The Best Halls

Since the last review on here was in 2010, I thought I would do a more updated version for those wishing to live in halls at the University of Manchester. Oak House is located in the Fallowfield Campus and is made up of 5 different courts - Maple, Sycamore, Beech, Chestnut and Holly (in descending order of size). As of 2015 prices, Oak House costs £92.50 per week (with the exception of Chestnut court which costs £104.40 per week as it is the only block with a basin in the bedroom). The entire of Oak House is self-catered and even though the green breeze block walls are not entirely appealing, it is by far the best halls to live in and also the cheapest! 8 people (4 boys and 4 girls) share 1 flat, which is situated over 2 floors (yes that does mean there are stairs within the flat itself). The first floor of all flats hosts 4 bedrooms, 1 toilet and 1 bathroom with 2 sinks and a shower for the boys and the second floor is again the same layout but for the girls. The kitchen varies on which floor it is on depending on the flat. The bedrooms are not the biggest but they by far do and each bedroom contains a bed (with mattress and protector), very large desks with 3 draws attached, 6 plug sockets, a large wardrobe with inbuilt mirror on the inside of the door, a desk lamp, Ethernet cable slot, window and radiator, hooks behind the door and a 2-tier shelf. All rooms are carpeted and each door has its own lock. The only downfall of majority of the rooms is that the window is NOT double-glazed (with the exception of a few random ones) so during winter the rooms can get quite cold - but nothing a hot water bottle doesn't fix. The girl's bathroom has a bath with a shower overhead whereas the boys is just a shower - THE WATER PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE IS AMAZING. The kitchen is one of the biggest of any accommodation and contains 2 fridge-freezers, 8 double cupboards, 2 electric ovens/hobs/grills, 2 sinks, a microwave, a kettle, a large table, 6 plastic chairs, 3 large comfy chairs (like the kind in the headteachers office in primary!), a bin (including recycling bags) and a cabinet for a TV you may or may not bring. Cleaning equipment is also provided such as mop & bucket, hoover etc... Oak House is also one of the very few halls which has cleaners! Yes, cleaners! They come in 2-3 times per week and clean the communal areas of the house (i.e. not your bedrooms). The nightlife in Fallowfield is incredible, especially during freshers week. Therefore its the best place to come to make friends. However, despite how sociable the halls are, they are not as lively as some might have you believe - after the initial first couple of weeks, they only really become mildly noisy at night on the weekends and the odd weekday - I have not had any trouble sleeping/revising for exams and I need deadly silence for both of those things! Overall, Oak House is not the most attractive halls to live in, but you will meet some amazing people here and have the best first year at university without the added worry of accommodation costs because its cheap (unlike,lets say Richmond Park, which is also in Fallowfield but costs around £130 per week - even though it is en-suite).