best years in my flat and it was really difficult to say goodbye to everyone at the end of the year! The best thing about the en-suite superior rooms is that you have space and independence when you need it, with the en-suites and the big rooms but your flatmates are still a door knock away!
Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask! :smile:

thank you for the detailed response!! I did tick the option in the end but not too fussed either way :smile:

where would you say the nearest town is for shops, restaurants, etc and how long does it take to get there?

Reply 13

Keele University

13

Original post by sese20

thank you for the detailed response!! I did tick the option in the end but not too fussed either way :smile:

where would you say the nearest town is for shops, restaurants, etc and how long does it take to get there?

Hi @sese20!

The nearest town to campus is Newcastle and it's a 15/20 minute bus ride - or a slightly longer walk in the nice weather! There's a regular bus service from the campus into town. Newcastle has the majority of shops you'll need, as well as a few supermarkets, a decent cinema and plenty of restuarants.

You can also get buses to Stoke-on-Trent (there's a larger shopping centre at Hanley as well aa bigger cinema, theatres etc), and the nearest train station is at Stoke as well. That has mainline access to Manchester, Birmingham and other nearby cities.

You can find more info about the buses from Keele at https://www.keele.ac.uk/bus/

Amy :smile:

Original post by sese20

thank you for the detailed response!! I did tick the option in the end but not too fussed either way :smile:

where would you say the nearest town is for shops, restaurants, etc and how long does it take to get there?

Not a problem! Glad I could help! :smile:

Reply 15

Tired_Sphinx

OP

8

Hi again,

What is freshers going to b like for us this year with social distancing?
Are there any stalls in freshers that have second-hand books or stuff from previous students?
Does anyone know how they're going to have 8 people per household for accommodation when some rooms and stuff are 20+ people normally?

Thank u

Reply 16

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

22

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

Hi again,

What is freshers going to b like for us this year with social distancing?
Are there any stalls in freshers that have second-hand books or stuff from previous students?
Does anyone know how they're going to have 8 people per household for accommodation when some rooms and stuff are 20+ people normally?

Thank u

KeeleSU have yet to announce their arrangements for the Freshers period. You're best following their Facebook page to keep updated. :smile:

The library run a "textbook rescue" initiative usually, providing textbooks to new students that the departing students have donated.

I imagine some rooms will be empty so that the most you have to a corridor is 8. However in most of Keele's halls 8 to a kitchen is fairly standard. Not all accommodation on campus is the same obviously, and many are larger, but depending on where you go there'll often be 8 rooms to a corridor anyway. :smile:

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

Hi again,

What is freshers going to b like for us this year with social distancing?
Are there any stalls in freshers that have second-hand books or stuff from previous students?
Does anyone know how they're going to have 8 people per household for accommodation when some rooms and stuff are 20+ people normally?

Thank u

Hi there!

Im going to e-mail the Students Union to find out if they have any information in terms of how freshers week will run and if they have a list of stalls that will be there. They do quite often have stalls with second hand books :smile:

I will also e-mail the accommodations team for you to see if they have put any plans in place yet.

You can keep up to date with where the university is at in terms of the coronavirus here - https://www.keele.ac.uk/coronavirus/. It may be useful! :smile:

As soon as I get replies, ill forward the information on to you! :smile:

Original post by Tired_Sphinx

Hi again,

What is freshers going to b like for us this year with social distancing?
Are there any stalls in freshers that have second-hand books or stuff from previous students?
Does anyone know how they're going to have 8 people per household for accommodation when some rooms and stuff are 20+ people normally?

Thank u

Hi there again!

So the response that I received from the accommodations office was as follows -

'Updates and information will be published on the University Website so they are advised to keep a check of that. At present we don't have any further information that what has been published.

The following links may be useful -

https://www.keele.ac.uk/coronavirus/operations/

https://www.keele.ac.uk/coronavirus/applicants/

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance.'

The Students Unions response was as follows -

'We are still planning and discussing how this will work ourselves. We currently are planning a number of options and don't have any finalised plans.'

I know this probably isn't the clarity you want and for that, I can only apologise. As you can imagine, universities are working hard to change everything in order to adhere to government guidance! If i here anything else, I will jump on this post and let you know.

Reply 19

Tired_Sphinx

OP

8

Original post by Keele Student Ambassador

Hi there again!

So the response that I received from the accommodations office was as follows -

'Updates and information will be published on the University Website so they are advised to keep a check of that. At present we don't have any further information that what has been published.

The following links may be useful -

https://www.keele.ac.uk/coronavirus/operations/

https://www.keele.ac.uk/coronavirus/applicants/

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance.'

The Students Unions response was as follows -

'We are still planning and discussing how this will work ourselves. We currently are planning a number of options and don't have any finalised plans.'

I know this probably isn't the clarity you want and for that, I can only apologise. As you can imagine, universities are working hard to change everything in order to adhere to government guidance! If i here anything else, I will jump on this post and let you know.

thank u for looking for me

What is the accommodation at Keele like????

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