If you’re a UCL student this is the last place you want to be. In some cases there is a singular shower in a block of showers, (yes like in an old school building or outdated gym), that actually works, this is between 10 people. They are cleaned irregularly, have mould, ventilation is awful (alongside ventilation in the entire building, which makes summer here unbearable).
The canteen staff are lovely, the actual accommodation staff are largely unhelpful although it’s a classic situation of being made helpless by “higher ups”, which means during a heatwave, all the heating stays on, when there’s issues with your room, kitchen or the shared bathrooms, these won’t be looked at or solved for at least a week.
Overall, the Ifor experience is one which you can’t even call character building, it’s genuinely awful and unfortunately does not get any better.
If you’re unlucky enough to be in these UCL halls, lodge complaints very very regularly and early on so hopefully positive changes are put in place, keep food in your room to avoid thieves (there are no flats here, once you’re in the gates of the buildings you can enter any accommodation, any bathrooms, any kitchen). The buildings essentially look like corridors with each room along it, then a bathroom with 2 toilets and 3 showers to be shared among 10 and a kitchen at the end of the corridor, no living room or sofas of any sort, it’s nothing like a typical uni halls flat and this makes Ifor Evans much less social.
The canteen gives Ifor more sociability but the food is underwhelming at best and pretty plain, although having catered at times can be quite useful.
The positives are that it’s about 30mins on the bus to main campus, near Camden which is enjoyable although quite touristy and dodgy at times, you meet a lot of people from around the world here, it’s very international and takes in a lot of exchange students and there’s a 24/7 Tesco Express 2 minutes walk away, it’ll rinse your bank account but it’s very good to have.
I wish this review was dramatic but it’s not and barely even captures what living here is actually like, Ifor isn’t for the weak but should hopefully encourage you to get out, explore London and lock in on campus.
If you’re after student halls I would highly recommend looking at private halls instead but this makes meeting other UCL students much less likely.
I genuinely believe that some form of inspection or student protest will have this building closed, demolished and rebuilt in the near future, try make this a reality for the betterment of our successors.
Signaler cet avis
AN
AnnA
14 Aug 2026
I was driving around the area and had no idea such a beautiful and fascinating place was here. Discovering UCL Observatory was a wonderful surprise. The atmosphere, the history and the opportunity to learn about astronomy made the visit really special. I think more people should know about this hidden gem.
Old building which is quite frankly no longer fit for purpose. Mice in the kitchen and some rooms. Issues with the radiator on full blast during a heatwave and springs poking through the mattress, however the maintenance staff were very responsive and helpful. Stinky corridors and generally grimy building, with a dirty carpet. Rooms were poorly ventilated and would hardly cool down overnight. The temperature of the cold water tap in the room was dependent on how sunny it was (the “cold” water was more often than not upwards of 35C, even in the evening and even after running for minutes), and because of this and the age of the building I was a bit concerned about the potential for legionella (although no issues in bathroom and kitchen). Toilets and showers in cubicles. Don’t think the fridges in the kitchen were cold enough. Bed linens were clean, but was only given a single pillow which was too thin, even if folded in half.
(Two-week summer stay - survived the experience but would recommend staying elsewhere)
Signaler cet avis
MM
mike mike
3 Jul 2026
Dreadful place apart from location. First off- Leafblowers start at 8.30 in the front yard- electric then petrol powered 170 decibles- for 10 to 15 minutes, destroying the morning calm. Just to blow a few leaves that nicely decorate the front seating area. Secondly, fire doors banging constantly. There are 6 between my room and the exit for the building, I can imagine this when the place is full of students- constant door banging on. These then trapped heat in the building during the summer heatwaves- it must have been over 40 in those corridors. A true health and safety concern- not the one in a million chance of a fire. Thirdly all the locked windows which open 3 inches ( for your safety) again meaning the place massively overheats in summer and cant be properly aired. An environmental disaster of a building.
Signaler cet avis
AA
Abdullah Aziz
12 Jun 2026
I was a resident at this Hall for the 2025-26 academic year would definitely choose it again if I had to. Although the cleanliness could have been better and the rooms and communal areas are very dated and in need of updating and renovating and more regular cleaning, for the price I paid, I was happy with the food, convenient location and room size. The only real problem was the shared bathrooms, which were often left in a very poor state and could go unclened for upto a week. Overall, it was great value for money.
Kitchen literally had rats all year, smells awful, and I asked to keep my stuff packed 5 days after my leaving date to avoid spending £120 on ucls storage service which also involves a bunch of unnecessary driving and traveling and risk, which they denied even though they have a 2 month period until new people move in. The staff I’ve actually met for the most part are lovely. The facilities are pretty bad, the toilets never flush and are always disgusting. The hot water is sporadic at best and the heating is either broken or boiling never in between. If you have you’re freshmen year here I highly recommend you transfer to another accom.
Signaler cet avis
AG
Andy GrantLocal Guide
29 Apr 2026
Amazing evening hearing about and looking through the various telescopes, with lots of interesting background information supplied by academics and students acting as our guides.
