Riverside - Novel Student Accommodation

I regret to express that my encounter with riverside has been quite unsatisfactory.The malfunctioning facilities, such as the washing machines and dryers, consistently cause inconvenience. The vending machine has been inoperative for the last several months. Overall, these deficiencies have greatly impacted my stay.Compounding the disappointments, the management has fallen short in various aspects. Particularly, the assistant manager's rudeness and condescension towards Riverside residents stand out.Not recommended; extremely subpar service.

TL;DR: Broken vending machines, cool staff, dirty kitchens coming in, dodgy heater, and prices going up.my stay at this accom has been a letdown. the vending machines? broken. staff? Sound, but when things hit the fan, not much help. When we first came in, the kitchen was a bit grim, and the kitchen had this whiff that could knock you out.now, the heater (brace yourself) decides to ghost every 30 mins, in the middle of winter, saying it's for the planet. yeah right. activities, like foosball are broke and no ones bothered fixing it.some staff will say they will do something when you report an issue, but it's just lip service. booking B block is like RSVPing to a 6 am rave with neighbours blasting tunes, revving engines, honking horns and messing with balloons. Events? LOL lets not even mention them.and get this – water in december won't get hot. what's the point if I can't warm my room or enjoy a decent shower? what am I paying for?wash machines are the worse thing known to man, there's nothing more frustrating than going to get that are clothes drenched in water and stink. it would work better blowing ur clothes with a hairdryer than the dryers they have and there's no were near enough supplied for the amount of residence on site.to top it off, they're increase the prices. hope it buys them another 30 mins on the heaterpls dont reply with some copy and paste nonsense

The staff are lovely and there's lots of public transport nearby. The amenities, which took a long time to be finished, are great places to study and socialise. However, it's not without its downsides. The area is still being built so it's technically still a construction site, with loud noise starting at 8am until 4am. My wetroom floor has been broken since October and has only just gotten fixed, with the bathroom door still broken and mould growing because of the constant humidity due to the water being unable to drain out. I am in a disabled flat which is suitable for a wheelchair user but not for other disabilities (I am deaf-blind), resulting in a lack of storage space and amenities such as power outlets in the bathroom. There is also a MAJOR weed problem which has yet to be sorted out (I have been enquiring since October), meaning that practically every night my floor has reeked of the smell resulting in it filtering into my room and making all my things reek of it too.

Gradual decline of recreational amenities such as the Table Tennis table". "Table Tennis Bats" and "Vending Machines".Great management up until some staff were unjustly dismissed over resolvable disputes. A member of management named Maria is great at her job but lacks people skills as a lot of residents regard her as condescending and sometimes rude. Other than my complaints My personal experience has been alright and just."

The management is poor and I also found the assistant manager rude.The vending machine has not been working for quite some time now and also when we had a pool tournament they failed to supply the pool cues.Furthermore the washing machine and dryers are faulty I have to put my clothes in the washer twice and put my wet clothes in the dryer at least 3 or 4 times.

looks good on paper but awful place to livebarely any of the facilities work, the vending machines have been broken the majority of the time i've been staying here, they're broken rn and nobody has fixed it yetthey have 7 washers and 7 dryers for 500 people and a lot of them will be out of order so most of the time it's less. the washers hardly ever work and there is constantly draining issues meaning you will have to pay to wash your clothes again bc they will smell and be soaked when you are finished washing.downstairs they have a study room but is right next to the lounge and allow residents to blast music until like 4am on a night and they don't do anything about it regarding the 'study room' as uselessthe rooms are nice and spacious but they don't even have a proper heating system, it uses a thermostat to tell when your room is 'room temperature' and then turns off automatically and there's no way around it, so in the winter the rooms are freezing and don't keep your room warm at allNOT worth the money and they are even upping the prices next year, i would suggest looking at other accoms

The management been so poor, I've seen the assistant manager probably 3 or 4 times during my stay so far and she was not very polite, the staff are lovely but they cannot make even small decision without the authorisation of their managers. There is no water purifier, the heaters are not working and they go off every 30 minutes. Vending machine never works, the washstation is awful. They only have less than 10 washers for more than 500 residents. There is not a single cue for the pool table. They put the table tennis aside and said residents were not behaving and judging residents as they are not adults but the fact is they don't even have good equipment for the table tennis table. The managers been very disrespectful towards residents. Everything is collapsing and the funny part is that the place is been build for only 2 years. What a joke…

Disgraceful service. Incompetent management. I regret to share that my experience in riverside has been terrible.The assistant manager has hosted a pool tournament where they were not organised enough to have required equipment such as the cue. She has been very rude and condescending towards students and I’m shocked she’s holding a management position.Furthermore, the vending machine has been broken for past few months. I alongside with some of the residents offered them to provide a better alternative for the vending machines however they have treated it with contempt and promised to fix the vending machines which they are yet to fix.Table tennis has been down with the very excuse of “residents not behaving” which I found very offensive. However the fact is they do not have fine equipments for the table tennis. I’m startled by the fact that they blame others for their incompetency.

I’ve been staying here since September 2023 and have had a great time so far with only a few issues.I’ve noticed people talking about the vending machines, I’ve never had any issues or had them break on me, they’re always working for me at least.People are saying our AM, Maria, is rude, however I’ve never had this problem with her, she is friendly and always up for a chat, like most of the reception staff too. If you treat them with respect then they’ll treat you the same way back.The main few issues are the washing and drying machines. I’ve only used them a few times as I take my washing home most weekends, but whenever I use them there’s either an issue with draining from the washing machine and I have to call up the company, or the dryers don’t actually dry my clothes. Also give the machines about 5-10 more minutes than it says on the app as it goes on for longer. However it’s an outside company called Wash Station and it’s nothing to really do with Novel.In the contract and if you go on tours before moving in, you’re told you have bike hires, however this isn’t true, they have no bikes in the shed at the moment.The study area I feel needs to be a bit more closed off as it’s directly next to the cinema room and private kitchen, where people have parties/watch films/listen to music, and you can hear everything.There was a previous issue with someone blasting music from their window at full volume at all hours of the day, I rang a few times on different days but eventually went downstairs and our lovely security guard sorted it and I haven’t had any issues with loud music since.Overall it’s a lovely place to live, with a small area behind with a Battle Bar, Desserts Restaurant, and a few other restaurants. There’s also Curzon cinema which is great too. Directly underneath E block/right next to the accommodation there’s a Fireway pizza which is good and a Starry Mart which sells Asian food and toys, which is also nice. The cinema room is nice and a great way to meet new friends, the gym is also good with lots of equipment, there’s also pool, fooßall, and table tennis/ping pong which are fun to use.

I'm disappointed to share that my experience with this accommodation has been far from satisfactory. The breach of the contract regarding the promised weekly kitchen cleaning is a major concern. Additionally, upon moving in, I noticed the rooms were not properly cleaned.Furthermore, the facilities, including the washing machine and dryers, consistently fail to work properly, causing inconvenience. The study room's poor design is another issue, as it allows noise from the lounge to disrupt any attempt at peaceful studying. Overall, these shortcomings have significantly impacted my stay.Adding to the list of disappointments, the management here has fallen short in various aspects. Notably, the assistant manager is very rude and condescending towards residents of Riverside.Furthermore, there’s been a notable absence of organised events for residents, contributing to a lack of community engagement. Moreover, the unavailability of bike rentals, as promised, further highlights the accommodation's failure to meet contractual expectations. These collective issues significantly diminish the overall quality of the living experience.