UCD Accommodation for 2010/2011 Help!

Hit

Sorry if this is in wrong place!!
Hey,
So UCD is put down on the cao, and I need help on the accommodation matter now!!
Belgrove?
-mixed?
-do you pay for all bills wit your fees, or pay monthly bills?
-can you choose who you live with/near?
-strict on parties and visitors?
-overall any good?
-apartments-nice-how many people!

Merville?
-same as above!!

Any recommendations on on-capus living would be very helpful!!!
Thanks:D

Konata

Belgrove?
-mixed? Each apartment is single sex. In each house there are 6 apartments - 3 female & 3 male.
-do you pay for all bills wit your fees, or pay monthly bills? I'm not actually sure with Belgrove but it's on the website.
-can you choose who you live with/near? Yes.
-strict on parties and visitors? Yes and no. If a there is an obvious large gathering of people in a house and they are creating alot of noise/disruption etc., the RAs will be quick enough to break it up. Visitor-wise there's a procedure for signing in overnight guests - other guests can come and go as they please pretty much.
-overall any good? Haven't lived there. Apartments are damn cold but generally a fair bit craic around. Also alot of disruption though but that's common in campus accomodation.
-apartments-nice-how many people! - Apartments are alright. Probably the lowest standard (apart from Old Merville) of all the accomodation. 3 people to an apartment, some have twin rooms.

Merville?
-mixed? Same as Belgrove.
-do you pay for all bills wit your fees, or pay monthly bills? New Merville (ie the renovated houses) have all bills included with the fees. Old Merville have to buy electricity cards regularly.
-can you choose who you live with/near? Same as Belgrove.
-strict on parties and visitors? Same.
-overall any good? Same
-apartments-nice-how many people! New Merville is really nice, very high standard accomodation. Old Merville is at similiar level to Belgrove. 4 people to an apartment.


I'm too tired to write anymore at the moment but if you've any more questions just post.

Hit

so merville sounds better than belgrove!!
just a quick few questions on roebuck halls?
better than merville or belgrove..or worse??
same questions really!thanks!

errlloyd

Don't live here but I'll try my best.

-mixed - Apartments have common kitchen and living area, but individual rooms with keycards, so yeah apartments are mixed, but you have a completely private individual room.
-do you pay for all bills wit your fees, or pay monthly bills - Fairly sure all the utilities are included.
-can you choose who you live with/near - No idea, but I'm gonna assume you can.
-strict on parties and visitors - Fairly strict, pretty much like the other two though, its just because its newer its perhaps better taken care of.
-overall any good? - I think its the nicest apart from Gelnomena, but you won't get in there.
-apartments-nice-how - not 100% sure but I think its about 6. They are really nice in my opinion, private rooms, private bathrooms, nicer showers. 5 min walk from main campus, guess it'd be silly for that to be a factor in your decision though. (unless you do Law, in which case its right beside law school).

Konata

I lived in Roebuck last year, it's the nicest (and most expensive) of all the 1st year accom. 6 to an apartment, not mixed, yes you can choose who you live with. All single rooms with ensuites, common kitchen and living area. Very VERY limited freezer space and no oven. Good craic but not as noisy as Merville/Belgrove because of its layout.

If I were to advise on where to stay I'd choose renovated Merville. It's more than a grand cheaper than Roebuck but since it's brand new aswell (in fact, it's newer than Roebuck), it's high standard accomodation. The only major difference is no ensuites but you only have to share a bathroom between 2 people - worth saving a grand for in my opinion! Bedrooms are great - loads of shelves, space to hang up clothes, big desk, radiator thats easy to turn on and off (the Roebuck ones are more awkward). Also Roebuck has restrictors on its windows so they only open a crack and as a result the apartments get VERY stuffy and hot. Merville hasn't a problem with ventilation. But MAKE SURE you choose one of the renovated houses because the older ones are crap when you're all paying the same price.

Hit

thanks again!! so merville the newer ones seem to be the best bet!
merville- are they all houses or appartments ?..dont quite understand please explain again...
no oven??:mad:
thanking you

Konata

Merville is made up of 20-odd 'houses'. In each 'house', there are 6 apartments. Each apartment has 4 rooms. So a sample address would be Merville 15-5-3 which translates as House 15, Apartment 5, Room 3.

Oh and there's no oven in some (but not all) of 'New' Merville. It's easy to live without one though - George Foreman grills are lifesavers.

Hit

okay i get it now!! two last questions...
1. I think you said something about them being mixed so are the houses mixed but the indivdual apartments just the same sex?
2. and when i am applying for accommdation after hopefully getting accepted do i no how to get 'new' merville as to old merville??
Many Thanks again for your help:)

Hit

forget the one about mixed, just read your post again

Konata

Hit wrote: »

okay i get it now!! two last questions...
1. I think you said something about them being mixed so are the houses mixed but the indivdual apartments just the same sex?
2. and when i am applying for accommdation after hopefully getting accepted do i no how to get 'new' merville as to old merville??
Many Thanks again for your help:)

Well, you could go up to UCD and look in the window of all the houses - it's very easy to tell which ones are renovated and which ones aren't :rolleyes:.

To make life a bit easier, I'll PM you next week with the numbers of the renovated houses and you can keep it nice and safe till August .

Chewbacca.

Hit wrote: »

forget the one about mixed, just read your post again

All the hot chicks live on the southside of Dublin anyway,so they live at home. and you haven't got a chance

Extrasupervery

Merville Houses 1 - 18

You can't apply til next August though, so chill.

Konata

Extrasupervery wrote: »

Merville Houses 1 - 18

You can't apply til next August though, so chill.

Actually just had a look and houses 9 and 10 are definitely not renovated.

Jesica Fletcher

You're hearing this from someone who has lived in both...

Belgrove is pretty basic, oven, fridge, single bed, bathroom and shower room. You have 3 single sex rooms but about 3 of the houses have a double room that two people share. It's right next door to the Arts block which means you can get up at 8.50 for a 9am lecture if that's where you are! No shop but there are vending machines and the laundrette is right beside you! Mighty craic and full of super friendly people! RAs were sound last year anyway, not sure about this year! Belgrove was my home away from home last year!

Merville... I live in "New" Merville so it's a lot nicer than Belgrove but not having an oven is a darned pain in the ass! You share with 3 people in single rooms and I'm in a ixed apartment but I think old merville is all single sex. The same stuff as in Belgrove and you pay for your electricity through bills like Belgrove. Old Merville you have to buy cards with credit on them but if they run out while you're in the shower or in the middle of making dinner you have to go shop and get more! Living beside Centra is handy but you end up spending so much money there. Also a little further from the lecture buildings but I mean, you're talking a 5/10 minute walk!

No residence will allow parties or overnight guests unless signed in. It'll say that in your license to reside.

Living on campus is the best thing ever when you're in first year but enjoy it coz when you get to 2nd year, if you're anything like me, you'll be coming home from the Libro at 11pm and hating every single drunk partyer that you meet on the way home Personally I'd go with Belgrove just because it felt a lot more like home but that's just from my experience! Any more questions?

Konata

Jesica Fletcher wrote: »

You're hearing this from someone who has lived in both...

Belgrove is pretty basic, oven, fridge, single bed, bathroom and shower room. You have 3 single sex rooms but about 3 of the houses have a double room that two people share. It's right next door to the Arts block which means you can get up at 8.50 for a 9am lecture if that's where you are! No shop but there are vending machines and the laundrette is right beside you! Mighty craic and full of super friendly people! RAs were sound last year anyway, not sure about this year! Belgrove was my home away from home last year!

Merville... I live in "New" Merville so it's a lot nicer than Belgrove but not having an oven is a darned pain in the ass! You share with 3 people in single rooms and I'm in a mixed apartment but I think old merville is all single sex. The same stuff as in Belgrove and you pay for your electricity through bills like Belgrove. Old Merville you have to buy cards with credit on them but if they run out while you're in the shower or in the middle of making dinner you have to go shop and get more! Living beside Centra is handy but you end up spending so much money there. Also a little further from the lecture buildings but I mean, you're talking a 5/10 minute walk!

No residence will allow parties or overnight guests unless signed in. It'll say that in your license to reside.

Living on campus is the best thing ever when you're in first year but enjoy it coz when you get to 2nd year, if you're anything like me, you'll be coming home from the Libro at 11pm and hating every single drunk partyer that you meet on the way home Personally I'd go with Belgrove just because it felt a lot more like home but that's just from my experience! Any more questions?

I'm in New Merville aswell but my all the apartments in my house are single sex, as are any others I've been in. Are you in an apartment with any RAs? I was, in Roebuck last year and it was the only mixed apartment in the place (because of the RAs). Otherwise I'm pretty sure the rest of Merville is single sex?

Jesica Fletcher

Hmm, guess my house was a social experiment then! Though to be honest, I'd take back my all girls apartment in Belgrove

el cule

If you like to party dont live in house 1, 2 or 3 in merville because your smack on top of reception ad the RA's
Also only a small number of apartments from 1-18 have been renovated,

arryanna

I'm hoping to study here next year and as i am not from Dublin i think on-campus accomodation is the right choice for me.
Does anyone know what the liklihood of getting a place is if your from offaly??
I know that distance from the college plays a factor in deciding who gets in

Konata

arryanna wrote: »

I'm hoping to study here next year and as i am not from Dublin i think on-campus accomodation is the right choice for me.
Does anyone know what the liklihood of getting a place is if your from offaly??
I know that distance from the college plays a factor in deciding who gets in

Not anymore. Once you're eligible for campus accomodation (which you are) it's a first come first serve basis. Log on when the acommodation opens, choose your house, apartment & room and you're sorted.

Mardy Bum

Can any one explain how UCD manage to push these extortionate prices for their accommodation in the current climate. I lived in Merville in first year. The place was a kip, apparently its been done up since then but the prices have been put up I see in accordance with this.

Now the price for that place is around €40 more expensive per week where I am living currently which is only 15mins walk from UCD or 5mins cycle. How is UCD justifying their prices when they can't even fill the places. If the university priced accommodation fairly they may be fit to cover some of the debt they owe instead of leaving beds empty.

I hoped to move on campus for my final year but the price of Glenomena is just ridiculous for a place that doesn't have a proper oven...

Konata

Mardy Bum wrote: »

Can any one explain how UCD manage to push these extortionate prices for their accommodation in the current climate. I lived in Merville in first year. The place was a kip, apparently its been done up since then but the prices have been put up I see in accordance with this.

Now the price for that place is around €40 more expensive per week where I am living currently which is only 15mins walk from UCD or 5mins cycle. How is UCD justifying their prices when they can't even fill the places. If the university priced accommodation fairly they may be fit to cover some of the debt they owe instead of leaving beds empty.

I hoped to move on campus for my final year but the price of Glenomena is just ridiculous for a place that doesn't have a proper oven...

I don't get it either. This year UCD offered traditionally first year accomodation to other years, proving that they were anticipating a struggle to fill places. Rents drop all over Dublin yet UCDs continue to rise. A 7% increase has already been forecast for next year.

Mardy Bum

Hotaru wrote: »

I don't get it either. This year UCD offered traditionally first year accomodation to other years, proving that they were anticipating a struggle to fill places. Rents drop all over Dublin yet UCDs continue to rise. A 7% increase has already been forecast for next year.

Its a disgrace. Who decides these things? These are issues I wish the SU would sort.

goose2005

Don't stay on campus. It's like €140 a week for a run-down flat that mightn't even have an oven. You have to pay 4 months's rent in advance, and you might be given a twin room - they won't tell you this, nor will they offer reduced rent if you're allocated a shared room. Some places you have to buy electricity credit in advance, and if it runs out at night your freezer could thaw. You can get evicted for having parties, can't come home after 12:00... now, the above isn't all true of all UCD accommodation but it's true of much of it. You'll get a better place for cheaper if you just go a km or two away from Belfield.

Konata

goose2005 wrote: »

Don't stay on campus. It's like €140 a week for a run-down flat that mightn't even have an oven. You have to pay 4 months's rent in advance, and you might be given a twin room - they won't tell you this, nor will they offer reduced rent if you're allocated a shared room. Some places you have to buy electricity credit in advance, and if it runs out at night your freezer could thaw. You can get evicted for having parties, can't come home after 12:00... now, the above isn't all true of all UCD accommodation but it's true of much of it. You'll get a better place for cheaper if you just go a km or two away from Belfield.

Okay most of that information is inaccurate.

1. Not all the accomodation is run-down. As stated before, Roebuck and renovated Merville are high quality accomodation on the most part but yes, they do lack ovens.

2. You're not 'given' any room. The new system allows you to choose exactly what room you want and it's clearly stated which are twin and which are single rooms. Also, twin rooms are ONLY in a small proportion of houses in Belgrove, nowhere else.

3. Electricity cards are operational in Belgrove and old Merville. Yes, they are a hassle BUT there's a special system in place. AFAIK the cards indicate 'run-out' when there is still a reserve of electricity left. In other words, chances of your electricity running out in the middle of the night is highly unlikely unless you ignored when the card indicated that it had run out.

4. Technically you can get evicted for parties but not for a first offence. Parties incur fines which are subtracted from your deposit. It would have to be very serious circumstances for you to be evicted due to a party on your first offence.

5. Yes you CAN come home after midnight. They can't lock you out of your own residence! At midnight, the gates to each residence close. You use your activated student card to get in the gates which are manned by security guards. You can come home at any time of the day or night.

el cule

Goose 2005 talks a lot of ****, hotaru talks some sense. I live in Merville I should know. Coming back after midnight is no problem whatsoever unless you dont live there.. Electricity works out at about 5e a week between the people living with you.. Old Merville does have ovens.

keepkeyyellow

I would live on campus purely to make friends, I've made some life long friends here

But having that said it is a run down place and costs waaaaaaay too much. Look at the prices for next year then decide,

Ginja Ninja

campus rents are fairly extortionate,HOWEVER.If you are like me and will know no one when you come to college,being so close to your own apartment is worth gold in the first month or so,

it is robbery for what you're getting but,it's still the best option if it's yoour first time moving out[unless your really mature]

and you'll get to meet some nice people in a similar situation to yourself,nowhere else can garauntee that.

cas8

jus wondering if anyone new the house and apt number for any new apts with an oven??
ps jus wondering what car park is like in on campus accom?(safe? near?)
cheers!

Konata

cas8 wrote: »

jus wondering if anyone new the house and apt number for any new apts with an oven??
ps jus wondering what car park is like in on campus accom?(safe? near?)
cheers!

None of the 'new' accomodation have ovens - that would include Roebuck, Glenoma and renovated Merville.
Old Merville and Belgrove DO have ovens.

Roebuck currently has no carpark as they are building Roebuck 2 where the car park used to be.
Merville and Belgrove have a fair bit of parking, ranging from right outside your door to 3-4min walk so it's pretty handy. I think the car parks are safe enough, I've never heard of any incidents in them anyway. Smartest thing to do would be to choose one of the back carparks if you can (ie away from flow of people) just to be even safer.

Jesica Fletcher

Yep, don't park in the car park just inside the main entrance of any residence where the drunk folks go by, you will wake up with a missing side mirror or your car will have been jumped on (true story). If Belgrove, I'd park in the carpark outside the residence gate or in the side square beside the car entrance.. Merville the carpark between Glen and Merv tends to be left alone. Parking between house 3 and 7 is dodge!

Mardy Bum

Does Glenomena actually have a microwave oven and Satellite tv included in charge as the website says?