Greetham Street Hall

Hello! My name is Gina and today I'm going to be giving you a virtual tour of the student accommodation, Greetham Street.

I'm in my fourth year at the University of Portsmouth and I study marketing and I actually lived in Greetham Street in my first year so I know exactly what it's like to be a to be a resident of the halls of residence.

So in terms of location Greetham Street is in the heart of the city centre.

It's within a 10-minute walk of all of the university buildings which is great.

It's also a 15-minute walk from Gunwharf Quays and at Gunwharf you've got all the premium retail outlets.

You're also really close to the city centre where you have Cascades Shopping Centre with the likes of Primark, Topshop, TK Maxx. You've also got Debenhams on the high street as well.

There's also gyms within a five-minute walk and you're really close to Guildhall Walk where you have all the nightclubs.

You've got Wetherspoons so you couldn't be in a better location in terms of accessing all of the university amenities.

So this is just what the building looks like It's very vibrant it's luminous yellow with green, so you wouldn't miss it if you're out and about in Portsmouth which is always good because you know where you're going and yeah it definitely stands out.

Okay let's go in and continue the tour.

So as you can see here this is the reception area.

Very bright, lots of space, big windows and there's a and there's a reception team on the desk from about 8 a.m.

in the morning til 8 p.m.

in the evening and in the meantime you have 24-hour security so be assured that you are in a very safe place here.

In the back right corner here you have the post so every flat in Greetham Street has their own letterbox and this is where the postman will directly put the letters in and then in terms of bigger items parcels...

they get given to the reception team and you can also get an app on your phone where they can say your parcel has been delivered come down, show some ID, collect it and the apps also really great if you have any problems you can message the reception team.

Really user-friendly.

You've also got places to store your bike and there's also a bike shed round the corner so if you want to bring your bike to university that would be a great idea cos there's lots of storage.

Nice sofas here if you are meeting your friends in reception.

There's also vending machines.

I think this is a slightly older picture but you have vending machines here.

Now where you get snacks and hot drinks, you've also got a downstairs toilet in the reception area and there's a few games.

Lots of light coming in...

and yeah So let's take you firstly to this study area of the halls...

just show you what that looks like.

That's actually me in the photo that was taken when I was living in Greetham so a few years ago now.

I was doing some group work with a few of my course mates.

The building has unlimited Wi-Fi 24/7 and that's included in the cost of the rent which I will talk through shortly on in the video.

You've also got plug sockets and here again you have refreshments, vending machines There's also a laundry through this door.

Unfortunately, I can't show you on this tour.

But as I mentioned the app, the Unite app as Greetham Street is run by the Unite student accommodation company you can top up your balance, you do not need cash.

A wash costs a couple of pounds and to dry your washing is about the same price and the washing scenes are absolutely huge.

You can probably get your whole wardrobe in there.

Again you've got nice big windows, lots of light coming in here and from personal experience it never actually got too busy down here so it's a really nice place away from your flat or away from the library just to come down and do some studying.

Okay if we go back to reception now.

I'm going to show you a couple of studios first and then I will show you a communal flat and just talk about the differences between these options for yourself.

So firstly we're going to go and have a look at an accessible studio So an accessible studio is ideal for someone who needs assistance with any access.

Anyone that has a wheelchair perhaps.

As you can see in the bathroom lots of space for students needing a bit of assistance and then we'll just look at the studio in general.

What I would say while we're talking about Studios is in terms of being in your first year I think, you know, you want to meet as many people as you can, socialize as much as you can and from speaking to a few people studios can sometimes be a bit potentially isolating because you're not mixing as much but at the end of the day it is personal preference and you know some people if they're a mature student perhaps they don't want to be living with 18/19 year olds in a flat or any other reasons so do have a think about your choices as to why you would prefer a studio because you are on your own but they are stunning modern rooms.

You've got a double bed.

All your amenities in one place.

But we also have got a really stunning communal area in Greetham Street which I will show you shortly And this is a great space as well to socialize with your friends.

Just to know in all of the rooms you have under bed storage which is really great.

There's so much storage in the flats themselves.

Above the bed, as I said the below the bed, you've got a double wardrobe also.

Right let's go back to reception and we'll just have a quick look at a classic studio Very similar to the accessible one just obviously you haven't got that larger bathroom for accessibility purposes.

I'm just going to show you the bathroom as a comparison.

Just as a note expect to pay between, kind of, £10-20 extra per month for a studio as they are slightly more expensive than a regular shared flat.

All of the rooms in Greetham Street are en-suite and it is all self-catering as well so you bring your own pots and pans, that kind of thing, all your bedding but all of the bills are included.

So let's have a look at a communal flat...

So this is the kind of room that I had while I was in Greetham and it's really nice because you can put your own mark on the room.

You can decorate it how you like.

As I said there's plenty of storage so you don't have to worry.

I had so much stuff coming to university and I was so worried that it wasn't all gonna fit but it did.

So that's great.

The beds are also 3/4, so they're slightly bigger than a single bed which is nice.

You've got that extra bit of room.

So in terms of prices I will just talk about this So standard rooms vary between £158-163 per week and the academic year is September to June so you pay for that period.

And the rooms in flats vary between five to ten people in each flat.

And it is just pot luck as to how many people you have.

I think I had nine people in my flat and that was great because it was really sociable.

I managed to meet loads of new people.

So this is what your standard ensuite would look like.

Very similar to the one in the standard studio room also Also got hooks for your coats.

And all of the bedrooms you have a key fob so you can access the rooms with that and only your key fob will open your room, so it's very secure.

And as I said all of the Bills are included you've got your Wi-Fi included as well.

So you just need to pay for your food and kitchen supplies.

So this is what a kitchen would look like and just to point out depending on how many people are living in a flat kitchen sizes will vary slightly but on average you get about two to three cupboards and you will get a shelf for the fridge and a shelf for the freezer, it was absolutely fine when I was living in Greetham.

You can also bring your TV but you will need to buy a TV license.

Cleaners will also come and clean the communal areas and kitchens in two to three weeks but in the meantime it is the students' responsibility and sometimes if the kitchens are left in a really bad state then the cleaners won't clean them at all.

So there is an incentive to keep them clean.

But your bedrooms are your own responsibility also.

So we're going back to reception now and I feel like saving the best til last looking at the common room on the 19th floor.

And I'd say this is kind of a unique selling point of Greetham because you have 360-degree views of the whole of Portsmouth which is amazing.

You don't need to go up the Spinnaker Tower.

You can just live in Greetham and have this where you are living.

So here, really big space There's pool tables, there's table football, there's also a TV.

Where you can plug in Xboxes, games, whatever...

beanbag sofas...

and this is generally open from like 8:00 in the morning till 10:00 p.m. at night.

And there's also vending machines as well, so you can get snacks.

You can bring your friends over, hang out here.

From my experience, it never actually got too busy in the common room so it's really nice to come up in the evening and watch the sunset You can see the sea.

You can see Gunwharf.

You can see everywhere you need to be.

Here we go, just a slightly different corner you can see the Spinnaker Tower there and all of the university buildings as I've mentioned are within a 10-minute walk.

This building over here is Catherine House which is another hall of residence available.

Yeah so this is the common room.

So if we go back to reception now.

And then I will give our summary.

So here we are back in reception.

So just to summarise on the key points that I have discussed the cost of a standard room varies between £158 and £163 a week.

They're all en-suites and in terms of number of people in flats they vary from five to ten people.

It is all self catering There are laundry facilities on-site.

Places to lock your bike.

24-hour security and it is a really great location in the heart of Portsmouth city centre.

So thank you for listening today I wish you all best of luck in the future and goodbye.