VOTE: Which are the best halls in Glasgow?
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For decades Murano has been the be all end all of student digs but there has to be more to Glasgow’s halls than empty cans and broken toilets.
What about all the posh totty champagne drinkers in QM? Don’t they deserve the crown? Or the wavy Cairncross lot? Why don’t they get some recognition?
We’ve brought you the sweetest memories and classic jibes from every major hall Glasgow has to offer to finally find out which halls are the best.
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Queen Margaret
Queen Margaret has the reputation of being one of the poshest halls on campus. It costs about the same amount as other en-suite apartments, but its location right next to Waitrose seems to have had a profound effect on the attitudes of its residents.
The residents of QM can be divided into those who embrace their inner toff and those who openly rebel against their middle-class heritage by throwing absolute ragers every other night and getting sloshed on Tesco’s Finest Prosecco.
Despite the costly living and the potential poshos everywhere, QM are pretty solid halls. There are a few Tories twittering about how mummy and daddy so kindly took them on a month long holiday to India in the summertime instead of their usually holiday home in the south of France, but most of them have their hearts in the right place.
Georgie from Queen Margaret said: “It’s quiet and I can revise in peace but there’s a party every night too. It’s a good mix. Also my flatmate is growing a psychedelic cactus under his bed.”
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Wolfson Hall
Next up is Wolfson Hall, the only catered residences Glasgow have to offer. If having your dinners cooked for you isn’t enough, as a cheeky wee bonus, you get travel costs covered up to £330 because you live a trek away. But does it make up for the distance and the limited meal choices?
Being such a trek away from all civilisation, it’s no wonder people in Wolfson are such good pals with their flatmates. Who else would put up with your constant whinging about only getting two rashers of bacon with your pre-cooked breakfast on a Sunday morning, while the rest of us in self-catered live off of toast and spaghetti hoops for a week.
Eleanor from Wolfson said: “The common rooms are great because you can watch TV and they are really social areas. Having the TV rooms meant that we became much like a family, sitting and watching films together every night.”
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Cairncross House
The next accommodation is Cairncross House, conveniently located about a ten minute walk from the uni and refurbished over the summer.
It’s hard to go wrong with Cairncross, despite most of the people there being wannabe hippies who play the guitar at 3am and think its acceptable to wander round in boxers all day. But still, with people round literally every corridor, there’s at least a decent social aspect to it.
The halls are comprised of ten person kitchens, communal bathrooms and bedrooms along the length of a massive corridor, which makes Freshers Week absolutely amazing. You may resent the thinness of the walls during exam season but at least you’ll always be able to hear when your friend’s home.
Leah, who lives in Cairncross, said: “the way the accommodation is laid out means there’s always a party going on somewhere and we have a lit TV. Despite the security patrolling around we still manage to party on the regular.”
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Kelvinhaugh Residences
Our penultimate contender is the Kelvinhaugh Residences, located literally right across the road from Cairncross so it’s ideal for the people who consider themselves too good for shared bathrooms, but still want the best location.
Typical residents would never be able to live how the other half do with their shared bathrooms, but they’ll still get incredibly defensive when you accuse them of being posh. “It’s not like we’re from QM” they cry from their double bed in the en-suite room in the West End.
Situated just ten minutes from campus it’s the perfect halls for those who go hard during the week and still want to make it to their 9am the next day. What more could you want?
Megan from Kelvinhaugh said: “It’s a really great location and we have some great flat parties! The thing I’ll probably miss the most about Kelvinhaugh is having an en-suite bathroom all to myself.”
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Murano Street Student Village
Last but not least, the dreaded and celebrated Murano Street Student Villiage. The biggest halls by far, housing (if you can even call it that) a whopping 1170 students per year.
The reputation of this place seems to be party central with a fair few less savoury activities in the mix. The mould, the damp and the broken toilets don’t seem to matter to the people who literally live for the sesh. Why else would you live in a place modelled on a women’s prison?
Famously parties have had to be shut down by the police in the wee hours, perhaps most notably Halloween of 2016. However, all this partying comes at a cost as everything is broken all the time.
Christina, who lives in Murano, said: “I think it’s the best because it’s the biggest so you meet people easily and if you are out somewhere there will always be someone heading back to Murano!”
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