Differences between Westwood blocks

Could someone please explain the differences between Cotswold Derhill Wolfson, Quantock Conygre, and Mendip Quarry. Is one considered better than the others? Thanks!

Hi there - thanks for your question! I'm a 3rd year chemical engineering student at the University of Bath and I lived in Westwood in my 1st year.

The prices and contract info below is for 2020-21 academic year (subject to change for other years). Further information and rooms tours can be found here.

Westwood accomodation have 2 styles of layout: horizontal and vertical. Some blocks have been refurbished, others haven't. All rooms come with a sink, shared bathrooms and kitchens and are self-catered.

Cotswold, Derhill, Quantock and Conygre (all refurbished)

Layout: vertical
Number of rooms per flat: 19
Number of kitchens per flat: 2
Cost: £140 a week (Cotswold and Derhill are £5,600 for the full 40 week contract whereas Quantock and Conygre are £5,320 for the full 38 week contract)

All 4 of these blocks are exactly the same (only difference is the length of contract). There is a kitchen on the bottom floor and another on the top, with toilets / showers scattered on other floors. The bedrooms vary quite a lot in size - some are smaller than others and it's pure luck which one you end up with. I did not see all of the rooms in these blocks so don't have as good of an idea about the sizes. As with all Westwood blocks, the fact that you have multiple kitchens means the flat does tend to split into 2 depending on which kitchen you end up using, as these are the people you see more frequently.

Each block (eg. Cotswold) has 5 houses side by side. I don't have personal experience of living in the vertical blocks but they did seem more practical from a social element. They also had sofas and a TV when I was in 1st year - I am assuming this is the same now.


Mendip, Quarry and Wolfson

Layout: horizontal
Number of rooms per flat: 25
Number of kitchens per flat: 3
Cost:
Mendip and Quarry (not refurbished) = £138 a week (£5,244 for the full 38 week contract)
Wolfson (refurbished) = £140 a week (£5,600 for the full 40 week contract)

This is where I lived in 1st year. Each block has 5 floors, with a flat on each floor. The flat consists of a very long corridor with rooms on either sides, 3 kitchens (2 large and 1 small) and 2 bathrooms (one bathroom had stalls of toilets and some shower rooms, the other just had 2 shower rooms). As I said before, the flat did tend to split into the 2 kitchens (quite a long walk from one end to the other!), but everyone in the flat knew each other fairly well.

I would say the horizontal layout had less communal space than the vertical layout. We did not have rooms for sofas and it was quite a squeeze in freshers week to fit the whole flat into one kitchen. With limited social space, people did tend to gather in the corridors to socialise. The rooms often tended to be smaller compared to the vertical blocks. While rooms in the vertical blocks varied in size and some fairly big, rooms in Mendip, Quarry and Wolfson are really quite small. There is a decent amount of storage and shelving, but the rooms are very narrow. There is just about enough room to have a guest sleep over on the floor, but it is a very tight squeeze.

I lived in a not refurbished block but I also visited the refurbished block (Wolfson). The main difference is that they had painted the walls (yellowy/green to white) and had upgraded the kitchen. In the Mendip / Quarry kitchens, there is 1 sink and 1 oven for about 10-12 people (depending on how the kitchen space ends up being split up). This wasn't ideal and often you had to wait to cook, or time your cooking to avoid people. We also did not have a TV. In Wolfson, there were 2 ovens and 2 sinks per kitchen (however this did result in less counter space - people often had to use the table to prepare food). There was also a wall put up in the middle of the kitchen for the TV, which somewhat separated the kitchen and dining space - this did signficantly reduce the space in these kitchens.

Which is best?

This is personal preference really and all of Westwood is pretty similar. Fairly small, not huge amounts of social space but having a lot of people in your flat means you're more likely to meet people you get on with, and it can definitely be more social. At the end of the day, which accomodation block you end up in does not make a huge difference to your uni experience - it more depends on who you live with and that's not something you can control!

If I were to choose again, I would probably opt for a vertical layout (Cotswold, Derhill, Quantock or Conygre) as these generally had a little bit more room and just felt more light and airy compared to a very long corridor of roooms. I personally wouldn't opt for Wolfson over Mendip/Quarry as the the kitchen space was a lot smaller (although the additional oven and sink are a perk, and it is closer to the centre of campus which is useful). Having said that, if you are looking at standard accomodation, I would recommend Eastwood over Westwood as you get more for your money in terms of space (plus they're houses rather than flats which I also think is nicer).

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions

Leah
3rd Year Chemical Engineering

Thank you for such a great response! I was actually leaning towards Eastwood but I was worried that it was the most affordable due to it being of a worse quality. Out of all the accommodations which would you say is the best shared bathroom accommodation (I will mostly cook for myself if that is relevant)? Thanks so much

Could someone please explain the differences between Cotswold Derhill Wolfson, Quantock Conygre, and Mendip Quarry. Is one considered better than the others? Thanks!