Thread for accommodation questions for 09/10 entry - READ & POST HERE FIRST :o)

How are the carpets in the rooms like? Are they washed and shampooed when students leave for the holidays? Or do the rooms smell funky because of them.

Well the rooms/flats are rented out to tourists over the summer so the chances are that they're cleaned after the students leave and between each occupant to the level that a hotel or other holiday property is cleaned. In some of the older properties, the carpets aren't in the best condition, but they are generally clean. And if you're fussy/paranoid you can easily put a rug down.

hi, im choosing the hall to live in this september, on the uni website, it says there're three types of rooms: large/standard/small, but doesn't tell the difference? would small rooms be really small.. ?

Heating in the flats is provided by storage heaters which take in energy overnight and give out
heat during the following day. They also incorporate a separate fan heater which can be used at
any time to augment the heating. Please use this sensibly and do not leave it on when you are
out of the room.
Hot water also heats up automatically overnight. There should be a supply of hot water in the
mornings for showers, etc. Once this is used up you will need to use the boost button on the
water heater unit located in your kitchen to heat additional water. Please note that the water
takes approximately one hour to heat after the boost button has been pressed.

so is heating available at night? the hot water thing sounds kind of old fashioned, will there be a shortage of hot water.. ?

also, does anyone know about the rooms in kincaid/college wynd/robertson close/darroch/new arthur.. ? which ones are better?

thanks in advance

I just toured inside some of the rooms in the halls, and they all smelled a bit weird; the virgin train I took to Edinburgh smelled better. :s Any idea why? I'm a bit worried as I am sensitive to smells.

No. Everybody has roughly the same chances of getting the accommodation that they want, regardless of when they become unconditionals.

Too bad Just out of curiosity, what kind of system do they use to determine who ends up where (or who gets their first choice and who doesn't)?

Sorry if it's already been mentioned, I read the first few pages of the thread, but I really don't feel like looking through all 20.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of system do they use to determine who ends up where (or who gets their first choice and who doesn't)

Hi, you might like to try reading the first post in this thread, and the Edinburgh wiki article. People get pretty tired of answering these kinds of questions over and over, hence why we have this helpful sticky thread with the big opening post

Hey,

I read the wiki and the other pages,

Still can't really see what the difference is between halls and flats though??

Also, the wiki article says that self catered accomodation is either in halls or flats, but when I looked on the Edinburgh accomodation website, I can't seem to distinguish which ones are halls and which ones are flats - most of them say "...has 85 single study bedrooms, with typically four rooms per flat"

Thanks

Hey,

I read the wiki and the other pages,

Still can't really see what the difference is between halls and flats though??

Also, the wiki article says that self catered accomodation is either in halls or flats, but when I looked on the Edinburgh accomodation website, I can't seem to distinguish which ones are halls and which ones are flats - most of them say "...has 85 single study bedrooms, with typically four rooms per flat"

Thanks

This will sound completely ridiculous, but I'm a bit worried about shared laundry facilities. I've never actually seen anything like a laundromat/laundrette, except in movies, and the whole concept is like a small culture shock to me

How much of a hassle are laundrettes really?

And do people usually stick around till their laundry's done or do they come back for it later?

Thing is, I'm just a few clicks away from sending away my accomm. application. But I can't decide whether I should try applying for Darroch. I know the chances of getting in are slim, but if it's worth it, applying can't hurt.

So, is applying for Darroch Court worth it, given the laundrette hassle of all the other s/c options?? I'm not talking about whether it pays off financially, cos I've done the maths and it doesn't, but just hassle-wise?

How much of a hassle are laundrettes really?

At Edinburgh, self catered accommodation is generally in flats of 5 or 6 people (single sex) where you share a front door, kitchen and bathrooms. Then halls are catered (ie: Pollock Halls) where you may/may not share a bathroom and you live on a corridor. There are a few exceptions - some of the flats in Kincades have 12 people living in them and are more like being in a hall for this reason, and I think West Mains Road, Kitchener and David Horn are also more halls style rather than flats with kitchens dotted along the corridors. Basically, the vast majority of the university s/c accommodation is flats, the only exceptions (that I'm aware of) are the ones I've mentioned above... all the ones you're reading about which say X amount of study bedrooms with X rooms per flat are all in the first style I mentioned, obviously.

What's it like going home, say, after a night out (on your own, of course)? Is it really quiet and deserted? Lighting?

so if you're of a paranoid disposition, you'll easily find people to share cabs with.