I am a first-year student who has chosen Urbanest Kings Cross Student Hall, self-catered with an en-suite room sharing the kitchen with 5 other students in my flat, I pay just over £250 and below £300 per week. I will give my honest review below, and I hope this will give prospective students an insight into how you should choose your hall.

I originally chose another student hall which is solely for LSE students, but as I couldn’t get an en-suite room and due to concerns with covid I wanted to have a bathroom to myself, I decided to switch to Kings Cross Urbanest. I have to say, out of all the student accommodation I have visited this term, Urbanest probably has the nicest facilities.  The rooms are very modern compared to the other halls, and they are spacious enough to fit a yoga mat as well as having sufficient storage space.

Ratings

Size of room: 4.5/5

Room facilities: 4.8/5

Location: 3.8/5

Distance to campus: 1.5/5

Transport

I usually take the bus to school which costs £1.55 and takes approximately half an hour when there is no traffic, and 45 minutes during rush hour in the morning. For examples, last term I had a class at 9am, I choose to walk as it takes the same amount of time to get on campus. You can also take the tube to school – Holborn is only 2 stops away from Kings Cross St Pancras, it only takes around half an hour and costs £2.40. However, if you have the student railcard, you get a third off during non-peak hours so it costs around the same as taking the bus.

Location

Other than the fact that Kings Cross Urbanest is a bit far from campus than the other halls, we are 15 minute walk away from Kings Cross and St Pancras International station, which means you can conveniently travel to different parts of the country during the holidays. Kings Cross Urbanest has study space on the first floor, which is great for meeting new friends and doing group work. We are also 20 minute walk away from the British Library, where there are study areas that do not require membership and 30 minute walk away from UCL libraries that you may access by getting a library pass.

Key takeaways

My advice is to decide on what your priorities are:

• Can you cook, do you need your hall to be catered?
• Do you mind taking public transport to school, or would it be more worthwhile choosing a more expensive hall that is within walking distance to campus?
• Do you prioritise the facilities of your hall over distance to campus?
• What are your study habits, do you prefer studying in your room or in a library?