UPP Bay Campus Swansea

I’d started to panic after making this booking because I was reading all the reviews and seeing how mixed they were. But frankly I had a very positive experience with this property. I was in Swansea to work the Ironman Event and whilst this property was further away than I would have liked for the work, it was the most affordable for five days and four nights. The staff were extremely friendly and allowed me to check in earlier than their usual check in time. I stayed in a nice, large room with a small ensuite, and a shared living accommodation. Each bedroom door is accessed via a keycard so I did feel very secure with that as that was one thing I was worried about (whether my room would be accessed by anyone staying in the same hallway as me). It was a nice area that is easy to get to via bus or uber, and had nice views when I walked from the campus to the city centre. There is a Tesco’s on campus and it was well stocked with easy to cook food in the kitchen area. Truly a joy to stay in.

Only things that could be improved on is: - Communication. I feel like the campus itself is very distant from whoever is in charge of these Booking.com listings. I had to call the campus itself to double check my booking was confirmed and that I was allowed to come early. - Campus security location needs to be easily accessible. I had an incident where my keycard stopped working. It took me a phone call and circling the clock tower before stopping someone to ask for directions to actually find security to help me get my key working again. - Lack of plates and cutlery in the kitchen. I’m actually very low maintenance so this didn’t bother me as much, but the only cutlery available in the kitchen area of my dorm was three teaspoons and a couple of mugs. It was a good thing I took my own cutlery so I could eat my food. - Only two towels available. Again, I am very low maintenance and wasn’t bothered about having only two towels. However after work I would shower and by the last day, I was glad to go home to have fresh towels to dry myself with. I think one thing the campus could massively improve on is their communication, perhaps giving a map of the campus to newcomers to show them where everything is without the need to have to roam the campus to find it, and being more active on Booking.com and not relying on automated emails to get information across.

The location was great, close to everything. The room was clean and spacious.

I got there on Sunday. I was told to grab my room key from the Clock tower office. They gave me the keys and said the room was in the named building. I actually went with one of the summer school organizers who showed me where the office was. Then we walked out looking for the named building but couldn't find it, so we went back to the office twice asking where the building was. So, the guy just told us about it but didn't actually show us. When we finally got to the building, my magnetic key didn't work, and the door wouldn't open. So, for the fourth time, I had to go back to the clock office. It's a bummer because the guy took me to another office where he spent about 15 minutes trying to re-register me, saying I wasn't registered and checked in, even though I did the online check-in and had been talking to them about parking my car. I also did a good thing by bringing my own food and cutlery, except for a knife. In the kitchen, there's only a microwave, fridge, oven, and electric hob. No knives, frying pan, or regular pan to prep food, and no toaster. In the room, the only thing I didn't like was the old-style water basin with warm-cold water. There was no cold water, only warm. Nevertheless, I remain satisfied and anticipate a future return.

Everything

Nothing

Cheap

Bring your own everything, apart from a towel.