Hi everyone! I’m Areej! I am from Egypt and I’m doing the games software engineering course. Today I want to talk about my experience living in Purbeck house so far.

Cosy room and lovely flatmates

Surprisingly enough I don’t find my accommodation room too small. In addition to a lot of storage space under the bed on top of the cupboard and in the drawers and shelves, there is a lot of floor space and a big desk to work on. As much as I would love for my bed to be a double bed, the single beds in Purbeck house seem a bit bigger than normal single beds, which I like. The kitchen space is big for a 6-person flat. Cleaning staff visit us regularly to clean the kitchen and the hall, though you have to do most of the cleaning yourself beforehand.

I consider myself lucky as I am living with 5 lovely people. While my flatmates are much more out going and have different interests than me, they are always nice and chatty. I don’t really feel foreign or left out here despite being different.

Pool tables and ice cream machines

The common room has a pool table, free printing and my favourite thing ever, an ice cream machine. I personally fail at playing pool, but I still had lots of fun meeting up with friends there. In the middle of exam week reslife brought in 2 adorable dogs, tea and biscuits, which was a joy!

I personally prefer studying in my room but there is also a studying space next to the common room.

Helpful staff

The staff here are all so nice and helpful. I instantly got help when I was once locked out.  My packages have never been mishandled even when I left one with them for a week. They warn us in advance before any light or alarm checks.

Perfect location

If you’re more on the outgoing side and want to have a blast at fresher’s week, I’d definitely recommend living in Purbeck House. Purbeck is about a 15-minute walk away from Bournemouth town centre and 5 minutes away from the old fire station. There are lots of shops and restaurants nearby e.g. KFC, McDonalds, Dominos, spoons, Sprinkles and lots of Asian takeaway places. Purbeck is also a 5-minute walk away from a huge ASDA, a 15-minute walk away from a Lidl in the town centre and a 20-minute walk away from an Aldi. The town centre is full of shops and restaurants, plus there is an Odeon cinema. There is no way you’re going to struggle to find something to do around town.

The bus station for U buses is a 3-minute walk away and the bus station for M busses is only 5 minutes away. You can get to University from Purbeck in only 10 to 20 minutes, which allows me to sleep in a bit more and gives me more time to get ready.

To sum it up, I like living in Purbeck house and I would like to book a room here for next year. So far I haven’t experienced anything negative here, other than how loud it is on popular nights out, but that is basically most student accommodation.

Areej Hassan, Egypt, BSc (Hons) Games Software Engineering