Beech House, oxford

Review for Unite Students - Beech House I’ve been a student in the UK for three years, and staying at Unite Students Beech House has been, by far, the worst accommodation experience of my life. The services here are absolutely terrible. To start with, the water temperature in the bathrooms is out of control—it either turns boiling hot or ice cold randomly, with no way to adjust it. I’ve also found that the room itself was in poor condition when I moved in, requiring some basic repairs. Yet despite repeated complaints, the maintenance team has been completely unresponsive and unhelpful. The staff here is generally unaccommodating and often unwilling to help. For example, I’ve reported multiple times that items have gone missing from my kitchen shelves, but they’ve done absolutely nothing to address this issue. Perhaps most concerning is the lack of security at Beech House. There’s no dedicated reception at this location, and at night, there’s zero staff on-site. If you need anything after hours, you have to go all the way to Dorset House, which is also closed at night. This poor security led to my room being broken into, resulting in stolen items and cash worth £4500-£5000. When I reported the incident, they shrugged off all responsibility and told me to contact my insurance. If you’re considering Beech House, my advice is simple: don’t. There are far better options out there. I deeply regret choosing this accommodation—it’s been a nightmare from start to finish.

DON'T STAY HERE. Stayed here my first two years of uni because friends were there and I am so glad to be out of it and in Brookes Accommodation. The kitchen in my second year (B Block) was far too small, basically completely unusable for ten people, and the flat looked like it had not been cleaned at all when I moved in in my first year. We were left entirely without heating in the kitchen from December-June in my first year, as well. The most egregious thing was that the lighting in my room in my second year (2023-24) was broken, and when turned on (if you could get it to come on at all, which could not be done from the door) would flicker and flash badly. Bear in mind that this was in the accessible room, which I was staying in because of (amongst other things) autism, light sensitivity and balance issues. I had to cross my room in the pitch dark to turn on the lamp when I got home after lectures. Despite submitting a report in October, my lighting was not fixed throughout the year and, as far as I know, is probably still broken. I emailed to ask for compensation as this had had a significant impact on my ability to study in my room, as well as my safety, and - after being told that it was being taken "seriously" in August - have been left without word for two months, despite sending follow-up emails. This place clearly does not care about it's occupants at all. I must say, however, that I found the cleaning and maintenance team to be friendly and responsive - when they were actually told about issues, which didn't seem to happen very often, with many of my complaints being marked "complete" with no visit or note from maintenance.

The cons outweigh the pros... The only good things about this place are the nice looking rooms, bathrooms, and kitchen. Maybe also the study room and the convenient location. From the outside, it looks great. I can't comment on the courtyard or the laundry room because I don't use them. Onto the more important part. Before booking this place, you must know that the reception is not in this building, you have to go to Dorset House if you need to talk to someone. Your parcels will also go there if you order anything, but entering the building to collect it or just to talk to someone is a pain because your card won’t work on the scanner. If you’re an introvert, you’ll have to wait until someone leaves or enters the building to get in. Knocking on the door also works if someone’s there to open the door for you. As soon as we arrived here, the extractor fan was not working. I didn't know that but my flatmate did, I reported it once I found out a week later but I was shocked that it wasn't fixed before we got here. Major disappointment and they still haven't come in to fix it after 4 days of reporting it. My flatmate has been cooking all this time and hasn't set the smoke alarm off (worryingly, actually). Also, the kitchen is not cleaned by housekeeping and you have to take the trash out yourself. I was unsure about this and in around 2 weeks of living here, they placed signs in the kitchen telling you how to keep it clean. After that, I was still unsure about how house keeping worked in this place until the other day, when a flatmate took out the trash of the bin and left it on the floor (I have no idea why), there were maggots on the floor. I found out that we have to do it ourselves in one of the more disgusting ways. I wish there were someone to tell us these things like they do in other properties that I've stayed at. Though at the same time, I was half expecting that there was housekeeping for the kitchen given the price to stay at this place. Adding onto the fact that there is no one to tell you where everything is and how things work in this place, the signs to guide you are very confusing and I feel like there should have been someone to tell you the rules of the place, where to find things (like the outside bins and where to find the switch for the bathroom extractor fan), and the fire safety. This is so that everything is clear and there is no confusion. For £11,000+ a year, I might as well live in an apartment or flat that's further away since I travel by foot and bus anyways. Kind of disappointed and won't be staying here again.

Its the third time in this weather that the hot water has gone and, none in the kitchen! The oven broke and was without repairs till the end of the month in Dec. Wonder who gives them good reviews? Book if you want but your room will not be clean when you arrive with mould in the kitchen and the bath! Your packages wil get delayed sometimes as there is no reception on site at Beech house. The sound in the inner courtyard and the parties can keep you up.In one instance it got rowdy, the night duty would yell us to call the police! It spoiled my experience of moving to Oxford!

Avoid this place at all costs. I have never encountered such untrustworthy people as the team at "Uninist." I ordered bedding for £189, only to discover after a month that they used new sheets to cover old blankets and pillows! I essentially paid for nothing. Now, they’re refusing to accept my complaint, claiming I should have checked it in the first few days. Look at the images—I've been sleeping on this awful bedding for a month without realizing it. Completely unacceptable!