Tropicana Villas v. Tropicana Del Norte? Irish Student

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Barbara
1

Hi,

Myself and a group of Irish students will be coming to UCSB in January for the semester. We’ve been looking into accommodation and more so, been looking into Tropicana Villas and Del Norte. Originally, the villas had been our main focus as we know of Irish students who have previously stayed there and Isla Vista has been recommended to us more than once. It seems to be perfect location wise as it seems to be walking distance to both the beach and the college and has still a lot going on in the town.

We have since come across Del Norte, and like the idea of the Trop Cafe being on site as well as all the amenities there. It also sounds to be closer to the college than the villas but the villas seems great in location (in between the college and beach) and cost. Is it far from the villas to Del Norte if someone in the villas were to get the meal plan from Trop Cafe?

We are clueless as to what accommodation is best suited to International students and will give us the best experience. We will only be in Santa Barbara for 6 months so we are not looking to excel in our exams and stay in the library all the time but it would be great to close to the campus. We would like to experience the American college life with the parties, etc but have things to do and see at the same time. Being able to meet new people is a big thing too!

Any recommendations?
Or any other accommodation we should be looking into?

Thanks!

2

Trop del Norte will have more freshman and transfer students who are new to the school, in my opinion. Those kids will be looking to make friends a bit more, I would think, then the kids in the villas. It’s also slightly closer to the fraternities and sororities. Tropicana Villas will be a bit quieter and will have more students who are sophomores and some juniors. I think either will be fine, however I might pick Trop d Norte as it is closer to campus, and to the student gym, the bike path goes right behind it, and I think, it has similarly easy access to the beach.

The Villas aren’t far from Trop d Norte, but if you think you want a dining hall in the building, it’s always more convenient if it is onsite. However, if you think you do want to cook some or many meals, there is no kitchen you can use as a student at all, in Trop d Norte. It’s only the cafe, and the mini fridge is very mini.

Either will be fine, Isla Vista is not that big. You will have a great time.