The Grange - St Mary's Reviews

it’s close to uni which is a plus but it’s very loud despite the 11pm rules being in place and nothing is done about it, the laundry facilities (8 dryers 8 washing machines) is for around 150 people so they’re never empty but it’ll cost £2.20 to wash and £1.20 to dry which is ridiculous, i’ve had bed bugs for a long time and nothing has been done about it, the ovens gone and no one has fixed it the wifi is horrible it’ll log you out randomly and disconnect nearly every 20 minutes, the walls are super thin the heating is rubbish you’re better off finding your own cheap studio

I've lived here for about 5 months now. For context, I live in St. Mary's house, so I cannot speak for the other buildings here I'm afraid (The Grange consists of a number of different buildings). Pros: 5-10 minute walk to uni. The flats themselves are very clean and spacious, and the decor is very modern in comparison to some of the other accommodation sites. Great social spaces. Bright and comfortable. Sense of community. Lovely cleaning team (once a month). Close to 3 small convenience shops (Spar, Londis, Co-op). Cons: The internet can be very temperamental. The walls are INCREDIBLY thin. You can hear absolutely everything. Laundry is expensive if you do it fairly often. VERY cold. The maintenance team are either fantastic or terrible (I've suffered most with the latter). Mental health and rehab centre right across the street, sometimes patients can make you feel uncomfortable if they are stood outside shouting. Some windows don't open/close. All in all, I like it here!

Currently still living in the grange, I was surprised at how good the place actually is. It's the closest accommodation to Uni and takes me 7 minutes by foot to get there. Little shops for food and other necessities are on the way to school, so very close. Only drawback: no communal area, but apart from that: good sized bedrooms which include a sink, shower and toilet are seperated, Wifi is really good and free, haven't seen the cleaning people once since I've been here (1month) and accommodation people only come when it's really urgent and have to be reminded daily when there is something broken (e.g. light in the fridge broke 2 weeks ago, called twice, no one has come yet) but overall a really great place to live and meet new friends (especially as an international student-would highly recommend)

I lived here last year, and it was okay. It’s the second cheapest accommodation & I think people are expecting too much from the price, when I moved in it was clean and everything worked. Everything in my room was clean and not broken. Within the first hour of me living there the fridge freezer did break but that was quickly replaced. The shower had really good water pressure, and for the first few months everything ran smoothly. Until, before christmas the toilet broke. That was fine, the next day they fixed it. However shortly after the toilet broke another 4 times. The fourth time, the kind cheery maintenance man who came to fix it told me that the toilet was 20 years old and not to worry - they break all the time! This was not ideal. Next, Somehow? We acquired a rat, we rang maintenance, and they said “leave the door open he’ll run out eventually”... that was it. No further help. But that’s halls i guess. The wifi was very good, and it’s a 7ish min walk from uni, 4 if you run.

Recently moved into The Grange for holiday accommodation between first year and second year. First thing I see when I enter are bugs all over the hallways. My bedroom, however, is nicer than the one I had with University Managed Housing. It has a bigger desk, shelves, a sink, an actual bin and a mirror. However, my old place had way better WiFi that was included in the bills - here you have to pay for 100mbps. You also have to pay to use washing facilities which I haven't found yet so I'm guessing they're not near my place, whereas UMH had washing facilities within the house at no extra cost.

Pray you get some housemates with any sort of consideration for those around them, as the accomodation team are less than helpful.

Parents please read. My daughter in here since September and is sticking it out as it was all the budget would allow. On arrival the kitchen dirty and disgusting. Hairs on the floor and grease so thic in the blind I thought it was a brown pattern. No on off knob on oven....Despite me complaining (I was told that I couldn't as the contract was with the student ) and the flat residents also complaining NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE ( they have to use a fork to turn the oven on and off) and we are now close to the end of the year. Terrible value for money. Will be glad when she gets out of there.

Being so close to the uni is a real benefit of living at the Grange, the cleaners and porters are all lovely and helpful. The lack of social spaces means you don't get a full social experience here. The wifi is very unreliable and doesn't work well unless in your own room. The laundry facilities are not great, the washing machines are expensive, especially when they don't work most of the time. A lot of the time clothes come out dripping wet.

I live in St.Mary's house this is one of the number different houses in this area. St.Mary's is good building, I share a flat with 5 other people who are all really nice. Other houses in the Grange are also nice and clean. St.Mary's is a little dated compared to other building like Baldwin house. The Grange itself is a 10 minute walk into the centre of York and a 5-6 minute walk to York St. John. I do recommend the Grange for students who are looking for cheap accommodation :)

I started my uni year with this accomadation. I'd chosen it because of how close it was to the uni however I did not realise how terrible this place was until I arrived. The buildings are poorly maintained and look awful. The wifi is decent but still is almost impossible to use if someone else is on. The place is dark dirty and uninviting as there is no homely feel to the place more of one of a care home. Also for my personal needs the neighbourhood is far too loud and unpleasant as every night there has been loud music and banging and shouting. After having been here only a week I have already sent a request to move rooms out of the grange. Would not recommend.

I started my uni year with this accomadation. I'd chosen it because of how close it was to the uni however I did not realise how terrible this place was until I arrived. The buildings are poorly maintained and look awful. The wifi is decent but still is almost impossible to use if someone else is on. The place is dark dirty and uninviting as there is no homely feel to the place more of one of a care home. Also for my personal needs the neighbourhood is far too loud and unpleasant as every night there has been loud music and banging and shouting. After having been here only a week I have already sent a request to move rooms out of the grange. Would not recommend.

The grange is really good for its proximity to the university and it's social life

old fashioned and generally awful place to live for first year, very basic, no space for socialise other than an extremely small kitchen, dark rooms

The rooms are shappy, old and are falling apart. The wifi is also really bad, could not download anything. 3G on my phone was bettter. Only plus side is its 2 mins away from uni and not far from the town centre.

The accommodation is good but the gates close at 11 and going back home after 11pm is not safe

It's in a good location, but very small with only one bathroom between 5, which can be a pain. Also no communal area which is comfortable, making it difficult to spend time with house mates.

Not great. Grange house kitchens are vile.

No communal area unless you pay extra, not very social due to this. Location is good, only a 7min walk from uni if you walk fast. Cleaning staff and porters are all lovely and are very helpful. Keysurf wifi is very unreliable. Not great vfm but its ok.

Alright place to live. No common area and cleaners never actually seemed to clean. Think the wifi has changed but when I was there, it was KeySurf and I swear it was slower than anything. The house I was in was good and I had a really nice room. So it was okay.

The location is nice if you like a walk to get to university as it is about 15-20 minutes away. However my particular flat is not very social and that can feel quite isolating. If the communal area had a comfier place to sit then it may encourage us to socialise together more.

It's very basic, but luckily I love the people in living with and are always going to other flats for parties etc.

Student Review: 2.9 /5

By member1317556 On 28th October 15 Verified student

The main downside was the lack of communal area.

One of the cheaper accommodations, although location is by far the best (5 minutes from campus). 48 week contract so you can stay on holidays if need be. Clean, has everything I need. social spaces are also optional

halls are a little old for the price but do the job, always something going on so be prepared to party

Decent halls, modern kitchen big bedrooms. Small houses of five to six people and a shared bathroom.

Dirty, disgusting bathrooms and kitchens!

Wanting to know what accommodations like to plan what to take

Living in one of the larger houses hidden by another accommodation building, social life was limited to just a few flats. There is no communal area, exept a small circle table with 4 flimsy chairs. On move in rooms and toilets and hallways were not clean and the tools for cleaning (e.g. vacuum) barely works.

i have quite enjoyed living here over my first year of university but I would have preferred to be elsewhere. No social common room making it hard to socialise during freshers, very average kitchen, shared toilet and small shower. I was lucky enough to get the biggest room in the house so I can't complain on that, and the 5 minute walk to uni is always a bonus.

Location is ideal for the uni (5minute walk) and only around 10 minutes from town. The social space in some flats are ideal however they vary between flats and some are very small. However, we have had lots of problems with shower drainage and the wifi system is quite temperamental!

No room to relax with housemates other then kitchen which too small for 2 people to cook in never mind relaxing and chatting.

The decor could be better. Some dints in the walls. Some chairs faulty from start. Maintenance and security and swift and useful. Domestic office happy to help with anything.

pretty bad quality. Great company though!

The Grange's decor was awful, rough looking and outdated and just generally a bit rubbish. I was lucky as I lived in Baldwin House and got a room with a huge windowsill big enough to sleep on, only one person in every flat had these windowsills and they make the room look bigger and brighter.

Too many wanna be sessioners and students who can't clean up after themselves. The grange rooms feel like a prison and the Internet connection is disgusting, 0.65 mb/s if you're lucky.

Wifi inconsistent, with no university help very slow when is actually working then just often stops working altogether, maintenance not good either

The internet is absolutely terrible, less than 1mb at peak times. International students are poorly treated as they are shoved into one building block away from everyone else.

poor maintenance and poor conditions of the flats (Baldwin House)

Poorly managed, terrible condition, overpriced.

The social experience was good however and it's how I made friends with the people I'm living with today :)

Definitely the budget option, but the best social life out of York St John's halls.

In a very good location 5 minute walk from university. However if we reported any faults or appliance failure it could take weeks and constant complaints by us for someone to sort it out. Also wifi is terrible

Over priced. Not worth it all, rooms old vashioned, social spaces are non existent. Only redeeming feature is the distance to uni (5 minute walk). Definitely wouldnt recommend!

I loved the grange. It's prime location and great social atmosphere is a perfect way to start student life. In such close proximity you can't not make friends

The typical uni accommodation and a great way to socialise and make new friends. However, not worth the money-too expensive and not what it is worth as have had a lot of problems with facilities.

Had so much fun first year living here! So close to uni and town centre too!

I enjoyed living there. It was basic but clean, but unfortunately I was situated in a room next to the opposite flats kitchen so it could get quite noisy at times. Overall it was a good place to stay if not a little expensive

No sitting area made socialising hard. Nice rooms though and great location.

Brilliant place for summer bbqs on the grass and late night parties all summer outside!