Room N14, Tree Court :: GCSU Housing Guide

Disclaimer: The information on this page has been submitted by students, and is given only as a guide and may not be accurate. GCSU accepts no responsibility for its content.

The information given below is based on 2 reviews as well as the 2007/2008 room list.

Room Type and Floor

Single Room, £866 per term (in 2007/2008).

Room Floor

Third floor

Room Facilities

Network available. Washbasin available.

Bedroom

Could swing something between a cat and a sheep (~1.5 HC).

Overlooking a street.

Noise

“General ambience from King's Parade/Senate House Passage when it's busy. Occasional drunk people singing at night. The Bell's of St. Mary's from 8am every Sunday. N staircase gets quite busy at times but this tends to be on the lower floors.” (Jan 2008)

“Barely noisy ever. It's so high up that the bells from St Mary's don't really make it up here (with the windows shut), even on Sundays. Occasionally you get yelling from Senate House Passage, typically b/w about 11 and 2. It's rare I'm asleep at that time, but if I am, it doesn't wake me up. It's also intermittent, when people are passing through, not constant, so it's easy enough to get to sleep. Also typically happens only on party/weekend nights.” (Feb 2007)

Gyp Room

“Very tiny but well equipped (fridge a little dodgy, I use the window ledge). It's only a few feet away from the door. Shared between 3.” (Jan 2008)

“Next-door gyp room, absolutely tiny. 3 people sharing. Useless fridgefreezer, freezer section nearly entirely frozen up. I bought a full-size fridge and stuck it in my room, but I'm afraid it's leaving when I leave. Talk to the nice Clerk of Works/electic guy, and get clearance for a fridge (I tried to sneak mine in but he saw us lugging it up the stairs! Was very friendly and warned us current might fluctuate, but said my fridge was my business: no problems yet). Housekeeper also provides minifridges for rooms if you ask nicely and point out that the facilities are crap. I'd suggest emailing her a week before term starts (or even better, getting up here early and bothering her in person: her office is right at the bottom of N staircase, so it's easy) and keep pestering her until she gets you one.” (Feb 2007)

Bath Room

“Toilet on same floor shared between 3-5. Shower one floor down, not great but gets the job done, shared between 7. There's apparently a secret bath in the basement but I haven't investigated it yet. The sink in the room is very small.” (Jan 2008)

“Right nextdoor, tiny, shit washbasin but it doesn't matter since there's one in the room. Has an openable window. It's only got a toilet. Shower is one floor down, it's really pretty bad. Water starts to lose warmth after midnight, there's an airing grate at the top of the window which can't be shut, so if you're taking showers in winter (and esp if the water isn't very warm) it can be fvcking freezing in there. I strongly suggest sneaking across into O staircase, going to the showers on the second floor. They're new and absolutely lovely. And you can steal other people's shampoo and they'll never suspect you.” (Feb 2007)

Furniture

“Two chairs, a smallish desk, lots of drawers, coffee table, wardrobe. Pretty well equipped - if anything I don't have quite enough wall space to put all the furniture against. There's a lockable cupboard you can leave your stuff in over vacations. The catch is broken, I had to tie it shut with string before it'd lock properly.” (Jan 2008)

“Desk is OK, bed's OK. I moved the desk into the window-space and the bed against the wall to make better use of the limited space in this room. There's a nice armchair, a deskchair (which isn't actually a real desk chair, it's pretty bad for writing, though comfortable enough; I keep it cause it has arms and is good for sitting around, though); another wooden chair with arms; a small table. I also got them to move in a chest of drawers, which I guess they'll probably leave here. That makes it enough storage space, just. 4 narrow bookshelves on the wall. You'll need bookends/books for bookends though.” (Feb 2007)

Best Feature

“You get your own turret. Being in college. Lots of storage space. Same staircase the washing machines are on. The view down the Senate House Passage is really nice.” (Jan 2008)

“The view's actually pretty good. I was really worried I'd have a view only of the wall of the senate house, but because the windows are angled in an alcove on the corner of the building, you can see down the passage, and the spires of King's chapel rise over the senate house; and if I hadn't moved my desk in the way of the window I could stand right at the window and see St Mary's, as well as a pretty good view over Caius court in that direction. Plus it's in the old courts, the staircase is awesome, it's nice to be high up a Cambridge tower.” (Feb 2007)

Worst Feature

“Not much light due to only small windows in the corner. Not great being woken up by St. Mary's on a Sunday morning after a heavy night.” (Jan 2008)

“Limited space - if you are untidy or just not very spacially aware, you might find yourself cramped. If you organise the place well and keep your stuff generally stored, you'll be fine.” (Feb 2007)

General Comments

“Carpets. Walls recently replastered/repainted (Christmas '07) One wall is covered in a pinboard and shelves. Lots of drawers. Single radiator. Plenty of sockets/network ports. They made 'improvements' to the windows last term, now out of the three, one of them won't stay open and one of them won't open at all. This is the departure lounge for the infamous Senate House Leap.” (Jan 2008)

“I suggest bringing a bunch of lamps for maximum lighting at night. Daytime is actually OK, even though (unlike the rooms directly below) this room does not have windows along the length of the wall, just in an alcove at the corner of the building. But it gets a little dingy at night without lamps in addition to the ceiling light. I have... 6 lamps in my room, so it's comfortable and bright when I want it to be.” (Feb 2007)

Marks