Keele Shared vs Ensuite?

Is it worth stretching my budget for an ensuite at Keele?

I am planning on firming my offer for a 2021 start, and am currently looking at accomodation. However, due to not being able to visit, i have no clue what the shared bathrooms look like.

I have emetophobia, and just generally don't do the best with germs, so will not be the best if there's evidence of a heavy night out in the shared bathrooms...

Could anyone please let me know whether they're really THAT gross?

Reply 1

Keele Rep

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hi!

I can't speak to the bathrooms at Keele specifically - I've not lived in on-campus accommodation myself - however communal kitchens and bathrooms within accommodation block are cleaned every week by the university cleaning team who, in my experience, are very thorough!

It is however primarily the responsibility of the student residents to keep communal areas clean and tidy so I suspect that the answer to your question will depend upon how clean your fellow flatmates are! There is a Domestic Supervisor who will keep an eye on communal areas within accommodation blocks and you can report cleaning problems to them if you're having particular trouble, with communal charges in place for those households who don't subsequently clean up areas deemed unacceptable.

Part of sharing communal kitchens and bathroom (and indeed sharing accommodation generally) is learning to negotiate with your housemates about your living arrangements. Our Resident Advisors (https://www.keele.ac.uk/students/residencelife/residentadvisers/) and wider accommodation team are also on hand to help with this and can help you and your flatmates set up 'social agreements', or step in to support you if there are any problems. The SU also have some tips on living with housemates at https://keelesu.com/advice/accommodation/housemates/.

When I lived in student accommodation during my undergraduate degree at Aberystwyth, I opted for a halls with a shared bathroom and it honestly wasn't too bad. The kitchen occasionally got a bit icky (we had a couple of housemates who seemed to be allergic to washing up) but the bathrooms were usually kept very clean as none of us wanted to be showering/washing in a dirty space. The resident advisors and maintenance/cleaning team were also pretty hot on addressing any serious issues such as blocked toilets/sinks, or particularly inconsiderate behaviour.

That said, if you have specific needs in this area, it makes sense to consider having control of your own space if you can afford it. One thing you realise when you go to uni is that some people do have very different standards of living to your own and there is only so much you can do to control that. Having an ensuite room would give you direct control over your own bathroom space.

I'm tagging in @Keele Student Ambassador1 and @Keele University in case they have anything further they can add in terms of advice/experiences. You might also find it helpful to talk to some of our current students about their experiences of living on campus and sharing accommodation - we have a number of students available to live chat with on the Unibuddy platform and you can find their details at https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/chat/. There's also some great blogs about accommodation, including one by Emily on Choosing Accomodation at Keele (https://api.unibuddy.co/og/keele-university/blogs/5ecaddd43d4be712e1d8b75f), Lucy sharing her experience of moving into her accommodation in her first year (https://api.unibuddy.co/og/keele-university/blogs/5ece3f019ca5d2040ec4812e), and Amit explaining the role of the Resident Advisors (https://api.unibuddy.co/og/keele-university/blogs/5f02064786a5d4455d879cbe).

Hope that helps!

Amy Louise :smile:

(edited 3 years ago)

Keele University

Keele

Reply 2

Keele Students

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

Hello there!

I think I have to agree with Amy on everything she mentioned about living in shared accommodation. I lived on Keele campus during my first year and I chose to go for an en-suite, so I thought it might be worth me sharing my experience. I chose an en-suite in my first year because I liked the idea of having that privacy. Also, as Amy mentioned in her response, different people have different standards of living. I thought, since I have never met my flatmates at that point, it might be a good idea to go for my own bathroom space. I am also one of those people who will clean up after anyone! I struggle with leaving things messy and disorganised and I like to have control over my space. So I opted for an en-suite in my first year. Then as I got to know my flatmates better, I decided to share a house off campus with two of them as we all had very similar living standards! Therefore, if you are able to afford it, it might be a good option to try the en-suites in your first year. Since I have moved out of campus accommodation my rent has been significantly lower because it's split between three of us. Therefore, I think it makes up for the more expensive accommodation I had in my first year and I got to pick two people I am really comfortable around to live with. :smile:

Reply 3

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

Hi,
I'm in the Barnes Classic rooms, there are normally 14-15 people but because of covid there only 8 of us in each flat. We have a bathroom on each floor (so due to covid 4 people to 1 toilet and 2 showers). I can only speak for the girls shared bathrooms. The showers can have hair in them but that's not a problem, I usually wear flipflops when going in. The toilets are clean, people usually take their own toilet roll in or we share a roll, it just sorta depends. Same with soap as well all have sinks in our rooms so some people use the toilet sink others use their own. When we're drunk most people are sick in their own sinks and if they're sick in the communal toilet they clean it up the next day. We did have a month when the cleaner didn't come, probably due to covid, so it did get slightly messier but if you're bothered by it not being clean talk to your flatmates about it. Others will help cleaning if you feel like not a lot is being done (this all depends on your flatmates but mine are helpful). Overall It's pretty good with 8 people, but I don't know if I would like living here with the normal amount of people as it would probably be messier but for £3900 its a good deal.
I hope this helps :smile:

Reply 4

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

I've had both en-suite and shared bathrooms at Keele (both before covid).
Shared bathroom - Horwood, 2 showers and 1 toilet between 8 of us
En-suite - Holly Cross

Simple fact is - how your flatmates treat your bathroom depends on who you are sharing with. So it is a gamble as you won't know who you're sharing with.

However, Keele does (or at least, did 3 years ago) employ cleaners who would clean all communal areas (and your room) every week. So if germs is the worry, then I should think you should be alright. There are options to share bathrooms with smaller groups. The Barnes shared flats for example (slightly different to Barnes classic) are shared between 4.

Me personally, I never had any issues with hygiene. The only issue I ever had with a shared bathroom was when I needed the toilet and somebody else was in it. However, I was sharing a toilet with 7 others - so the fewer people in your flat, the less of an issue that becomes.

However, the good news is you won't be in Hawthorns - where you'd have 1 bathroom between 16 or something ridiculous like that. Hawthorns has now been knocked down and turned into a housing development. Which is a shame on the business of the local pub.

Hope this info is helpful. :smile: