For every person who adored halls, there are probably five who genuinely hated the experience. I…read morewill nail my colours to the mast pretty firmly from the off... it was fine... (ok not firmly as such but I'll hold them in my hand instead). Halls are a difficult thing to get right because chances are they are there to be abused and defaced, so it is hard to decorate or put anything particularly extravagant into them for fear it will be destroyed. The beds are not great. The mattress is like lying on a comfortable bed but with someone booting you in the back everytime you roll over. The walls are essentially just massive bricks stacked on top of eachother which means one person singing in their room is something similar to one person singing in your room. In our day we weren't allowed anyone to stay unless you told them about a month in advanced and despite our best efforts, we eventually were caught out and had to stop. The staff are way too strict. That is the biggest downfall. Our friend got hurt on a night out (aided by a nasty tackle during football earlier in the day) so we (not being from halls) had to bring him back to his room (in halls) yet despite being in complete agony and not being able to walk unaided, we had to wait almost an hour in the reception until... and I quote... "security come back from their rounds". Cough cough... prison... cough We weren't trying to smuggle a family of 30 immigrants into the blooming (being careful not to swear) halls. All we were going to do is help him up the steps to his room and them out again. Instead we were made to wait and encouraged to head on back home while security did their rounds. Out of stubbornness we stayed and paced around the reception like a soon-to-be father. The halls could be so much better if it wasn't run by people who have forgotten what it is to be a student. You meet people. You get drunk and you throw up in your sink. That's what first year is about. First year is great fun but Queen's Elms makes it impossible to enjoy yourself fully because it is too much like a prison. And for £3000 a year you would expect a bit more.

I love living in Elms. Especially in first year. There was a lot of support available. My floor was…read moregreat. I love the Treehouse. It's such a great space. I think a lot of people who didn't like it, are people who didn't make the most of what was available.