What is the best Sheffield Hallam Accomodation?

I'm beginning an undergraduate degree at Hallam and most of my course will be taught at City Campus. Just looking at the accommodation options and wondered what people think are the best. Thanks.

Hey there @imnotonline !

I think it completely depends what your non-negotiables are and what you're looking for in an accommodation but I can run over some general points about each one if that helps.

The Anvil
Haven't stayed here or visited so can only tell you about the general location. It sits in a quiet area of the heart of the city but is very close to local amenities such as a Puregym and lots of local corner shops. Your closest supermarket is an Aldi but if you wanted to walk around 5 minutes further, there's also an Asda.

Beton House
I stayed here in first year. Overall a nice accommodation with very large rooms, probably the largest uni rooms I've seen and a very big kitchen too. The plug sockets are in very convenient places and the wifi is a good speed too. It sits literally right next to the train station so it's very convenient, it's also a 10 minute walk to city campus. The downsides to the accommodation I would say is that it sits on a very large hill, it can get very tiring to walk up and down it everytime you want to leave as everything is at the bottom of the hill. You're only allowed 5 devices on the wifi which wasn't explained to me before I moved in. I know that sounds like a lot of devices anyway but for someone who has a phone, iPad, laptop, xbox and tv that they use everyday, it meant that when my friends came over they couldn't get on the wifi for example if we needed to do a group project. I would also say it isn't a very social accommodation, there was barely anything going on between flats and it wasn't easy to make friends. You ended up hanging out with the same 3 flats because they were the only social ones in the accommodation. The accommodation people did try and organise events but not many people went to them.

Brittain Street
I think these are just two beds and studios so I'd recommend looking for a larger flat so it's easier to make friends. Not really heard much about these to be honest but location-wise it sits on a main road and is very close to a gym and an Aldi.

Central Quay
This accommodation is probably the one that's furthest away from city campus. I had friends that had to set off ages before I did for university lectures. It is right above a Tesco Express so there's very close amenities. It's also quite close to West Street which is where the majority of bars and clubs are.

The Elements
The Elements is one of the most social accommodations and I've visited there a couple of times. The rooms have lots of storage and they're nice bathrooms. The kitchens are all different sizes so you may end up with a larger one than others. The accommodation is around a 10 minute walk from city campus and close to an Aldi. There's also a Spar garage station right next to it that I believe is the one that is famous on TikTok.

Exchange Works
This is one of the closest accommodations to the city campus and is situated very much in the city centre. The rooms are up stairs unless you live on the ground floor and there's no lift. It may prove more difficult when moving in but the flats themselves are really nice. Rooms are your average uni-sized room, nothing exceptional but there's storage and a 3/4 bed.

The Forge
The Forge is another accommodation that's really social. It sits in an Aldi car park which is great for your weekly food shop. It's run by the same housing company as Beton House who were always really lovely. It's probably a little bit further from city campus than the others but still not a bad location at all. It has a bad reputation because it used to be run by UNITE but has since been taken over.

The Gate
I stayed here in second year, it was a lovely accommodation and they were really good with getting our deposits back to us easily and quickly. The wifi was great, very quick and had no issues. The rooms were a regular size, I paid extra for a larger room but probably wouldn't pay the extra again. My only misgivings with the accommodation were that it sits on the main street in Sheffield City Centre. There used to be a nightclub on that road which kept me up at night but it has since closed. I can still hear everyone walking home from a night out at 3 in the morning and sometimes it did wake me up but I'm quite a light sleeper sometimes so it just depends really. I also felt like it wasn't very well ran. Maintenance requests were answered quickly but sometimes the solution wasn't always the most efficient one. One of my flatmates had a leak in her walls just before Christmas and their solution to this was to stuff toilet paper in the vents. They used her own toilet paper to stuff in the vent and they left it there for the remainder of the year and never came back to fix it. By the end of the tenancy, my flatmate took the toilet paper out and it was obviously mouldy from the damp that had leaked through the walls. Sometimes when I went down to reception to express my concerns about things, they weren't always listened to. There was a period of time towards the end of the tenancy where they'd listen to everything you said because there was a survey we had to complete about our experience. There was also an instance where they'd encourage everyone to leave them a 5 star review and if they did they'd be entered into a prize draw to win an iPad. It felt slightly scammy to me, especially since the management had not been that great. The people themselves were lovely but they didn't have a clue about any of the questions I asked them about the property and maintenance was sometimes a bit shoddy. I had many occasions they asked for permission to enter the flat for various reasons and I remember one time I'd said no because I had Covid and they came in anyway and tried to come into my room whilst I was exhausted in bed with covid symptoms. We were told that over the Christmas holidays, someone would be coming into the flats to run the taps to make sure it didn't grow bacteria, we came back and our taps were mouldy and the water coming out was cloudy. When we first moved in our rooms were a state, one of my flatmates had chocolate bar wrappers all over her floor and I found toenail clippings under my bed so the flat obviously hadn't been checked over. I would say overall for the amount you pay for it, you don't get your money's worth. You're basically paying for the aesthetic, which is lovely, but was never worth it to me because of how poorly ran the accommodation was.

LIV Student
This is probably the most expensive accommodation and again I feel like you're paying for the aesthetic. They have a free pastry and coffee you can get every morning which I suppose is an incentive for you to go for that accommodation. Everyone I know who has stayed there has said it's just average. It's not terrible and it's not amazing, it's just your bog-standard student accommodation. All the aesthetic is in the downstairs and the reception area but it doesn't follow through to the rest of the building. It's also the furthest accommodation from city campus, along with the Forge. Usually it's recommended for people studying at Collegiate but if you wanted the extra walk then I don't see any reason not to go for it.

Norfolk Gardens
Also at the top of the hill that Beton House is on so bare that in mind. I never hear anyone commenting on this accommodation so can only talk about the location. It's definitely a lower price point if you wanted to save money but I feel like Central Quay is the same price and from the photos and my friends rooms I've seen, is a lot better quality.

The Pinnacles
This one is just slightly further than Beton House. It's just right outside the tram line so you will hear the tram but it's no where near as loud as a train would be. My friends who stayed here would have to set off a little bit earlier for lectures but the accommodation itself is overall a good size and well organised. The rooms are decently sized as well. It's close to a tram stop as well which makes it easier to get to Meadowhall and IKEA.

Summerfield Street
I genuinely couldn't tell you a thing about it. I've never heard of anyone who's stayed there but it's definitely far away and around a half an hour walk from city campus. It looks a decent price as well.

The Trigon
It's located on a main road so can get quite noisy during the day. There's a gym near by and your closest supermarkets are Aldi and Asda. The rooms are your average uni-accommodation size. It's not a bad price either, I've had friends who stayed there and said they really enjoyed it. It's around a 5 minute walk from city campus so in a really good location too.

Westhill Hall
It's in a really good city centre location and is close to the major city centre shops and a lot of clubs and bars too. It's around a 15 minute walk from city campus and appears quite social as well. The rooms aren't a bad size either. It's situated just outside Devonshire Green which is a popular student spot especially in the summer.

Hope this helped! If you have any more questions then please let me know...
Lucy - Digital Student Ambassador SHU