Where am I staying? What's it like? | Accommodation Introduction

So you've applied for accommodation at the University of St Andrews and you might even have your offer by now but what is university accommodation like? Well given I've spent the last year as a resident of University Hall and now serve as Treasurer on the hall committee I think I should be able to tell you a little about it.


In case you're a little confused about who I am and what this blog is for then please check out the "Welcome to the Blog" post where I explained just that.

Anyway, university accommodation. It's not exactly easy to explain as a blanket statement for St Andrews as unlike at some universities, where every hall is basically a carbon copy of any other, every hall here is different. Different sizes, locations, types of accommodation, living arrangements, rivalries, communities and everyone experiences something different.

There are a few types of accommodation at St Andrews: Standard Catered, Standard Self Catered, En-suite Catered and En-Suite Self Catered. No accommodation will offer all of these although most offer more than one type. You might also be allocated to a shared room (although I opted out for reasons I'll go into later) which means you'll have a roommate for the year which some people really like but I couldn't really see myself enjoying but that's more of a personal preference.

So I know I listed off a load of accommodation types but I should probably explain.

Standard VS En-Suite: This is literally just do you have your own bathroom or not. If you don't then you'll share bathrooms with people on your floor in halls. This is the setup I had this year in University Hall and I will be returning to this next year. You may be apprehensive about sharing bathrooms with strangers but these communal bathrooms are cleaned by university cleaning staff and I've rarely gone into one that wasn't clean (there was a couple of times some people threw orange juice all over the floor and shower cubicle but to my knowledge they were drunk, I did find it on a Saturday morning). If you have an en-suite room then you will be responsible for keeping it clean and there will be cleaning inspections.

Catered VS Self Catered: This one is rather self explanatory but to clarify, if you are catered then you will eat with your fellow hall residents in a dining hall. You won't be able to take the food from the hall (except things like fruit which they generally don't mind you taking) and the hall will provide plates, cups and cutlery for you to use. They will cater for a range of dietary requirements including Vegetarian, Vegan and Gluten Free. I myself am gluten intolerant and while sometimes the meals weren't to my liking on the whole they were fine. Don't take the provided plates and such as a signal not to get your own cooking and eating equipment though as you will only be catered 19 meals a week in Standard Catered Residences (such as University Hall or St Salvator's Hall among others) having to feed yourself  at weekend dinners, and 14 meals a week in DRA so feeding yourself weekday lunches and weekend dinners.
If you're self catered then you'll have use of a kitchen either in your DRA/FP flat or between a small number of rooms in halls such as ABH or Whitehorn.

Single VS Shared: This is just a personal preference. Maybe you're the sort of person who's always wanted a roommate in which case go for it! Have fun. I've also known people to opt for shared rooms to save money because it's an undeniable fact that the uni charges less for it. But I imagine that many of you, like me, don't want a roommate. I knew I probably wouldn't like it, mostly because some of the things I do, such as constantly playing music, and gaming (with a loud keyboard and sometimes on voice chat) or watching Netflix into the early hours of the morning, would just be antisocial, especially considering that it's unlikely your roommate will do the same subject as you so your tests will not line up very often. I decided to go with a single room and loved it, but I know people that equally loved the company so it's up to you.

I realise that was a pretty long wall of text with a lot of information but my general advice is even if you're catered, get some stuff to make food and eat off because you can't live exclusively on takeaways and pot noodles. Trust me your waist and bank account will thank me.

So which hall is best? Uni Hall is the best one.

Okay I can't say that definitively but I am biased towards it because it's been my home for the last year. Almost everyone will say their hall is the best one for different reasons but it's mostly because it's 'their' hall. The one they've lived in and they think of as their first home in St Andrews.

Every hall offers something a little different. Different traditions. A different feel. Different rooms. Even just a different location. I'll go through each hall one by one and explain where they are and what they offer to their students. Don't worry that these sections are quite small, I'm going to reach out to the Senior Students of all the halls and they can tell you a little about the halls they represent in future posts. These are just going to be a little bio about each hall and some of my comments on them (there's also a map at the bottom that the university provides on their website).

University and Whitehorn Halls


University Hall is the oldest hall in St Andrews opening in 1896. It was originally an all female hall but now the only remaining all female part is the insanely photogenic Wardlaw Wing.

It's a catered hall of roughtly 310 people in Standard and En-suite Catered rooms. Some shared but most single. Its dining hall also hosts the catered residents of the new Whitehorn Hall which is about 50% En-suite Catered and 50% Standard Catered. Uni Hall and Whitehorn share a committee and the halls are located about 8 minutes walk from the center of town and a stones throw from the science buidlings on the North Haugh (pronounced 'haw') and from the University Athletic Union.

University Hall has been my home for the last year and I'm returning there this year so if you have specific questions about the hall this is the one I'll know the most about.


Agnes Blackadder and Powell Halls

Located a stone's throw from Uni Hall, down on the North Haugh you'll find Agnes Blackadder Hall and it's Whitehorn Equivalent, Powell Hall which opened at the same time. Powel Hall is set aside for Postgraduate students so it's unlikely many of you will be staying there.

Compared to Uni Hall, ABH is a youngster having only been built in 1993. All rooms are en-suite with about equal numbers of catered and self catered rooms and all rooms have double beds. Being located on the North Haugh it's also ideal for science students as well as people who want to use the sports facilities and if you have a car then there is ample parking out the front of the hall. It's also the largest hall under one roof. In terms of sheer numbers David Russell Apartments and Fife Park have it beat by a considerable margin but they're all separate buildings.

Andrew Melville Hall

At the far end of the North Haugh and the last hall among the science buildings is Andrew Melville Hall. This "ship like" hall (university's description not mine) hosts standard catered rooms but at a lower price than the other halls. It's of a similar size to University Hall (not including Whitehorn) and is said to have a strong hall community. It was refurbished recently so the inside looks a lot more modern than the bruatalist exterior.

Like Uni Hall and ABPH, Andrew Melville is perfectly situated for the science buildings and for the University Athletic Union.

Andrew Melville Hall also featured in the Keira Knightly film Never Let Me Go and when former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond studied at St Andrews, he stayed in Andrew Melville Hall.

David Russell Apartments and Fife Park

Situated further out of town, about 15 minutes from the North Haugh and 25 minutes from the Union, lies the David Russell Apartments and Fife Park. These aren't traditional halls like the others the uni offers as they consist of a gathering of buildings each with multiple flats. Each flat consists of several en-suite bedrooms and a communal kitchen and living area. At DRA/FP you can be both catered or self catered and the site also features its own bar that has been known to host £1 drink events.

The only drawback a lot of people see with DRA/FP is it's distance from town. It's more than twice the distance from the union as any other hall and given a lot of arts subjects hold lectures in the St Salvator's Quad, it's a fairly long walk by St Andrews standards (perhaps invest in a bike).

St Salvator's Hall and Gannochy House

Speaking of St Salvators, Sallies is perhaps one of the most recognisable and well known halls at the university. Located just off North Street and right next to St Salvator's Quad (Sallies Quad), the Younger Hall and very close to the Irvine Building, Sallies is one of the best halls location wise for arts students (although it's about a mile from the science buildings). It used to be an all male hall and was actually where Prince William stayed at St Andrews (but that's the last time I'm going to mention him).

Sallies also has an annexe on North Street called Gannochy House which was built in the 1970s. This year it's going to have both Single Standard Catered and Single Standard Self Catered rooms. The main building of Sallies however has Single and Shared Standard Catered rooms. All Sallies and Gannochy residents eat together in the main building.

One real advantage of living in Sallies is that at the end of the Raisin Monday Foam Fight (more on Raisin later) you're so close to Lower College Lawn you don't need to be cold for very long before you can get to a warm shower.

John Burnet Hall

The smallest of all the halls of residence is John Burnet Hall with it's maximum capacity of only about 150 people including it's annexe. It's known to have a very strong sense of community because there's simply less people to get to know. It's location is pretty good as well as it's not too far from any of the facilities most students utilise including the science buildings, arts buildings in town, the student union and of course the beach. John Burnet also enjoys a healthy rivalry with University Hall which will be well expressed at the Clan Warfare event in Freshers Week.

Like Sallies and Uni Hall, JBH is a catered hall so you'll spend a lot of time eating together with your hall mates which is an amazing way to make friends quickly, especially at the beginning when you, like I did, know absolutely no one.


McIntosh Hall

Formerly the Chattan hotel but aquired by the uni in 1921, McIntosh Hall is located just round the corner from the Student Union (which is helpful if you've partied a little too hard as it's not far to go) and right in the centre of town. It's in a great loaction for the arts buildings and isn't too far from the North Haugh and the science buildings.

It's another of the catered halls and I can tell you first hand the views in some of the study rooms are something else when you're looking down over the Old Course and the West Sands, and their dining room is quite different from many of the others due to it's location underneath the rest of the building.


St Regulus Hall

The final hall in St Andrews is St Regulus Hall. An older building than even University Hall but not a student residence until the 50s when the University bought the building (noticing a pattern here?), Regs is another of the catered halls. Like St Salvators, there are a lot of shared rooms here as well as a number of single rooms. Regs also has an annexe down the road who eat meals in the main building with other residents.

Regs has perhaps one of the strongest communities largely due to the large number of returning students they get each year who love Regs so much that they don't want to leave.

Regs is found off South Street near St Mary's Quad and the new Music Centre so for any musicians or divinity students it's a perfect location and it very close to a lot of other university arts buildings and plenty of pubs and cafes, not to mention being the closest hall to the famous Jannetta's Ice Cream Shop.

Map of the Town with University Buildings Highlighted: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/university/maps/wwwmap.pdf

So that's a brief look at the different halls of residence. I've reached out to members of each hall's Hall Committee for more information about their halls before I talk in detail about each hall one by one, their traditions, their events and their community.

If you have any questions about a specific hall leave a comment and I'll see if I can get you an answer and if you know anyone you think might benefit from reading this blog please send it to them.