West Kensington is generally considered the newest and nicest of Fordham’s London housing options. That being said, it is the most expensive out of all of your options. So keep that in mind if you don’t want your parents to yell at you over the housing price (like mine definitely did). West Ken flats are either 2 person, 3 person, or 4 person configurations. Rest assured that if you’re living in a 3 person flat you will have two bathrooms, one of which is conveniently attached to the double room. All of that being said, let’s break down the pros and cons of West Ken housing.
Neighborhood
West Kensington is located at 84 North End Road, W14 9ES (yes London zip codes have letters in them, don’t worry you’ll have it memorized within the first month). As the name would suggest it’s situated in the West Kensington area in London’s West End. It’s a safe, residential area and the Hammersmith malls are just a few stops down the District line if you want to do some shopping. The flats themselves are pretty unassuming from the outside, so don’t expect your friends to be able to find it right away if they’re visiting for the first time.
Pubs
It’s London, so everyone has to have a local pub. And you’re legal to drink, so why not? Luckily, you have Famous 3 Kings right across the street. 3 Kings won the award for Best Sports Pub in the 2016 Great British Pub Awards, so if you’re looking for a place to watch the big football (soccer) game, you’re in luck. The place is filled with screens and there’s even a big screen with a projector in the main room. If you’re looking for something more exciting, they have a DJ on Friday and Saturday nights. Or if you just want to drink a beer and hang out with some friends, F3K is great for that too on a more laid-back weeknight. My personal favorites are their macaroni and cheese pizza, and their mango cider (which I’ve yet to find on tap anywhere else). Like them on Facebook if you want to keep up-to-date with sports events and timetables. My friends and I stayed there all night for election night and they had a special menu, so you’ll want to keep on top of events like that. Just keep in mind that British pubs don’t stay open very late, so F3K closes at 1 AM. Don’t expect to be partying there all night with your friends unless they have special hours.
Also remember that the UK runs on military time, so if you’re checking hours for anything don’t be thrown off if it says 23:00. I’m still not used to it.
Food
The closest eatery is the Chicken Cottage that shares a building with West Ken. It serves fried chicken and fries at reasonable prices, and it’s also open pretty late. According to their website they’re only open until midnight or 1 AM, but I’ve seen people in there far later on weekends. There’s also plenty of restaurants on the way to Tesco. There’s Thai food, a Fish n’ Chips place, and a Chinese place on the opposite corner.
Shopping
There’s a Co-op practically right next door to West Ken, which has an ATM inside as well as your basic groceries, wine, and plenty of Cadbury’s chocolate. Just a short walk down the road (about 5 minutes) there’s a Tesco Express, which is where I do most of my grocery shopping. Bring your own bag though if you can, as British stores will charge you extra for using plastic bags. It’s also worth noting that both Tesco and Co-op close at 11:00, but there is a 24 hour convenience store between the two if you need a late night Cadbury’s fix.
Public Transportation (Getting to School):
West Ken is the closest out of any Fordham housing to a tube station. The West Kensington tube stop is literally right across the street; I can see it from my living room window. The bus stop is also right in front of the tube stop. The District line runs here but it closes around midnight, so if you need to get home after hours on weekends it’s best to take the N28 bus to West Kensington station.
West Ken is also close to Fordham’s London Centre, although the Centre will be moving starting next fall. It’s only two stops away by tube, although transfer at Earl’s Court means it can take about 15 minutes to get there. You can also take the 28 bus and get there in about the same amount of time without the transfer. Just make sure you remember to push the button at the High Street Kensington station stop so the bus actually stops there. You can also just walk there, which I’ve personally never done but can take about 30-45 minutes.
As far as Oyster cards go, apply for a student card as soon as possible and load it up with a monthly pass for Zones 1-2, as that’s probably all you will need for your typical commute. The only exception is if you’re studying communications at Westminster for Fordham’s London Liberal Arts Program. In that case you’ll have to pay for zones 1-5 as their Harrow campus is pretty far out. So keep that in mind if you plan to study there, as this can be an extra public transportation expense.
Public Transportation (Visiting Friends):
As far as visiting friends at other Fordham housing locations, Richmond is just down the road. It’s only about a 10 minute walk, so if you have friends who live there it will be easy to visit. Otherwise it will take you 20-30 minutes by tube and a little longer by bus to get to Burton, Westburn, and Clifton Gardens. Fordham’s housing is relatively spaced out throughout central London, so other than Richmond and West Ken the only housing locations that are within walking distance of one another are Westburn and Clifton, and even then it’s more of a 15-20 minute walk. There’s also always an Uber or taxi available if you need a quick ride home late at night and don’t feel like taking the bus. They are starting to open night tube service on weekends on certain tube lines, but as of Fall 2016 this only exists for the Central, Bakerloo, and Northern lines. West Ken is also only about a 15 minute tube ride away from central London if you want to get touristy and see the city with your friends.
WiFi
It’s not something you’ll think about until you get there, but let’s face it WiFi is essential to our lives. In all the other Fordham flats, each student is given a card with a WiFi password. They can use this password on 2 devices at once, so often it can become difficult if guests are visiting for a group project or just to hang out, as otherwise you have to pay to use the WiFi for a set amount of time. At West Ken, however, you have a regular WiFi box with a password (mine was jam-yearn-live, I didn’t make it and I didn’t ask) that you can share with as many people as you want. The WiFi is also fast and reliable; I’ve had friends visit from other Fordham flats for Skype interviews just to use my WiFi. So if Skyping friends and family back at home is important to you, West Ken may be the way to go as many of the other flats do not have strong enough WiFi to support Skype.
Student Population
One of West Ken’s less glamorous selling points is the number of students that live there. Altogether there’s probably 20 of us here, maybe a little less. Clifton and Richmond easily have a larger student population, so there’s a greater sense of community there. There are also bigger living rooms in some Clifton and Richmond apartments, so keep in mind that while West Ken is newer and the appliances are much nicer and more modern, it may or may not be as spacious.
Bathrooms
One of the best parts about West Ken is the bathrooms. Yes they have heated floors, and yes it is brilliant. They also have heated towel racks. You can adjust the towel rack and the floor’s temperature to your liking, which is pretty amazing considering this is a student apartment. The toilets also flush and refill easily, which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it’s much easier to share a bathroom when the toilets flush efficiently (which they don’t at some of Fordham’s other flats in London, trust me). There’s also a double-sided mirror above the sink (it’s a mirror on both sides with a cabinet behind it, which I thought was cool) and a shower with two different shower heads. Trust me, the heated floors come in clutch when the winter rolls around.
Appliances and Other Things I Wish I Knew:
As nice as West Ken is, it doesn’t have a dryer like all the other Fordham flats. Yes, there is a dryer setting on your washing machine, but don’t bother using it. I tried and I ended up using the drying rack. So be prepared for the laundry process to take longer. However, there is a fully stocked kitchen with pots, pans, plates, and anything else you would need to cook. There’s also shiny new metallic dishwashers, stoves, and ovens so you won’t have to clean your dishes in the sink like all of your friends living back at Fordham. It’s also worth noting that there’s not a lot of drawers to store clothes in here. You have a small nightstand by your bed with three drawers, but other than that you’ll just have a closet with an open shelf on top. It’s a spacious slide-open closet with a full-length mirror on it, but just keep that in mind as far as storage goes.
If you’ve heard horror stories about pipes bursting and staircases flooding, these stories are true and there were a few plumbing issues the first few weeks of the semester. However, those were fixed pretty early on, and there haven’t been any problems since. So there most likely won’t be an issue with that during your stay there. Don’t let that dissuade you from putting West Ken as your first choice!