<p>I just got in Austin right now & I just visited Dobie, castillian, and the University Towers and the only two I like are Dobie and Towers. In Dobie, I like the side suite and the corner suite/plus. In towers, I like the 2 Bedroom / 1 bath B shared bedroom upgrade (without no carpet, which I like). All three dorm types are very spacious and and have private bathrooms, and I believe all three of them are sharing with 3 other Roommates (so 4 total). The towers dorm room type has a full kitchen with stoves, but the both Dobie dorm rooms don't. Overall both rooms in Dobie and the one in Towers seem good to me (around $8000 ..not bad for nice spacious living). </p>
<p>I liked the facilities of both Dobie and Towers (not much of a concern though when compared to the dorm itself ), and I am fine with whatever meal plans they offer me.</p>
<p>But Is there anything that you guys would like to tell me before I make my final decision soon (if not this week). Such as party atmosphere or any other problems / whatever comes to mind...</p>
<p>Appreciate the replies in advance and I will surely reply back when I get back home on Tuesday (currently at Omni Hotel o.o) </p>
<p>Did you get to see the studio rooms in Dobie? Thats where i’m staying, I just want to know if they were bigger than your average dorm and any details on those. Also was Dobie nice overall?</p>
<p>Alright I am just gonna go through a sort of process of elimination (but its just my opinion). Before I visited, I heard Dobie was rated the #! best off campus dorm, which I think is mainly because it has so many things overall. On the lower floors of Dobie, there are all different kinds of shops (barber shops, convenience store, etc). I did like the fact about Dobie that 1. It is Close to Campus (real close) & 2. it has so many things inside it that you barely have to go outside. What I didn’t like about Dobie was that the hallways were narrow (well…all dorms’ hallways are narrow) but it seemed more and wasn’t as fancy looking hallway as the Castillian and Towers.
The Towers had a really hallways but the two things that I didn’t like about the Towers (which are big deciding factors in my opinion) is that 1. I didn’t like the cafeteria (looks just like a high school cafeteria) & 2. It is kinda far from campus (again…its my opinion)…its only about 2 or 3 blocks away but I just think that if you don’t fee like biking to campus everyday (depending on your mood… like I am) it might not be a good idea to live there.
I also visited the Castillian and it also had nicer hallways and nice lobby (almost looked same as towers). It wasn’t too far from campus either (not closer than Dobie) but close enough. What I didn’t like about Castilian though was that all rooms were are exactly the same (I guess they take out one bed if you’re single) but I mean it is just too much like …you walk in and two beds on each side, closets, desks, etc all crowded in the same place…Didn’t like that. </p>
<p>So I basically now am thinking about eliminating Towers beacause of the distance from campus or liberal arts and business buildings. And then I eliminated Castillian because of the small (really congested dorm room type). Then all comes down to Dobie. </p>
<p>Now the Dobie studio and studio plus are pretty good (I would say better than a Castillian dorm room which are way smaller and dull looking in terms of setting and place than the studio room you choose). I am not gonna go into the details of the room b/c you can find them online but it felt pretty good and it did looked better than an on campus dorm. I am pretty damn sure that you will be happy when you find out that you made the right choice. Towers only had 2 dorm types left open and both I believe were making you share room with 3 other people (which I guess you didn’t want since you chose studio to begin with). </p>
<p>Now I am still debating between Studio/Plus, Side Suite, or a Corner Suite/plus at Dobie. I am heavily leaning towards the Side Suite or the Corner Suites because they are more spacious (eventhough you share room with 3 other people) and they have seperate living room. I guess I’ll go to the orientation tommorrow and see if any incoming business students want to room at Dobie together. If not, I’ll risk my chances with someone randomly chose for me.</p>
<p>Hey nxt, i have posted before that I live at Castilian now and you are right – all the rooms look the same – but at least you know what to expect when you move in too! Its really a nice size and you don’t really spend much time in your room if you’re like me. I would pick Castilian over both Dobie or Towers – but I would pick DOBIE over towers for sure! Towers is far away and dumpy. Castilian is the nicest but if you want that bigger living room area, you won’t find it at Castilian. That’s my 2 cents.</p>
<p>Yea i guess 3 blocks might not be far for most people but when I went up in the balcony of towers on the top floor and looked at Dobie being right next to the campus, sure did look far … maybe that’s how far 3 blocks look from the top of building but anyways, the rent is a little high at Towers too so that was also another reason.
The lady who toured me around pointed at the six buildings and said that was the 6-pack…which sounded kinda funny and amusing, but idk why she didn’t laugh or at least a giggle …anyways f-her…
I am still deciding between Side Suite OR Corner Suite @ Dobie, so any comments regarding that would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I lived at Dobie last year and the internet was awful. I wasn’t able to get on the wired connection second semester, though it may have been my computer. The wireless is slow and sketchy. </p>
<p>The food at Dobie is really hit or miss. Sometimes it’s really good, sometimes it’s awful. Namely, their spaghetti sauce is so watered down that you end up eating spaghetti and tomato broth. </p>
<p>However, I would live in Dobie over Towers because of its location and Towers just seems a lot more sketch than Dobie.</p>
<p>are you saying Dobie’s wireless network connections are slow or do they disconnect every once in a while or did you buy a connection?
I am bringing just a laptop so I am concerned about the wireless connection in the dorm room.
& about the food, I am doing 14 meals/week which I think should be enough if I take cereal in breakfast…although sad to hear that their food sucks</p>
<p>Both, the connections are slow and they disconnect sometimes. I would honestly do the unlimited plan, it’s just so much better to go into the cafeteria whenever you want to get a snack or get a drink of something. It’s a little bit more expensive, but I think it’s definitely worth it.</p>
<p>Dobie has some strange internet provider that is very sketchy at best – students complain all the time. There is a good reason why other dorms like Towers, Hardin House, Castilian, and most of the sororities have Apogee – they do direct fiber connections all over the west campus area. No connection issues (after the first week or so anyways). During the first week last year, they were crappy - something to do with all the accounts coming online at once and not being able to handle it all - not quite sure on the details but since then its been working every day for me.</p>
<p>Oh god this sucks. I am cursing the fact that I didn’t get a housing contract at UT, and now I have to live in Dobie which (after reading stuff here and on apartmentratings.com I think it was) has the worst food, no roommate changes, and awful internet. </p>
<p>Internet and food are important to me, most especially internet since I am always on it. Does UT have wireless internet around campus, or do we have to subscribe to it? </p>
<p>Also is there anyway someone can get the UT meal plan if they don’t live on campus?</p>
<p>I know, there are some scary comments about Dobie. But there are also a lot of great ones, so you just never know. Is the cost of a wireless card (mobile broadband) out of the question? And please post back here (or somewhere) after you actually live there and give us your opinion! That rooftop pool/jacuzzi looks pretty fun to me.</p>
<p>That sucks (.)
I am on the internet most of the time while I am studying and also sometime when I am not studying. Is there an alternative to take if Dobie’s connection really sucks and disconnects and has downloading limits and how costly is that alternative (I am talking about connection inside the dorm room and Dobie building)…because if there ain’t none, then screw Dobie…I am going to Towers 2 bed/1 bath in that case even though its 3 blocks away.
Now about the food > Towers has better food than Dobie? & how much is the connection fee or is it free?
You might be wondering why I didn’t talk about Castillian …It had small rooms and 8000 just not worth for that small of a room.
I gotta make the decision ASAP so get back to me soon if you can…meanwhile I am reading other reviews.</p>
<p>Wait I take that back since Apartment Ratings has really good ratings for the Castillian…nice quit good food (better than Dobie and Towers) even though it has a small room. So Castilian is another option…Great…I went back to from where I started</p>
<p>Honestly, the only good thing I liked about Dobie was its convenience. However, in hindsight I probably should have gotten an apartment or went to the Castillian. Also, the tub in my bathroom got clogged and it took nearly a week for them to unclog it. Something that takes like 5 minutes and I had to wait a week. I would pick Dobie over Towers though. </p>
<p>I had a studio plus, and even though it was large there was just a bunch of empty space. So going smaller isn’t necessarily a bad thing.</p>
<p>don’t believe all the good or the bad on apartmentratings.com – that site isn’t always accurate and usually the bad that’s reported isn’t so bad</p>
<p>I know it depends on the person and all, but the two things I am desperately trying to figure out is if 1) I can get my own internet set up in my Dobie room from an outside company because I do use internet ALOT and 2) If I can get a UT meal plan. anyone know?</p>
<p>The internet in Dobie is bearable, I would try it out for a few weeks before buying a mobile broadband plan. It’s fine if you browse the internet, but downloads and gaming is rough.</p>