Student Accommodation in Aberdeen is definitely not hard to find – as there are A LOT of options available.
During the second half-session of second year, I stayed at the Student Roost University Walk in Aberdeen. Or as it was called before the renovations, Pittodrie Street (because it’s on Pittodrie Street – who would have guessed!).
If you are thinking about staying there, want to know what it’s like or see some pictures, then please read on.
Read some of my other posts for more information on student accommodation in Aberdeen, or a review on Liberty House Linksfield (Liberty Living) or King Street Exchange (Unite Students).
Student Accommodation in Aberdeen
The Student Roost – University Walk A Review
Booking process:
Because I was already staying in Aberdeen, I went to have a look at the show flat at The Student Roost University Walk before booking. The show flat was very nicely presented so I decided that I was going to book a room there.
I had to register on their website and then complete my booking request online. Like with other student accommodation, the booking process was very straightforward. I needed a guarantor (ie my mum) to sign the agreement, and there was no deposit to be paid.
My payment method later on was quite unusual though. Because I couldn’t get things set up properly online, I had to pay my month´s rent down at reception every few weeks. They weren’t very fussed about if it was paid on time or not, as long as I paid eventually…
Arrival:
The thing I was most grateful for, was that the people at Student Roost allowed me to bring and leave all of my things in my new room over the Christmas holidays, although I didn´t start paying rent until I returned at the beginning of January. That was an absolute lifesaver, as it meant I didn´t have to put my things into storage for 3 weeks.
Site, Flat and Room:
Site
The location of University Walk is perfect, about a 10 minute walk from uni, 5 from Aberdeen Sports Village and 10 minutes from Morrisons and Lidl.
The Student Roost University Walk building is situated on Pittodrie Street. They have just completed a huge second building on the opposite side of the road that will be open from this semester. The original building has a large downstairs common room with TVs, games and a pool table, as well as an outdoor courtyard. There is also a small roof terrace with a view of the stadium and the sea.
The new building also has large common rooms, TV and game rooms.
Being so close to Pittodrie stadium does mean it can get quite noisy on match days, as you can hear everything that is going on at the stadium.
Flat, Kitchen and Living Room
The flats are very modern, with a very large kitchen come living room. There are 9 bedrooms per flat however, which is A LOT of people to be sharing a kitchen with. There was enough space (or at least not less than usual) for everyone to keep their things (2 cupboards and 1 drawer each). As well as two fridge freezers, the kitchen also comes with two cookers, two ovens, two sinks and two microwaves. There is a kitchen table with chairs, and the little living room section consists of 3 sofas and a coffee table.
Bathroom and Bedroom
There are 3 types of en-suite rooms as well as studio apartments available at the Student Roost; bronze, silver and gold. Bronze is the smallest, gold the largest.
I stayed in a bronze en-suite room, which, for me, was big enough.
The bathroom in the room is very modern – there are mirrors everywhere! The shower is quite big, especially when compared to other halls, for example King Street Exchange (Unite Students) which only had a tiny shower! There is a large sink area and a small cabinet above the toilet.
The bedroom has a ¾ sized bed with under-bed storage, however, you have to lift up the mattress to access it, which can be a bit of a pain (but it was like that in all the places I stayed).
The room also comes with a large desk with 3 drawers (no desk lamp!), a chair and a shelving unit above the desk. You might want to be careful though as to how much you put on it, mine started coming apart with all my heavy textbooks!
There is also a large wardrobe with 3 drawers at the bottom (see picture below).
The best thing about the room I think was the fact that there was no carpet – something most uni rooms tend to have. Only downside is that then you can see all the dust and hair collecting on the floor… 😉
Flat/Room Assignment
This is the one thing I disliked about the Student Roost Pittodrie Street, and I am afraid it made my stay there less enjoyable. One thing that wasn´t necessarily their fault, was that my bedroom faced the construction site across the road, so there was A LOT OF NOISE coming from there. The builders would work from 7am until 7pm, and it was often so noisy that I could not concentrate in my room. More often than not I had to go to the library if I wanted to get any work done. At least now that the new building is finished, no one else should have that problem anymore.
The worst thing however was the flat and flatmates I was
assigned to. Only one person was the same age as me and in a similar year of
study. I got along well with him, but the same cannot be said about the others.
They were mainly older (and I am talking late 20s to 30s), masters and
post-grad students, who were in Aberdeen on exchange. They hardly ever left
their room, weren´t particularly nice but left a hell of a mess in the kitchen!
It was not great living with them at all – and I constantly had to clean up
after them! Not getting on with your flatmates can make your stay somewhere a
lot less enjoyable, which I am afraid was the case for me.
I always saw loads of people my age around the site, so I was disappointed I wasn´t
allocated a room with people more my age or similar interests. Perhaps that is
something that could be improved there.
Events
The Student Roost was by far the best accommodation I stayed in at offering events. They often had things going on in the common room (for example Bingo or movie nights), organised (e.g. Easter egg) hunts around the site to win prizes or offered breakfast, snacks or cakes at reception. All in all very nice and I am sad to say that I didn´t have the time to make the most of the events.
Staff
The staff were very friendly, both the people at reception and maintenance staff, as well as the night staff. At the Student Roost they have staff on site at reception 24/7.
The receptionists always offered a warm welcome and were up for a chat, the maintenance staff was friendly and came quickly to fix things if you needed them to. Having staff on site all the time, meant that you could always ask someone for help and mostly importantly: get back into your room if you locked yourself out!
Location
The location of The Student Roost University Walk is one of its best features! It is only a 5 minute walk to ASV and TESCO express, a 10-minute walk from university (15-20 minutes to the Zoology building) and a 10-minute walk from Morrisons and Lidl.
It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk into town from The Student Roost. As it is just off King Street, there are also loads of busses that you can get, either to go into town (Union Street/Union Square) or out of Aberdeen (direction Newburgh, Peterhead, Ellon etc.).
All in all, I would recommend staying at the Student Roost University Walk. The location is truly perfect if you want to be close to university and the sports village. Although 9 people is a lot to be sharing with, if you get on well then it’s fine. The new building across the road offers flats though with fewer rooms – if they are available I´d recommend opting for those.
I was unlucky with people I ended up sharing a flat with, but apart from that I did enjoy my stay there. Of course, life doesn’t come to an end if you don´t get on with some of your flatmates, and I just invited friends over or went to their places instead.
Let me know if you have any other questions regarding staying at the Student Roost or any of the other accommodation sites in Aberdeen! Simply leave a comment below, I’d love to help!
