Accommodation In And Around DCU - Part 2

gizmo

On Campus Accommodation Continued

College Park : Second - Fourth Year Accommodation

FACTS

Size: 60 Units
Rent: Single - €4140 | Double - € 4320 | Deluxe - €4500
Rooms: Standard Block - Four single en-suite bedrooms and one deluxe double room
Deluxe Block – Five double en-suite bedrooms
Facilities: Shared kitchen, living, dining area
Bedrooms: Standard - Bed, larger study desk, office type chair, wardrobe, shelving unit.
Deluxe – Don’t know for sure, as far as I can remember they get a chest of drawers, a TV, nicer blinds on their windows and more space

SUMMARY

The bedrooms are far bigger than those in Larkfield. They are also newer, for the most part cleaner and there is more room storage wise since the beds do not have solid bases. All of the apartments are mixed unless of course you have applied to live with friends. Again there is no TV outlet in the room but there is still enough space for you to have one with the aerial. The desk itself is perfect for study and big enough to sit your (CRT) computer monitor on as long as it’s at an angle, TFT users should have no problem. Tower units will, however, have to go on the ground unless you have a particularly small one.

The bathrooms in College Park are the nicest on campus, mainly due to the fact that they are the newest. The shower is great and there is always hot water without the need to worry about thermostats etc... They are also easy to clean for those all important room inspections, I’ll get to those later though.

The kitchens here are again the nicest on campus mainly due to them being newer. The oven/grill is perfectly safe and is very good. The fridge/freezer is big enough for everyone so long as you don’t have any particularly selfish people in the house and there is also plenty of cupboard space for everyone’s stuff. The kitchen is also home to the nicely sized dinner table.

The living area is nice and big and there is a satellite TV socket in the corner and a table for it to go on. You also get a coffee table for those TV dinners students love. There are two couches in the room however it should be pointed out that even though they look nice and are (artificial) leather, they are EXTREMELY uncomfortable. I really have to advise against flopping down in these bad boys unless you want some bruising.

OPINION

I spent my second year on campus here. For me, it was a massive improvement in terms of the quality of the accommodation however I was disappointed by the lack of atmosphere in the complex. Because there is only two apartments per floor in each building there is very little in the way of interaction with your neighbours unless you have friends in other apartments. Personally I had a few mates scattered around which made things abit better however most of them had moved over to Shanowen, hence things were more limited on the social front that year. Overall if I had the choice again (which technically I did and do) I would not choose to live there and instead move across the road to Shanowen. (No offence to my room mates there, you guys rocked)


Other points about living on-campus

Internet Access

Internet Access is available in all three of the apartment blocks listed above. They all have the same connection, that being the same as the one around campus, hence it is ahs the same advantages and disadvantages. The advantages being it is very very fast since it is on HEANet, the academic network. The ports are also open for some people on campus for Steam based games such as Counter-Strike etc.. however you will not be able to play other games. The disadvantages, well depending on your point of view they may outweigh the advantages. These include no access to torrents or any other P2P software, no games (bar Steam access) and of course no external FTP access. The fee for this connection is €75 per semester or €150 for the year. You are also not allowed run any wireless access points and this is monitored by CSD staff. If you are found running such a network you will face disciplinary action, usually in the form of a banning from the network for a week or two.


Overnight Guests

Long story short, security on campus is tight. This means that you are not allowed guests in your apartment after 12pm so forget about bringing people home after a night out. The only way around this is to go through a rather complicated procedure of gaining permission the day before hand however you must provide the name of the person you wish to stay, hence forget about randomers. It also costs something like €5. In short, its complete bull****.


Type Of Contract You Sign

The contract you sign with Campus Residences Limited isn't a normal Tenancy agreement. Now I'm not going to get into the specifics but some highlights include: Them being able to fine you for not following their rules. Them being able to enter your apartment at any time. Them carrying out room inspections on both your room/bathroom and shared kitchen area. Being stuck in that accomodation for the fixed term of the contract unless they can find someone else to fill your position while you are gone, this is especially relevant for INTRA students.

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As I said, this is a work in progress. Still to be added is Shanowen Hall and Square Apartments and getting a house yourself, although I've never experienced the latter so someone else might cover that one.

phantom_lord

Faceless Man wrote:

The shower is great and there is always hot water assuming you are clever with your thermostat.

I've been living in college park since the start of the year....there's a thermostat??

gizmo

Aye, theres one in the hotpress isnt there? I actually meant the cord thingy in the bathroom that you need to pull for the water to heat up.

alantc

Faceless Man wrote:

Aye, theres one in the hotpress isnt there? I actually meant the cord thingy in the bathroom that you need to pull for the water to heat up.

What the hell are you talking about? The water is just always hot....


And having a tower on the desk in Cllege Park is just like having a tower on the desk anywhere... though I put mine on the floor.

gizmo

How odd, I always thought the thermostat was set that way. Jesus, what a waste having all that hot water all the time. :eek:

And my comments on the tower being on the desk were regards space, one of my room mates towers didnt fit on it, the other did but due to him having a CRT he didnt have enough room so he had put his on the floor too. This was the first time I had to deal with this hence thats why I mentioned it.

phantom_lord

I kinda assumed that there was just hot water all the time, for a while there you had me thinking I was about to be hit with a massive electricty bill at the end of the year....

gizmo

Heh nope, my memory is just a wee bit fuzzy. I'm over in Shanowen now where one has to be more realistic with the hot water so the idea of an endless supply of hot water just never crossed my mind.

I'll change the article now that I'm home...:D