If I could go back in time I would have never booked Chapter Islington. The hallways constantly smell, the windows are never cleaned. Maintenance is minimal. Although the management prides to be “supportive”, none of our concerns are being addressed. They stopped responding to my emails after I booked. Laundry is a disaster and extremely disgusting. Water started leaking in my friend's room so he had to find another place to stay mid-semester. In general, this is the worst student accommodation experience I have ever had... I would strongly urge you to find a different place to stay. You could find much cheaper and much better places to stay.
The social area is very beautiful, however the rooms are dirty. The first day I arrived the room was dirty, the bathtub was clogged. It’s not really like the photos. I think price it’s elevated for what it really is.
Super bad noise level. I get woken up everyother night because management did nothing about gangs hanging loudly in the center courtyard. I am super stressed out, cant concentrate in class because bad sleep quality.
Wifi, hot water, and laundry machines stop working when you need them most. Staffs tried but they cannot possibly fix anything quickly. Prepare to take cold showers for a week, while the washing machines die every month. The terrible facilities make your uni life harder and can provide good preparation to a killing mood.
I cannot believe there have been any good reviews of these halls as most of the people I knew whilst living there hated them as much as I did. As a UCL student I had no choice but to live there. My issues with these halls range over all areas. I will start with the positives though as that will be much easier to get through. The rooms in general are quite nice and spacious. One qualm though is that we all paid the same amount for our rooms when they ranged in sizes - to the point where the bed would be right up against the desk in some rooms and there was plenty of space in others. Also the kitchens ranged drastically in sizes and layouts so everybody got something different for the money. My main issue with the accommodation was the appalling maintenance. Firstly, the water shut off on several occasions. Once we did not have running water AT ALL for over 24 hours!!! One of our friends made a comment about this on the Chapter Islington facebook page and received £20 Nandos vouchers - seems like it came in exchange for his silence on the matter --- where's the compensation for the rest of us?!?!?!? When I first moved in I did not have a working bathroom light, after reporting it maintenance gave me a lamp to use which meant I had to have a cable running through a very small bathroom (how dangerous!) I had to live like this for around 4 months before my light was fixed! AND I wasn't the only student to have this problem! Further, when we moved in we did not have a working kettle, toaster or trays in one of our ovens. Despite reporting this, we had to use our own kettle and toaster. Also, our fridge/freezer broke over a holiday and despite one of my flatmates reporting this it was not fixed for over a week which meant we lost over £100 worth of food - not ideal especially for students. I was also not impressed with the safety at the accommodation. For most of the year the main gate stayed open so it was so easy for anyone to get let in. Further, block A had no security whatsoever, unlike the other blocks. Unbelievably unsafe. As one of the most expensive self-catered halls UCL offer (at £197 a week) you'd think you would be living write next to campus but no. It's about a 40 minute walk or 15 minutes on the tube (costing even more of your money and wasting more of your time). This distance isn't ideal for first year as you are equally as far from other accommodations where UCL students live (and seem to have a great time). If you think first year life is all about having flat parties to meet other like-minded students - that's a definite no no at Chapter. Any parties had were shut down by 11 (if you were lucky) and noise complaints came every night even when I can honestly say that limited noise was being made. I'm sorry, but I don't think watching Adele live at the BBC on my laptop (no extra speakers) warrants a complaint but alas, you can always rely on Chapter staff to get you into trouble for even the slightest thing. The postal system could do with some work also. One of my flatmates ordered a book for last minute revision guidance reasonably in advance but kept being told by staff that it had not arrived. When he got in touch with sellers to file a complaint and they said they had dispatched and delivered it he demanded the staff look again and properly - no surprise, the parcel had been there the whole time. This is but one demonstration of how utterly incompetent the staff were. oh and the gym is a cool feature but is DANGEROUSLY hot - what happened to air con?! Watch out if you live with troublesome flatmates because if one of your flatmates is not liked by the staff then your whole flat will be hated upon. The staff on front desk are generally rude (except the young women with glasses - do not know her name but she was lovely and v.helpful!). Also communication is poor. I tried to arrange a meeting with the manager at one point (he'd previously offered it) but he never replied to my email (yes, it was definitely the right email - we had been emailing prior to this!) Finally, I don't know how much money the establishment thinks we students have but the fines you will receive at the end of the year (regardless of who you are, I have spoken to many and they seem to find absolutely any excuse to fine anyone) are completely ridiculous and disproportionate to any possible damage. I received around £250 worth of fines - for things I can honestly say I played little part in - but that's what you get when your placed with absolute strangers - suddenly your all bound to each other and held responsible for each other's actions. I also found their responses to deal with complaints slow and unsatisfactory - I will be submitting a formal complaint. So if you're someone who is looking for somewhere dull, strict (although don't forget the limited study room and printer that never works!!!) and you don't mind poor maintenance or rude staff then, sure, Chapter Islington is for you. If not, and especially if you're enrolled at UCL so have no choice: run fast! You would be better off on a waiting list or finding a house share with other poor UCL students stuck in the same hellish situation as you. I would not recommend Chapter Islington to any (UCL) student.
I'm at Woodland House for the 2015-16 cohort and genuinely cannot believe the reviews I am seeing. The conditions and service were either amazing compared the years before mine or they are fake reviews (excuse the 'false dichotomy', for now). First of all, the staff here are not only unhelpful but don't seem to care about what you ask them; more often than not, the response has been 'I'm not sure, let me ask my manager' or 'I'll get back to you later' (which, of course, never happens). The night-time staff are worse as they are much less friendly (simply rude) and spend their time watching iPlayer, eating or spending time on Facebook; communicating in English also seems to be a problem. Moreover, there seems to be a general maintenance issue here - we have had no hot water for 3 days now and on the first day of this issue, there was no water at all (water is a basic right is it not?). I rarely feel like I've been getting value for money. Again, the staff never fail to impress as when asked about when we'd have hot water/water back the response was 'I'm not sure, I'm not a plumber'(!). If the staff and maintenance wasn't enough of a problem, the area isn't the best place to be either. If you're a UCL student and had no choice to stay here then you're faced with a 30 minute commute to university every day. Granted this may not be an issue for many, the area still doesn't seem to be very useful compared to other accommodation that are located nearer to the city (and cost a similar amount per week) - especially as Caledonian road tube station will be closed in a few months. I don't want to focus on the bad parts as this place does have a decent gym, a decent cinema room and PS4 games room but if you want friendly and helpful staff, decent maintenance and a reliable transport route/nice area then don't come here for 2016. I had no choice to stay here (I'm a UCL student).
I didn't know what to expect before arriving at Woodland House, but since being here things have really improved this year. Excellent service, amazing spaces for for students to socialise and relax. The manager was very helpful when I had any problems or questions. I won't forget the great experience at Woodland House. I really want to return, but since the summer I'm no longer a student so am not allowed :(
This hall is well managed and the location is perfect for me which is really near to LSM. The management team is quite nice and efficient. When you have problems they will solve them for you very quickly! I love them will definitely recommend to others who want to live a good quality life near central London or the students of CSM or UCL. I enojoyed a really happy time here! Thank you lovely managers.
I would suggest this hall to anyone looking for a comfortable accommodation with an affordable price. The best range of accommodation I have seen since my stay in the United Kingdom.
Woodland House is a great student hall, amazing location, staff and extra amenities. The extra events that included (free food) is also a major bonus.
Love the new management. They're really friendly to all students. Thanks for all the parties. Loved the cocktails. You guys rock.
Everything is nice in here the room is good, enough space. Location is nice, we have a supermarket around us and we have two big parks just beside us. Facilities are good especially this year we have a new gym and study room. But I still think two things need to be improved. One is the parcel collection system. It's really annoying. In my former accommodation, the manager will write your name on a blackboard put on the main gate so everyone can know that they have a parcel or not and then they collect them. The second thing is about the trees how been cut down in our yard. I can't understand it. They said because the trees covered some halls sunshine but I think you can trim them or try to find other solutions. Those trees seem over 10 years old. I can't believe people just cut them within a week. That's sad. I think people can have a meeting or vote to solve these problem.
After 5,000 years of searching the right accommodation, our search is finally over. Us have suffered enough.
Staff are friendly and care about residents. But I was stressed because of kitchen sharing and noise. It needs several rules about this but overall, I was satisfied! Thanks!
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Excellent location for those based near Kings Cross or want to be near central London. Is close to Angel, Islington, a nice part of London that is calmer than the usual hustle bustle of London. In terms of price, it is on the expensive side, but the location, quality of accommodation, management and security makes the rent worth it. The management and maintenance staff are friendly and approachable, and urgent maintenance is always carried out quickly. Local amenities are plentiful and very convenient and Caledonian Road Tube Station is only a few minutes walk away, and being on the Piccadilly Line, is one of the more reliable and crucial lines to be on.
I have stayed with prodigy for a year and have been with them through their transformation and development, and I must say it has exceeded my expectations. The rooms requirements are satisfactory, however still small. My greatest experience was the management staff, every staff member greeted me and keep students feeling homely and part of the family. They are one of the key reason for the my next stay at Prodigy.
Woodland House is located not too far from King's Cross and Camden Town, next to the Caledonian Road Station on the Piccadilly line. It offers great housing with high quality, relatively spacious rooms with integrated bathrooms. The facilities have recently been upgraded and now include a large common area with pool and soccer tables, a gaming room and cinema, as well as a gym and quiet study areas. Generally a very open and sociable place it frequently hosts different events and parties. The receptions are all very helpful, friendly and quite frankly fantastic people. It is a very safe place with 24 hour security personal and an integrated laundry area for added continence. Slightly pricey, but much recommended.
Its very fun to live here. it is very well located!
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