Malden Hall

My name is Alexandra and I am the owner of Birchport Ltd.
Since 1993 I have been offering accommodation to students of Kingston University and since 1999 I have been  specializing in post graduate accommodation at Malden Hall. 
All enquiries for rooms at Malden Hall come via Kingston University and rooms are let to post graduate students on a first come first served basis. 

For  the last 12 years, Malden Hall  has provided accommodation for 22 post graduate students who lived in 5 flats.  In 2011 five rooms were removed and a huge building project was undertaken to increase the number of flats from 5 to 10.  Six new flats were built and the remaining 4 were refurbished so that Malden Hall  is now a home away from home for 40 post graduate students each year.  If you look at Google Earth you will see a very different building to the one which now exists.

Based on the success of the previous layout of the flats, I have stuck with the same formula of 4 post graduate students to a flat, each with their own shower room but sharing a communal kitchen.  I have found that this system works well as typically post graduate students arrive knowing no-one else and this is a quick way to meet other students.  Once a flat is filled, I introduce all the tenants to each other by email and also if I find that there are students in different flats starting the same course, I put them in touch too.  I’m often asked to introduce those coming from the same country too so that by the time people arrive at Malden Hall, they have already been in contact with quite a few people. 

Living in Malden Hall for a year is proving to be a great place for making friends, having fun and studying, which is a tremendously important combination. About Alexandra and her husband John, I want to add that I am indeed very happy living in Malden Hall with its convenient location, maintenance support and staff who are always very kind, available and effective in dealing quickly with any requests.

I had never lived away from home before I moved to Kingston so I was very apprehensive at the start but as soon as I moved in all my worries went away. I was made to feel very welcome and made friends instantly. I have made friends here that will be friends for life. Malden Hall is in a really good location as Kingston and Wimbledon are a bus ride away, getting into central London is extremlely easy. Moving to Kingston and choosing Malden Hall to live in has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I’ve lived in plenty of halls and apartment complexes, but I’ve never gotten to know my neighbours as well as I have this year. When I first moved in, I was really nervous, since I didn’t know a single person on this side of the world. But living at Malden Hall gave me the chance to make 39 new friends by the end of my first week here. Now, my closest friends in London are the people I live with, and I definitely hope to keep in touch long after we leave Malden Hall.

I had a very enjoyable year at Malden Hall …. I think my favourite aspects of Malden Hall were living with and making friends with so many other postgraduates, something that might have been a bit more difficult had I not lived in halls.

Melanie, Austria, 2009/10