University of Bath - cheapest accommodation £360 per month - currently not worth 1p

regprentice

wow... sounds like better accomodation than i had at the university of east london and cheaper too... and that was thirteen years ago.

Baths a lovely place, i'd happily suffer a basic room for the privilege of studying at an excellent university in a lovely town. When i last stayed there myself my wife and i stayed at the YMCA... cant imagine it was cheaper or nicer than the halls but didn't spoil our experience at all.

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Well reg, glad you were as happy as the proverbial, but there's acceptable and then there's acceptable. So let me relate the Butlins story to you

We once booked Butlins for the weekend because there was a great live act scheduled and hey, we just thought it might be a good crack to slum it (to an acceptable extent, mind).

So we check in, and get the keys to our rooms and head round there.

Not good.

So back to reception we go and tell them we are really sorry but we aren't used to that standard so could we please have something more acceptable.

"No problem ! We can put you in one of the refurbished rooms on the other side - we get many guests here who are used to the other kind of thing at home, or are just happy with something basic, but we do appreciate it isn't everyone's cup of tea. We understand that. Hope you enjoy the new rooms. Here's your keys - let us know if there's anything more we can offer you. Have a great day!"

Great new rooms. Night and day. No mention of any extra charge of course.

Another story: Stayed in a European hotel recently, a Ramada. 5 nights, 4* but great cheap rates via two internet middlemen. I am an MSE'er. Arrived quite late in the evening. First room quite pleasant but a little unusual as it was fitted out for the disabled. Found that the free WiFi we were expecting didn't work on the iPad unless we stood right next to the door. Called reception, arranged to swap next day.

Swapped next day when we arrived back after a whole day out. WiFi worked but that night (2nd night) we discovered the room's connecting door had zero sound insulation. There was actually a gap under it! Heard every word from the neighbours and they were a happy go lucky trio of girls I think all with the need to report home on their phones before bed... yak yak yak he he he wow OMG wow oh wow! Luckily they slept at a reasonable hour and woke us only half an hour earlier than our alarm was set for breakfast. So after breakfast on the second morning we arranged to swap again. Brought our bags down for them to move into the new room during the day. Got given receipts for them.

Arrived back at around 2300 on that 3rd evening and asked for our new room key. Desk at first said they had no rooms. But where are our bags - you said they'd be in the new room? You do have our bags we hope? Yes we thought you were checking out? Misunderstanding between day shift and night shift. D'oh!

2310 Got key to new room and went up. Walked into the room. Smelled obvious recent cigarette smoke, walked back out again and returned to desk.

2315 Back at desk. Now you've given us a room full of cigarette smoke. It is late and we do not wish to be messed around. Please now give us your best room.

2320 Entered 45m2 suite and went to bed happy and did so again for two more nights.



And the moral of this story? You get what you will accept in this world, not what you deserve unless you make it so.

Students deserve more than they currently accept. They need a little more help than us dyed in the wool MSE'ers. Hence threads like this.

Dunroamin

Does anybody actually read this drivel?

I can hear the "Ignore" button calling me - life's too short.

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

Dunroamin wrote: »

Does anybody actually read this drivel?

I can hear the "Ignore" button calling me - life's too short.

They don't need to read it all, Dunroamin. The gist is multi-faceted and that means it gets traction from the most unexpected helpers. I mean, if one such as your goodself calls it drivel, then some people just can't stop themselves taking an interest and of course when they do, there's something for everyone if they wish to bite on it

Meantime no doubt by now, someone in Bath will have asked "How bad actually is it?" and "Is there any danger we might have to step in and keep those places clean and provided with water to drink at bedtime without them having to go downstairs?" and "Should we actually put up signs to warn students not to go near the upstairs wash basins for fear of the lurgy lurking in the system which someone has already warned them is likely to give a touch of Delhi Belly if it passes their lips?"

[Deleted User]

When I went to Butlins with my family, I booked a balcony room at the ocean hotel. It was very nice, and because I booked a nice room I had no reason to complain. My story is dull, but shows that if you book nice stuff, you typically get nice stuff.

I don't honestly care about students in Bath. I know it's a nice town fom my trips there for work and the odd weekend visit with the wife. I liked that bun shop and the fancy bridge with shops on it.

The cheapest accommodation isn't £360 a month. Yes, the basic student accommodation is basic. Tautological, init? It's not meant to be the bloody Hilton

I take a glass of water to my bedroom at night to save me walking to get any when I awake from slumber. Students can do that too if it saves them a trip to the kitchen.

yangptangkipperbang

PLEASE - don't feed the troll !!!!

[Deleted User]

How can you deny a troll the chance to waste all his time writing 900 word replies?

paddyrg

Can't face those essays, I'm not sure if I completely agree or disagree, and never will now. OP good luck with it all, hope you manage to win your audience over!

V_Chic_Chick

Apparently there is no Bath City Council? I read however that Bath does not see itself or find itself under the jurisdiction of Somerset's County Council who might be best placed to advise.

So who really calls the regulatory shots on HMOs in Bath?

!!!!!! Bath isn't some kind of anarchist local government-free hole somewhere in the southwest, it has a council. It's called Bath and North East Somerset County Council, or BANES to the locals. They call the regulatory shots on HMOs in Bath.

As for the original post - it sounds a lot like my old halls, which I stayed in two years ago. Had a fantastic time, and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

TurnUpForTheBooks_2

We used to take a day out each year and cover each other in slime and mud (and worse) on the banks of the Thames. Long-standing university tradition. Yep would do that too in a heartbeat, but not every day of the semester. Took quite some cleaning up afterwards - as will this now it's out.

And VCC, have you bothered to check the BNES website for clues that they are actually regulating HMOs? It is as thin as a rushed uninformed post on MSE.

And ringo, it quite makes me smile that either you are sufficiently animated by my posts to count the words, or you are actually cutting and pasting them into Microsoft Word to get the number, or rather perhaps you've calculated an average ?!

Edit: I just stumbled over a post on an accommodation thread on thestudentroom.co.uk which said about Eastwood (which I suppose is same as Westwood?):"Interesting, In a shared room in Eastwood at £60 per week, and an email said I get given £35 a week for food on campus as there are "limited" cooking facilities there.

Suspicious of getting charged £25 a week for a room! What is Eastwood like?"

Are they rebating £35pw for food on campus for some ? Maybe they could rebate another £10pw for bottled water and another £14.99pw for ice (no refigerator except the chock-a-block one in the kitchen). But then that would still make it a penny a week ...