The Suites aren’t as sweet as expected

Zoe Deno
Staff Writer

Students living in the College Suites apartments are being dealt more difficulties than expected.

The College Suites apartments stand within walking distance of Hudson Valley Campus. The apartments were designed to house up to 286 students in 72 apartments. They serve to help make Hudson Valley more accessible to students who aren’t able to commute.

This is the first semester in which the dorms have been used, and students describe life in them as a mixed bag of both good and bad.

Michael Torres, a business administration major, said he enjoys living at the suites but was disappointed by the quality of the building.

“In my apartment, I noticed things would fall off and break easily. There were scratches on the wall before I even moved in and then they used pure white paint which is the easiest stuff to scratch and they charge you if you scuff the wall,” he said.
Abbie Endres, an individual studies major, agreed. “It doesn’t seem like the building was put together correctly,” Endres said. “It seems like the construction was rushed.”

Students also have an opportunity to work at the dorms. Raelyn Ireland, a social science major, was one of the first students who took advantage of this option.

According to Ireland, there were issues with the water pipes on the first floor initially. However, the problems were quickly addressed.

The wifi is also very slow. Jessie Utarid, a criminal justice major, said that the students had been promised high speed wifi for up to 5 devices, but had received wifi that hardly worked for one device.

“What happened with the wifi is that instead of being on network here there are actually 7 different networks,” said Ireland.

“When they internet works the way it is supposed to, it is high speed. It does disconnect if you go to another place, because it is not aware that it was supposed to change to a different network,” continued Ireland.

The suites are working on fixing the glitch in the wifi.
“All good things come with minor [inconveniences],” said fitness education major Teraye Taylor.

Students have come up with many other ways to spend their time in the dorms. Those who live at the suites often play building-wide games of Manhunt. It is also not uncommon for athletes to host fitness sessions in the apartment’s gym.
“We have a boxing night, it’s usually one-on one between two people. We try to make sure those people are evenly matched and whoever wins gets street cred for that week,” Taylor said.

“We have a lot of love going on, too, but we gotta keep that a secret,” he continued. “Life at the suite is too sweet.”
The second floor has become notorious for loud, drunken gatherings of students, earning the floor the nickname “the project”, according to Jasmine Serrano, who is studying public administration at Hudson Valley.

“There is so much drama [at College Suites], we need our own reality tv show,” said Taylor.

According to Taylor, the security is lenient and understands what it is like to be a young adult. However, the students watch out for other tenants who become intoxicated, taking care of them before involving security.

“We have a lot of people who can’t get out of the mindset of high school,” said Serrano. “The banging of my door at night when people are drunk is frustrating. I am at the point where my friends have to text me to let me know they are coming to my apartment in order for me to open the door.”

Torres said that the walls in the building are very thin in general. He says that he can even hear his roommates up late when they are both in their rooms.

“I am a student athlete, I play football and I need sleep. My roommate, who is not a member of the football team, is staying up late and he has his tv on, and, because the walls are so thin, I am not getting any sleep,” said Torres.

Torres continued, “[The noise] affects my sleeping and studying the most. There are times when I have to leave my room to get anything done because it gets so loud.”

“There are a few problems with the building, but I would expect that in any new building,” Ireland said.

Despite the inconveniences, Serrano thinks the dorms are the best option for apartments in the area. “It has its ups and downs, like any place, but I would not want live anywhere else.”