Barker House, newcastle-upon-tyne

my time at barker house has been quite good overall, just a few issues here and there. the receptionist, robbie, helps as much as as he can whenever I come to him with a complaint. He is quite prompt with sending out emails if needed, and is chatty and friendly. a lot of events and free stuff, particularly the fruit fridays, free breakfast items and the coffee machine. i don’t know of a lot of accomodation that offer stuff like this on a regular basis, and I think for how much we pay it’s really nice that it is. events are quite regular too, different ones every week. the rooms themselves are really nice, but as someone stated there is no soundproofing, even from other floors. The en suite rooms themselves were clean when I arrived but the kitchen was absolutely covered in cobwebs (like seemingly really old cobwebs), and massive spiders here and there. My room also has a lot of cobwebs and spiders but not to the extent of the kitchen and I managed those as soon as possible. Really, the cons are more to do with housemates which isn’t really in the accomodation’s control. Multiple times i had to report food theft and housemates using my things, and nothing stopped until I had to use my own money to buy lockboxes for the fridge and freezer, and move all my stuff into my bedroom. Robbie the receptionist had tried his best with emails and even printed out warnings, but eventually had to deal with it myself. This has ruined the experience of otherwise a really lovely accommodation. I’m in my last year and it has definitely been one of my favourites I’ve stayed in, ignoring the theft. I will add, the shower gets really cold at random times. Leaving it to run for a while doesn’t make it warmer so I sometimes end up with cold showers. The shower head itself came covered in mold, I think? I’m not even too sure but theres black spots on it. It was announced at one point during the year that something was being done to them but I’ve no clue if they actually did as I came back to exactly the same thing.

Barker House has been my accommodation for the past two years, and it has been a fantastic place to stay. It is located in a calm and beautiful neighbourhood, with easy access to the university, shops, and other facilities. The environment is peaceful, comfortable, and ideal for students. I would highly recommend Barker House to anyone looking for good accommodation.

I do not use my government name on Google reviews. Despite literally stating in response to an earlier review that they do not offer ‘free’ things only in exchange for good reviews, the receptionist is once again at it. A message was sent round that in exchange for specifically a five star review on the student crowd, the first ten students to do so would receive a £10 greggs voucher. I mean, how is this allowed?

EDIT: nothings been done about the incessant noise from the completely unnecessary ping pong table and reading other negative reviews it's laughable that the attitude is "well we haven't heard it's that bad" There is no after hours noise control. The common room is incredibly loud and keeps all our flat wide awake due to it not being soundproofed - it isn't just people using it after social hours but the sound of the ping pong table drives us all crazy and a new football table has only made it worse. The reception hours are also questionable as cover isn't usually arranged properly when the usual receptionist takes time off, which makes getting hold of post and packages a nightmare. Overall it isn't awful value for money

Robbie is the rudest person I’ve ever met I don’t believe a word he says in his emails and is constantly sending them which is becoming annoying. He is bossy, pushy and just rude the way he speaks to us almost like we are an inconvenience. The manager is lovely every time I have needed help she has been very helpful with anything I need. The building itself is great value for money and has a lovely common area just the pushy receptionist with his posters and emails that is putting me off rebooking here next year