The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
That rees Hall Looks nice it looks like its the central part of Portsmouth and theres internet access i think :s-smilie: soo that means late night msn :p: But what do the current students of Portsmouth say is the best hall to stay at and what one has the most partys and get togethers ?!?! Be honest :smile:

Also How is freshers week at portsmouth is it crazy ?! or is it just relax ((everyones getting to know each other)) ?

Hope to see some of your views :smile:

www.myspace.com/g2da3

thanks again :smile:
Reply 2
Firstly this needs to be a poll.

Secondly, all the guidhall halls tend to be close to everything, although I'm glad I got James Watson because it is the closest to everything and is the newest halls.

Rees halls are catered and are pretty decent, although there are about a 15minute walk from the nearest bar.

James Watson halls are right next to the main bars. Also, you don't really need to worry about halls at the moment - Portsmouth is unlike other uni's and when you confirm your place with them they send everyone their halls application form some time in May (I think).

Freshers week can be whatever you want it to be - for me, and most people it was pretty crazy. Getting to know everyone and enrolling during the day, then getting really drunk and staying out all night - you'll love it.

As for internet access, all halls have 10MB broadband. Plus there is wireless internet about the uni so you can always have a browse in your lectures!


EDIT: Is Pompey your first choice then? Where abouts in London are you from?
Rees Hall 15 minutes from the nearest bar? We're surrounded by bars and pubs! :cool:

Rees is the best for the following reasons:

There is a chance you could get a room like mine (double bed, spectacular sea view)

The food. Sometimes bad, most of the time as good as anything you'd cook yourself.

The location: 15 minutes walk from pretty much anywhere you would ever need to go in Portsmouth. The beach, Gunwharf Quays, Albert Road, University buildings, Commercial Road, bars and restaurants... nowhere is more than 15 minutes away. Plus it's in the nicest, least chav-infested part of town. It's right down by the sea, and is located right in the middle of...

SOUTHSEA COMMON! Anyone who has been a student in Portsmouth in the summer will back me up when I say that this is the best place ever. It's just miles and miles of open green space, and you can do whatever you want on it. In the summer the place is covered with bbqs, parties, people playing football / frisbee / whatever, people sunbathing... it's just a great place.

The staff. With the exception of one miserable git on reception and a couple of fearsome dinner ladies, they are all really cool.

Kev's Home of the Greedy, aka the burger van outside. This place is a godsend on Saturday and Sunday nights.

The bathrooms. Believe me, it really does make a difference to have your own shower and toilet.

The TV lounges. There are two, both with huge widescreen TVs, and at least one of the TVs has freeview. I don't know about the other one, as I never use it.

Obviously it has its faults. Here are just a few;

The price. £103 per week is an insane amount to pay. Although absolutely everything is included in that price; you don't have to pay extra for meals, for example. And when you think about it, it works out about the same price as living in self-catered halls (when you think about how much money you would spend on food & drink per week, how much of it gets wasted etc etc). At least in catered halls you know that you will be fed, when you will get fed and there is not so much temptation to eat crap all the time.

The atmosphere. I love living here, but it does lack something. Since you have your own room and you don't cook your own meals, there are no communal areas where people on the same floor can hang out. Unless you're the kind of person who is happy to go around knocking on everyone's door to make friends, it can be easy just to stay in your room and just hang around with your direct neighbours. Although again, to compensate for this, when you have dinner you eat with all 300 (or however many people there are) who live in Rees Hall and Burrell House. It's a great way to meet new people, and something you don't get in the self-catered halls.

The food. I've put it as a negative point as well as a positive, because occasionally (and it is quite rare) the food is really bad. It's mainly at the weekend, when apparently none of the kitchen staff can be bothered to cook decent food. They think it'll be ok just to fry a bunch of crap and serve it up to us. Please don't let this put you off though; most of the time the food is great, and occasionally it is really really superb.

Fire Alarms. This applies to all halls really, but they're particularly bad when they happen at Rees in the winter. Being right by the sea, it's windy, and it's f***ing freezing. Some people find fire alarms hilarious. I personally hate them, and would quite happily castrate the people who set them off. But that's another story.

That's Rees Hall in a nutshell. If I think of anything else, or if any of you would like to add to it, feel free. :cool:
Reply 4
my comment about 15minutes from the nearest bar I was referring to Guidhall.

JW halls are the closest halls to Guidhall (bars), the closest to the union and the closest the the majority of the uni buildings, particuarly handy if you do a business related degree - I can leave my room at 8.50 in the morning and be there just on time for my lecture.

Everyone has their own personal opinons as to which is best.

I personally could not live in a catered hall because I like to eat when I want - I would never be up for breakfast either.

In comparision the rooms are bigger, as are the bathrooms, but like I said it all comes down to personal preference
Reply 5
Yeah, i agree with skribla, it should be a poll.

To be honest, i think that James Watson is the best halls to live in, though the fire alarms are a b**** (but you do get over them, and on a strange level it's great bonding time.) They are closest to the town and gun wharf, so in terms of shopping it's great. It's also close to the most frequented bars and there's also Route 66 there too, so you really wouldn't have to go very far. Boradband Internet is included in rent price.

Trafalgar halls is also a very nice hall, but god forbid you be on the top floor when the lifts break. Anyway, it's also pretty close, an extra three minutes from JW. But in my opinion, when your breaking your arms carrying things back from tesco, that three minutes makes life or death.

Bateson is, in most peoples opinion the worst halls, although i know some people that live there and love it. Bateson is even closer to town, and not very far away from the frequented bars either. Ditto with Harry law as it's right opposite. Harry law is pretty alright inside, though some people have said bad about it, though i can't much see why. HOWEVER - WARNING: lock your rooms every time you leave it if you live in Bateson or Harry law, once people get into the building they can go into any flat. My friend who lives in bateson is friends someone who was robbed whilst sleeping IN their room, and the guy walked into a another room thinking no one would be in there, but two people were so he walked out again. Just lock your doors.

Rees hall looks real nice from the outside, but it's catering and people have a hard time getting up for breakfast! It's annoying in that you have to cook your own meals at the weekend and they don't provide lunch, so really i think self catering is more worth while and it's much more fun with a bigger kitchen. However, real nice views if your lucky enough to be at the front (sea views, and the sea is a two minute walk away), and southsea common is right at your door. Everything is a walk but i can't say it's a traumatising walk...though some might disagree. And if you ask me : overpriced at 104.93.

Burrel is cheaper but you don't have ensuite and believe me, it's a godsend...i'm not sure how i ever survived without it. It's next to rees hall so ditto for walk, in comparison to everything else where it is etc.
Langstone - everyone i know there hates it. It's too far away. But, that's not to say you shouldn't think about it. Some people must love it! If you've got a car that obviously helps but bare in mind that parking in portsmouth is an absolute nightmare. So really, it's only good for trips to ASDA or trips out.

So really, it depends what kind of things you have as priority....i say, start a poll :wink: Prepare for biased opinions though!
Tennessee
Rees hall looks real nice from the outside, but it's catering and people have a hard time getting up for breakfast! It's annoying in that you have to cook your own meals at the weekend and they don't provide lunch, so really i think self catering is more worth while and it's much more fun with a bigger kitchen. !


You do get breakfast and lunch at the weekend, but there is no evening meal. So you only have to make your own arrangements in the evening. Quite often you can stuff yourself with so much food at lunchtime that you don't need an evening meal anyway. I wouldn't recommend this, but it can be done. :smile:
Reply 7
Tennessee
Langstone - everyone i know there hates it. It's too far away. But, that's not to say you shouldn't think about it. Some people must love it! If you've got a car that obviously helps but bare in mind that parking in portsmouth is an absolute nightmare.


Langstone is good for people who play a lot of sport, and although some people say they enjoy it, they all say that they would prefer to be in another hall.

People in Langstone can apply for a parking permit so its good if you plan on bringing a car down, however, I would say that there is no real need to.

You'll end up as a taxi service otherwise
Yeah Langstone is good, but the distance is a bit of an issue - especially on weekends when the university buses don't run! You get used to it though and it's only for one year anyway (for most people) so it's not all that bad. It has a good atmosphere what with the bar and stuff being a good place to hang out and get to know more people!
Reply 9
Tennessee
Bateson is, in most peoples opinion the worst halls, although i know some people that live there and love it. Bateson is even closer to town, and not very far away from the frequented bars either. Ditto with Harry law as it's right opposite. Harry law is pretty alright inside, though some people have said bad about it, though i can't much see why. HOWEVER - WARNING: lock your rooms every time you leave it if you live in Bateson or Harry law, once people get into the building they can go into any flat. My friend who lives in bateson is friends someone who was robbed whilst sleeping IN their room, and the guy walked into a another room thinking no one would be in there, but two people were so he walked out again. Just lock your doors.
Not true at all. Bateson works on the same principle as JW, Traf and MR in that each flat has a door therefore you can't get into any flat, unless you prop the door open.

And the only people I know that don't like Bateson are the ones that never went there! It has the best social scene out of all halls.
Reply 10
The uni needs to do some maintenance work to james watson, all the broken tiles, loose handles on doors need to be fixed
Reply 11
richard-
The uni needs to do some maintenance work to james watson, all the broken tiles, loose handles on doors need to be fixed

Not the uni's problem mate, the building isn't owned by the uni.
Reply 12
Yeah and my bedroom seems fine. Our kitchen has a few minor things wrong but nothing major, as far as I know the staff will fix whatever's wrong if you ask them. We put on our sheet that our light was broken and that we had no microwave tray, so we didnt get charged.

And a few weeks later we asked if they could fix it and they came and did it straight away
Reply 13
Maggie Rule rocks your socks. Central to everything - the Commercial district (including Tesco - less distance to walk with heavy shopping!), the bars on Guildhall walk, the uni buildings and the train station (don't worry about noise - you can't hear anything - unlike the 3AM glass emptying at the White Swan right next to JW!).

Never had any floods or sewage leaks either because the building was made properly.. :wink:

It has 3 lifts, so unlike Harry Law, Trafalgar, JW, Rees and Burrell, if one or two lifts break down, you don't have to head straight for the stairs.. :wink: Also, you're right by Bateson Reception for having to go see them, or collect parcels etc. Same goes for collecting things from the Royal Mail.

The rooms are slightly bigger than JW and Traf too, and the hallways are much bigger - ideal for playing hallway football!
Obviously most people here are a bit biased towards the halls they were in. To try to give an unbiased view I'd recommend asking yourself what you're after. If you want to go catered then Rees in the one. As mentioned this is in an ideal location despite being away from the Guildhall bars (only by about 10 minutes). To be honest though, the bars on Guildhall aren't all that special and there are much better bars closer to Rees.

If you aren't too bothered about being catered then i'd recommend Bateson if you're a very social person, otherwise Trafalger or James Watson are ideal. Don't get me wrong, Trafalger and James Watson are obviously quite social halls too but Bateson has been for many years, for some reason, the most outrageous halls. Obviously James Watson and I believe Trafalger are both ensuite.
Reply 15
skribla

EDIT: Is Pompey your first choice then? Where abouts in London are you from?

to be honest Pompey was my first choice but after the applicant day at essex Uni i was shocked they Look good iam either going pompey or essex to read business (4yrs)

iam going back to pompey on the 17th March they sent me letter saying they want to see me again :s-smilie: I dont Know why but iam going to Go :smile: (so if you see me walking say hi :P casue iam real :redface:

I live at walthamstow (i doubt most people know where it is lol) its surrounded by leyton,chingford,tottenham

so I think its gonna be rees Hall then cause i cant cook to save my life :P

i was talking to one guy at the essex applicant day he was saying pompey the best hes been i think portsmouth is going to have lots of people wanting to come there

now all I got to think about is the student loan :s-smilie: where do i start with that can someone help me again Please :eek:

and thanks to: skribla, half face, tennessee, chris12345678, NFI, richard, praddles, spiral architect for the comments but does anyone do business :s-smilie::s-smilie: ?!?! lol
Reply 16
Woah woah woah, who said you have to be able to cook to be in non catered? If you can stick something in the microwave, you'll be fine.
Reply 17
g2da3
I live at walthamstow (i doubt most people know where it is lol)


Yeah I know that place, I used to have quite a few mates that lived around there. Years ago I used to go to the ice hockey rink on a Friday night near there!

g2da3
but does anyone do business


I do Business Economics which is essentially an Economics course but the faculty is business.

I picked JW halls because they are the closest ones to the Business school and everything else (I thought) plus, a lot of people I asked said that they would live in that one if they had their time again but it all really comes down to personal preference.

All Guidhall halls are close together. Rees is about a 15min walk to the Business school, where as James Watson is only a 5min one, I'm stupid and prefer that extra 10mins in bed! But honestly, pick which one you want, you can't go that much wrong where ever you live.
Reply 18
Living in bateson and loving it.

-Easy access to pretty much everywhere (pubs, clubs, high street, uni buildings).
-Awesome atmosphere
-Cheapest

Downsides being smallish rooms and alot of fire alarms in the first few weeks, but i guess all halls get those.
Reply 19
g2da3
to be honest Pompey was my first choice but after the applicant day at essex Uni i was shocked they Look good iam either going pompey or essex to read business (4yrs)

iam going back to pompey on the 17th March they sent me letter saying they want to see me again :s-smilie: I dont Know why but iam going to Go :smile: (so if you see me walking say hi :P casue iam real :redface:

I live at walthamstow (i doubt most people know where it is lol) its surrounded by leyton,chingford,tottenham

so I think its gonna be rees Hall then cause i cant cook to save my life :P

i was talking to one guy at the essex applicant day he was saying pompey the best hes been i think portsmouth is going to have lots of people wanting to come there

now all I got to think about is the student loan :s-smilie: where do i start with that can someone help me again Please :eek:

and thanks to: skribla, half face, tennessee, chris12345678, NFI, richard, praddles, spiral architect for the comments but does anyone do business :s-smilie::s-smilie: ?!?! lol


I do business, i live in Rees and i think it is a quality halls. Burrel is a ****hole, never go there unless it is to terrorise. The good thing about Rees is that because it's format is that of a hotel, if you don't like your neighbour you just don't need to interact or talk to him. I've never seen my neighbour since i've been there. Unlike in the other self catering halls where you have to live with the same 6 people or whatever for a year. Also, you get to know more people. During the first few weeks, there was alot of corridor parties so you get to know people, but remember to lock your door as me and a few others found some kids door unlocked and he was sitting there havin a tommy tank stark naked.

I think the food is good. If not, you can get a takeaway curry for £5, an 86p microwave meal from Tesco or if you can't be arsed to do the shopping just raid the fridges. (Floor 6 and 2 have been jackpots so far). Breakfast is quality. Fry up every morning and you don't even have to go to bed. Quite a few of the lads just do all nighters then go to bed after breakfast. Me, i just make sure i go to bed around 2-3ish, get about 6-7 hours sleep and be up in time for breakfast and your sorted till dinner.

It's about a 10 minute walk to the union and about 15 mins to the main bars etc but i think most of them are pretty **** and expensive. I wouldn't go into Guildhall of a weekend in fear of getting raped by sailors. It's the closest halls to Time and Envy, about a 15 min walk to Tiger Tiger and that's all you need to know really. It usually takes me about 5 mins to get to my lectures, when i can be bothered, as i bought a bmx from halfords for £30 which is locked up to the railings outside Rees so it's either been nicked or covered in rust.

Monday nights are quite good in the halls as after Tiger Tiger everyone comes home a bit rowdy and there has been a fight on 4 consecutive mondays so monday is now the official fight night. Fire Alarms are a laugh, people get pissed off, i get pissed off, but it's funny. Security there are a bunch of idiots really, except for a few. They don't know what to do in a fight and you can easily run from them as most of them are fat bastards.

Although, i'd quite like to live in Bateson, just for a laugh.