An honest review of: Coombe Road

With 2nd/3rd year accommodation looming and everyone frantically rushing to find a place there are a few things that we can overlook. With crafty estate agents and landlords showing you want they want, they can hide some aspects of your property and location that would make you think twice.

Worry not, if you’re still up in the air about where to go our reviews of these places will hopefully steer you in the right direction. Lets start off with one popular student area: Coombe Road.

Get used to climbing a hill

Some say, the hill never ends

An obvious one, the Coombe Road hill gets tedious after a while especially if you live right at the top. Going home after a night out may be shorter as the bus doesn’t need to a long way, but you certainly will be knackered when you get in.

There are no buses on this road that go to uni except the ones at the bottom, meaning you will have to do the climb every day. Bus stops do exist on the road, however these are very rare (twice a hour) and mainly would be used to take you to Brighton Station.

Primary school will mean busy roads and noise

If you live (or decide to live) between the numbers of 40-100, you will be exposed to the noise of the primary school. This means cars, children outside your home, and when it is break time or lunch time you can expect screaming.

You will forever feel guilty about ordering Deliveroo

We’re students, we don’t tip Deliveroo, but getting them to cycle all the way up the hill on their bike to see their red face hand you over a bucket of KFC chicken makes you feel bad. If you can get over this, then don’t worry.

Instead, you could go to the takeaways down the road

Local favourites, and they deliver

At the bottom of Coombe Road, there are a few shops and takeaways. George and Annes is a pretty decent fish and chips and Kebab Knight stays open very late. One of the shops at the bottom of the road stays open till 3am so when you stumble home you can grab a tub of Ben and Jerry’s to eat in bed.

H’s Cafe, which is at the bottom of Coombe Road, is ideal for hangovers. The quintessential greasy spoon, it serves big breakfasts and rolls for those feeling a bit grotty.

The Racecourse is nearby, meaning you can walk to any events being held there

Loads of different events are held at the Racecourse like Fright Night, Oktoberfest, music gigs, and loads more. Having that nearby means you don’t have to shell out on a really expensive taxi to and fro.

For some reason, spiders love it here

This is pretty lucky for landlords, but house viewings are usually held over the winter and early spring, meaning it is still very cold. The bugs don’t come out at this time so you would be forgiven to think your house is a pest free zone. Quite the opposite, Coombe Road has loads of spiders and you know for a fact that other students haven’t bothered to sort out this problem when you move in. Just remember to invest in some stuff to get rid of them.

Check for double glazing

A standard for any house, but especially for Coombe Road. The noise from the busy road means that you may be woken up at 9am and not even for a lecture. Can also get very cold up on the hill so keep a eye out.

Seagulls are notorious for ripping up your bins here

You can expect rubbish to be pulled apart by birds

If you walk down Coombe Road, sometimes you could confuse it for a landfill. Seagulls are to blame, they love going through your rubbish here and ripping it apart to get one pizza crust. We suggest to keep recycling indoors and only put it out when the bin men come, we know it will be full of pizza boxes and so do the birds. Although common in Sussex, it’s more noticeable here.

Sainsbury’s is just down the road, but we suggest home delivery

At last, you have a supermarket to go to and no longer have to rely on Co-op and selling a kidney to get some cooking oil. The Sainsbury’s is pretty big and has a bunch of food counters for meats, bread, fish, cheeses, and a bunch more. You can do your shopping here but if it is a big one, we just suggest getting it delivered.

Parking is meh

Very few houses have driveways on Coombe Road and many just park theirs on the side of the road. There is no permit parking so it’s a bit of a free for all. If you live on the corner, you cannot park there at all meaning you will have to go down or further up the hill to park your car should you need it.

It’s a student area, but you would never really know

The local cafe and shops are usually filled with workers and parents rather than students

Ok, some tell-tell signs are there but on the whole the buildings are pretty solid and rarely do you hear your neighbours. You would expect it to be party central but from what we have been told its rare to hear a party, probably due to no one wanting to climb the hill.

So… What is the verdict?

Honestly, Coombe Road isn’t one for those who hate hills and noise. The hill is insanely annoying to climb up every time you go out so you would be forgiven for utilising delivery for pretty much everything. The road is pretty busy and with the school down the road you could be disturbed by the noise. The location is perfect though, you get to either town or uni within 15 minutes and the bus stops at the bottom of the hill can take you all around Brighton. With shops and takeaways open till late down the road it’s pretty good for those wanting a midnight feast or to grab any necessities.

The best location on Coombe Road would probably be at the bottom (near Riley Road, have a look on Google Maps), it’s near the shops and near the buses. Overall, we would recommend Coombe Road purely for the proximity to uni and town.