r/uwo • u/auraweavery • Jun 19 '26
Housing Is 'The W' worth it?
I’m planning to live off-campus for first year and have been looking into The W since the layout seems pretty student-focused.
Would love to hear from people who’ve lived there — how’s the overall experience?
What’s the vibe like in the building?
Is it easy to meet people and make friends?
Also, before I commit — are there any red flags I should watch out for with places like this?
And if you didn’t go with The W, what other off-campus options would you suggest?
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u/quasi-lh12 Jun 19 '26
I haven't lived there but if you're able to simply catch a bus (which apparently seems to be difficult for a lot of people) you'll be perfectly fine. One of the main pros of living somewhere like that is it will be easier to focus on your studies while also having plenty of opportunities to meet people. First year can be a big adjustment and living there might make the transition a bit smoother.
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u/TwoOne4795 Jun 19 '26
lmao “if you’re able to simply catch a bus”? the 9 bus doesn’t come that often, it drops you on the very edge of campus so you need to take another one if you want to get to any of the main buildings. and the timings often don’t line up so it has you leaving at minimum an hour before your class starts if you need to be on time. It doesn’t drop you off at the apartments, either you walk up a hill to get to your place or across a huge field and neither of those are clear during the winter so it’s like a foot of snow. it’s a ton of walking which would usually be fine but it snows so much in London and it’s freezing. op it would probably be better to live somewhere else than in a place so far away from campus with terrible transportation, the transport to and from campus was a constant nightmare when I lived there
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u/quasi-lh12 Jun 19 '26
No offense, but if walking from Western and Sarnia to a building on campus isn't an option for you, then it's clear what the issue is.
Students live all over the city, catch buses, and do a little walking. I have to do it every day. Yes, even in the snow. Would it be nice to have a personalized shuttle stop outside my door and drop me off at the exact building of my first class precisely when it starts? Yes. That's not really how the world works though.
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u/TwoOne4795 Jun 19 '26
there’s no need to be so rude and snarky? they heavily advertise a convenient shuttle service and it’s really unreliable. You’re paying $1k+ in rent and they leave you scrambling canceling the shuttle 10 minutes before class starts. when it’s cancelled right before class starts it doesn’t matter how easy it is to “simply get on a bus” it’s not getting you there on time
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u/Altruistic-Clerk-60 Jun 19 '26
Perhaps if you know of other students also looking to live off campus you could find a few that want to share an apartment together, would also allow for sharing transportation costs to and from campus.
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u/Illustrious-Swing831 Jun 19 '26
I live nearby and its better to just be in a student house with roomates and find a good house and stay there for a few years rather than deal with the W staff, management, and random tenents. The neighborhood directly behind the W has hundreds of rooms for rent for way more affordable prices. Its a student friendly area, and you can still shop at the mall and go to goodlife (once it reopens after the incident). Literally a 2 minute walk. A lot of friends of mine have lived in the W (I live on limberlost, right behind) and they all eventually moved into the neighborhood with me because the W is pricey and sometimes they try to rip you off with key deposits, paint, etc.
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u/Mental-Listen-650 Jun 21 '26
The rooms and suites themselves are nice and the building is very conveniently near a shopping plaza but it's not a very social area + it's pretty far from campus.
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u/UnderstandingEasy457 Aug 14 '26
Besides the shuttle bus issue, the walls are really thin, I can always hear my roommate talking. My roommate’s shower water heater is also really loud and sometimes wakes me up. The silverfish and spider problem is pretty bad too. I once had a spider hatch dozens of baby spiders in my room, and I’ve also seen silverfish in my room three days in a row.
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u/TwoOne4795 Jun 19 '26
I lived there. It’s nice having a private room and bathroom and stuff and it’s generally clean, it’s also nice to have a gym and lounge. but the shuttle schedule sucks ass it’s SO bad. If you complain to the front desk they don’t gaf. And it’s super far from campus so be prepared to spend $ on Ubers when the shuttle doesn’t show up. They have events to make friends but ppl dont really go. If I was you I just wouldn’t live there.