Which is the best halls at Royal Holloway?

Butler, Tuke and Williamson

All about those nights at Medicine

Butler has been party central recently with Block C constantly blasting loud and obnoxious party music at all hours of the night (and day). People here are very sociable, leaving their doors open to allow drifters in and out.

Everyone from Tuke loves each other, with the 13 flats of eight combining together to have huge parties rather than keeping to themselves like other halls. Being in Tuke made you feel part of something as well as being homely, though it can be dangerous too at times. The lift is prone to breaking and falling short distances with students trapped inside.

Williamson is the smaller of the halls but with all the same features. Labelled the “quiet” block by many people as everyone went elsewhere for their parties.

Reid and Runnymede

Another week, another party

Reid is a party hall, especially in Freshers’ Week. Last year Block H were nicknamed the “party block” after their pantries were filled every night of Freshers’ Week and during Halloween too. Though Reid residents seem pretty nice, a lot of them have a nasty habit of stealing. If you’re staying in Reid you’re one of two types of people: the victim or the thief. Living with 22 other people in a cramped set of flats means people can get away with stealing other people’s food and alcohol. Expect Reid residents to be pretty paranoid and grumpy because of this.

Runnymede is basically the anti-social version of Reid. No one parties at Runnymede and everyone seems to be on a health kick over there. Guess it’s because they’re so close to the gym on campus.

Gowar and Wedderburn

G & W residents scrub up well

Not-so-fondly nicknamed “The Posh Halls”, Gowar and Wedderburn are for kids whose parents can afford to buy them polo horses and Ferraris. They have their own common room which is very big, as well as their own garden area where they can sit out in the sun during summer smoking cigars (yes, I have seen people do this).

There is of course one flaw with these two halls…the walk to the top of campus. But it’s okay because they probably paid extortionate amounts to bring a car onto campus anyway.

Gowar and Wedderburn are known for having rowdier parties, which sometimes get out of hand. Last year, there was a huge rugby party which ended in tears when Wedderburn was covered in graffiti. No one was expelled though, so we assume someone’s dad paid them off…

Kingswood

Big rave fans in Kingswood

These people were always caught stumbling into lectures late and exhausted because campus is a 20 minute walk away, and they’re often wearing mismatching socks and appearing not entirely together due to their poor living conditions. No hot water? No problem – they just won’t wash for a week.

Despite this, and their distance from campus, they seem to have pretty good social lives and plenty of parties. It’s just nobody from outside Kingswood ever ends up going.

Founder’s

Founder’s is more than a great photo background

You’ll never meet a Founder’s resident who doesn’t boast about how beautiful the building they live in is and how proud they are to live in such an iconic Victorian building. They’re also the most paranoid people you’ll ever meet: leaving a hairdryer plugged in by accident, which one girl did last year, is a definite no-no. Nobody wants to be responsible for setting the entire building on fire and being hated by 500 other people. I guess that’s what you get for living in the most flammable building in England though.

Founder’s residents are always confident and happy people. They have to be in order to share bathroom and kitchen facilities with an entire corridor. Another thing about Founder’s is its split into single-gendered corridors. You have to be a certain type of person to be okay with that. Founder’s has a lot of parties which everyone seems to talk about but we’ve never spoken to someone who actually went (bit like Kingswood that).