Student dormitories vs private rooms in Poland. What's the best option?

Hello,

Can anyone help me with deciding what is the best option: Student dormitories or private rooms?

Why to live at student dormitories and why to live at private rooms? What are the advantages/disadvantages?

Regards!

student dormitory rooms are usually small in size and it could get noisy from time to time; advantage being also an easy access to your fellow students and getting all sorts of information from them ( where to go, how to get there, etc ). This is very important at the beginning ...

Good private room has lots of advantages, too like more privacy, quiet if you want some peace, best imo are rooms close to dormitory - you'd have both: your own privacy and social aspect of dormitory living.

Student dorms in PL are quite restrictive - there's often a lady in a booth by the main door and rules about who can or cannot be in your room at certain times. Also there are shared bathrooms (sometimes communal) and not enough of them and the kitchens are sometimes squalid.

A private room gives more freedom, however you could of course miss out on social life.

Some can be very very nice, especially if they're reserved for foreign students. But the issue of the lady at the door is a big one - I have some Asian friends who got together and bribed them a significant amount of money (I think it was something like 2000zl for each worker) to turn a blind eye to the stuff that they did (parties, having guests over, etc).

Do anyone here have ever been to the HERA Guest House, a student dormitory of the University of Warsaw ?
I'm looking for information about this place because I will study in Warsaw soon and I got a room in this dormitory, but I would like to know if it is good to go here.

For people who have lived there :
- are the rooms clean ?
- is the building well maintained ?
- is it cold during winter (what about heating and insulation) ?
- is there enough bathrooms / kitchens ?
- can I invite people in my room (even for the night), or is there a "lady in a booth" by the main door ?

- your feelings about this place ?

Thanks !

Lor.

When you move in they're clean, later it's up to you


No dorm has collapsed yet.


Sometimes rooms located next to outer wall can be colder, when building is not insulated. But colder I mean around 20C not less.

I know it a little, since I lived very near for several years.

As far as I remember it's for post-graduates. The building isn't very new (it's a 1950s hotel) and you shouldn't expect the rooms to be shiny and new. I would think it is very well heated in winter (this is normal in Poland). The big plus about it is that it's in the best possible location in Warsaw - in a good area, close to Lazienki Park and the Prime Minister's residence, as well as being a few minutes on the bus from the centre of the city

There's a hairdresser and a (quiet) bar on the ground floor, and a few cheapish restaurants nearby.

Usually, the lady at the door thing is for undergraduate dorms, more than this kind of place where you will find doctoral candidates etc who they tend to trust more. This does however have a hotel-style reception.

Hotel Hera is a place that most students would be very pleased to get a place in.



To add - I remember some building work going on there one summer and think that some of the rooms are renovated (as in the picture) but suspect not all. the bathrooms should be OK.

Dorms provide more fun. E.g, you can install a private jaccuzzi in your room.
reddit.com/r/europe/comments/etbozu/cracow_student_caught_with_jacuzzi_in_his/

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Student dormitories by far if you can get a single room

I'm staying in a student dorm right now.

It's pretty reasonable to be honest. Not absolutely amazing, but it's fairly modern and a good size. Very well located to campus and public transport as well.

I was told when applying that single rooms were not available, but when I asked again I was given a single room. Not sure I would like to share with another student. For my dorm, the bathroom is en-suite and the kitchen shared. The kitchen isn't always the cleanest, but the cleaners do clean it every day from Monday to Friday. There are quite a few international students in my building, but it is mainly Poles.

Not sure what people above are talking about with old ladies guarding the door. There is a reception desk downstairs, but they've never commented when I have had people over or stuff. Most of them don't speak any English and it is unmanned lots of the time.

@MatureStudentinPoland
That sounds like a pretty decent dorm. I have a few questions. Is the dormitory provided to you by the university? Is it noisy? Can you share a few pictures of your room?

Yes, but when you fulfill certain criteria.


Yes, it can be noisy if a few hundred students live in one place.