More than 120 students from two Oxford colleges are being housed in four-star hotels following delays in student accommodation construction.
For over two months, around 100 students in their third year at New College have been staying in the Leonardo Royal Hotel, and this term, 20 St Peter’s Students have been booked into Voco Oxford Spires Hotel. Both colleges pursued this option after delays in construction. St Peter’s College told Cherwell: “The occupation of its new student residential development, Castle Bailey Quad (CBQ), was unavoidably postponed until January 2024 due to supply chain issues.”
Both New College’s Gradel Quadrangles and St Peter’s College’s Castle Bailey Quad originally had expected completion dates of Summer 2023.
The Leonardo Royal and Voco Spires hotels have amenities including indoor pools, leisure clubs, spas, and a Marco Pierre White Steakhouse. New College and St Peter’s College have offered the students residing in hotels compensation in the form of gym access, free meals or meal credits, and moving assistance. Transportation vouchers, such as bus passes, have also been provided for students between the city and hotels, which lie one to three miles outside of Oxford center.
Despite the funding provided by St Peter’s College and the building contractors of New College to finance the hotel rooms, which typically cost £100 to £150 per night, students are still paying rent – albeit at a reduced rate. St Peter’s College told Cherwell: “The College…reduced impacted students’ weekly rent rate over the delay period in compensation for the delay.” This policy proved controversial among New College students since, in a similar situation with Exeter College in 2016, students did not have to pay rent.
The reaction among students at St Peter’s seemed slightly more positive, and a student told Cherwell that the news of the temporary hotel housing was “received super well” and students even made jokes about “swapping this four-star hotel for a house share in Cowley.”
This accommodation crisis reflects a broader trend in Oxford of student enrolment outpacing the quantity and affordability of student accommodation. In the last decade, the number of students at the University of Oxford has grown by over four thousand while inflation has increased the cost of renting and construction.
In 2018, a delayed opening of a graduate center at Keble College led to hotel rooms being booked as temporary accommodation for second and third-year students. A similar solution was also suggested by St Catherine’s College’s JCR due to the RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) crisis back in September.
Talking to The Times, the Warden of New College, Miles Young, acknowledged the desperate need for student accommodation. He pointed out how New College has “sunk dramatically in terms of competitiveness through our inability to house a whole year of undergraduates in college accommodation, when our peers do.” New College has asked benefactors for sums reaching £25,000 per bedroom for a building which will house 94 students.
As of this term, students at both colleges have been able to move out of hotels and into the newly finished accommodation buildings. St Peter’s College informed Cherwell: “The College has opened the buildings and moved students into their rooms in Castle Bailey Quad as of January 2024.”
New College’s Gradel Quadrangles has also welcomed in students at the beginning of this term, with a student telling Cherwell: “Yes they have moved into Gradel.” Yet for students who plan to reside in the adjacent New Wareham House, the hotel residence continues.
