Gort Ard accomodation

Wendero

Hello

Anybody heard anything about Gort ard? It's a student residence a bit away from the uni (30 minuits walking, 10 minuits by cycle, but luckily, you can take the bus). Pretty small, too. Any experiences?

Check out www.gortard.com and tell me what you think:) Seems like their is a lot included in the rent; cleaning, food, electricity/heat, internet...

Thanks in advance,
/John G

Black_Knight

Looks MILES out to me! You'd be hitting yourself for living so far out! And with the weather these days it'd be hard to muster up the courage to go to college.

Wendero

Yep, I need to check when/how often the bus goes and where the bus station is - if it's like 5 minuits from Gort Ard, then it's not a huge problem (even if it's better if you can walk of course). Is it on the right side of the bridge? Any other comments?

/John

brianthebard

Looks really nice, bet it costs a bomb though? Can't see prices up there.

Wendero

Yep, it costs a bomb: 165 euros per week. But when taking into account that you don't have to pay anything extra for heating/electricity/internet/cleaning, plus of course food is included. It's a really small place too, 12-13 students living their. I called them today (well, yesterday) and I got a good impression. He said that they had missed to put up the prices on the website, and I told them that they better do so or someone might think they are hiding something. He said they will:)

/John

brianthebard

Food is paid for, but would you be going in and out several times during the day for a meal or two? Would be very awkward, or at the very least the bus costs would add up. Having all the bills paid up front is generally good though.

Wendero

be going in and out... I'm not sure I know what you mean? You eat breakfast their, and lunch during the weekends, and then dinner and light supper:) Of course you would have to go back to the student residence for lunch during the weekdays, if you choose to eat lunch there (you would have to pay an extra for that).

/John

skelliser

im from galway and know a little about that place, it mainly caters for teenage spanish and french students over here for a few days to improve there english from february to september. its located out in salthill which is a good distance from the college, 30 minute walk at least, its a ten minute walk to salthill which is fairly dead during the winter months

imo try and get a place in the newcastle, city centre area, that place is kinda off the beaten track for students, on the other hand if ya want somewhere quiet to live then thats ideal!

Wendero

Hi skelliser:)

Thank you for the information. Sounds interesting - it being quiet isn't necessarily bad, that's good for the study environment. But what about bus connection? And in what way is salthill "dead" (I'm not questioning anything, just asking for more details, since dead can mean a lot)?

/John

skelliser

i assume your gonna be a first year?

salthill has 2/3 pubs(not great), no nightclub, a few arcades(slot machines), and a few shops, so by dead im mean pretty quiet, the only good thing is the sea! basically for a student coming to galway to study it kinda defeats the purpose!
buses are every half hour to the city centre(eyre square), you will still need to
to walk another 10 minutes to the college.

Wendero

Yes, I'm gonna be a first year.

Two or three pubs isn't very much, but it may not be a disaster. How are the pubs there? Have you been there?:) What shops are there (what do they sell)?

/John

skelliser

there mostly old man pubs, shops are centra and a londis, theres no supermarket, basically the best way i can describe salthill is that its the kinda place you go for a walk on a sunday afternoon! if ya can imagine a quiet smaller bundoran you wouldnt be far off!

imo you should get 4/5 of your friends or like minded individuals! rent a house in the newcastle area, as close to the college as possible(cause it rains alot here!), you will be around alot more students and thus make alot more friends.
if ya want more opinions on gort ard ask on the galway forum http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=475 but they will probably say more or less what i said.

Wendero

No supermarket... are there any groceries? What's typical for an old man pub?

Thank you once again:)
/John

skelliser

Wendero wrote: »

No supermarket... are there any groceries? What's typical for an old man pub?

a few groceries, basic stuff, cereal, bread, milk etc, fairly dear tho.
old man pub = old local men sitting in a pub = quiet
Salthill is a nice quiet seaside area of galway and has the promenade right next to it, its great for walks and a quiet pint.
i went to nui galway and i can tell you hands down salthill is not the place a first year wants to be livin

Wendero

Hi

Thanks - I assume you mean that it's hard to find a place to party and so on when you say that it's not for first years. I have to say there are some pros and cons with the place - it's far away, which is bad of course. The old man pubs won't worry me very much I think, I can always take the bus to the city centre if I want to go to some more lively place - and that won't be too often, I guess I differ from other first years on that point.

I haven't made up my mind or anything, I'm just telling you what I think right now. I'm more worried about that other students there might not know english, plus the fact that it's not very independent: You eat the food they want you to eat (groceries for me equals a place where you can buy snacks/coke to have during the weekends, since I got everything else served right now at home and will have then), you drink as much as they think is properly (Opus Dei could probably be pretty harsch on that point).

/John

Wendero

I couldn't find any information about Gort ard in the Galway city forum, it's hard to search for since it's two words.

/John

Wendero

Any other comments?

How are the people there?

/John

leninbenjamin

I know the place. Wouldn't really recommend it, primarily for transportation reasons.

as far as i know there's only one bus that goes through Salthill to the college, one of the private companies, and i don't think it has the most frequent of timetables. I think all the CIE one's would require you to practically go into town from Salthill. I wouldn't really want to be relying on public transport living out there.

of course you could cycle very handy from there, but there will be some weeks where this becomes practically impossible due to the wind and rain.

apart from that I'm not sure, it's primarily foreign students living in the place. Have been there once or twice and it seems grand in terms of accomodation, but afaik there's a really high turnover of students so there mightn't be much of a sense of community among them.

oh sh*t, I forgot, this place is run by Opus Dei... not everyone would want to live in an environment like that. I'm sure they are grand on a personal level, but aren't they a really strict order?

schween

NUIG would be very awkward to get to from there. I lived nearby and its very annoying having to make trips in and out, especially since you have to walk from Eyre Sq. Also Galways bus service is very unreliable so you'll probably end up walking most of the time and you'll get pretty tired, frustrated and wet.

Wendero

Ok, transportation is a problem, then.

How come it's primarily foreign students? Any special reason or just ended up like that?

Suddenly, bringing/buying a car seems like a good idea.

So... to make a summary of your post LB: Nice apartments/place, far away from NUIG, possibly not much community.

Yes, I know it's run by Opus Dei. Not sure if that means anything special, since it's after all a student residence, not like a kindergarten (where you teach something). Well, they are strict on alcohol (not allowed in the rooms), they have seminars and a chaplain. Opus Dei is said to be very tough and cult-like on their own members, not sure about people who aren't in their though. Seems like no real reason to tell me I as a protestant am welcome there, if I aint - he could have said "Well, this is a catholic place and we expect you to follow catholicism and the norms/rules we have, although we cannot stop you from applying even if you're a protestant". I might be naive, it's just what I think. And no, I do not believe in the Da Vinci code.

/John

Wendero

Time to invest in a raincoat then... or possibly a life jacket?:P

Where nearby did you live? Are there more student residences there?

/John

Simi

Right well I can safely assume your not some kind of religious nut. Now other than that is there any particular reason you'd like to live in absolute isolation? Are you a loner? Do you have trouble making friends?

I'm just trying to grasp why you'd like to live 30mins away from college in a quiet monastery, complete with cultists? Why can't you just do what every other first year does and live in corrib village with the rest of the rabble? Even if you want to live somewhere slightly nicer. How about Gort or Cuirt na Coribe. Or how about as some1 already pointed out just getting a house together with some people, any people.

That Gort Ard place gives me the creeps btw.

schween

Yes but if you have someone with an agenda breathing down your neck 24/7 they'll be hard to ignore. They'll try convert you. They have a restaurant in town where they are notorious for it. Besides, there are better student residences like Cúirt na Coiribe. It's clean, very modern, secure and across the bridge from NUIG. There's a shopping centre with Tesco and a Dunnes Stores just across the road.

Wendero

A restaurant? That's funny:P

Seems to be more cons than I thought. I've emailed the manager at the place, he said he would answer my questions tomorrow. Transportation isn't nice, then it's better to be close to the uni... still there are some important pros too. Are their other student residences than those listed on the NUIG website?

/John

Wendero

religious nut? How do you define it? I'm religious, a protestant.

Now, shouldn't the first question be if they are cultists?

And well, I'm pretty sure I live up to the requirement of being a looner. I'm not like other teenagers, have never been and will never be. Sad story for many people, but that's just how it is.

/John

Simi

Wendero wrote: »

A restaurant? That's funny:P

...still there are some important pros too.

/John

What pros? Ya I think that's all the student places. You'd be better off in any one of them. But what would I know. I've only lived here for 4 years. Go with the monastery.

Wendero

Relax Simi, I haven't decided anything, but I have written and asked about transportation and a lot of other things - let's see what they say. And I'm pretty sure it's not a monastery.

The pros: A lot of things included, for example wireless internet, calm place with not that many people. Got a good first impression.

/John

schween

Look at it this way. Opus Dei aren't running the place for the craic. They, like all religious organizations will push their agenda on you. And of course they're going to talk the place up and tell you they have great transport links, they are after all trying to entice you in. If you want to ruin your college experience, live here by all means. I had no friends in secondary school but it didn't bother me that much. But when I started at NUIG I was shocked at the amount of friends I had and the amount of people I met in the first few weeks never mind months. This Gort Ard place looks like a pain in the a**e to be honest. Cuirt sounds like your kind of place, it is very strict with regard to visitors, noise and parties. And it's in a great location and full of students. Bills are included too (TV, broadband, rubbish, ESB)

Wendero

Will have to check up Cuirt then. I've probably visited their website, but of course, no student residence is bragging about having harsch rules, so they wouldn't write anything about it anyway. Thanks for the information.

/John

kevmy

Personally I would say either Cuirt/Gort/Dun na Coirbe or a private renter.

In my experiences of Galway they are the best.

I'd stay well away from Salthill if you don't have a car - the buses in Galway are a joke. You want someplace that is 10 mins walk from NUIG. I'd recommend Newcastle area or somewhere towards the city centre.

Check out advertiser or daft for all your accommodation needs

Wendero

Is it "only" that the buses are late or are their other problems with them? How much would it cost, assuming you go to college 22 days per month and have to take to trips (to the college in the morning, and back in the evening)?

/John