Right after I was settled in a dormitory on Jana Opletalova st., 77, my very first cultural shock followed immediately – a lady at the reception could only speak Czech. And I did not speak Czech at all (I still avoid her in present, though).

It is noticeable that you can put in applications and buy some snacks (water, chips etc) at the place for somewhat fair prices. Evidently, it is convenient for all the new-coming students, as communication at the shops will most probably be awkward during their first days in the city.

Fortunately enough, a friend of mine met me at the airport and gave me a lift to Poděbrady; he also assisted me at the reception. The lady asked for my passport, then looked for my name in the list of students and gave me the documents to sign.I received a lot of information regarding the city (in English, Spanish, French, Czech and even in Russian), a map and a key for my room, together with a permit (I’ve yet to figure out the purpose of the latter).

The room is quite wide (approximately 10 m²) and has a small lobby.

There is a shower room and a toilet:

Right after you turn on the light in the restroom, the ventilation system automatically turns on and operates for 10 or 15 minutes after you turned off the light. Terribly annoying.

The dorm was built during the 80’s, so a significant number of rooms share only one kitchen (for those of our readers who didn’t live durng the socialist era, I have to explain that it was a very typical feature for such a type of accommodation).

Most probably they used to settle 4 persons in one room, now only 2 people share one room. The kitchen has 2 cook tops and a few sinks:

Note a wonder toilet bowl for liquid waste:

There’s a bunch of the tables, chairs and cabinets next to a staircase no clear reason for the location, apparently put there for joint activities:

The dorm obviously benefited from the Czech Republic being a capitalist country. It was refreshed, the servises are fairly good and needless to say, a price is relatively high (150 EUR for a month). Just FYI, it’s not cheaper to rent a room in a private housing.

The services available are pretty good. A cleaning lady cleans the rooms (including the restrooms and floors) and takes the waste out for every while 1-2 days. It is not necessary at all to take your garbage out – you can find the bins in the kitchens and hallways.

Every fortnight the lady changes the sheets and puts a pile of the fresh ones on your bed. As for me, I met her on my first day at the place – no bad surprises. However, she only speaks Czech, so I didn’t understand a word, but it went OK, we didn’t even have to leave the room while she was cleaning one.

Once you arrive to the dormitory, you will have to fill in a registration card and list all the shortcomings you found in the room (what is broken, torn or does not function). Personally, I found my desk lamp not working , so I gave the list (with the notice) back to the reception. It happened at 10 am, and there was a new lamp by noon. FYI, all of your electrical appliances with power consumption exceeding 50 watts (for instance, a laptop consumes 60-90 watts, a kettle will take 2000-2500 watts) are to be registered and paid for separately.

It is really easy to trace Czechs’ predilection for resources saving – the toilet is a two-batton one and a valve in the sink is for water gathering.

I’ve yet ignored those European traditions.

The place is generously furnished. All my clothes fit into 1/10 part of the available place.

The room definitely deserves 4+ mark, the one is pleasant to live in. In case of need you can rent a small fridge (contact the reception ) – it will cost 150 CZK/month. You can also find a free computer classroom and purchase a pass for a gym (2000 CZK/semester).

UPD Pictures of the room in half a year.

UPD 26.07.2014 Please, do not forget to book the accommodation in a chosen dormitory after you have received a visa. Apart from the dorm I’ve described in the article there is another dormitory not far from that one. If you do not book a room in the dorm from the article, you will most probably be automatically settle into the other one.