I lived here for three months while an exchange student at UCL. The biggest thing going for this place is its location. Located a block from Russell Square station, which offers direct service from Heathrow, and also close to the buses at Russell Square that run to North Greenwich and elsewhere and to Euston, Kings Cross, and St Pancras stations, offering service as far as Brussels, you could not ask for it to be better situated. Furthermore, there's a shopping centre across the street that features numerous chain restaurants like Strada, Carluccio's, GBK, and Nando's, as well as a Waitrose and Tesco. There's a park on one side and a hospital on the other. Again, perfect location.
That said, don't expect anything great in terms of accommodations. The single study bedrooms are decently sized, but temperature control is inadequate. All that's available are radiators (no air conditioning), and they run the hot water at seemingly random intervals, i.e. you could turn on the radiator and get no heat for quite some time. I wouldn't stay here during the summer, since the windows only open a crack at the top.
I would suggest bringing earplugs, since the doors have a tendency to slam, and, when you share a hall with 30 other people, it can be hard to sleep, especially on a Friday night. The cleaners come around every weekday morning between 9 and 10 to empty garbage too (partly to check that you're still alive, apparently), so you'll need earplugs if you plan on sleeping in.
Rooms are furnished with a bed, a pleasingly long desk with drawers, a wardrobe, and a sink. Internet is provided, but you need an ethernet cable (and there is a quota, although it was high enough for my needs), and there's a phone, but it only makes internal calls, and you have to ask the front desk to find out what your number is.
You'll be using communal toilets, typically 1-2 per wing. They tend to get more disgusting as the day wears on. Bring flip flops for the showers, lest you step in the occasional vomit-soaked patch of carpet on the way there.
The hall facilities are adequate. Breakfast (or brunch on weekends) and dinner is included.
Breakfast: you get 5 items (juice counts as an item), plus tea. It's supposedly a traditional English breakfast, but theirs involves canned tomatoes for some reason. Pick the beans--those will fill you up. Cereal is a safe choice. The croissants and pastries will be undercooked--chewy dough on the inside. Forget about the fruit--it's all bruised, including the bananas.
Luckily, they offer about three dishes each day and have quite a variety of recipes that they use throughout the year. Yet, the food quality is quite poor. Never get fish, chicken, or pork, as it will most certainly be badly overcooked and dry. Pasta will also be overcooked, but at least that's more palatable than chewy meat. Side dishes will be consistently overcooked, e.g. the potatoes are absolute mush and are dripping with water as they serve them to you, and, lucky for you, you get to pick two! When it comes to dessert, go for whatever is packaged and again forgo the fruit. There'll always be a hot offering, and it'll always be some variant on bread pudding with custard.
The hall offers free wifi in the atrium (and only there...and sort of in the cafeteria). Connect with eduroam if you want to save yourself the hassle of registering for wifi. There's a common room in the basement that has a bar that is only ever open during parties, and the drinks are usually warm. There are laundry facilities (£2 for wash, £1 for dry), and they've always been adequate for me. Do yourself a favour and buy detergent at Waitrose, since the dispenser has a tendency to take cash without dispensing anything in return...and then you have to wait to get a refund. The front desk staff are not British and are rather hard to understand. If you arrive early, expect to have to leave your bags until precisely 1400 to check in--not a particularly great welcome after a red-eye flight. There seems to be a weird variety of people living here--there are bachelors students from all different years, masters students, plus some random families with babies and kids, and the occasional old man.
All this said, IH is not a bad place. It's a uni residence, and you can never expect too much from them. The building is old, and it shows. Yet, I met some great people there, and the events put on by the hall society have always been fun and helpful in meeting fellow residents, especially in the first month. I ended up coming back for about two weeks upon a return trip to London, so I also know what the visitor rooms are like. They're about the same, except they provide a towel and the provided bedding is much more comfortable. The rooms are in a small hallway with its own bathroom that is shared with the security guards. They're on the ground floor on the north side of the building, so you do hear traffic and people on the street. But at £40/night, it's a deal. read more
