NYU residential buildings

In case you were curious about the living arrangements in Prague... here is the NYU description of the housing selection, all of which are NYU owned buildings outside of the tourist areas of Prague 1.

Machova and Slezka:

If you prefer residence hall living, you may live in one of two NYU in Prague residences, both of which are recently renovated and feature student lounges with a televisions, study rooms with panoramic views of Prague, and suites with modern kitchens and bathrooms. The residences have both wireless Internet and computer labs and are located in the residential neighborhood of Vinohrady (named for the fact that it was covered in vineyards dating back to the 14th century), a neighborhood well known for its bohemian cafés, acclaimed restaurants, and beautiful art nouveau buildings.

Jarislova and Osadni:

If you'd prefer a more independent lifestyle, you may choose from NYU-leased apartments that are available in recently renovated, early-20th-century buildings in the Nusle and Holesovice neighborhoods. These loft apartments are fully furnished and feature modern kitchens and baths, laundry facilities, and spacious rooms with exposed-beam ceilings. Travel time from all the residences to the NYU Center is about 20 to 30 minutes. 

I live in Machova (and Slezka is very nearby). My building (along with Osadni) is one of the larger buildings, housing around 60 people. Machova is 6 floors. Floors 1-5 make up the 11 suites. These floors (except floor 5) have 2 suites each. Each suite has a full bathroom and a water closet. Each floor shares a full kitchen. (My floor is the exception - we only have one suite because the other half of the floor is the building manager's apartment, which is awesome because we have the same sized kitchen as the other floors for half of the people.) Each suite houses about 6 people. There is 1 RA on floor 1, 3, and 5. The RAs are a couple of years older than us, and Czech students at Charles University.

On the first floor there is the guard's office, who is there 24/7. He is supposed to check your ID when you key in, but he never does... they recognize faces instead. The basement floor has a tv room with couches and a DVD player and the laundry room (previously featured on another blog entry). Floor 6 is the study lounge and has couches, computers, and a printer - and a large balcony! There is also a courtyard accessible from Floor 1 complete with outdoor cooking grills. A cleaning lady comes in Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to clean all common spaces (basically everywhere except your bedroom). I rarely take the elevator although I live on the 5th floor, since it takes a while to arrive, but the elevator did save my life during move in with my 2 huge suitcases.

As I have previously mentioned, the Vinohrady neighborhood that I live in is great. It's residential, and away from the tourist hubbub but still full of things to do. There are trams, buses, and metro stops located close by. There are a ton of restaurants, cafes, small grocery stores, meat stores, drug stores, a nonstop grocery store and laundromats. There is a vineyard and a park. You can walk to the KB bank, Vodophone store, and fast food places. I'm constantly finding new places to try out here. The only thing that is not within close walking distance is the gym (2 metro stops away and 1.6 miles away). Technically, I can even walk to class. Old Town Square is 3 metro stops away and 2.4 miles away.

The Osadni building is on the other end of the spectrum. Osadni is apartment style, so there are much fewer people sharing any one kitchen. The rooms are a lot larger. For example, two of my friends have an apartment with 3 singles, a common room with desks, a kitchen, and a bathroom. However, Osadni is the only 1 out of 4 buildings that is across the river in Prague 7. It takes a lot longer to get to class, and involves transfers. The neighborhood is much less residential and instead comprised mostly of work places.

Basically, I really like where I live and wouldn't trade space for the location, at all.