Great Dover Street Apartments

The common kitchen was a pleasant surprise, clean and modern, and the common rooms are nice too. Some rooms also look out at the shard. The rooms are well designed, though the ugly blue carpet is a nightmare to clean. The ensuite bathrooms cover the basics, but they're minimal, and the showers aren't up to high standards. The receptionists are pretty useless. GDS is good for meeting people and parties, and there are sports programs and a gym. It's less suited to studying a lot. I had a very good experience overall. The neighbourhood is fine, with a tesco and a lidl near Gds, and borough market is a nice place to pick up a snack.

The building has a so-so gym and is about a 30-40 minute walk to strand campus. I've heard it's a 10-minute walk to guy's for guy's students. There's a Sainsbury's right across the road, the area is generally nice aside from phone snatchers, and they put on at least weekly events, some of them quite nice. The rooms are fine for the price, but the bathroom, especially the shower, is a problem. As I understand it, there's one small boiler for 8-16 people, so the water is usually freezing and you have to shower at unpopular times to get normal-temperature water. Maintenance does work, but bigger problems can take months. I've been here about four months.

Deliveries are good here, and it's a nice place to socialise and make friends. The location is handy too, right by Guys Campus and Borough Market, with Lidl, Asda and Tesco nearby. Waterloo Campus is a 30-minute walk, and London Bridge and Borough tube stations are close. I like the area, though some parts look sketchy, so I tend to stay near the accommodation. Some receptionists are nice, while others are rude and can't smile. The gym is good, and the common room and new study area called the 'drawing' room have recently been renovated and look modern. The flat kitchen is average in size, but there's not much storage for eight people. My room is okay and a decent size, with a single bed and storage underneath, a reasonably sized desk, and a very small wardrobe that fits enough if you don't overpack. I brought extra storage for that reason. The wet room bathroom is a downside, since the shower is right next to the toilet, though the water gets hot. I've been here since the first term and am still living here. Maintenance problems keep coming up, and often they say they've fixed something when they haven't.

There was a strong damp smell in the dingy room, and with no ventilation I had to open the window for air. That left me with a noisy, overly warm night, even though it was under 20 degrees outside. It's manageable if all you need is a roof over your head, but I wouldn't recommend it.