Safer Communities

Safer Living Environment

During this time of uncertainty and hesitation, we know how you might be feeling as the new academic year approaches. To have confidence in the environment in which you are living is paramount. Here at Uninest, we are committed to providing you with a safe, welcoming home. We will always deliver the ultimate student living experience, and we cannot wait to meet you.

Covid Safety

Confidence In Where You Live

All our residences have a dedicated operations and maintenance team who keep our buildings clean, hygienic and well maintained. If things break or go wrong, we’ll fix them quickly and cheerfully. We are introducing new health and safety practices to ensure that

  • All common spaces and high-touch points will be cleaned routinely and thoroughly.
  • All areas of heavy traffic, such as lifts and corridors, will be regularly cleaned and inspected.
  • All our residences will have hand sanitiser stations installed which we encourage you to use.
  • Our reception desks will be fitted with protective screens.
  • Social distancing measures will be incorporated throughout our buildings.
  • Our staff will wear the relevant Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when entering your room.
  • All our rooms have been cleaned in line with relevant guidance and protocols.
  • Your room will have its final inspection at least 72 hours before you arrive.

Safety

Our 24/7 residence teams continue to provide the familiar high standard of service, whilst ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the community. In addition to the usual CCTV, secure access control and life safety systems you would expect to find in our buildings, we will also utilise

  • Minimal contact check in processes to safely manage your arrival.
  • Social distancing and protective measures to keep both students and staff safe.
  • Common spaces will be managed to ensure guidelines are adhered to.
  • All staff will wear PPE when interacting with students outside of reception.

Wellbeing - help is at hand

We all need a helping hand sometimes which is why we’re here to support you every step of the way

  • 24/7 assistance, so there is always someone on hand to help.
  • Resident Assistants who are available to offer help, advice and a friendly chat, sharing common ground as a resident.
  • Quarantine support. For international students, you may need to quarantine upon entering the country. To help you through this, our residence teams are on hand to offer you support and assistance during this time. Starting with free 14 day quarantine in your room.

Stay Connected

Being part of a connected community is a key part to university life, and whilst we are all adhering to social distancing guidelines, human interaction, community spirit and a feeling of togetherness has never been so important. At Uninest you can continue to feel connected to your friends and loved ones

  • Throughout our residences we offer high-speed broadband, which is perfect for online lectures, streaming movies, catching up with family and friends, and connecting to your favourite virtual event.
  • Our wellbeing and events programme will adapt to allow you to attend virtually and meet your fellow residents.
  • Our common rooms will provide spaces for you to interact (at a safe distance), so no fear of missing out.

Flexibility

When you book with Uninest Student Residences, you have the option to choose from a wide range of room types to suit your needs – from independent living in studios, getting neighbourly in a twodio, or sharing with friends in a cluster flats. We are also offering enhanced booking flexibility to suit you

  • Select your exact room when booking so you can choose who you live with.
  • Uncertainty over College/University start dates? You will only need to pay for your room from the day face to face teaching commences (until January 1st 2021), or from the date you move in. We won't ask for any payment (apart from your advanced rent to secure your booking), until then.
  • If you don't get the required Visa in order to study in Ireland, we'll cancel or postpone your booking on your request. 
  • If government travel restrictions are in place that prevent you from traveling to Ireland, please provide us with details and we will cancel your booking at your request until 1st Jan 2021.
  • Two weeks free accommodation if you are travelling from abroad and need to self-isolate (minimum stay of 12 weeks / 84 nights). Just let us know what will work for you.

The New Normal

We all have an important part to play to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When you arrive at your residence you will notice that we have made some changes to our buildings to help keep you and others safe. We’ve outlined a few of these changes below and you’ll receive some more information about specific changes in your residence closer to when you arrive.

Communal areas

Where possible, our communal areas (such as common rooms, study rooms, laundry rooms etc.) will be open for you to use, however there may be restrictions on how many of our students can use the spaces at a time. We will be cleaning the spaces regularly and asking students to ensure they wear PPE (where appropriate) and adhere to local social distancing measures.

Reception

Our wonderful teams will still be available to support you throughout your stay, however you will notice we’ve made a few changes to reception areas in some of our residences. Protective screens have been installed to protect both students and staff, as well as social distancing signage and sanitising stations.

Moving around the building

To help make sure we’re adhering to social distancing in all of our residences, we will provide signage to inform you and in some residences you may be required to walk through a ‘one way or keep left system’ when moving around the building. 

Please ensure you are following government guidelines on where and when to wear a mask or face covering.

Our lifts will be operating at one person or one household at a time.

Living in a new city

We know that many of you will be travelling to a different city (or perhaps a different country) when you come to live with us. There are a lot of new government guidelines in place that vary from country to country and in some places are different by city. Look for local government guidelines to find out how COVID-19 is affecting your new city. The guidelines will cover information about local grocery stores, how you can visit friends as well as travelling on public transport.

Playing your part

You can help to make sure you and your fellow students stay safe by following these guidelines.

  • Wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water regularly throughout the day. Use hand sanitiser if soap is not available.
  • Maintain social distancing (check local government guidelines for the latest advice) and avoid large gatherings.
  • Use a mask to cover your face in public where appropriate, this is mandatory in some places so it’s a good idea to make sure you have a mask when you arrive.
  • If you are at high risk of contracting COVID-19, make sure you shield yourself in line with local government guidelines.
  • Follow local government advice if you begin showing any symptoms of COVID-19 e.g. Fever, continuous cough or loss of smell/taste. If you believe you are suffering any of the symptoms of coronavirus, you should self-isolate and phone your doctor straight away to get a coronavirus test. Guidance changes almost daily so please make sure you check the resources and links below regularly to keep up to date.
  • Your apartment will be considered a household for the purpose of covid-19 infection control. This means once everyone is past quarantine (if applicable) and no-one is showing any symptoms, you are free to mingle in the kitchen areas. However, it is really important that you still follow guidelines on social distancing, hygiene and face coverings.

 

Useful resources

Travel Green List - click here

Department of Foreign Affairs Travel Advice - click here

Travelling from a country not on the green list - click here

Restring your movements - click here

Returning to Ireland - click here

HSE Advice - click here or here for soundcloud

Hand Washing - click here

Face Coverings - click here

Covid-19 app on https://covidtracker.gov.ie/