The Priory, Leeds

Although beautiful, apart from its location, there is not much which this site can offer. The rooms are not at all worth what is charged, older/non-renovated rooms are non-functional (leaking shower/unflushable toilets/leaking sinks), and while the renovated rooms look new, they are not much better! New rooms are poor in terms of function (little storage space, most plug sockets are unusable, heating controls out of reach) and are so dark that you need multiple lights on throughout the day. With the building being older, the rooms are also poorly heated, despite the central heating for the building being on, room heaters are poor, leaving you absolutely frozen in all seasons - would recommend draft excluders, etc. for winter. The process of renovation, set to recommence in 23/24 is also incredibly disruptive, the staff will lie to paint a nicer picture of the reality of what you face, but you will move rooms multiple times and be promised refunds/financial compensation which will never be received. The last renovation overran by 8 weeks, leaving people stranded in hotel rooms, far from the university - these people still have not been provided the compensation they were promised. It also didn't help that builders worked well into the nights and sometimes commenced work at 6am, leaving us no time for undisturbed sleep, as well as being exceptionally rude to some tenants. There always seems to be some sort of work going on at the building, whether it be landscapers (aimlessly walking around with leaf blowers, only for the land to look no different), drainage contractors (for the mass of drainage issues, blocked toilets and sewage leaks which have occurred) or cleaners, who only seem to clean certain aspects of the building, leaving others filthy (there is a cracked egg on one step which hasn't been moved all year). So I would not book the building if you are looking for a peaceful place to study/work. In addition, there have been a string of thefts at the property, not only was a TV stolen from the common room (culprit still not found, raising questions about their 24/7 all-round CCTV), but passports, personal belongings, and professional documents have been stolen from rooms by poorly vetted cleaning contractors. The facilities at the property are poor, there is no secure place for parcels (they are left in the front of the building), the wifi is entirely unreliable, and there are only 2 washers/dryers, meaning you can find yourself waiting long periods to wash clothes (people often get tired of waiting and remove your belongings from the machine, so I would recommend sitting with them if you use them). The bin room has been out of service for many months due to rat infestations which I am not entirely sure have yet been addressed, and the bins outside are often overflowing. The building also offers no parking, despite having parking available outside, and with the narrow street always being full (double-parked) getting deliveries, having visitors, or even parking your own car if you have one is incredibly stressful. Overall, this is a property which is not worth the price, ran by a company who are very happy to take money from students, but not return it where due. It is plagued by maintenance issues, with dark, cold rooms that could bring any person down. Unless you're unable to walk a few extra minutes for the University, I would avoid at all costs. ... Read more