I am currently living in Harry Law (2021) it’s honestly been great so far, although there were issues with the hot water it was quickly dealt with. There are issues with the lift at this moment which sucks being on the top floor, it’s good exercise though! I’ve only been here for 2 weeks and can say it’s been great, I’ve thrown myself out there and have made some good friends so far. I know it can be daunting but getting yourself out there will really better your uni experience, in any of the halls. The reception from the accommodation is only 2 minutes away so if you do forget your room card, they will sort you out in no time.The WiFi is okay ish not the best but not the worst, for some reason I can’t FaceTime without using my data which is weird but WhatsApp video calls work with the WiFi so definitely recommend to get that when you are here. I share a kitchen and have made most of my friends through there, we sometimes chill in each other’s rooms and so there’s a great social aspect
University of Portsmouth Hall Rankings
| Europa House | #5 |
| Margaret Rule Hall | #6 |
| Greetham Street | #7 |
| Trafalgar Hall | #8 |
| Rosalind Franklin Halls | #9 |
| Burrell House | #10 |
| Catherine House | #11 |
| Rees Hall | #12 |
| Bateson Hall | #13 |
| Harry Law Hall | #14 |
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I am currently living in Harry Law (2021) it’s honestly been great so far, although there were issues with the hot water it was quickly dealt with. There are issues with the lift at this moment which sucks being on the top floor, it’s good exercise though! I’ve only been here for 2 weeks and can say it’s been great, I’ve thrown myself out there and have made some good friends so far. I know it can be daunting but getting yourself out there will really better your uni experience, in any of the halls. The reception from the accommodation is only 2 minutes away so if you do forget your room card, they will sort you out in no time.The WiFi is okay ish not the best but not the worst, for some reason I can’t FaceTime without using my data which is weird but WhatsApp video calls work with the WiFi so definitely recommend to get that when you are here. I share a kitchen and have made most of my friends through there, we sometimes chill in each other’s rooms and so there’s a great social aspect
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So far my experience has been pretty good, my room feels secure and is a good size for student halls. The WiFi has been consistently good, there are newly installed WiFi boxes which has significantly improved the signal judging from previous reviews from students. As for the showers, I tend to take at least 30 minutes and have only had one occasion where the water overflowed into the rest of the room(which is a wet room so this wasn't a big issue) The mattress is a spring one so not the most comfortable, I'm used to having a memory foam mattress so I decided to purchase a mattress topper for extra comfort but it isn't necessary. One of the previous reviews mentioned a curfew, this isn't the case you can come and go as you please. It's requested that you are quiet after 11pm which is respectful to other students wishing to sleep. You can choose how social to be, if you want to talk to people spend more time in the kitchen,otherwise the rooms are comfortable to spend time in.
It is not good enough for what it is
There are very little good things to say about Harry Law. You do get the bins changed for you and you do occasionally get the kitchen cleaned for you. Some of the staff are friendly enough but that’s about it. As for the bad things I don’t even know where to begin. The shower can be on for a max of 2 minutes before it floods and you’ll be lucky if you have hot water. Any member of maintenance staff can come into your room with less than an hours notice. Most of the staff are beyond rude, I went to get a parcel and the receptionist was on his phone and said to his friend “I thought I was supposed to be on break but apparently not” very audibly. And don’t even get me started on the WiFi. It’s so bad not even YouTube ads will load. If you are able to plug in your laptop/computer with a cable then it will be around 80mbps but if you aren’t plugged in you’re looking at 1-2mbps. Your room is directly on a corridor like a premier inn but worse. Do NOT live here it is a s*** hole.
Utter s****. Everything is broken and barely gets sorted, can’t do anything on the WiFi and is literally just a worse premier inn
For nearly £140 a week you get an uncomfortable single bed, placed in the middle of the city where groups of 30 12 year olds mug you outside of the halls with knives with no security to be seen. Maintenance people are hit or miss and are pedantic about tiny things, and are constantly making up excuses to go into your room... Literally 0 communal area, we aren't even allowed to use the prison courtyard. Though the Lan is okay (~80mbps) the WiFi is atrocious and cuts out 80% of the day, and when I does work you're looking at around <1mbps
Terrible, maintenance attempted to fix our cooker door's handle and ended up pulling the whole door off and just left it there, leaving us with no cooker for 3 weeks and told us to get microwave meals which is, unhealthy and doesn't suit our student budget. When moved in (oct 2021) things were broken&dirty and weren't fixed until dec 2021 such as a light in our kitchen, and flooring and an overhead panel in the shower room in jan 2022. The showers continue to flood although they have claimed to be fixed, the water goes from hot to cold at random points in the shower. We have been left with no hot water for 2 weeks, and at random times they cut out our hot water. The front desk lady at reception is rude. Maintenance constantly do random checks but don't actually fix things people have complained about. Reception will close when they should be open making it difficult when locked out or wanting to collect parcels. Lift was broken for first 2 months. Overpriced for it's quality.
Internet is awful. We pay over £5500 a year to stay here, yet it is worse than other halls in nearly every single way. A friend has a cupboard door that fell off, been reported several times for months and still not fixed.
I regret booking here ! No hot water at all and no heating. There is maintenance work happening for it at least once a week and it is never fixed. Wi-Fi is terrible, can’t do any work at all. My phone keeps switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data as it keeps disconnecting from this awful Wi-Fi. Room was also given in a terrible condition as the bed frame was very sharp and kept cutting my leg. Eventually got it replaced but still not the best.
Do not go to a portsmouth uni owned accomdarions they are just taking the piss. The internet is s*** everywhere, the lift never works, the water gets cut (often just hot but also occasionally no cold either), there were no christmas decorations allowed, the court yard is out of bounds, there is no noise after 11 allowed, the doors lock automatically so its easy to lock yourself out with a 50 pound replacement fee if you lose your card, its always boiling, the are no social events, there is no common room. I do not reccomend.
I am currently living in Harry Law (2021) it’s honestly been great so far, although there were issues with the hot water it was quickly dealt with. There are issues with the lift at this moment which sucks being on the top floor, it’s good exercise though! I’ve only been here for 2 weeks and can say it’s been great, I’ve thrown myself out there and have made some good friends so far. I know it can be daunting but getting yourself out there will really better your uni experience, in any of the halls. The reception from the accommodation is only 2 minutes away so if you do forget your room card, they will sort you out in no time.The WiFi is okay ish not the best but not the worst, for some reason I can’t FaceTime without using my data which is weird but WhatsApp video calls work with the WiFi so definitely recommend to get that when you are here. I share a kitchen and have made most of my friends through there, we sometimes chill in each other’s rooms and so there’s a great social aspect
Wi-Fi is terrible-the uni know this yet refuse to do anything-they just send emails saying "wireless printers may cause disruption for others make sure they are turned off when not in use"). Laundry situation: Also terrible, 2/4 Washing machines (yes you read that right the entire hall has 4 washing machines for >200 students) are nearly always broken reports to circuit laundry are being ignored. No social spaces outside of a patio area in the centre exist (no common room-we share one with Bateson which is just across the pathway to the law courts but no-one in HL ever uses it) All the above is true for both pre-covid when I lived there in first year (except laundry but the wi-fi never actually reached the laundry room in first year so there is an improvement but not by much)
This is the most isolating place I have ever lived, you are not in a flat, you just share a kitchen with a few random rooms, the heating doesn't work, shower floods all the time, and the the whole room will shake whenever someone closes a door. Its very expensive but no worth it, the only good thing is having a ensuite but its disgusting and broken, the floor is not waterproof. I can see people being fine here if they are really good at making friends but that's it
Isolating and hugely overpriced
Rooms were good and it was very accessible. Only downside is it was dorm style so noise was not well contained and it was quite easy to get complaints. No late flat parties were possible annoyingly. Had an early noise curfew but i really liked my room and the kitchen was a good standard. Wouldn’t change it, it was really inclusive and easy to meet people here.
I wish I could submit photos, because you would not believe the horrors that await you in these halls. The mold is so bad you'll get ill, maybe even hospitalised for a few days! And you will have either flies or rats infesting your kitchen no matter how hard you try to kill them. There's no social space - don't expect to make friends here! But if you're a loner and can tolerate the non stop cleaning regime you'll need to maintain, by all means is this the perfect halls for you. The staff are antisocial and curfew (yes, curfew) is at 11. Just don't come here, please?
Do you want to spend an hour logging into Microsoft word? You enjoy having two minute showers? Harry laws perfect for you. You want to spend more than two minutes in the shower? Aight but expect your bathroom to flood, and mould patches to form under your carpet. Just go Trafalgar. It's cheaper, you actually get to socialise with the people around you, you get decent WiFi, and the place isn't literally mouldy (as in patches of mould strewn about)
Appauling WiFi in halls. Hall was nice and social. Right on campus. Decent price
I can’t say enough bad things about this place, you get woken up by for alarms at 3 in the morning constantly throughout the year, the staff are horrible, your room is constantly invaded, your constantly threatened to be charged money in the kitchen, the rent isn’t cheap, the WiFi might as well be non-existant and I could go on, don’t stay here, get a house or anything, I dont want to see anyone spend a penny of rent at this prison ever again.
Possibly one of the worst halls. I was kept up almost every single night by a group of loud people above me screaming and shouting constantly. People blare their music all the time, even walking up and down the corridors in the middle of the night with speakers. Doors are continuously slammed which sometimes shakes your whole room. The WiFi connection is horrendous - I had to use my 4G most of the time. This made it hard to do uni work a lot of the time. The bed was pretty uncomfortable and springy, and I had to turn my shower off halfway through to stop it overflowing. Some of the staff are rude and miserable, except from the head of housekeeping who was always lovely and helpful. However, being threatened with having to pay for cleaning staff to take out bins is ridiculous. The only good things are that it is a great distance from things, and my room was a great size.
Do you like being woken up by fire alarms all the time that go off for 10 minutes strait in the middle of the night? If so this is the place for you.
Do you like being woken up by fire alarms all the time that go off for 10 minutes strait in the middle of the night? If so this is the place for you.
Good value for money, good sized rooms with en suite.
Do not have high expectations for this accomodation, I read the reviews before coming here and so didnt have much of a positive image in mind. It was worse than I had imagined. It's super hard to socialise here as there are no common spaces and can leave you feeling isolated, the kitchens arent big enough for everyone so expect for people to take your fridge shelves at least 4 times in the year. It is so noisy at night, so unless you're okay with staying awake til 4am every night I would not recommend living here.. didnt add anything positive to my uni experience
I literally cannot justify the £126 p/w. It is a complete scam, when you arrive you will be greeted to a stuffy, dusty room and a bathroom which are all supposed to be "clean" (heads up it isn't). I suppose the location is good as the distance between the clubs, library and buildings is not too far- however the price is completely ridiculous. The cleaning staff constantly threaten to charge £100 to clean your kitchen if there is even the littlest toast crumb on the side, yet when you compare to how they cleaned your bedroom at the start of the year you have to question... is it even worth it? It's quite difficult to bond with your kitchen mates as its not a flat set-up it is more like a long corridor with doors. Personally, I would not recommend Harry Law to anyone. TLDR; Love yourself and go live in Trafalgar halls (more benefits for a cheaper price x)
Sociallly great, however if you like having a normal sleeping pattern this place isn’t for you. Enjoy being woken up by the builders most mornings and the fire alarm occurs at least once a week, sometimes at 3am.
In my opinion the best halls as it was within a 10 minute from most university buildings. Very good internet speeds. I recommend bringing an ethernet cable for game consoles as they don't allow you to connect through WiFi. Kitchen is fairly small so not much room for socialising.
Harry Law Hall is a nice hall which is well secured, promotes social life but really noisy at nights .
The best thing about Harry Law is that it's not Bateson.
Harry Law is great! Lovely social environment, much better than Bateson. FU BATESON
I've had the best time ever living at Harry Law, It's so social and you get to know everyone in the halls making it one big family! The kitchens are super lovely and the cleaners do so much work for you! The security are such a laugh and super chilled about everything. The rooms are really good sized and there is loads of space. Maintenance are really good as they fix things within a day. I've made friends for life here, when i found out i was placed here i wasn't sure how i felt! Now i wouldn't want to be in accommodation anywhere else.
Everything is going okay so far, hallways are maintained well. Although that's there are repeated occurrences of noise and disturbance late at night from people that I'm not even sure are staying in the halls.
My bedroom was too big for one person, but was the same size as the kitchen, which was too small for nine people. We got charged left right and centre for almost everything they could charge us for, whilst paying £107 a week - which is more expensive than most private landlords. Absolute farce.
It is the dingiest most prison-like environment I have ever been in. The security are rubbish. If you were dying they would finish their cups of tea before they came to help you. Some of the security however are alright. The rooms are reasonable sized and some kitchens are big, but, there is no living room / sofas and so you'll be left with 5 uncomfortable stools for the year. If you're in Harry Law with good people, it's a really good time and the halls are 2 minutes walk from all the good clubs.