I moved into my new student digs about a week ago now. This isn't the first time I've moved out of home, and it isn't the first time I've been living in a specialty student place (hello boarding school), but Urbanest is definitely a different experience. First of all the communal areas are pretty snazzy. Everything is modern, there are silent study areas, places to hang out, and a great balcony with a bbq that I suspect will be perfect for entertaining in Summer. The location is also fabulous, and yes, I was tempted to give them 5 stars just for being located next to Mamak Corner and only a short walk from Mandoo. This is my first taste of city living (in Adelaide) and I could get used to this. The rooms themselves are pretty small. Not impossibly tiny small, you could fit a single mattress on the floor if you were having a sleepover, but not much else. The range of crockery & cutlery also isn't quite as snazzy as they show you in the show apartment. The only real downers would be that wireless internet can be pretty darn slow, and it'll cost you $4 every time you need to wash & dry some clothes. There are activities daily, and they get plenty of deals to pass onto students. Like I said, I've been here a week. I doubt my rating will go down during my 1 year stint, but there's every possibility it will go up once I discover more things to do. read more

See all

I hope this helps people who are looking for accommodations. DON'T STAY IN URBANEST. It í ridiculously expensive, and not worth your money. The rooms are tiny, the kitchen is tiny, the bathroom is smaller than a normal closet. The closet is around the size of a cupboard. Don't let the pictures fool you. The rooms and windows are smaller in real life. You can't really cook in the kitchen. The utensils they give you are not enough. The bathroom's sink and shower doesn't drain properly. Worst of all, they have a 15GB cap on wifi. You have to pay more to use more. The internet add-on prices are very expensive. They want to make money off of students. Another thing, they subtract the amount of internet you use incorrectly so that no matter how much you try to limit your wifi usage, you would have to buy more data around the end of the month. The staff here are not friendly. They will appear as super friendly and helpful during the first few days, but their attitudes change after the first week. They change from happy friendly to condescending very quickly. Doing laundry here is a nightmare. They only have a few washers and dryers. Washing costs $4 per load. Same goes for drying. The dryers leave my clothes damp, and they are still damp after the second drying. Overall, if I could choose, I would not live at urbanest. It's not worth the money that I spent. The only reason why I'm living here now is because my school wouldn't let me live independently. If you're thinking about moving in to urbanest, please consider independent or shared housing. You would save a lot more money and avoid the hassle, anger, and disappointment. read more

Moved into Urbanest about a week ago and can honestly say that the photos have been deceiving. Definitely not what I expected. The rooms are tiny, like a prison cell, with a small window in the corner. The kitchen set they provide is of basic standard and the bedding is thin. The only positive about my room is probably the bathroom, but then again, the water in my sink doesn't go down unless you wait, still leaving behind residue staining my sink. Customer service in Urbanest isn't great - they are patronizing when you try and ask for help. Internet is capped at 15GB per month, so if you're an international student who needs to communicate with a supervisor at home regarding dissertation (like me), or skype family, or watch movies, you'll have used up your data by day three. Upon asking why the internet had been capped, they replied 'Australia's rules', having followed up on this research, I realized that I had been deceived and in fact, Urbanest simply wanted to make more money off its students who are already paying around $250AUD a week.. If you want a place where you pay more for the 'luxury' (a term used loosely) of having a gym, 'cinema room' (a 40" plasma screen with one small sofa), a table tennis table and a snooker table then Urbanest would be the place for you! Despite being closer to uni than the other university accommodations, the customer service, room sizes and internet cap are factors which make paying $250AUD a week unjustifiable. read more

My review is not on this Urbanest branch, but it is on the branch in Melbourne, specifically in Melbourne Central. Firstly, I would like to point out that the Urbanest staff are extremely arrogant. They may seem friendly and welcoming at first, but give it a few weeks and the service will start to decline on an inexorable slide. The facilities are alright and well maintained but everything is so expensive. The rental this year generally ranges in between $400-500 per week, for an extremely small room, shared kitchens, and unfriendly staff members. The laundry is also something to think about, at a pricey $4 per wash, excluding the laundry detergent and softener in which you would have to purchase yourself. The dryer is also $4, so altogether, it would sum up to $8 per load, which in my opinion is expensive enough. Also, urbanest has this strict "no guests allowed after 10pm" policy in which I personally believe is downright baloney due to the fact that you can't socialise or bring in guests after 10pm?? Even on weekends where you would just want to hold small gatherings at your apartment with a few close friends, but apparently, bringing friends up to my apartment after 10pm is a breach of rules, and that might lead to myself getting evicted from the premises. The security of the accommodation is also not only biased, but they are also major hypocrites. Me and my friends have gathered enough evidence and proof to say that they would only report residences they don't like. I will not get into details in this review, but trust me when I say this, the security guards are extremely biased as to who they will report and who they will not. Also, the security guards go on regular smoke breaks with under 18s, which is according to my understanding, against the law. My friends and I have taken pictures of the guards smoking with the under 18s just outside of Urbanest, so we are not making this up. However, I would not include the pictures in my review as it may not be appropriate. But I believe it is something worth mentioning. I truly apologise as this review is not based on this particular branch, but that is because I am not able to find the Melbourne central branch. DO NOT STAY IN URBANEST MELBOURNE CENTRAL. It isn't only expensive, but the staff and security mannerisms are absolutely rubbish. read more