Lots has happened at RHUL on the accommodation front. Fantastic new halls have been built - Gower and Wedderburn - which are more like plush apartment buildings that student halls of residence, and many of the existing halls have had some refurbishment done.
Most first years live on campus, some in the incredible Founders Building (photo). Rooms vary in size and some turret rooms are spectacular, although many are doubles. Food is generally abysmal.
Everyone else is accommodated in the New Halls complex, in the North A30 Halls group across the road or at the off-site hall of residence, Kingswood Hall, a couple of miles away. The halls are described below:
Gower & Wedderburn - Brand new halls set in woodland on campus. The buildings reflect their surroundings with wood cladding and good use of materials. When inside, things only get better. Its more like a high priced apartment building than a halls of residence. Study bedrooms come with a double bed - always useful if someone follows you back from the Union - built in wardrobes and a desk area. About 6 rooms surround each kitchen.
Athlone - The largest hall and a simple corridor based catered hall. Rooms are just big enough and from the top floor views are genuinely spectacular with Heathrow, Central London and Windsor castle all visible. It includes a small non-SU bar and Times Square a café.
Cameron - A miniature version of Athlone and a bit more friendly. Its biggest advantage is that it essentially incorporates the Stumble Inn.
Williamson - A multi-storey car park style building. Rumour has it that the New Halls complex was designed using the same plans as a Swedish prison. This story does the circuit at many universities that have basic breeze block halls of residence. If it is true then Williamson was the maximum security wing. Socially lacking and it always has this weird smell.
Reid - Six flats grouped around a pantry. Some rooms are en-suite. Reid residents use the main Athlone dining hall which starts off OK but goes rapidly down hill. Frustrated Holloway students unhappy with the food available have been known to boil pasta in kettles.
Runnymede - The classiest and most expensive of the halls, all rooms are en-suite and 6 share proper kitchen and living space. Not very sociable at all but popular with foreign students and many of Holloway's wealthier applicants.
North A30 Halls - Typically reserved for finalists and postgrads, quiet and relatively pleasant.
Kingswood - It really doesn't seem that many people choose Kingswood. It is a reasonable distance from college and the free bus service to the main campus requires a long wait in the mornings when it is most popular. There is some social focus but there are more whinges than wey-heys.
Second year students and a lot of third years tend to live locally in rented accommodation. In the third year many students return to Halls but the majority still live off campus. Every year the university accommodation office produces a housing list with properties available to rent but it seems that when people call the landlords listed, many of the properties have already gone. In addition to this there are numerous estate agents in Egham and Englefield Green. One problem with Royal Holloway is that due to its position in an affluent area of Surrey, cheap housing is very difficult to find.
In the local area the best bets are Englefield Green and Egham. The Green is essentially a student village and Egham is pretty pleasant. Most of the houses in the main council estate of Englefield Green are exactly the same. Standards of repair are pretty variable.
