Chapter South Bank, london

Don’t be fooled by the surprisingly high ratings you see here. Chapter South Bank might be fine for a short stay of a few days, but for students living here long-term, it is genuinely one of the most frustrating accommodation experiences imaginable. Let’s start with the staff. Most of the staff members are incredibly unhelpful and often come across as rude. Even something as simple as collecting a parcel becomes a challenge. On multiple occasions, I was told that my package hadn’t arrived without anyone even bothering to properly check. The eye-rolling, dismissive attitude, and complete lack of customer service make you feel like you’re inconveniencing them by asking basic questions. The building itself is constantly experiencing issues. Water outages, fire alarms going off for no reason, broken toilets, strange noises coming from showers, maintenance problems everywhere — and when you report an issue, don’t expect a quick solution. If you’re lucky, someone might show up after one or two weeks. A recent example: my room door stopped closing properly, creating an obvious security risk. I reported it twice and was promised that someone would come on Monday to fix it. Nobody ever showed up. I’ve spent days living with a door that doesn’t close properly. People often mention the rooftop terrace as one of the highlights. What they don’t mention is that it’s constantly under maintenance. This year alone, residents lost access to it for several months. Even when it is open, many of the facilities are in poor condition. The foosball table is broken, the TV is frequently out of order, and the overall maintenance is far below what you would expect for the amount of money being charged. The laundry rooms are rarely cleaned properly. The machines are often dirty. I’ve also heard countless complaints from friends living here about broken refrigerators, excessive ice build-up, and maintenance requests being ignored unless you repeatedly chase the staff. In many cases, you need to complain three or four times before anyone even acknowledges the issue. And then there are the fees. Upon moving out, residents are charged a £50 cleaning fee, which feels almost insulting considering the overall standard of maintenance provided throughout the year. For the amount of money this place charges, there are far better options in London. IQ residences are worth considering, and honestly, renting a private apartment may provide a significantly better experience. For context, I stayed in a Silver Studio and paid approximately £640 per week. That is an extraordinary amount of money for what is ultimately a poorly managed building with slow maintenance, unhelpful staff, and constant operational issues. The only reason I stayed until the end of my contract was because I had already paid for the year. I cannot recommend Chapter South Bank to anyone. Save your money and look elsewhere.

This is truly an amazing place to stay. It's about a 3-5 minute walk to the subway station, and there are many famous attractions nearby. A 2-3 minute walk down the same street takes you to the Tate Modern. In front of the museum is the famous Millennium Bridge, which leads directly to St. Paul's Cathedral on the other side. Along the Thames, you can reach many other famous landmarks. It's incredibly convenient. Most importantly, the staff here are very friendly and always willing to help with any issues. I've stayed here for 10 nights, and as I'm about to take a short trip to Paris, carrying a large suitcase is quite inconvenient. Fortunately, the staff here solved this problem for me, allowing me to continue my journey smoothly. I'm so grateful to them. If I have the chance to visit London again, I will definitely choose this place. The room is comfortable, the location is excellent, and the staff are friendly. It's truly wonderful.

I loved my time at Chapter Southbank. I lived in an en-suite in 2020-2021 whilst I was in London for my Masters. I lived on the side that oversaw Great Suffolk and I could see the London Eye from my bed. The room was not big but it was exactly the right fit for what you need from a dorm equipped with all the necessary furniture. The living room and kitchen area were cleaned once a month by Chapter and you could enjoy some telly whilst cooking or chitchatting with your roomies in a fairly big area. One of the blocks has a rooftop with TVs, lounge areas, tanning beds outdoors and a stunning view. The location can’t get better in London. It’s a 5 minute walk from Southwark station and about a 10 minute walk from Bank where you can go for a lovely walk. About 15 minutes walk from London bridge and borough market. Price is a bit high but you are paying central London rates and you won’t get much better for that location. The dorms also have a study hall and a gym. The staff was exceptionally lovely during COVID and ready to help when needed. There’s a mix of master’s and bachelor’s students and I would highly recommend it to bachelor’s students. A lot of students from Kings, LSE.

I stayed for 4 nights with my boyfriend and unfortunately our good first impression of the place was quickly changed. First day was okay, the only issues were very hot room with smallest window (we got a fan in the room so it was not that bad) and the bathroom door that we were not able to close fully. On second day, the water in the toilet did not stop running, but it was fixed on the same day. However, on the 3rd day we woke up to our room flooded with water. We got a new room the same day but our stuff did suffer water damage and we were not offer any type of compensation. In the new room we could not adjust the water temperature in the shower, it was stuck on very hot temperature. After checking out we asked if we could leave our suitcase for 3h and we got told no, even though day before we had to leave them in the storage since the mandatory room change, so we knew it was possible. Some staff was nice and quick about fixing our issues however overall experience was nothing but stressful.

Hands down the best student accommodation in London! I am confident in making this claim because I have lived here 3 years and I have been to so many student halls in London and trust me nothing comes close to Chapter Southbank's social space (the sky garden), awesome location (5 mins walk to Jubilee line station and right next to Tate Modern). Besides, nowhere you can find the extremely cooperative and friendly management and maintenance which they have here. Therefore, I don't miss an opportunity to recommend Chapter Southbank to my family and friends!