SAIT Residence - East Hall - Calgary

I liked the area in Calgary and the convenience. the full kitchen/living room and bathroom was nice and the dorm was clean on move in. (however, our bathroom sink was plugged because of a lack of cleaning and we had to clean it out ourselves, our sink also leaks a bit.) East hall is very loud on the weekends however, drunk people scream and run down the hallways frequently. The elevator often quits working and always smells like beer. Sometimes guys will yell profanities out the window at girls walking across the street and fire alarms go off as false alarms VERY frequently and usually in the middle of the night!!!! The staff is extremely kind and helpful and the janitors always work hard to keep it clean, but disrespectful residents enjoy to trash it all on the weekends. It is a little overpriced and has wonky room temperatures. It is hard to feel safe at times on the weekends. It isn't too bad, but the residents often take away from the learning environment.

I stayed here a while back, so maybe things have changed. During my stay, the service provided to students was horrible. First day I moved in, it was freezing in my room, and the staff wouldn't turn on the heater because it was May and they weren't expecting snow anymore. I was told to "buy another blanket?" when I told them "it's so cold, I couldn't sleep". Also for a good 25 days, the light in my room didn't work even though I complained about it over 6 times, and eventually it got fixed when I stood at the front desk reading Alberta Building Code.

The rooms in East Hall for the 4 person rooms are a decent size and common areas are good for what they are. The heating system is a little iffy, we have a vent in our living area that constantly blows cold air even when it's cold outside. One roommate said that this is a plus though considering it didn't work at all in her room the year before. One thing though that is terrible is that the fire alarms get pulled constantly and there is no safeguard over them for when drunk people are roaming the halls at night. One good thing though about living in Residence is that it is super convenient to get to classes in the morning.

This is my second year living here. Last year was amazing, a great place to meet new feinds and have a great time. Unfortunately this year the rules that have been implemented due to covid 19 are in my opinion quite harsh. I understand they wish to lower the rate or spreading however it has made this building a shadow of what it was last year.

It's old and gross. The floors are cemented and hard. For the amount you have to pay every month, they should fix the living areas so that students aren't stressed about their horrible living conditions. The student services are great, but this review asked about the residence so I'm reviewing on the actual residential living area. I wouldn't pay for the price even if I have to take the train for hours! to get to the school.

?? Management team will try to accommodate your needs as a student ?? - Management team is not organized and makes inconsistent decisions - Price is way too high for what you get (small place and sometimes in not so good conditions, common area is old, parking is expensive, etc)

Small housing (expected in dorms) but poorly maintained building. While living here we had a loose pipe in one of our walls and whenever we turned on just the cold water it would start banging. We called maintenance shortly after discovering this. The next day when he came up he told us to just not turn the cold water on very much... It never got fixed after that year. Later in the year. During a switch in residents that happens every three months for apprentices. I had a older lady enter my room. After the initial heart attack and the reach for a some clothes she figured out that she had entered the wrong room! I get that accidents happen but the company does have a standard that staff always knocks three times (giving you time to respond in between each knock) and announces that they are from the management. This was not done. Everything else you can expect from a college residence is here as well. Noise, over pricing and poorly maintained common areas etc. The reason I gave it two stars is because the staff here is super friendly. Especially the students. They always work very hard. My final two pieces of advice. Realize that you will never get out of your lease. I moved out in March and still paid rent until April because I was so sick of the place. Secondly, remember to take pictures when you clean in your dorm or have a staff member do a walkthrough with you. I finally got my damage deposit yesterday after waiting 8 weeks. And I found some pretty silly charges on it. I would recommend trying to find a place to live elsewhere before moving in here. But at least its a roof over your head.

We used the residences for a place to stay for 3 nights for a group of 8 and I really wish we'd gotten hotels instead, and it quite possibly could have been more cost effective, more comfortable and and serious, 6 teenagers and nothing to entertain them in the room (no TV). I had taken my students to stay in another residence in the past, which was far cheap and far nicer and was a real residence. I don't know if they strip the rooms, but no TV in them. There is nothing to cook with and they charge an outrageous $25 for a kitchen kit. A hotel room has tea, coffee and mugs and glasses. We got an environmentally unfriendly plastic cup. We did get our own room (which we couldn't lock). Hotels with kitchenettes have basic cookware in them, and seriously, we paid half the price the night before for a place so nice we joked about canceling the rest of our trip and just stay in the hotel room. There is no individual temperature control for the whole building, so if it is hot before the air condition is turned on you have to open a window and it is noisy outside, and if it is cold, well hopefully you brought extra stuff to wear. Our room had a toilet that was not flushing properly and almost overflowed. There is no plunger in the rooms, and there is no access to any services until 8 am. The parking is over a 7 minute walk from the residence and it is remote enough and away from people that I would tend to think it is far more risk to break-in then parking in a hotel lot. You have to sign a waiver for any liability for this. Everyone had a bath towel, hand towel and face cloth in their room. There was no bathmat I think the bathrooms should have a bathmat and the sinks should just have an extra hand towel. When I finally got through about the broken toilet in the morning they expected me to get dressed, go to the other building, get a plunger, and look after the problem. It was only when I got assertive about how unacceptable that was that the story that no one was available was false and someone was here in about 5 minutes to fix it. I absolutely do not recommend this place.