9 - Blantyre
| Grade: 3 | Living Room: No | Basin: No | Network: Wired and Wireless | CUDN Access: Yes | Floor: Ground |
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| Year | Comment |
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| 2015 | I would agree with all the good comments below! This room is a really good size for a grade 3 and the doors and window let a lot of sun in especially in the morning. The only thing about the patio doors is that the room can get cold unless you bolt them at the top and bottom - this is only a problem if you want to leave through them because you can't bolt them from the outside! But when it's warm outside it's lovely :) The doors are single-glazed (but don't rattle) and the other window is double-glazed. The radiator is fairly powerful so I haven't been cold (there was one time where it gave up and I froze slightly for two days but then it fixed itself). The room has pretty good furniture - big desk with lots of drawers, wardrobe, chest of drawers, three chairs, fridge table, bedside/coffee table, strange little footstool thing, bed, desk lamp. I would recommend bringing your own duvet though or another blanket because this one is pretty thin. No sink but the toilet and kitchen aren't far away. There are only two sockets behind the desk so I would recommend bringing a plug extension plank thing or rearranging the room (there are four more sockets elsewhere) so that you can plug the fridge, your laptop and the lamp in at the same time! The nearest kitchen is shared between a lot of people (7 I think?), but was manageable this year. It has a microwave and hotplates that actually get hot, no combi oven but there are two elsewhere in Blantyre. The shower is not great - the most annoying thing is that if you're the first one to use it in the morning it takes 5-10 minutes to warm up. But usable once it's warm! There are only 4 showers in Blantyre overall, which seems like very little but I've never had to wait for the shower (I don't have 9ams though). I think Blantyre is a lovely place to live, the distance from college is a little bit annoying if you just want to run up to print something or get a book out or get something from the vending machine, but otherwise it's fine! The common room is really nice for socializing or just eating/working in. The laundry is also really handy if you prefer to wash your own clothes and it surprisingly doesn't get too crowded! |
| 2014 | This is a really great room, I love it! I would second everything said in the 2010 comment, and add that it's also nice and big. Currently it's only a grade 3, and you get so much for it - I reckon if it were in college it would be a grade 5 or 6. I would say the best thing about this room is the French doors - they let in a lot of light, they can let in/out air, they allow easy access to the bike sheds (particularly good in the morning lecture rush!), you can catch friends on their way in/out of the house (a good thing for me but probably not so good for them!), and they mean that if you lose your college card (which you need to get in through the front door to the whole house) you can still use your key to get into your room through the back (providing you haven't lost your key as well!). This last point is also good if you've got a friend staying who you have to split up with for some reason - one of you can take the key and the other the card, and both can access the room providing the front room door is left unlocked. Another thing to add is that it's got a really good radiator and the windows have a twisty lock (lots of the others in the house are the ones that you lift) so I haven't had a problem with being cold, and the windows don't rattle. I've found the main disadvantages to be the tiny kitchen and the almost-useless shower (it's more of a drizzle) - but my kind friends on the other side of the house let me use their kitchen and I always use the other showers (these are better than my shower at home!), so it's not too much of a problem :) Also the distance from college is a bit inconvenient, but on the whole I really don't mind it - it feels more relaxing because it's a bit further towards the edge of the Cambridge bubble, and the common room means that I still get to see most of my friends every day. On the whole I can highly recommend both Blantyre and this room, and I hope everything goes well for you if you're stressed out trying to decide where you want to live :) Libbie x |
| 2010 | Great room, especially in summer. Key Advantages: French Doors means really easy access to the bike sheds of a morning / the garden in the summer / lets the air in. Doors and Window let a lot of light into the room. The Neighbours friendly cat occasionally comes round the doors (Disadvantage maybe?) But he doesn't come in. Nice and big with Desk, Wardrobe, Chest of Drawers, coffee table and three chairs. Disadvantages: No sink The shower on this side of the house isn't the best, but it's not too bad. The kitchen tends to get all the crockery that's been left in the common room (though this applies to rooms 4-10 too) Two outside walls means it can get a little colder in winter than everywhere else. Wasn't an issue for me since i'm northern! :) |