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I have been in Dorchester House for my first year of University and it has been amazing to live there. My room and kitchen area has been very spacious as well as the social spaces outside the flats. Dorchester House and their management handled the lockdown and the situation with COVID-19 of 2020 very well and gave very clear instructions to residents, communicated with me when coming to reception and were always helpful when needed. I am very happy that I have extended my stay in Dorchester House until September 2020 and looking forward to spend 2 more months in this accommodation.
Bournemouth University (BU) Hall Rankings
Purbeck House | #3 |
Bailey Point | #4 |
Chesil House | #5 |
Oxford Point | #6 |
Dorchester House | #7 |
Cranborne House | #8 |
Lyme Regis House | #9 |
Corfe House | #10 |
Okeford House | #11 |
Skyline | #12 |
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I have been in Dorchester House for my first year of University and it has been amazing to live there. My room and kitchen area has been very spacious as well as the social spaces outside the flats. Dorchester House and their management handled the lockdown and the situation with COVID-19 of 2020 very well and gave very clear instructions to residents, communicated with me when coming to reception and were always helpful when needed. I am very happy that I have extended my stay in Dorchester House until September 2020 and looking forward to spend 2 more months in this accommodation.
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Staff looked as though you were always causing them a hassle even if you were simply asking for a parcel, which they sometimes took days to send you an email about so you could collect it, common space lacked privacy,
Wifi went a number of times. Constantly had issues with the rooms in our flat and kitchen. Way too overpriced for what you get. Only plus side is the location is great. Everything else is pretty poor. Washing machines were also always broken
I have been in Dorchester House for my first year of University and it has been amazing to live there. My room and kitchen area has been very spacious as well as the social spaces outside the flats. Dorchester House and their management handled the lockdown and the situation with COVID-19 of 2020 very well and gave very clear instructions to residents, communicated with me when coming to reception and were always helpful when needed. I am very happy that I have extended my stay in Dorchester House until September 2020 and looking forward to spend 2 more months in this accommodation.
The staff have made living here a delight.
Everything about Dorchester House was extremely average. In a good way. No major problems and the community life is pretty good. It’s right by the station and bus stations and right next to Asda. It’s the perfect spot. The rooms could do with updating however.
While the building itself is fine, the management and staff team are abysmal at doing their jobs. Emails are not answered within a reasonable amount of time, inspections are not carried out in a fair and decent way - I had a "window inspection" carried out the day before my window started to leak and destroyed some of my computer equipment. Obviously, these checks are not conducted to the standard that you would expect when paying the extortionate prices. Considering a basic student loan will leave a person around £700 short every quarter, the value for money is just not there. I would warn any and all potential student at Bournemouth to avoid this accommodation at all costs, unless you are a fan of poor service and communication from the staff.
Location was definitely the best part, with Asda, co-op, bars and clubs within very short walking distance. Also very useful with it being the first stop for the uni bus, meaning you get on before anyone from other halls. Minority of staff I dealt with were very nice but have to say most were pretty poor, very condescending and patronising towards students, eg I failed a room inspection without the member of staff entering the room, I simply opened the door and he told me I had failed straight away, because I had a pair of jeans on the floor, when there was nothing wrong with the rest of the room, just felt the guy was in a bad mood and had something against students. Staff would also turn up unannounced for ‘inspection’ which was very annoying, especially during exam period. Lights in the communal areas were automatic, no switches, which was a huge waste of energy. Bedrooms were very nice with everything there that you’d need, large desk, double bed, and en suite.
First impression...not v clean. Had too give shower unit and walls a wipe over. Curtain never fitted track properly. Kept having adjust too clise priperly. Floor nightmare...swept every day and still kept finding dust flufv on floor. Mould forming up walls...kept cleaning but when emptied flat too clean was worse than when orig saw...even keeping room dry aired didnt help. Friend kept loosing hot water so had keep comong my apartment for shower....common room never seemed tidy always stank. Supposed been best halls out of all lansdowne but felt like worse. Def not worth the money you pay.
Don't stay here if you don't like bugs. This place is filled with silverfish, on the floors, under your bed, on the walls, from your room to the bathroom and the kitchen they're everywhere. Security put traps in which are basically just stickers and they're still everywhere. Best location you could want for halls. Rooms are lovely and flats are modern. However there are doors between each room and if its windy outside or at night you will hear these doors bang which is really annoying. Only stay here if you're sociable because dorch is full of party goers. Internet is so fast for such a large building. Washing machines are awful and need updating. If you're looking value for money I would advise you to go to Purbeck.
Glad so many students like this place!! I find Dorchester House adequate to good, though some things are very annoying! The lights come on all the time, night or day, and you can't turn them off - waste of energy and unpleasant. There's no switch to turn off the fan & light in the bathroom pod, and the fan is so noisy! [You can solve it, though, so be creative! ;-) ] Was asked to remove and store all belongings for "deep clean"... When I returned, the cleaners were sitting in the corridor chatting while the floors clearly hadn't been cleaned, the shelves, surfaces and window sills not wiped - so what exactly is a deep clean? There is no small saucepan with a lid, so had to buy one. There's an ironing board, but no iron! Which bin is for recycling, if any? I'm here in July, and they've given me a winter duvet - very uncomfortable; will buy my own. But then, I live here as a teacher, not a student, and am used to my own home comforts.
Wow! What a halls to live in!!
Best halls ive ever seen. Been to many others and its just not the same as dorch!
This acomadation is absolutely amazing, I loved it here
Double bed is so comfy and a really nice place to be.
Nice place but not much done about troublemakers
My experience at dorchester house was poor. One thing that was not clear to me when moving in to dorchester is that if you wanted to leave, then you had to find your own replacement (which seemed near impossible at the time.) Luckilly i managed to find someone with the help of the university.
New, clean, lost of space, wooden floor and big kitchen. Asda just sveis the street and close to bars and clubs. Basically all you can ask for In a student accomendation
Amazing year. Really nice staff and security. Mail room was great and safe! Double beds and huge clean kitchens !!
The condition of the building and rooms are good but the rooms are small and there's no social activity - it doesn't feel communal
Expensive for what you get and bad management of situations
was nice - we were the first ones in the halls!
Best stay ever. We were in there the first year it opened. Only thing was they never put soap in the washing machines when I was there. So minor. They were so chilled about everything and had the best time.
Nicest student accommodation you will find! Great team that get things sorted ASAP.
Great rooms and still talk to my roommates. lots of empty space in the kitchen/living room though. Located right next to bus stop, station and asda, ideal.
Dorchester House is nicely done and modern, however considering it's only 2/3 years old it has a few issues beyond what you'd expect for buildings of that age. For me personally, I don't find it very homely due to there not being any carpet, the flooring being a weird material which attracts dirt and causes me to want to wear shoes all the time. The 'common room' is tiny, for 200 odd flats there's nowhere near enough social space for everyone to socialise. There's no cleaners, which is a major downside considering it's quite expensive and sometimes you'd just like someone to come around and give the kitchen a quick once over once a week - not too much to ask for I don't think. Some of the staff can be quite rude and not very understanding, some of us have very demanding courses and maybe we just don't have the time to make sure the kitchen/bedrooms are completely spotless. Overall it's been nice living here but I'm very excited to move into our own house next term.
Out of all the halls, dorchester house is by far the nicest and cleanest with better facilities such as 2 fridges per flat of 5 compared to other halls which only has one and of course a double bed and spacipus bedrooms and kitchen area. The halls are always clean and staff are extremely friendly and helpful when maintanance issues arrive. It is only slightly more expensive than the other halls which when you compare is undoubtably worth it. If your looking to stay in wild party halls with constant noise and mess all year around then dorchester may not be for you. Having said that, parties still occur and you will meet loys of friends in your own and other flats and it is located in short walking distance to the other halls so if you want to party hard with large amounts of people you can do so without having the aftermath of the mess and noise by walking to them instead. Recommend it alot had a great first year here.
Staff are very strict on people staying and honestly it's a bit bonkers. 5 nights a month max and they love handing out fines
It was a bit expensive but they rooms were lovely and modern. The staff were also great. Good location as Asda and co op were over the road and the train station is next to Asda so it's great when you have friends come visit, or you're getting a train home for the weekend. Also the bus stop is right outside so that's really convenient.
Dorchester House is the most expensive halls out of the ones in Bournemouth, but not by a huge amount! It's also the newest out of the lot so you can expect it to be clean and well managed. The atmosphere of the place is so good and the grounds are so nice too. You can choose if you want to live with just one sex, or mixed, and there's a wide variety of room types to choose from. It's such a good experience. The staff are great and so helpful too, with 24hr security/maintenance people. Great location - right next to an ASDA, a gym, train station, and a bus stop to get to Talbot Campus, or just an 8 minute walk to get to Lansdowne. Amazing.