If you are considering staying at IQ Kingston for your master's period at university, I highly suggest reading my review.
Overall, I rate this place a solid 2 stars.
The good points are the location and the friendly staff. The bad points are significant. If you share a kitchen, it will likely be disgusting since you are mostly sharing with undergraduates who do not care about taking out the garbage, disposing of rotten food, cleaning, or refraining from throwing parties until 5 a.m. Being located on the main street means you will hear police sirens, ambulances, and drunk people outside your room 24/7. Additionally, you can hear everything from the corridors and the adjacent rooms, so if noise bothers you while doing university work or if you like to sleep 6-7 hours like normal people, you will not have a great time here.
There is regular maintenance work being done in the building, which is good for keeping the place in good condition, but it is annoying to be unable to use the common rooms when needed. When you report bad behavior, the staff will barely take it seriously or do anything about it. If you think you can just talk with your flatmates and work it out, you may not be able to because most of the people living in this building will not make an effort to speak with you about the situation.
For the price, you can definitely get a small studio in the area for the cost of an Ensuite at IQ Kingston, and you can get your own flat for the price they charge for a studio. Take that into consideration.
In conclusion, for the price you pay here, IQ Kingston should definitely have someone clean the shared kitchen and corridors at least once or twice a week. The windows were barely cleaned during my whole stay; after all the work done outside the building from September until December, the windows were dusty and disgusting. The administration and staff are really nice, but this issue needs to be considered seriously. If you are 18 and do not respect the people you share common spaces with, you can stay here. If you are not, look for...
Read moreLovely staff who always take the time to check in and talk to you. Facilities are good (theres a gym, study area and laundrette).
There is a lot of construction like other people say, and I'm booked to stay for the foreseeable future but have to move rooms while my room gets renovated. As annoying as some of these things are, they are not the fault of IQ or the staff and they always try within their power to help. But to be honest, you'd be hard pressed to find a dorm (especially in south london) that isn't getting work done; I've lived in a few so I'm talking from experience.
I was reimbursed and given a gift card for some of the issues I faced so they do care about their residents. I think the building is just going through a transitional period right now, Its improved a lot since I got here.
Staff are easily the best part, they try so hard regardless of the situation / even when its things they can't fix.
In the heart of the city centre, being within walking distance to everything has really got me going out.
Circuit Laundry will cost you like ~£7 each time you wash but again thats not a reflection of IQ.
Flatmates are potluck and this is something I think people should consider, You're going to be living with people who might be vastly...
Read moreI would highly recommend iQ Kingston as a living space during your study. The staff are super friendly and very accommodating. I loved the room I stayed in which was the silver en suite. The room was true to the photos presented and very clean upon arrival. The location of iQ is amazing, the river Thames walkway is located directly behind the building and you have the Bentall centre directly across from you (New look, Zara, H&M, Mango, Miss Selfridge, Boots, Mac Donald’s, etc etc etc, there’s four floors). The train and bus station is barely a five minute walk away. The building is literally located within the heart of Kingston centre so it really is worth the rent paid as you don’t need to travel far for anything you need. The only criticism I have would be that the shower is a bit small but it was worth it to have my...
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