Beechwood Court UCD Residence. Any Experiences?

ChurchStreet

Hello I have booked myself into Beechwood court (New UCD Residence) in Stillorglin. It seems reasonable enough, price wise. Although I have concerns with regards parking. I have contacted the management company and they have still to get back to me, as it says on the info pack, thet parking is limited and you need to making a booking deposit for a space. I hope they are not going to charge a student a €100/month just for parking? Anybody have any experience with this issue ?

keepkeyyellow

Welll in my time in Merville no one payed for parking...so don't be giving people that idea and there was always a free spot somewhere

Raphael

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

Welll in my time in Merville no one payed for parking...so don't be giving people that idea and there was always a free spot somewhere

Beechwood Court is off campus, and as such possibly very different.

OP: Think Beechwood Court is new this year, so people aren;t going to have any experience, I'm afraid.

Edit: My mistake, seems they were actually around last year.

ChurchStreet

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

Welll in my time in Merville no one payed for parking...so don't be giving people that idea and there was always a free spot somewhere

Still though, with this off campus arrangement, in a privately run set up, where car spaces are let, it might be the norm. The lady from residences said they had five spaces leased, so presumably the lease costs money and the poor students pick up the bill.

Still waiting to here back from the management company.

Breezer

Raphael wrote: »

Edit: My mistake, seems they were actually around last year.

Were they? My friend lives in one of the private apartments in the development, she said they were still building the UCD ones last year. Some could have been built I guess.

I don't know what the story is with parking OP, but space is pretty limited in that development. The private apartments have numbered spots, and there's always cars parked on the side of the road taking up whatever free space there is. There is a public housing estate next to it though, with free parking, so I guess if you were stuck you could use that. But AFAIK the UCD apartments are right down the back, so you'd have a bit of a walk to your door.

Raphael

There was an Observer article from September '09 talking about them. Had this line:

It has also emerged that the UCD accommodation office has also acquired apartments near Stillorgan, which have been made available to UCD students.

Which I read as implying they were about last year.

(http://www.universityobserver.ie/2009/09/15/rooms-still-empty-after-7-price-hike/)

Breezer

Could have been, it wasn't particularly high on my list of things to know all about

HavingCrack

I live just in the estate behind Beechwood Court and I'd recommend getting into the main residences on campus if its not too late to be honest. It's like a ghost estate up there at night time. Nobody around at all-the flats came on the market just as the property crash came and most are still unoccupied. Just food for thought but if there s a whole bunch of students moving in I presume there'll be a lot more people about.

Velvet shank

One block of apartments at Beechwood was certainly occupied (almost exclusively) by UCD students last year. If I recall correctly, the fee for a parking space was fairly minimal - possibly only a small deposit on the zapper needed to open car park gate.

ChurchStreet

Velvet shank wrote: »

One block of apartments at Beechwood was certainly occupied (almost exclusively) by UCD students last year. If I recall correctly, the fee for a parking space was fairly minimal - possibly only a small deposit on the zapper needed to open car park gate.

Did you live in Beechwood court yourself last year ?

ChurchStreet

Just heard back, the cost is €55/month (12 month lease of car space). Its alot for a student (even one with a car!), so thats more money on top of the residence fees. Also, you need to pay for your own internet connection and Chorus...more bills...

Velvet shank

ChurchStreet wrote: »

Did you live in Beechwood court yourself last year ?

No... had some minor involvement on the admin side. Car parking fee bit steep alright - I may have got it wrong with earlier recollection about the sum involved, or else its been hiked up considerably this time.