Goodenough College

This is an elaborate prison for graduate students, with a bar.
They will promise you that they have nice studio apartments with kitchens. They will shove you into a 110 sf (11sm) room with a bathroom, at best, with no kitchen, and forbid you to have even a microwave. The room will have no air conditioning, and will be heated by a manual valve-​controlled radiator. You have a choice between freezing and steaming. Welcome to 1920.
They tell you that there are shared kitchens available. Well-​stocked «Buttery,» is the word they use. I think they have invented it. These are not on every floor, not kept clean, and provide absolutely no implements to cook with. Some of them are basically a kitchen sink and a microwave.
They will tell you that they provide cleaning once a week. In reality, they send a cleaner once a week who cannot keep to his/​her schedule. You have to strip the SINGLE bed yourself, and they will (err, are supposed to) leave clean linens. They forget to do this at least 20% of the time. Instead they go about moving around the items in your room so that when you return you can’t find the waste bin. This is a game that you play once a week. Every so often, for fun, they turn up out of schedule and strip your bed linens, sometimes leaving new ones and sometimes not.
The front desk staff is a bizarre merger of Fawlty Towers and the typical British, «I couldn’t be arsed.» You tell them about a broken laundry machine and they say that they can’t do anything, not even put up a sign, because they can’t leave their post. This ‘post’ is essentially a doorman job, but they won’t answer the door. If a fire alarm goes off, and you scramble out as you should, and happen to forget your wallet with your ID, they will argue with you that they don’t know who you are and can’t give you a temporary access to your room without your ID, even though you have just explained that your ID is in your room. Never mind that they have a computer system with your room number and a photo directly in front of them.
The location is great. Close to school for me. It is fairly cheap, as it should be for such a terrible place.

I still live in Goodenough college, and I think it’s one of the great student accommodations for families around Bloomsbury. Great sense of community, variety of activities … And loads of friends to make.

Having lived here for nearly two years, I am probably Goodenough College’s biggest fan. The college provides accommodation for around 600 international postgraduate students studying in London. A great deal of emphasis is placed on building a strong community within the college, and there are numerous events which showcase the various home territories of the residents, as well as sports and social clubs where you can meet other members.
The admission process is continuous, so it is possible to apply at any point during the year, but the majority of changeover occurs in September and October, at the beginning of the academic year. Admission is decided using strict academic and social criteria, with the emphasis being on admitting the most community spirited individuals, who will hold up the traditions of the college.
There are a limited number of places available to couples and families, who live in apartments, whereas the majority of students are allocated single rooms. Both apartments and rooms are usually spacious and comfortable with good study facilities easily available.
I would recommend Goodenough College to anyone who is very social and studying for a postgraduate qualification, it is fantastic.