Accomodation - Storie Street Residence

It opened in September 2012 so it’s really new and quite modern. It’s in front of the University and the library, so in two minutes walking you can be in your classroom, really comfortable for all those who doesn’t like to weak up early. In this residence is where I stay and it’s quite expensive but I totally recommend it.

It’s divided in three parts. Each one has different floors, and in each floor there are more or less three flats. Inside each flat, there are 4, 5 or 6 bedrooms and one spacious kitchen-living room shared among the people of the flat. The en-suite rooms are perfect for students, inside it you have your own bathroom, the bed is wide and comfortable and the table and space for studying are big. Moreover, you can put photos or notes in one board in the wall. In all the residence or university you have access to Wi-Fi and in the bedrooms there are 2 data points. There is no TV, but if you bring one with yourself you can connect it in the kitchen.

The kitchen is equipped with microwave, hob, kettle, oven and fridge/freezer.

The residence also has a laundry for all the students. Using the washing machine requires £2 and the dryer £1.

As well, there is also a common room where you can stay with your friends, in this room there is a pool table, a table football, vending machines, Xbox, magazines and a TV.

The price is £106 per person/week and includes gas and electricity and personal contents insurance. If you come one year you can pay in installments, but I have come just for one term you have to pay it in only one installment before coming.

I think that it’s relevant to say that on the ground floor of the residence there are 13 accessible rooms for students with mobility issues. These rooms, kitchen and lounge areas are specially modified for students with disabilities.

It’s interesting to know that there are also student wardens who assist the residence students during the out of office hours. You can always contact them and during the first weeks they will help you with any doubt or problem that you might have.

Related to the cleaning, the students are in charge of keeping their own room and flats clean and tidy. The cleaning service of the residence is only in charge of the common areas. Time to time the staff of the residence will make an inspection in the flat to check that everything is ok.

Finally, I believe that I need to talk about the security of the residence. The fire alarm is tested every week and if it is not a test or it doesn’t stop in several seconds everyone should go out of the building. And the residence has also security staff and security cameras.

In summary, I can say that this residence it’s truly cozy, warm and comfortable. It is full of students so you will have the opportunity to know a lot of new people and you will have fun together. For all the party lovers, I must say that on Fridays usually there are some parties in the flats, so you can join them!! But if it gets too noisy for you these days and it really annoys you, you can call the reception of the residence and they will solve the problem.

 

For more photos click in the following link:
 https://www.flickr.com/photos/uniwestscotland/sets/72157633213639482/

Accomodation

Travelling abroad is a challenge for any person and implies preparing a lot of stuff and papers before leaving your country. For me one of the most difficult parts was deciding where to live. Sincerely, I recommend leaving your home knowing exactly where are you going to sleep and live because otherwise maybe the new situation could be too much overwhelming.

In fact, if I have to be honest the lack of information was the biggest problem that I had to deal with. My mobility tutor of Spain didn’t help me and the university of destination, UWS, gave just brief information. An even it was more difficult to contact with students that could give me their opinion of their accommodation. That is one of the reasons that has encouraged me to write this blog, to help foreign students like you.

If you are going to study in UWS, you have a lot of options. First of all, I have to say that all the options have advantages and disadvantages, so you should choose that preference that suites more with your demands and needs.

• Rent a private flat in Paisley:
  

  This option is the best for those who really like to be independent, a relaxing atmosphere or that are looking for something a little cheaper. This option is better if you are staying for a long time in Paisley, at least one year. There are a lot of good opportunities to live in a flat or apartment near the university; you just need to check some websites such as: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/student-accommodation/Paisley.HTML
  http://www.gumtree.com/flatshare/paisley
  http://www.citylets.co.uk/student-accommodation-renfrewshire/paisley/
  http://student.spareroom.co.uk/accommodation/university_of_paisley/
  Most of the prices shown at these sites include water and electricity.

 

• Rent a private flat in Glasgow:This alternative it’s perfect for those who like the atmosphere of the city. You have more opportunities to go out or to find a job if you live there. Nevertheless, it also has disadvantages, every day that you have class you will have to catch a bus or take a train and then walk to the university, so it will take you some time. In addition, most of the UWS students live in Paisley, so maybe you will be away from the students’ environment. Perhaps I would say that this option is better if you are staying at least one year in UWS. If you are interested in it, you can check the following web sites:
  http://freshstudentliving.co.uk/locations/glasgow/?gclid=COejravxxcQCFUHmwgodZGgAAQ
  http://www.unite-students.com/glasgow?gclid=CJrssq3xxcQCFRHKtAodNmoAdQ
  http://www.accommodationforstudents.com/Glasgow.asp

• Live at the Paisley Campus of UWS:If you want to live near the university and feel the students’ environment, you have to choose living in the accommodation of the Paisley Campus. It’s a great option to make friends, learn from other cultures and have independence. Here all the accommodations are self-catered and cooking facilities are provided. In addition, you will be provided with a bedding pack containing duvet, duvet cover, pillows, pillow slips , fitted sheet and a crockery pack (1 dish, 1 tumbler, 1 coffee mug and a pack of a fork, a knife and a spoon).
• Storie Street Residence: Opened in September 2012 so it’s really new and quite modern. I will explain more things about it in the next post.
• Furnished flats in George Street and in Lady Lane. This consists of newly refurbished flats with study bedrooms, open-plan kitchen/lounge, shower and toilet facilities and kitchen and bedding packs. If you have a shared flat, the most probably is that you will also have to share the bathroom. In George Street flats, in general, Chinese people are living there. And I have been in one single occupancy flat of Lady Lane and it looked a little old but it was really spacious.The prices, including gas, electricity and personal contents insurance, are the following:
• George Street: Single room (shared flat) - £106 per person/week
• Lady Lane: Single room (shared flat) - £106 per person/week
• Single room flat (single occupancy) - £137 per person/week
•  Single room flat (double occupancy) - £205.50 per flat/week
   

For all enquiries, whether for future or current accommodation needs, doubts or any other information that you may want to get directly from the accommodation team you can email them through accommodation@uws.ac.uk or call the Paisley Campus + 44 (0)141 848 3159. Moreover, if you click in the following link you will be redirected to a site of the UWS and in it you will find that there is a place where they answer frequent questions:

 LINK: http://www.uws.ac.uk/international-students/life-at-uws/accommodation/

The arrival

I planned my arrival some months before coming but when it was the moment of leaving the nerves and the emotion of beginning this new experience overwhelmed me a little. But now I can promise you that it’s really worthwhile. Well, now I am going to focus on how to arrive to Scotland. I am from Spain so my best option was travelling by plane. I flew with Ryanair because is one of the best low cost companies to buy a flight.

The nearest airport from Paisley is the Glasgow International. From there it will take you ten minutes by taxi to arrive to Paisley or you can catch the bus McGrill's 757 that will leave you at Paisley Gilmour Street Train Station.
 

The other option is the Prestwick Airport (the second nearest airport); here is where my flight landed. After that to get to Paisley City there are several options:

• TRAIN (ScotRail): This airport has its own train station which is linked to the airport by a walkway. You can get a train direct to Paisley Gilmour Street train station; more or less it will take 40 minutes to arrive and the price is more or less £8. Everyone from the airport receive discounted rail tickets if flight itinerary or boarding pass are shown. This train operates every 30 minutes approximately every day, and on Sundays every hour. Once you have arrived at Paisley Gilmour Street train station, you can take a taxi from Country Square (right outside the station) directly to your accommodation. Or go by walking if it’s near, for example, if you stay in the Storie Street Residence it will take you ten minutes by walk, but if you have all your suitcases maybe it will be more comfortable to take a taxi.

 

• TAXI: That option it was the one that I did. I arrived at the airport after the last train to Paisley had left so I needed to take a taxi, it cost me £60 and it took 50 minutes. It took me a long time to get a taxi because there were no taxis available outside of the airport but if this also happens to you, taxis can be called from the airport. If you are lucky and in the airport someone else also has to go to Paisley, then you can share the cab and it will be cheaper.

 

• BUS: No through bus to Paisley available.

When I took the taxi, I couldn’t understand at all what the taxi driver was saying and this scared me a little because I didn’t expect that because I can speak English properly. But don’t worry this is because the native people speaks Scottish and their accent is really difficult to understand but later you will see that you’ll get used to it. In fact, neither the professors nor the students or the people of the street are so difficult to understand if you have a standard level of English. So my tip is don’t worry about English if this happens to you.

 

Additional information:

If you need a taxi at Prestwick Airport, a good company of taxis is Stream line Taxis, and the mobile numbers that you can call to are:

• 01292 28 45 45
• 01292 477 000
• 01292 26 10 10

And if you need a taxi in the Renfrewshire area and surroundings another great company serving is the Paisley’s taxi. All their taxis are white, they resemble the old cars of the 70’s and are wheelchair accessible. The contact numbers are:

• 0141 884 8888
• 0141 887 5050
• 0141 889 9000