Overall the building was absolutely amazing! It is in a great location with many things so close by. Being in this building honestly made my first year of university fantastic. The only feedback I would have is that it can sometimes take a while for maintenance to sort out any issues you may have reported, but I can understand that they would be very busy so this may be why!
Portsmouth Hall Rankings
| Margaret Rule Hall | #5 |
| Rosalind Franklin Halls | #6 |
| Greetham Street | #7 |
| Burrell House | #8 |
| Catherine House | #9 |
| Rees Hall | #10 |
| Trafalgar Hall | #11 |
| Bateson Hall | #12 |
| Harry Law Hall | #13 |
| St George's Way | #14 |
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Overall the building was absolutely amazing! It is in a great location with many things so close by. Being in this building honestly made my first year of university fantastic. The only feedback I would have is that it can sometimes take a while for maintenance to sort out any issues you may have reported, but I can understand that they would be very busy so this may be why!
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The irony of the staff doing a safety check and not locking the door again so it was left unlocked for around 3 weeks.
Really great place to live. Helpful staff, well fitted out rooms, and any maintenance issues are sorted very quickly
The maintenance team always took so long but it was so nice and modern, perfect location literally a nightclub opposite, always have events on too so you can meet others. They were so helpful if you had covid by bringing deliveries/takeaways up to you.
Hi there, Thank you for the positive feedback, we're extremely proud of our wellbeing event programme and are always happy to support our residents wherever possible! The Catherine House Team
The accomodation is decent, it looks nice and overall it's really probably one of the better ones. But the maintenance team really need to be more on it with repairs. We had an oven break and didn't get a replacement for about 3-4 months, our TV didn't work for 3/4's of the year and one of our plug socks exploded which resulted in half of the hob not working. We were told the maintenance team hadn't taken the appropriate course to fix it so we were stuck with two working rings on a hob for about 2 months and when we left it still had not been fixed. We understand a lot of the waiting time is down to reception not getting the requests to the team in a timely fashion which is really the main thing they need to work on. Also it seems completely absurd that there are different sizes of room but everyone pays the same. I basically lived in a wardrobe and some of my friends had double or triple the space I did and yet I had to pay the same rent as them. Internet was also pretty unreliable.
Hi there, We're sorry you were unhappy with the wait for these issues to be fixed. A lot of our electrical works have to be outsourced to an external company which can sometimes lead to a bit of a wait in these things getting resolved. We always endeavour to get these dealt with as quickly as possible. Due to the shape and layout of the building, our rooms do vary in size within the shared flats, however the pricing is based on how many people are sharing the communal area and kitchen facilities rather than on the size of the bedroom. Our internet is provided by an external company who have a great customer service team and are more than happy to troubleshoot any issues with connectivity. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the other aspects of your stay with us and appreiate your feedback! The Catherine House Team
Its good for student accom, however not much privacy. People constantly coming in for maintenance and you can’t say no…
Hi, Thank you for your feedback. We do have essential works that need to be carried out occasionally, we will always give as much notice as possible for these works and always give at least 24 hours prior notice. We would be unable to rearrange these visits as they are a legal requirement and have to be caried out by external contractors who schedule a specific time to visit our building. If you have reported a maintenance issue to a member of the team, they will visit your room as soon as possible to fix this for you. If it's an inconvenient time for you, they will always be happy to try again later! The Catherine House Team
The accommodation itself was great, it was a bit rubbish that we had to pay the same amount as people with bigger rooms though when ours were tiny box rooms. Some staff were not great at looking after the residents, there has been many times they did not help drunk/spiked people and would not bat an eyelid to obviously sketchy situations.
Hi, Our shared flat bedrooms will vary in size slghtly because of the shape and layout of the building, the pricing is based on how many people are sharing the communal areas rather than the size of the bedroom. Our night staff are here to help with any issues outside of opening hours and will always do what they can to ensure our residents are safe. In the event that medical assistance is required, they can assist as much as possible however are not medically trained so we would always recommend seeking help from the appropriate services. If there are ever any situations that our residents are uncomfortable with, we would always ask that these get reported to the member of staff that is on duty. If out of hours, these will get passed on to management the following day who can then follow up with any resident involved and offer further support if required. The Catherine House Team
The accommodation itself was modern and a nice enough place for a student, however problems from the move in date for the room such as broken furniture and fittings weren’t even fixed by the time we left and some reception staff could be passive aggressive when informing them about a problem, also security is installed everywhere however there were still several occasions of strangers getting through several stages of security and into blocks even on the first night of living there as well as random people getting into flats whilst people are sleeping and in my own flat being woken up by an aggressive man banging on the flat door that was previously reported as not working properly, to which a passive aggressive remark was made and nothing was followed up. But overall the social side and facilities were great.
Hi there, Our maintenance team will always do their best to deal with any issues in a timely manner, however there can sometimes be delays to getting things fixed if they have to wait for parts to be ordered/delivered or if external contractors need to be booked to fix the issue. All of our blocks (as well as individual rooms) will have key fob entry points, unfortunately people sometimes manage to get through when these doors are opened by others. We would always encourage our resident to use the out of hours contact number and speak with a member of staff if they have a concern over someone being in the building. We are glad to hear you enjoyed the facilities and the social aspect here, and will take your feedback on board. The Catherine House Team
Its can get quite noisy at times, especially in the corridors at 11pm and 3am when people come a go from the clubs. Noise can be heard from the rooms.
Hi, Thank you for your feedback! We encourage our residents to be respectful of others living in the building, however understand that sometimes things can get a little loud. If there are people causing a disturbance, a member of the team will always be available to come and talk with those responsible and move them along. The Catherine House Team
The actual accommodation was amazing but there were some instances where people could just walk in, who didn’t live in the accommodation and security weren’t really bothered even when my friends flat was broken into by a stranger. Maintenance requests took months to fix - our kitchen tap wasn’t fixed for months. Our heating wasn’t fixed until a week before we were due to move out
Hi, We're very sorry to hear your friend had this issue. We take the safety of our residents very seriously and all of our flats and studios have key fob entry, as well as the ability to lock the door from the inside. We also have on site security 24 hours a day as well as an out of hours contact number which can be used in the event of emergencies. Our night staff will monitor those entering and exiting the building but can occasionally be called away to deal with an emergency or to patrol other areas of the building. Our maintenance technicians will always aim to resolve any issues as quickly as possible, however they may sometimes have to wait for parts to be ordered or for external contractors to arrive if it's an issue that can't be dealt with by our in-house team - this can cause delays in getting the job completed. We appreciate the feedback and will use this to continue improving for future residents. The Catherine House Team
Overall the building was absolutely amazing! It is in a great location with many things so close by. Being in this building honestly made my first year of university fantastic. The only feedback I would have is that it can sometimes take a while for maintenance to sort out any issues you may have reported, but I can understand that they would be very busy so this may be why!
Hey there, Thank you so much for your review, we're so happy to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us :) Our maintenance technicians will always aim to resolve any issues as quickly as possible, and we appreciate your understanding in this! The Catherine House Team
Good accommodation. Management team really cares for their students.
Hey there, Thank you so much for your kind review! We are very glad you are enjoying your stay with us. The Catherine House Team
Nice social environment and good sized room
Hey there, Thank you so much for your kind review! We are very glad you are enjoying your stay with us. The Catherine House Team
Catherine house is a great student accommodation, it’s a new and modern building, the staff are so lovely and helpful and it’s easily the best student accommodation here in Portsmouth
Thank you for your lovely review and we are so glas you've enjoyed living with us so far!
The team is very helpful and do their best to support you!
Hi there,Thank you so much for your review and we are glad you have found our staff helpful and supportive - we always aim to go above and beyond :)Kind regards,The Catherine House Team
My time spent living at Catherine House was some of the best moments as a Uni Student. The vibe, atmosphere and staff made Catherine House the most welcoming environment that I was happy and proud to call home for 2 years. The team at the Student Housing Company, were some of the most compassionate and supportive people. They truly make you feel safe as well as listened to. They were always helpful with any issues whilst also being incredibly understanding of personal issues or problems that students faced. Student Wellbeing and mental health is a true focus, at Catherine House. The location and services were als excelent, situated in the city centre, nothing was ever further than 10 mins away on foot. It provided great accessibility for all my lectures across the city. However, the only negative is the cost. You will be paying for the location, and the price does not differ that greatly between various other Student accommodation. Unfortunately that is generally the issue faced.
Hi there, Thank you so much for your amazing review - giving our residents the best living experience and supporting them throughout their time at uni is exactly what our staff are here for and we will always aim to go above and beyond for our residents.We are proud of our wellbeing programme and are very lucky to work closely with the ResLife team at the University to support our residents, we are glad you felt Catherine House was a safe place for this.Price-wise, we do have competitive prices in comparison to the other options in the City and have cashback offers on at the moment to help bring down these costs :D thank you for your feedback and we will continue to look at what other offers we can provide to our students! Kind regards,The Catherine House Team
I think I was really lucky with my flatmates for the year, an excellent group of people who I have gotten extremely close with. The sky lounge was closed all year due to Covid which is understandable but a real shame. As for allowing any visitors, zero allowed. Our oven was really strange, it would burn the food before it was even done cooking. We got maintenance in and they did pretty much nothing. The rooms were lovely, having an on suite was a huge luxury to have. However because our rooms were facing the sun, and we were on a high floor it basically became a sauna. The showers are tiny but understandable, and they flooded SO EASILY. As well as this, the bathroom tap is basically a dribble, the water pressure is very low. There aren’t cleaners, so you have to do it for yourself which isn’t a bad thing at all. Overall it is overpriced for what it is, and the rent is increasing for next year. I would stay again as I enjoyed my time here, but it was absolutely too much.
Hi there, Thank you for your honest review! We are so glad you liked your room and enjoyed your stay overall.Please pop to reception to borrow an air conditioner, we have these available for residents to use when we have heat waves like last week! While your here please do give us your room number so we can investigate the maintenance issues raised - most of these are so easily fixed and the team is happy to help :) We are just as disappointed as you that Government Restrictions earlier this year meant we were unable to meet in groups inside and therefore our Sky Lounge was not able to be used as usual. We are glad we were able to open this as soon as we were legally permitted to this year! The same applies to visitors - our usual guest policy means you can have visitors whenever you like, however again we have a responsibility to keep our residents safe and healthy by following government guidance and the law. Finally, we always make sure our rooms are priced fairly and competitively in the purpose built student accomadation market - ours are actually the cheapest price for floor space in the city so your rent payments do go further! Remember our prices are all inclusive covering contents insurance, bills, wifi as well as our sevices such as post, security and maintenance :) Many thanks, The Catherine House Team
Living at Catherine House was one of the best experiences of my university experience, and one of the best choices only my first year. The staff are super friendly and helpful; I hardly had any issues but when I did they were dealt with quickly. The location is great, and super close to everything including my uni building which takes me less than 10 minutes to get to, and the value for money was also really great, and everything being included in the rent made everything really easy. I also got really lucky with my flat mates, who were all friendly and we got along throughout the year. I would definitely recommend Catherine House to anyone looking for student accommodation in Portsmouth.
Hi Thank you for your review and for recommending us! We are so glad you had a great time living with us and found our staff friendly and helpful. If you need a room for next year, do get in touch for information on our current rebooker offer :)
Great accommodation! Both the reception team and facilities team are super helpful and friendly. Would recommend to any students!
Hi there, Thank you for your review and for recommending us! We are so glad you enjoyed living here and found our staff friendly and helpful. If you need a room for next year, do get in touch for information on our current rebooker offer :) Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
I really enjoyed staying at Catherine House. The rooms are a good price and bigger than my friends room over the road, even though they pay more money. The sky lounge is really pretty and reception staff were always friendly and helpful, night staff were chatty and quick to help when I needed it.
Hey there, Thanks so much for your review we are very glad you enjoyed living with us and found our team helpful - we love the Sky Lounge too! If you need a room for next year, do get in touch for information on our current rebooker offer :) Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
Don’t waste your money, go somewhere else. I ignored all the bad reviews before I can and regret it.
Hi there, We pride ourselves on going above and beyond for our residents - please do get in touch with us with more information on what has happened so we can help and put any problems right for you. You can reach us on 023 9219 1130 or catherinehouse@thestudenthousingcompany.com. Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
I love it here, it is clean, it have a tv and the price is lovely but it can go down a little bit just because not everyone can afford to stay here
Hi there, Thank you so much for your review we are very glad you have loved living with us! We always make sure our rooms are priced fairly and competitively in the purpose built student accomadation market, and on average, ours are actually the cheapest price for floor space in the city so your rent payments do go further! For information on financial support available to University of Portsmouth students, do get in touch with ourselves and we can point you in the right direction :) Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
so expensive honestly - 6 grand and even more expensive if you don’t book through the uni - lovely rooms but get so hot in the summer great view and location would stay here again for my final year if it didn’t cost a kidney and my firstborn
Hi there, Thanks for your review and we're glad you have enjoyed your stay this year! Our rooms booked through the Uni are rooms in shared flats which is why they are cheaper :) these are reserved by the Uni for first years I'm afraid. Our Studios booked directly through us are private rooms with loads of space, a bigger en suite bathroom and en suite kitchen. We always make sure our rooms are priced fairly and competitively in the purpose built student accomadation market, and on average, ours are actually the cheapest price for floor space in the city so your rent payments do go further! We actually have a re-booker offer going on too at the moment with £500 Amazon vouchers and shorter contracts available. If you're still looking for a place to live and would like more info, please do get in touch. Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
The only things I disliked (especially for the price) is the limited parcel collection hours, the shower drains blocking frequently. Residents in studios don’t get an oven and shower pressure is weak. Also the wifi service in my room was really getting on my nerves. Apart from these problems, it was a great experience, sadly cause of the pandemic, I couldn’t meet many people but that is understandable. Staff & maintenance are lovely, the location is perfect and the interior is very nice. I enjoyed my stay here.
Hey there, Thank you for your review and feedback – we are pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay and your kind words about our staff 😊 We are open for post collection Mondays – Fridays 8am – 6pm and on weekends 4pm – 6pm. If you have anything urgent you need that has been delivered outside of these times and no one is at reception, we have the Duty Mobile that you can call and a member of the team would be happy to help! You can find the Duty Mobile number on the wall at reception. Our facilities team is on hand for any maintenance issues and we are happy to help you contact the WiFi provider to have a look at the connection in your room – please do give us a call or drop us an email so we can help. This year was a difficult year full of restrictions meaning we had to follow the government guidance for meeting inside and while we continued hosting our virtual wellbeing and events programme, we know this isn’t for everyone. We hope that you are finding things more sociable now we can meet friends inside! If you have any ideas you think would be good events to get residents together now things are opening up again, we would love to hear from you so do get in touch if you would like to help shape events for our students. Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
Do not recommend this property at all, staff are rude and unhelpful, you wait days for post and weeks for replies to emails. They only reply to emails quick when its for their gain (money). They have had absolutely no regard for students during the pandemic and continue to act inhumane. I would advise any other halls above this one.
Hi there, I am sorry to hear you have not had a good experience with our services. Like many businesses, we have been affected by the pandemic and received a very large volume of enquiries from residents after the announcement of the 3rd lockdown, which may have meant that at this time we were not able to respond to emails as quickly as normal. We always aim to get back to queries within 48 hours. Our staff are very good at processing post within a few hours of its arrival and you should receive a notification shortly after we have done this. If a parcel has arrived outside of opening hours, we will process it as soon as possible when we open the following day. If this has not been your experience please do get in contact with further details so we can look into this for you and rectify and problems. We understand that this year has been difficult for students and full of restrictions. We have remained open at Catherine House throughout the pandemic and are always on hand to support our residents. We were pleased to offer a rental discount for those students who were unable to return to their accommodation after the December break. If you need any further support from us, please do not hesitate to get in touch so we can help. Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
absolutely do not recommend this student accommodation unless you want to be completely ripped off throughout a global pandemic even though the government have told students not to return. Appalling attitude from the staff at Catherine house
Hi there, Following our response to the previous review, it looks like your review was also left before we had a chance to confirm and communicate our Covid Rental Discount to our residents. As I am sure you're now aware, after the Government announcement of a third lockdown in January 2021, we worked with our partners towards providing additional support for those students who were unable to travel back to the residences and were pleased to offer a rental discount for those students who were unable to return to their accommodation after the December break. The rental discount would have been added to your account, however if you did not receive this please do get in contact with us to confirm your details so we can investigate this for you. We understand that it isn’t easy when you should be experiencing the best that university life has to offer. Here at The Student Housing Company we know how important your home is and we are here to support you. Kind regards The Catherine House Team
Shame on the student housing company. Despite this third lock down, and many of us being stuck at home, they continue to take 100% of our rent as though this were any other year. Instead of following in the stride of more graceful companies and universities, which are almost all offering some kind of compensation, Catherine House holds onto every penny. Absolute shame of the world onto this company.
Hi there, Unfortunately it looks like your review was left before we had a chance to confirm and communicate our Covid Rental Discount to our residents. As I am sure you're now aware, after the Government announcement of a third lockdown in January 2021, we worked with our partners towards providing additional support for those students who were unable to travel back to the residences and were pleased to offer a rental discount for those students who were unable to return to their accommodation after the December break. The rental discount would have been added to your account, however if you did not receive this please do get in contact with us to confirm your details so we can investigate this for you. We understand that it isn’t easy when you should be experiencing the best that university life has to offer. Here at The Student Housing Company we know how important your home is and we are here to support you. Kind regards, The Catherine House Team
they’ve done their best - difficult time
The building is very well maintained and it caters very well to new and returning students. I went to a beer pong event on the first night organised by Student Housing Company and it was brilliant. My room's ethernet port didn't work which was problematic since I had a desktop PC and ended up using a slower modem for most of the year. They'll tell you to contact ASK4 for help and the whole process can take a few days.
I recently moved in and there are so many issues with my flat which just shouldn't exist. The first time someone sat down, the kitchen sofa leg broke. One of our showers has a broken tap, and the drain is super sharp and rusty, a total health hazard. Our microwave also sparked when there was nothing in it and had to be turned off. Not impressed so far at all.
Felt very homely and made me feel comfortable. Loved staying there
I lived here in my first year 2018-19. I highly recommend the place. Ive always felt safe here. Their insurance policy came in handy, this covers many of your personal belongings. Wifi always brilliant. Fire alarms r expected to be frequent in the beggining of the yr, handy to have some clothes and shoes ready to hop into, be prepared for the ear piercing alarm at any point in time. (Even in your sleep). The layout of the blocks, staircases & fire escapes r placed efficiently for fast evacuation, unlike greetham! (Look it up). I was happy with the kitchen appliances (tv, grill/microwave, grill/oven, electric hob). You can fit lots under the bed. The desk, drawers & chair were comfortable. The shelving around the bedframe was ideal, wardrobe is deep and tall. Shower is tight but adjustabl n removabl showr head is great. Lots of complaints r students fault tbh. Shower drains r easy to clean. Rubbish in stairwells is their responsibility. Lifts break cause of jumping in them. Lots of free
Awful experience would recommend any other halls. You don't get the rooms they show you around there are plumbing issues. they wont help with any flatmate issues, security is awful. Infested with flys!
Only student housing in Portsmouth to still make the students pay when the uni is closed with the covid 19 going on - Let this be a lesson don’t stay at this place for the new year . This company puts money before the well being of their tenants. Disgusting!!
Throughout the year they have been consistently bad at communicating, even when hundreds of people are begging them to answer, they choose to ignore or post a generic automated response like "we have a team working tirelessly on this issue to get back to you", leaving everyone in the dark. This was firstly an issue before even moving in, when they gave everyone the wrong room numbers and barely put out any public information for us to know what was going on, after we had been making friends with the wrong flatmates for weeks. Little did we know that this unnecessary stress was just the beginning of an even worse year. They do not replace items that are broken. Some items that are vital are just never provided (our ground floor flat never had a kitchen curtain, and did not have a radiator for the first 4 months, and our oven was never replaced when broken). The management is negligent and do not care about their tenants.
During covid19 they continued to make us pay full rent even tho we have completely moved out and handed in the keys. Ridiculous they have no concern for student welfare only to make money. The whole place is unclean, staff unfriendly, WiFi doesn’t work at the best of times. Found that half the stuff was broken when moving in. Had to pay more money for smaller rooms and less people than other flats with 6 people. There was a mouldy loaf of bread on the stairs for a solid 4 months, where were the weekly communal cleaners .. never to be seen! Fire alarms went off every day.
Decor is nice but maintenance team is slow and laundry is far too expensive
I would say they are really attentive to issues apart from the cleaning the cleaning could improve massively
Staff made my friends wait at reception when they wouldn’t make anyone’s friends wait there. Staff mocked my accent throughout the year, even when I asked them to stop. Staff didn’t care when my tickets to a concert were lost when they were signed and they stated “they’re sometimes forged my the Royal Mail”. Wouldn’t recommend this place for students apart from location. Staff don’t care whatsoever and post has been lost. Not that they care.
Living here for 2 years, it has been a very good experience. The rooms are well designed and the staff is very friendly. The internet is very good and it has good security during the day and night. Location is a big plus. 1 minute away from Tesco Express and Commercial Road. I seriously recommend it.
My son lived in Catherine House for his first year, the building was then brand new, then again for his third year (this year). It is hard to judge a company until you have an issue, which we have now had and I can say that Zoe, Pashka and the general manager have all taken time to sort it out to our satisfaction. Approachable, professional and willing to find a solution.
Amazing and it is very clean just no personal cleaning services provided, but do provide the equipment to clean
I would 100% not recommend this place. Some of the rooms don’t have open windows.
Ok so, this accommodation is EXPENSIVE don’t get me wrong, it’s well decorated and generally clean however the management are very hit and miss. In the room inspections if your room is not 100% clean and I mean surgical room clean, like not lived in clean, then you get b**** comments on your review if you don’t like your flat mates, so what? They don’t care. However on a brighter side, Euan at reception is lovely, absolutely brilliant! and the lot is very very close to everything you need which is fab but the lifts keep breaking down and take weeks to be fixed, there is only one laundry room for 4000+ students and the WiFi is just pure and utter crap. Basically you could get better for cheaper if you go to Margaret Rule or Greetham because the rooms are better bigger and everything works over there. Also tip for the building manager: Stop slagging off your staff in the middle of reception where everyone can hear you. It’s unprofessional.