Student accommodation
En-suite room
An en-suite room is one with its own bathroom, reached only from the bedroom, instead of sharing the one on the corridor or in the flat. In a student residence it is the most visible difference between types of place, and one of the first things anyone choosing a room looks at.
Also known asen suite · ensuite · room with private bathroom · habitación en suite
What it means in a residence
The phrase is French, but the usage is British: in the UK property market, an en suite is the bathroom attached to a bedroom and reached only from it, as opposed to the family bathroom, which opens onto the landing. British residences describe what they offer this way: a room with a shared bathroom, an en-suite room in a flat, or a studio. In Spain the term is used mainly in PBSA; colegios mayores (Spanish halls of residence with a formative programme) and university residences say a room with a bathroom or a private bathroom.
For whoever runs the building, a private bathroom changes more than it seems. There is one bathroom per resident to clean and inspect, and many plumbing reports come from there: a cistern that does not fill, a blocked drain, a dripping shower. With so many bathrooms, legionella stops being a matter of a few shared showers: the ones that go unused for weeks, as in summer, also come under the control. Each maintenance ticket carries its room, and with it you can see which bathroom keeps failing.
Worth knowing
En suite does not mean studio. An en-suite room can be in a shared flat, with the kitchen and living room shared with other residents; a studio adds a kitchen of its own. When comparing residences it is worth checking what each type of place includes, because they are advertised with similar words.
Sources
Related terms
- Studio and cluster flatThese are the two most common types of place in a private student residence. A studio is a self-contained unit with its own bed, bathroom and kitchen; a cluster flat is a shared flat with several private bedrooms, almost always en-suite, around a shared kitchen and living room.
- Common areasA residence's common areas are the spaces all residents share outside their own room: reception, study rooms, shared kitchens and lounges, the laundry, the gym, terraces and corridors. They are part of what is on offer, and also what suffers the most wear and needs the most rules.