Brendon Court

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!

Here is the link to the University’s accommodation page: http://www.bath.ac.uk/accommodation/

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.