accomdation -farranlea hall-

Barrt2

can someone tell me whats good and bad about farranlea as a place for a 1st year to say. getting very mixed reviews

any other advice on a place to stay is welcome.:D:D:D:D

Bonzo-Reborn

I have never stayed in Farrenlea myself (stayed over with friends etc).

As far as I saw and experienced it was lovely, really nice bedrooms, kitchens and living area's.

Security is almost non existant all the same, the wardens never shut down parties which is an advantage although doors can be easily pushed in (just hit them a boot or your hip even and the front doors open to apts.)

Parking is free (€60 refunadble security deposit I think....)

People in the past have had troubles with bills though (Elec and Heating etc....overcharging until the residents asked to see the bills broke down).

Farranlea as far as I know is goiong under and even judging by passing it after dark almost half the lights in the apts are on which would let me assume that not many are actually there.

tomytoota786

You will find South Africa under Countries in far right column.

eggineer

im a first year myself and live in vic lodge, but to be honest i spend half my time in farranlea!
theres always a buzz around and always a session going on because wardens never shut them down (which is what yoou want in 1st year!)
There's one block for 1st years and one for 2nd years

My advice is to book it as it isnt as overpriced as most student accomodation
just make sure you ask for a 5/6 bedroomed apt because youll have loads more room in the kitchen/living area and your apt will quickly become the place that everyone hangs out and is a great way of meeting new peopple!

Dont mind what other posters say about the couches, yeah they arent comfortable at all but yoou have to compromise somewhere, it is college accomodation yooure getting after all!
Hope ive been of some help to you, if yoou have ay other questioons dont hesitate to pm me!

Barrt2

eggineer wrote: »

im a first year myself and live in vic lodge, but to be honest i spend half my time in farranlea!
theres always a buzz around and always a session going on because wardens never shut them down (which is what yoou want in 1st year!)
There's one block for 1st years and one for 2nd years

My advice is to book it as it isnt as overpriced as most student accomodation
just make sure you ask for a 5/6 bedroomed apt because youll have loads more room in the kitchen/living area and your apt will quickly become the place that everyone hangs out and is a great way of meeting new peopple!

Dont mind what other posters say about the couches, yeah they arent comfortable at all but yoou have to compromise somewhere, it is college accomodation yooure getting after all!
Hope ive been of some help to you, if yoou have ay other questioons dont hesitate to pm me!

thanks

colourmebad

Barrt2 wrote: »

thanks

I wouldn't stay there even if they'd pay me! The maintenance sucks, Emma Buckley, the office woman, seriously takes her time and things never get fixed, they don't have the onsite maintenance person, as they say on their website, you wait for weeks and weeks until someone finally shows up and that's after a dozen or more phone calls from us and our parents! Those couches have been there from the start and mind you - that was in 2006 or 2005 so imagine the state of them and all the vomit that went into them She'll promise you whatever you say BEFORE you pay, once it's paid nothing gets done. I know a girl she actually called a "****ing pig"!she fs' at everyone and thinks people are still afraid of her!
The woman is seriously unstable and someone should finally get rid of her. By the way, you'll get no deposit back, she'll make up thousands of "rubbish bags" that she had to remove from your bedroom even thou you leave it clean and that's all after you moved in to a VERY DIRTY apartment! She'll charge you for painting and won't paint it for the new people to move in. She'll come up with the likes of "carpet not hovered under bed" even thou I found condoms and fake nails under it so it wasn't cleaned in the first place!

Save your money and go somewhere else, somewhere that'll provide value for the money you paid!

colourmebad

colourmebad wrote: »

I wouldn't stay there even if they'd pay me! The maintenance sucks, Emma Buckley, the office woman, seriously takes her time and things never get fixed, they don't have the onsite maintenance person, as they say on their website, you wait for weeks and weeks until someone finally shows up and that's after a dozen or more phone calls from us and our parents! Those couches have been there from the start and mind you - that was in 2006 or 2005 so imagine the state of them and all the vomit that went into them She'll promise you whatever you say BEFORE you pay, once it's paid nothing gets done. I know a girl she actually called a "****ing pig"!she fs' at everyone and thinks people are still afraid of her!
The woman is seriously unstable and someone should finally get rid of her. By the way, you'll get no deposit back, she'll make up thousands of "rubbish bags" that she had to remove from your bedroom even thou you leave it clean and that's all after you moved in to a VERY DIRTY apartment! She'll charge you for painting and won't paint it for the new people to move in. She'll come up with the likes of "carpet not hovered under bed" even thou I found condoms and fake nails under it so it wasn't cleaned in the first place!

Save your money and go somewhere else, somewhere that'll provide value for the money you paid!

Few more words on Farranlea and Emma Buckley:
1. Half of the photos on their website does not present Farranlea at all. If you ask to view it before move in, they are sure to show you the best apartment they have, freshly painted and with new stuff in it to encourage you, but don't be fouled, it does not look like that at all. They will also promise you everything you want to have you book it. Once you pay, you can complain as much as you want and they'll do nothing.
2. The more you complain or ask for things to be done, no metter how nice you are, the meaner and aggressive Emma Bucley, the office worker, becomes. I must say I have never experienced such an aggressive, ignorant and rude "customer service", whih includes bad language, shouting and waving her hands in front of your face. Whoever owns it should seriously connsider employing someone else.
3. It is not secure at all. Door can be pushed open and half of Cork know about it and makes advantage of it, so you are very likely to get robbed.
4.This place is very dirty, things are not fixed properly or not fixed at all, there are vomit stains all over the carpets and couches. And they have the cheek to call themselves "Superior student accommodation" on their website.
5.Its not 5 minutes walk from college, it's at least 15 through orchard road and that's if you walk fast. Whatever is 5 minutes walk from college is on campus, and from what I know, Farranlea is NOT. Besides, you can easily count the walking time on googlemaps. Their website is full of lies and i am truly shocked with it.
6. Walls are paper thin, they say they're soundproofed but i'd advise them to look it up in a dictionary.

if you want any more info, you can send me a message.

kapow

I'm going to have to agree with colourmebad here... stayed in Farranlea from 2009- 2010. Although I had a great time there, there were a few things that happened.

1. Moving in the walls were stained with grease, TV was broken & footprints were on the walls of the hallway. These were fixed after we asked about them though.

2. Apartment was spotless upon leaving, regardless of this over half the deposit was eaten up by the entire place "needing to be painted" and being charged for missing forks, knives, glasses, plates etc...needless to say we actually left the apartment leaving behind far more plates, glasses and cutlery than we started with!

3. With regards to security, it is sparse. Doors which require key card access can be opened normally, all the apartment doors can be shoved open easily.

4. My bike, along with all the other bikes in the basement (another area with "secure doors") were stolen. Apparently it happens once a year. Van pulls up, bike locks are all cut, and whoever takes them is free to make a few trips to take each one.

5. The female manager was very unhelpful with the above incident. Straight away when asking her was there any CCTV of the incident she starts telling me I shouldn't have left it down there...even though bikes are not allowed in the apartment.

6. Parking wasn't free last year. If it is this year thats good I suppose.

7. It's quite far from college! Vic Mills is approximately the same price and you will seriously appreciate the difference.

8. The price is 5000 (excluding utilities, electricity bills and deposit which will be taken off you). Over 9 months that breaks down at approximately 140 euro a week. I am currently staying in a lovely 4 person house 2 mins from campus. Its bigger, nicer and costs 90 a week.

9. Finally, I had no internet after moving in. Told the reception. They said no problem, someone will be in during the week to fix it. Repeated visits and constant to-and-fro and it was not until 2 months later that someone came and got it working.

norge

To be honest i dont know why ppl are saying what they are saying about Emma. Every single experience i have had with her has been more than pleasant. And i have never seen or even heard of this "aggressive" side to her. She was a major component and helping me fit in to cork when i first arrived her, and has alwaysss been so helpful. There has never been a time where she hasnt gone out of her way to help me and all my farranlea hall friends.

jive

norge wrote: »

To be honest i dont know why ppl are saying what they are saying about Emma. Every single experience i have had with her has been more than pleasant. And i have never seen or even heard of this "aggressive" side to her. She was a major component and helping me fit in to cork when i first arrived her, and has alwaysss been so helpful. There has never been a time where she hasnt gone out of her way to help me and all my farranlea hall friends.

Emma is that you?

The majority of people have issues with her because she is unprofessional. Farranlea will charge you for things (e.g. plates, forks etc.) that were never there in the first place. I left my room spotless and was charged for cleaning. My toilet seat was broken when I moved in and wasn't fixed for a month. When I moved in my room needed to be cleaned, I wonder if they charged the person before me for cleaning :rolleyes: These problems could probably be avoided by taking copious amounts of dated pictures. I'm clearly not the only one who has had these problems with Farranlea.

Long story short: The walls are paper thin and you can hear everything. Security is lapse and the management is unhelpful. The doors can simply be pushed in for entry to the apartment. If you want to have the craic then it's a great place because like I said security is severely lacking. If you want to sleep soundly and an environment in which you can study then I'd suggest elsewhere.

"4.This place is very dirty, things are not fixed properly or not fixed at all, there are vomit stains all over the carpets and couches."
Quoted for truth. Don't be surprised to see vomit stains on the stairwell there for a few days, or better again in the elevator.

Jayo_M

Apartment 32, legendary circa 2006/2007!

As said, if ya want the craic its unreal. Great place to meet people in first year and its pretty handy spot. We used to have parties on the roof and epic soccer matches down in the car parks. I wouldn't stay there past first year though, starts to lose its charm. The price is ridiculous though considering what can be got around the city.

I'll take the blame for some of those vomit stains, apologies :-p

crix

I liked my stay in Farranlea Hall and I'm no first year.

I've seen a lot of accommodations throughout the last 9 month and this place is definitely the tidiest one. Everything in my apartment worked fine and I never had problems with wardens or the reception the reason for that might be that I'm not so much into antisocial behavior like vomiting into elevators or triggering the fire alarm in the middle of the night just for fun.

The only thing that broke while I stayed here was the thermostat of the hot water supply and that took them less than 2 days to replace it.

It's true that it's sometimes a little loud and the main campus is more than 5 minutes away (nevertheless the sports grounds, WGB, BHSC and the CUH are close) but I think it's a nice place to stay whatever people say who use a anonymous board to insult people personally.

teddy b123

Hmm id be interested to see if anyone with more than one post has anything good to say about the place.

crix

fair enough ... as long as you impose those standards to both sides.

Battleflag

Stayed there myself in 2006/07 and had a great laugh. Moved it with some great people and its true that the place was buzzing with parties the whole time, great for meeting new people.

Its true that the doors can be easily kicked in, so it would be wise to keep your bedroom locked even if you trust your flatmates. Just to be safe.

I enjoyed the walk into campus every morning simply because it woke me up before I got there, though when its raining it can be a bit of a bummer!

funki_munkee

Stayed there too in first year! Have to say I agree with all the criticisms. Didn't have any run ins with Buckley myself but this board isnt the first time Ive heard of people who have! So Im pretty sure the above posters are not over reacting! Barely got any deposit back despite having left a clean apartment! And the estimations were ridiculous! The bill listed 8 euros for replacing two cups for example! Bare in mind that they were charging each of us individually, so they made back 8 x 5 of us = 40e for two cups! The same type of cups that can be bought in the pound shop 2e for a box of four! Their actually gangsters like, the whole bill was like that, they must make serious money off all their tenants in that way! Not to mention the fact that we lived in the ground floor apartment of block b, which is just inside the door and from when we moved in the lock didnt work at all! Took a good month or two for them to fix it! In that time we had plenty of visits from randomers letting themselves in and going through our kitchen/sitting room! It was a disaster now and thats all! To be honest also prefer the decor and set up of the other accommodations such as the Village and Vic Mills! Defo wud advise the Village for first year, more homely feel and the security look after ya! Cant bate good old Jerry!!:D

*Spud

Farranlea...a great place for a session and meeting people you'll probably end up being friends with for all your time in college! Perfect for 1st year when you want to get to know people, would recommend moving out to college rd. or the likes for second year! Had a few run-ins with Emma but sure who hasn't! The woman is a bit of a wagon to be honest! Was terrified of her when I first moved in! Just don't take her crap! She's difficult to deal with and isn't fair when it comes to the money side of things - would be very cautious when it comes to the deposit at the end of the year! I remember requesting a list to explain why each of us (in a 6 bed apt.) only got about a fiver back each!!Each missing piece of cutlery cost us a small fortune! All great craic thinking back Apt 24 - serious shenanigans!

Hingisfan08!

I stayed in Farranlea when I was in first and second year and I must say I had the time of my life there!! In first year I had applied to live in Vic Mills but whatever messing went on by the one in reception, I was put on a waiting list and all my friends had gotten in to Vic Mills but I decided to go live on my own in farranlea. Best decision ever, made loads of new friends and both our groups came together and we had the best first year ever!! Never had any problem with reception. They were always pretty helpful. Yeah Emma isn't the most pleasant but I always took no notice of her. I actually think Farranlea is alot more professional than Victoria Mills and I lived there last year!! The warden shut down a few parties we had in first year but we never got fined or reported so that was always a good thing! We always had 30 or more people over to our apartment on a Tuesday or Thursday night and our apartment was only a 3 bed and parties were epic. There was always a buzz around and it was great for getting to know people because everyone in first year was up for the laugh and making new friends so everyones apartment was nearly always open!! Completely different in vic mills. We got reported in our apartment by retards above us this year who said we were making excess noise and all we were doing was talking in one of the bedrooms!! We moved to 5 bed apartment in second year and it was brilliant. Had huge houseparties and no one ever shut them down. Our apartment was trashed one night we were out by people that were down staying with the people across from us but the girls in reception were very helpful and replaced all our cups and kettle and glassed immediately. I have heard that farranlea isn't doing as well and our old apartment was empty this year which was sad to see! The only negative thing I found with faranlea was that when we didn't reapply to live there this year, they over charged us for everything! They charged us for things that weren't even in the apartment and charged us 15 euro for a potato peeler which is absolutely extortionate! She charged us for painting and loads of things they weren't needed. We still got over 150 euro back though which was ok considering it was farranlea!!

GreenWay

I know EXACTLY how you feel. Emma Buckley (office worker) fooled me into thinking shes a sweetheart before I moved in and inquired about the place, but once you request getting things fixed (very simple requests like internet not working, etc.) she ignores your requests. If you see her in person she says they'll get to it and its weeks, months before they address it. She is unprofessional and mean herself with her attitude and she literally shouts then she accuses ME OF BEING THE AGGRESSIVE ONE. These people are one of the most sketchy, shady businesses I had to deal with...I can't believe there isn't any laws in Ireland to keep these characters in check. They keep security and utility deposits without any justification, explanation, or even proof of bills. These people are unbelievable....Ryan Properties (Carmel Ryan, Manager) should be put out of business.