Hey! I’m Zoe, a Spanish MLES student at the University of Bath. This post will give my personal insight of Brendon Court, one of the halls of residence of the University, as I was a resident during 2014/15. Although I know this post might be a bit late for the 2015/16 freshers, I hope it will still be of interest to some people.
THE
BUILDING
Alright,
first things first. I suppose all you know about Brendon Court is what you
might have been able to see via Google Earth and the official description of
the building: http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/ug/accommodation/types/campus/brendon-court/index.html That is, the accommodation is
catered and each individual bedroom has a washbasin, kettle and mini-fridge. A
duvet and pillow are supplied, but not the bed linen. The showers and toilets
are shared between 5 to 6 residents. There is a kitchen in each level (there
are four levels btw) with an electric hob, microwave and kettle. The lounge or
communal area (with TV and videogame console) is in the ground floor. There is
high speed wifi and Ethernet connection.
Now, let’s
go through that again. First, all the rooms are equally equipped but vary in
size and layout. All the pictures in the web are from the ground floor, so
don’t expect to have that exact room because only one or two in the building
look like that. My room was in the fourth floor, facing the back of the
building, thus less noisy than the interior ones towards the courtyard, and was
pretty big in comparison to the adjacent rooms. However, the bigger rooms are
either in the corners of the building, or in the ground floor (created for
wheelchair users). There are plenty of showers and toilets throughout the building
so don’t worry about that, there will always be one available somewhere, and
you will probably share the nearest one with less people than expected. Note
that there are NO OVENS in the kitchens. Only hobs and microwaves. Bear that in
mind if you are learning a couple of recipes before moving in, you won’t be
able to bake. Also, there are individual lockers in the kitchens which are big
enough to store your things if you aren’t too keen on the thought of someone
using them too. The wifi works just fine, but if you want a more secure and
fast connection, get an Ethernet cable (RJ45) to plug your laptop to the wall.
MOVING IN
In order to
move into the building, you are given a series of instructions beforehand. You
have to go and pick up your Library Card and keys before unloading all your
stuff, but don’t worry, there will be plenty of volunteers around to help or
direct you if you need it. In my case, help was very appreciated to bring my
bags up to the fourth floor… During Arrivals’ Weekend, there is a lot going on:
a lot of cars, people and parents running around campus. I moved in on Saturday
and the building was pretty empty the first day; we were mostly internationals
because most Brits happened to move in on Sunday. Anyhow, you will always find
a flatmate with whom to explore, and the Freshers’ Crew will arrive soon
enough.
CATERING
Brendon
Court is, along with Polden Court and the Quads, a catered accommodation. That
means that, although there is a kitchen to prepare ‘light snacks’, you will
mostly rely on your Eat and Drink card (which is your Library Card loaded with
credit that you use to pay at the bars and eateries on campus, as if it were a
credit card). The credit is loaded in blocks after the rent instalments (not
weekly, but in one or two sets per instalment). The way the card is loaded is a
bit strange, so try to keep up with your spending, as it takes about a week
after the rent is paid for the money to be loaded. Beware of this because some
of us had problems and run out of credit, particularly during revision week
after Christmas or during the holidays. Also, at the end of the contract any
credit left is not returned so stock up on canned drinks or such with any
remaining money on your card and don’t let it go to waste! Concerning the food,
there is a fairly big variety of food around campus. I would suggest you learn
the opening times of places soon, just so you avoid getting to a bar and
finding it closed. My favourites were Lime Tree and The Parade Bar, although
the food in Fountain Canteen isn’t bad either. Wessex Restaurant serves really
good desserts and the frozen yoghurt in Sports Café is superb. However, try to
mix it up a bit because by Christmas, we were all pretty fed up with the food,
so you risk it becoming boring and unappetizing if you don’t.
CLEANING
In Brendon
Court, the communal areas are cleaned once a week. The day depends on which
floor you live in (I believe the fourth floor was cleaned on Wednesdays or
Thursdays if I’m not mistaken…). The cleaning is decent, although I’d try to
leave the places as clean and tidy as possible after their use, just for good
neighbouring. But, let’s face it, this saves you so much time because you only
have to take care of your bedroom! I would advise using flip-flops in the
shower because, at the end of the day, you are sharing it with 5 to 6 people
and you never know what might be lurking around… And bear in mind that the
kitchens can get terribly dirty and so does the communal area in the ground
floor, especially after pre-drinks.
LAUNDERETTES
The laundry
system on campus is carried by Circuit Laundry. The launderette for Brendon and
Westwood is behind the West Accommodation Centre (you’ll have to drag your
clothes there, so find a suitable way of doing it! Suitcases, shopping bags,
laundry baskets…) and, I’ve ranted about this before, but doing the laundry in
mi opinion is the worst. There are not enough washing machines/driers and many
are often broken. In addition, Circuit Laundry takes ages to fix them, I even
found myself having to use another launderette once! The cycles take ages (45’
wash and 50’ dry) and are pretty expensive (£2.40 and £1.60 respectively if I
remember well – you are given a laundry card to pay), so my advice is to space
your washes as long as you can and either go early in the morning (eg. 9am on
Sunday) or during the week. Stay clear of Sunday afternoons, as it is cleaning
time, so good luck finding a free machine then!
RESIDENT
TUTORS
Apparently,
this is what they are for: http://www.bath.ac.uk/accommodation/welfare/resident/index.html I can’t really give an opinion
about them, as I only met one throughout the year who came to check on us a
couple of times. However, I do know they organise trips and such so tune in
because you might find one that interests you!
SECURITY/EMERGENCIES/MAINTAINANCE
ISSUES
The three main
entries to Brendon can be opened by scanning the Library Card and your room has
an individual key. The doors should be locked at all times (under threat of disciplinary
action otherwise). And there is also a fire alarm drill within the first weeks,
at a very inconvenient time. The rooms are checked for health and safety
reasons during the holidays, but you will be informed about this. If you have
any trouble with your room, use this to get in contact with the maintenance
team: http://www.bath.ac.uk/accommodation/contactus/maintenance-enquiry/index.html Any problems I had were sorted pretty quickly.
For health problems, you should contact the Resident Tutors if you can’t leave
the room or have an infectious disease. Beware that you need an appointment in
order to see a doctor at the Medical Centre, so if there is an emergency or
have to see a doctor during the weekend, you ought to go to the RUH Emergency
Department’s walk-in service.
MOVING OUT
People will
leave the accommodation at different stages, depending on when their exams are finished.
Again, you will be given some instructions before the exam period just so you
know how to proceed. It is pretty straight-forward. However, I would advise you
leave plenty of time to pack, it is surprising how much stuff you can haul in
just one room over a year!
OTHER
VALUABLE INFO
Halls are
noisy. That is a fact. A lot of people go out every night, so unless you join
the party or get some earplugs, you will have trouble sleeping. I lived on top
of the third floor kitchen, so I heard the pres going on until late. The
emergency doors in the corridors also make a lot of noise when opened and
closed and aren’t supposed to be left propped open for security reasons. The
walls are also thin so you will hear everything. I may also mention the bees,
spiders and beastly mosquitoes that live or creep into the building during the
warmer months. Literally, in September the mosquitoes were in every portion of
corridor, kitchen and shower-room, but fear not, they will disappear with the
cold.
MY OPINION
Even though
this post might come though as a bit negative, I have tried to be honest and talk
about all the things that I would have liked to know about the hall before
moving in, just so I could watch out for them rather than have to figure it out
myself. But don’t be taken aback, I had a blast! Living in halls is one of the
best experiences ever: you meet many new people and make friends for life, you
experience independence (even if that means getting a massive hangover) and
have freedom to experiment. I loved Brendon Court: it was great to not have to
care about cooking or cleaning, which gave me a lot of time to focus on other
things. I met a lot of people from all corners of the world (Brendon is big
enough to house over 100 people) and we would go out to get food together and
have a chat without having to clean up afterwards. The location is also awesome:
in the centre of the campus but on the outskirts, behind the Library, close
enough to everything to let you sleep in a bit longer in the mornings and without
the noise of the Tub and Plug banging on your ear every night as the Norwood residents
experienced ;) I really enjoyed my time there and had an unforgettable first
year. If Brendon Court is your option, I hope you do too!
If you have
any additional questions, feel free to ask and I will try my best to answer
them!
Read my advice for freshers here.
*This is a personal blog. The opinions
expressed here represent my own and are not supported by the University of Bath.
