Max Rayne House

- 30 min by foot to ucl (only 10 with a bike) -10 people share a kitchen which was too much - cleaning lady would scream at you whenever you saw her and would put everything that was lying around in the kitchen into trash bags - cockroaches - windows in room have a ventilation gap. So it gets really cold, if you dont want to have your heater on all the time - cheapest ucl accomodation though - it was alright, but if i ever was to go back to student accommodation, i wouldn't want to live there again

Pros: - very social, what you’d expect student life to be like - fairly large kitchen - cleaned frequently (every weekday) - ONE OF THE CHEAPEST HALLS IN UCL - Direct bus to uni literally outside the entrance (or 30 min walk) - very close to Camden road station (convenient during exam season to get to EXcel - Convenient location for groceries (like big sains and a Tesco metro!) Cons: - despite frequent cleaning, a little/very gross (mice and cockroaches) - thin walls - Wi-fi dodgy in some areas - when things break, takes AGES to get things fixed (didn’t have functioning hobs for 3 weeks) - Far from uni compared to places like Schafer - heating- I.e. what heating (DOES NOT WORK AND THEY WERE REALLY BAD AT FIXING IT - can be really loud (although that’s student halls in general) - really old and so things break a lot (and they aren’t great at fixing broken appliances- one time a freezer door fell on my head and the reception didn’t believe me and wouldn’t replace the freezer till I explained that if the freezer door killed someone by falling on their head, they would be legally liable)

Super old, dirty, homeless sleeping in the common room, no security, 1 shower for 10 students, cockroaches everywhere, far away from uni

Paid £135 a week to live with cockroaches and mice but at least there was a spoons nearby. Wi-Fi didn't work in the kitchen and our kitchen appliances broke all the time but that stuff bonds not only your flat but your whole accommodation. It's like finding out you hate the same person as somebody except instead of a person it's where you live. It is the cheapest accommodation for UCL so most people there are as broke as you are which is pretty good, and although I slag it off you will make friends for life.

There were so many problems - vermin, weird smells and showers that are stop and start - and yet, great place to live. The staff are friendly and helpful band location is great (bus stop right outside & 5 min walk to camden town station). Really, the problems are kind of a bonding experience with the others who live there ; overall, MR is a very social hall and great value for money.

The facilities are outdated and the feeling has a dirty feeling. Cockroaches and rats have been sighted.

Bit of a hefty walk to campus (half an hour) but a short walk to like 3 supermarkets, 2 clubs and a load of pubs. There's also regular buses andboth underground and overground stations. Don't know if my kitchen got unlucky but we've had 4 broken cookers and 2 broken toasters (and we still have another term to go). The microwave may work but it takes about half an hour to defrost food so all those tactically made leftovers end up being a pain in the neck. It's the cheapest accomodation in London so we're all in the same boat and most people are social but we get a ton of noise complaints which is not so great. The rooms are a fair size but the heating doesn't work and there's gaps in the window so it always feels like I'm stepping in to the Arctic when I walk in.

People are great. Social side is amazing. However the room is overpriced for the issue it comes along with

Lots of cockroaches and lots of rats, also lots of daredevil pidgeons and squirrels that will run into your room. There are two live in foxes that fight every night. The door breaks every other week, the walls are paper thin and some of the kitchens are tiny whereas others are huge so it all depends on luck. At least the people are lovely and everyone is so friendly. The reception and security staff are all very helpful.

The location is amazing, incredibly close to Camden, surrounded by shops, 24/7 Tesco round the corner. But I had the misfortune of dealing with cockroaches in my kitchen and room when living there. And while some of the staff available at the on site office were serious angels trying their best to help out - I can’t say it about everybody. Also - the handyman on site was great, and would always fix any problem that happened, and as the building is pretty old there are a few.

My time at Max Rayne House was super fun but not because of the halls themselves. The people were great when I was there and I made many friends, however the living conditions are atrocious. The main issue being the cockroaches. So many cockroaches. They were everywhere. Going in the kitchen became an impossibility by the end of the year because they had infested it. UCL refuses to listen to complaints about this and offered no advice or compensation. The halls were run down and for the cheapest UCL offers, it’s still pretty fucking expensive.