<p>My D is interested in living in an honors suite. The room descriptions for both Riverside and Lakeside mention a desk with a locking unit, but the pictures shows only a simple desk with pull-out keyboard shelf. The dresser in the pictures also look really short- more like a night stand to me. Could someone describe the furniture that comes with the room? She is most interested in Riverside West at this point. Also, do any of the bathrooms have a cabinet in the room with the toilet and shower in any of the honors dorms? Are the showers a decent size so a girl can shave her legs while in the shower? If anyone has pictures of a bedroom in Riverside West, my D would love to see them. Also, we visit campus in April right before room selection. Would D be able to look in Riverside West or do they only take a tour group to Ridgecrest? Thanks!</p>
<p>Hi. My son is in Lakeside West and likes it very much. He and all of his roommates elected to go back to the same hall their second year. None of them knew each other before last year. I’ve only been there to move him in freshman year but do remember a large cabinet in the bathroom. I think the boys each get a shelf or two for towels, tp, etc…</p>
<p>Don’t know about the locking desk. I know someone who has decorated and/or remodeled their child’s room (lol) will provide better info! But rest assured, the facilities are adequate and MUCH better than non-honors or non-suite housing.</p>
<p>The kids are so busy that all of this becomes much less important than we think.</p>
<p>In fact, I was impressed that all of his roommate group elected to go back to campus on Saturday which was early considering they could have stayed ‘home’ longer. I think it speaks well of how they view their school situation.</p>
<p>I currently live in Riverside West. You get a bed, a dresser, a nightstand and the desk you described. There is a cabinet in the bathroom. I personally think the showers are small, but I’m also 6’4" and my roommates don’t seem to think so.</p>
<p>There are two things I would recommend to your daughter. One is that she takes one of the Lakeside dormitories or possibly Ridgecrest North or East. From what I can tell, the Riverside complex was one of the first new dorms to be built and doesn’t come with all the amenities the rest have (for instance, the “full kitchen” in Riverside is the same as the dorm kitchen except with a convection oven, not a conventional oven, whereas the other dorms all actually have full kitchens). The other is that she pick the D room if she goes with a suite-style dorm. I picked it and am glad I did because it has a little more room and, in my opinion, the best layout.</p>
<p>Didn’t you see the safe on your dorm tour of the suites?! :)</p>
<p>Seriously, the ‘locking unit’ they refer to is actually a small safe in each dorm room (not sure if in every room, but it is in the suites in Ridgecrest). This is the size of a small refrigerator, and sits on the floor. Not sure how heavy it is. It must be moveable, tho. </p>
<p>See this safe gave me pause, at first…like, why would you need a SAFE in a room that you yourself can lock…and the suite door locks, too… Triple security. (But now I know the family jewels will be safe when he takes them away to college. JK…)</p>
<p>Not sure the reason for the safe, but I guess, better safe (ha, ha) than sorry! :)</p>
<p>Aeromom, we won’t tour until our visit in early April. D wants to start looking for roommates, but has no clue which dorm to choose. She keyed in to a post that states Ridgecrest South was a little “crazier” than the other dorms, and so that is at the very bottom of her list. She liked the location of Riverside West or East based on a map she found of the campus. She’s also interested in Lakeside West. One concern is if the shower is large enough to shave her legs? Weird, but… She is also hoping for a cabinet in the room with the toilet/shower and can’t tell in the university website photos if there is a cabinet in the bathroom or only out by the vanity. Again, might seem a weird criteria for choosing a dorm but it is important to her for some reason. The safe sounds a little weird too. I thought the locking drawer would be part of the desk. Does anyone have a picture of the safe? Does your current student use it?</p>
<p>Check out the individual floor plans for the dorms (you can click on these…and then zoom in). You will note that Ridgecrest south has a slightly different layout to all of the other suite layouts. Note that the bathroom shower stall is a rectangle, not a triangle (as is in other suites). The Ridgecrest rectangle stall is (appears to be, anyway) probably a bit larger than the other suite stalls, if that makes any sense and is of any help.</p>
<p>I got that same impression about Ridgecrest South…maybe it’s from the postings on the 2016 FB pages - most everyone there is trying to get into Ridgecrest South. It seems like the Riversides would be ‘calmer’ - but I am sure it’s all very random depending on who ends up where.</p>
<p>I sent you a PM with a link to the photo I took of the shower stall in the Ridgecrest South dorm they show on the tour. I don’t think we are allowed to post the links here.</p>
<p>my daughter lives in ridgecrest south. she lived there last year as well, so i guess it is safe to say that she likes it. next year she will live in a sorority house.</p>
<p>they considered switching to ridgecrest west for this year, but decided to stay put. i think the reason for considering the switch was mostly a bigger living area. i don’t like the bathroom setup as well, though.</p>
<p>in my daughter’s dorm, the room with the shower has an open linen closet, but not a cabinet. but there is a cabinet in the adjoining room with the sinks. each student gets half of under the sin and three drawers, i think. plenty of room for my daughters bathroom stuff. i am not sure what the situation is in other dorms.</p>
<p>the dresser has three drawers, but they are pretty big drawers. you can supplement with plastic drawers from target (in the closet or under the bed). i know my daughter took some pictures, pmail me and i will see if i can find them to send to you. i also remember seeing pictures of malanai’s son’s room last year.</p>
<p>the showers are probably all the same in each honors dorm, but i don’t know for sure. i think there is a little corner “seat”, but it is usually piled with too many shampoo bottles, so i am not sure how that is for shaving your legs. i suppose you could get a little waterproof stool that could be taken in and out of the shower to solve that problem. </p>
<p>the “safe” is just a locking cabinet. part of the nightstand. lots of kids do not lock their bedroom doors, so the safe could be used to lock up a laptop or medicines. ADHD medicine would be something many college kids would like to get their hands on. i don’t think my daughter locks it … ever. but she does keep her room locked if she is not there. just easier to do that rather than risk things going missing.</p>
<p>as far as ridgecrest south being crazier. i think that may be a function of the mixture of honors and non-honors students. last year the non-honors side was pulling fire alarms ALL.THE.TIME, that doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem this year.</p>
<p>Daughter is in Riverside East this year. The showers are a little small, but she is able to shave her legs. There is a tall double cabinet in the shower area of the bathroom. Plenty of room for towels, toilet paper, etc.</p>
<p>Riverside doesn’t have a locking desk (I’ve never heard or seen a safe provided in any of the dorms, something new?), but dd bought a dorm safe at Target to keep her checkbook and other important documents.</p>
<p>the new dorm might be a good choice for this fall. i don’t know the name.</p>
<p>wonder why everyone wants RSC instead of the new dorm.</p>
<p>My daughter will be bringing a car (we are from Michigan). Which dorm has underground parking? Was it Ridgecrest West or South? Maybe it isn’t underground, not sure. Is finding parking an issue for those with cars? Do they get an assigned spot or area or is it first come, first serve?</p>
<p>teamhoward - the garage is under ridgecrest south. it is not underground exactly, but it is underneath the dorm.</p>
<p>never heard of a problem finding a parking place. maybe a “good” parking place, though.</p>
<p>i think any covered parking for a college kid is GREAT!</p>
<p>the school i went to, freshmen would have to park about a mile away from their dorms as freshmen. so having covered parking under the dorm is GREAT!!!</p>
<p>The new dorm will not be an honors dorm, so many students are not considering it as a potential option.</p>
<p>I live in Ridgecrest West and know for a fact that there are cabinets in the bathroom and a locking cupboard-type piece of furniture with a drawer that I use as a nightstand. There should be enough room in the shower for the OP’s daughter to shave her legs.</p>
<p>Thanks MikeW. I worded my question a bit poorly. Regarding availability, I was curious as to whether or not parking in general on campus was an issue for students. University of Michigan has zero parking, so having a car on campus would be dumb in most cases.</p>
<p>I got the impression that Ridgecrest South was highly desired because it is newer and actually the closest to campus from the map I viewed. IIRC.</p>
<p>^^^^^Ah, a nightstand (not a ‘safe’)! That makes more sense! Yes, I can see how it would be useful to lock up checkbooks and similar. This would not be immediately apparent to my son, however, so I will now point out the benefits of using this very ‘safe’ table!</p>
<p>The locking unit is the same height as the desk and the drawers. It’s kind of like a printer stand with a locking door underneath.</p>
<p>the chest of drawers is desk height and much wider than an end table. It’s height is very useful because you can either use it to set a TV on top or place the unit under a lofted bed.</p>
<p>The closet is larger than a typical dorm closet. I believe that it is 5 feet wide.</p>
<p>Yes, the bathroom toilet/shower area has storage.</p>
<p>For pics…go to Bama housing and go to Riverside hall …then click on pictures/videos. There should be bedroom, bathroom, living room, and kitchenette pics. [Student</a> Affairs | Housing & Residential Communities](<a href=“http://housing.ua.edu/halls/hall_list.cfm]Student”>http://housing.ua.edu/halls/hall_list.cfm)</p>
<p>The showers in Riverside and Lakeside are “corner units”. They aren’t large but they’re also not so small that a girl couldn’t shave her legs. </p>
<p>The Lakeside and Riverside suites are set up the same, but have a different color decor.</p>
<p>Gosh…son loves Riverside East. It seemed pretty cool to me – much better than most college dorms out there! :)</p>
<p>LadyDi, I’m sure that the suites are much better than the majority of college dorms out there. My oldest child is a freshman in college where we are paying a bundle for a small room that houses 2 students. The beds are lofted- they seem like a metal bunk bed to me where the bottom bunk was taken out. The bed is so darn shaky and S can’t even sit up straight in bed. </p>
<p>Would you happen to have any pictures of your son’s dorm in Riverside East?</p>