University of Exeter - Holland Hall

It is a student accommandation, travelled back to the uni time. Nice and clean, but provided with the very basic toiletries

位置在Exeter大學附近，空氣比較好，視野廣濶，缺點比較靜，到市中心乘坐4號巴士再步行，購物比較唔方便。

I stayed at Holland Hall (usually student accommodation) while on a work/fun trip at Exeter University. The breakfast and breakfast staff were excellent. The campus is peaceful and beautiful. However, I can't say the same for anything else. It's overpriced for what it is and it lacks important basics that any cheaper hotel would have (I have stayed st other hotels in Exeter). - My assigned room reeked of cigarette smoke. The first room I was given stank so strongly that my (mild) asthma flared up when I walked in. The room was pretty dank as well. I asked for and was given a new room and it wasn't much better, but I didn't feel comfortable with asking for yet another room. - The rooms stank because the beautiful doors and balconies shown in the photos don't work. The doors can be cracked, but don't open, so students clearly smoke in their rooms during the year. This also means that the balconies and windows can't be cleaned (mine were disgusting) and that my rooms were hot and stuffy. - The building mostly seemed unoccupied but both rooms were in an area that was dark and that didn't seem as well-maintained than other parts of the building. I suspect that this is where solo travellers are put. - There is zero insulation. The doors slam loudly on to hard wooden frames and every conversation in adjoining rooms was as loud as if it were in the same room. No one is getting any sleep until everyone on the floor is asleep. - I arrived early and asked (after tracking someone down because there's no one at reception until 3 pm) if I could store my suitcase until check-in-time. There was a flat-out no even though the reception area was huge and pretty empty. I didn't want to have to lug the case all the way back down the hill so asked again. I was told to leave it in an empty, publicly accessible room. Finally, after keeping up the pressure, I was allowed to leave it at reception. It was a pretty unpleasant experience. - You will not want to stay here if you don't have a car. There is no bus service. I run marathons and yet it was a slog to get to the hotel with my bags. It's an uphill trek on footpaths that aren't in great shape. - The showers are tiny and don't have trays to catch water. Maybe other people are more graceful than I am, but my bathroom was a mess (wet toilet and floor) after showering. I ended up needing to stay in Exeter another couple of days and would have extended my stay at Holland Hall because work was busy and I didn't want to take time to find another place to stay. However, I couldn't extend my stay because of the unstaffed reception. If I had booked another couple of nights online, the cleaners probably would have collected my stuff from my room and there was nowhere else to leave it. The bottom line is that it seems like a bit of a money grab and not just for summer hotel guests but for students.