Shoreditch - iQ Student Accommodation London — Attraction in London

Stayed in iQ Shoreditch for the whole year. Was a decent experience albeit it did have a few hiccups. Sharing the pros and cons below:

Pros: Amazing location. Was well connected by bus and had a tube station close by. Multiple grocery stores, pharmacy and even a 24 hour off-license across the road. Great Staff! Special mention goes to Camilo who was by far the most helpful right from day one. Very friendly, warm and extremely prompt with solving any of the problems we had. One of our parcel’s was lost and untraceable and Camilo helped us claimed insurance which went smoothly. Couldn’t recommend him more! Rooms were well planned for their size. Stayed in Silver Studio as a dual occupancy and was comfortable with adequate storage for two! Maintenance requests were promptly seen. Dev was very helpful and kind to talk to. Great views from the Sky lounge and adequate study and communal spaces. These made iQ Shoreditch stand out from other iQ’s. The basement Gym was decent too however, ventilation could have been better. Two vending machines on the ground floor were also a great way to kill those midnight hunger pangs. Communal activities arranged by iQ were also a sweet addition. Cycle racks were available.

Cons: View from the room was horrible. The construction site opposite caused ALOT of dust to come in. Being asthmatic, we requested the manager Flora for an alternate room arrangement on the opposite side but were asked to pay more and were disallowed from downgrading to a room which faced the opposite side of the building on grounds of iQ policy. Thanks to this, we suffered and had to keep the windows closed majority of the times during the day. The drilling sound too was unbearable with the window open. To top it off, the office building right up close opposite made things worse as people kept constantly peeping into our room which forced us to keep the curtains drawn shut. Lifts were a nightmare. 1 out of the 2 main lifts was intermittently shut throughout the year due to maintenance issues while the other lift randomly kept getting stuck mid way with sudden jerks as if its about to fall causing fear and anxiety to those who used it. Although two more lifts were present, they were on the other end of the building and the access controlled door often made crossing over a challenge. I fail to understand why access was not granted for all doors from day 1. Circuit laundry in the basement was plagued with bad machines with students keeping clothes for hours within machines even after their washing was completed which caused long waiting times. While this may not be directly iQ’s fault.. the rules could have been enforced better by implementing fines to avoid inconvenience to others. The dryers shrunk all clothes by 2 sizes so beware! The last few months have only seen 1 security guard at night for the whole building causing the front desk to be shut most of the times at Wee hours and also causing a safety hazard. The rubbish bins and donation booth were often ransacked by homeless people entering in the doors as students walked in and out.

Conclusion: A good place to stay if you want a decently located well planned student accomodation with friendly staff. As long as you chose your room wisely, you should have a smooth stay, else you’ll be stuck in the wrong room for the whole year. Don’t pay the extra price for a higher floor if all you’re gonna face is an office building and a dusty construction site. Otherwise overall a bitter sweet but fun experience with wholesome memories to keep for a long time to come! Thank you...

Just wrapped up my year (22-23) of living at IQ at a Bronze Studio.

Overall, I would recommend IQ for anyone who would like their own space in a central Zone 1 location next to Shoreditch, and who do not want to bother with deposit payments, guarantor checks etc. when studying in London.

The pros of IQ are most importantly, the incredible staff that I felt went over and beyond in being friendly and helpful with regards to the numerous issues I faced over the year. Any maintenance issues were addressed within hours (!) and there was access to hoovers and vending machines at IQ which was convenient. I appreciated and used all of the extra amenities (cinema room, kitchens, dance studio) though the ovens were all down a large amount of the time. I really enjoyed the large number of study spaces, and this was the amenity I used the most in IQ. In summer, the study spaces on the ground and 16th floor are air-conditioned which is truly amazing. The location is superb, being right by Shoreditch and 2 stops from Bank. The room itself is incredibly modern, and styled in such a way that you have enough space to store everything you have. I enjoyed cooking meals within my room, and it was a lovely spot to call home for a year. Previous tenants had complained about the fire alarm going off constantly, but this issue has been fixed, thankfully! I also liked that my friends/family could stay with me with ease without limitation, as there's a dual occupancy policy. There's also great shopping options, with ALDI, M&S, Co-op and the Asian shop just a stone's throw away.

The cons of IQ (and my room) are firstly, that there is a long construction project occurring opposite the building and the drilling drove me insane 6 days a week. I would recommend requesting a room not facing the main road. Without the construction, it's a quiet street. Unfortunately, the lifts were also down a large part of the time which caused frustration. The room itself is very small, and only really enough for 1 person. During winter, the room stays warm and the heating is a god-send but during summer, the room is too hot, a standing fan is a necessity. There are small issues regarding the lack of ventilation within the flat and the sensitivity of the induction hob. Old Street itself, while central, can be quite sketchy at night given its location. However, you can be sure that there will always be someone around at night when walking from the tube to home, which may make some people feel safe. The washing machine/dryers were often full, so you have to time when you do your washing. The gym is sparse but competent. Lastly, while I haven't personally faced this, there were numerous complaints and issues within IQ about excessive partying by some of the other residents but this didn't bother me, it's a student accommodation after all.

Overall, IQ has been a great first choice for me despite its high price and cons. I enjoyed my time there, and the booking process was incredibly easy. Once you have settled into the UK, you can then look for...

I would like to start off this review by stating that I wish I could leave zero stars. This is, by far, the single worst place in which I have ever had the displeasure of living in my life. I'm honestly not sure where to begin on the myriad of shortcomings this grotesque excuse of an "accommodation" has provided.

From the very first day I moved in, I was greeted by an empty front desk. It was only when someone returned 10 minutes later that I was told the key to my apartment was not prepared — after I had pre-booked a check-in time and arrived early, obviously. I was led up to my room which I was then locked inside until the following morning, unable to get food, bathroom supplies, or virtually anything necessary to survive that I did not already have with me in two suitcases. I should've known from that moment that this sort of immense disappointment would be all too familiar while living at iQ Shoreditch.

The following miserable eight months have provided many more horror stories. Broken heating (for over a month), broken water heating (multiple times for a total span of around two weeks), broken front doors (multiple times), broken elevators (at least one elevator is consistently broken and is at the time of writing this review), and incessant false fire alarms are just some examples of what everyone in this "building" has had to experience. Some of my personal issues with living here include, but are most certainly not limited to: a broken tap, a broken toilet seat, a leak in my ceiling (that was never fixed), a deafening sound coming from the water tank that borders my apartment wall, and a plug socket disconnecting from the wall that serves as a major electrical hazard that has been an issue since the very day I moved in.

Normally, what a building lacks in infrastructure is compensating by a friendly and welcoming staff. As you can expect, this is not the case with iQ Shoreditch. I have had multiple uncomfortable and borderline offensive interactions with staff at this building. I have been shooed away when needing help accessing my room, I have had my key turned off due to "not paying rent" when I had paid the day before and had confirmation of payment, and have been withheld from packages containing my medication because they "couldn't find it" — they are also aware that this package contains my medication, by the way.

To conclude, I offer a piece of advice to any prospective residents: do. not. come. here. This building, which is more reminiscent of a tenement, is unfit and ill-suited to offer care and accommodation to any human being, let alone students who are already overwhelmed by the stressors of university life. I feel sorry for anyone that was unaware of all the severe issues that accompany this residence and chose to live here thinking they would have a wonderful year with objectively great amenities and somewhat nice appliances. I always say I don't live with regret, but iQ Shoreditch as disproven that statement time...