Tartu College Student Residence

Racist office and building staff. The manager will straight up just lie to your face. Contracts have illegal clauses. Dirty. Several friends have had roaches in their rooms.

This student cafeteria inside the college residence has great Macedonian-Greek fare for very affordable prices. The staff are super-friendly and helpful. The dining room is spacious. Washrooms are a bit old. Access from Bloor just east of Spadina.

Relatively mediocre student residence which almost feels like a liminal space at times. Walls are thin, so hope that your roommates and neighbours aren't noisy.

All food delivery orders are left at a table near the front desk. However, you might find yourself in the situation where your food may get stolen by another resident as anyone has access to the table. So if you're planning to order food, make sure you meet with the driver making your delivery to avoid this.

There's also on-going construction occurring within Tartu itself, and next to it, which detracts from the scenery. Likewise, co-ed rooming is not an option, which may prove difficult if you're trying to room with friends.

Unit-wise, kitchens are shared and serve to be functional rather the pinnacle of student dorm kitchens. Each kitchen has lockable cabinets, which I highly recommend using to prevent roommates from using your stuff without your permission.

Living at the Tartu Residence offers lots of benefits, but there are significant downsides that I believe the management staff at the residence should address. For starters, the rumours about bugs are true. I have seen a few roaches, but nothing as bad as most of the reviews would have you believe. I think in a shared living space of this size, it's kind of to be expected (but still shouldn't be the norm). Most of the people who live here are pretty quiet and aren't very social which can be a little depressing at times. However the largest downside of Tartu is the laundry machines. They are often broken, and are expensive relative to most other dorms I've stayed at before (they also take your money without operating properly at least a third of the time). The front staff are usually pretty rude, I've yet to hear a positive experience anyone has had with any of them (not the students who run the lobby, they are all exceedingly kind).
HOWEVER: The people who clean and maintain the common areas of your dorm are among the nicest people I have met. The price relative to other options in Toronto is a really good deal. And finally, the location is fantastic for what you pay. I think 3 stars seems fair, though I would put 3.5 stars if it were an option.

Admin receptionist (NOT the young people working at lobby desk; they're all lovely) is possibly the rudest person I've ever met. She was incredibly antagonistic and patronizing when I literally just asked which email to send my timetable to. It was my fault for not sending it before moving in, but this in no way warrants the insanely rude response I was met with. Also, the laundry machines are literally a joke.like my roommates and I literally joke about whether or not they're going to be functional.spoiler alert- they RARELY are. Most days only 2 out of 6 (yes, that's right, only 6 machines for a building of over 500 residents) are working. Instead of buying a new set of machines, they shoddily repair them only for them to break again the next day. My friends and I have all had to rewash/redry our clothing as the machines are prone to breaking down mid-cycle. As students on a budget, this is costing us a lot. It's honestly despicable that the admin hasn't done anything to fix this massive issue yet. Also the cockroach problem is.bad. Needless to say, will not be living here again next year. It's rly overpriced for what it is. If they fixed the machines and the pest problem I'd consider coming back, but unless that change happens.nah

At approximately $950/month, the stay was not bad. Fire alarms went off quite often as expected at a student residence, but great cleaning staff kept common areas very clean. Rooms can get quite warm on the south side of the building even in the winter if you do not pay extra for a climate-controlled room though. Overall probably worth staying over paying extra for a campus dorm.

I lived there many years ago, 2002 to 2003 and it was great and super cheap then. ($400). From reading the comments things have clearly gone down hill.

I lived at Tartu my 2nd and 4th year of uni (3rd at home because of covid). The staff here are wonderful and kind. I had a great experience. I loved the beautiful views, location, neighborhood, etc. I think the value of this place far exceeds the affordable price!

Tartu has been my home for the majority of my university years and it’s been great. The apartments have everything you need, including cozy private bedrooms and large kitchens where there’s plenty of space to cook with your roommates. Cleaning service of the common areas in the apartments is included in your rent which is unheard of. The location is perfect as it’s walking distance from both Spadina and St George subway station, as well as Metro for groceries. And above all, the staff is amazing - from day one I always felt that my best interest was in heart. There’s always someone to turn to whether you need something fixed in your apartment or if there’s any other concerns. And it’s probably one of the most affordable accommodations one can find in downtown Toronto these days. Would definitely recommend!

I live overseas, very far from Canada. The phone experience with the place itself made me so eager to write this review. They wanted me to give them the credit card number, I called and asked the lady how secure that is, and she said: "DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING? GIVE ME THE CREDIT NUMBER AND I WILL TAKE THE MONEY OR COME AND PAY CASH". Think how it is insecure to give all your credit card credentials over the phone, and how unprofessional the staff's response was. You'll understand why I am saying: Nope

The kitchen is full of cockroaches and pests. The woman in the office who has european accent is rude.
Having said that, most of their staffs are polite. There is a young lady in the office close to the entrance door, who is very gentle and nice.

Great location in the heart of downtown for events, while being a multipurpose building with offices, residence, etc.

The building is good not amazing but good enough some staff in reception were not helpful there is only one that was helpful it was a guy with Canadian appearance. Once I got a problem with some laugh sounds at 3 AM and a stuff said that was going to assist me and she didnt come it was so impolite, rude and useless my roommate was so noisy always making a lot of laughs, I complained 3 time. I couldn’t sleep well for almost all of my visit there and that was one of the reasons that I moved.

Price is good, specially for a student who wants a temporary place to live in summers but it is not quiet specially during the weekend since it is closed to the Madison pub. Most of tge rooms are very hot specially in july and August that I think it is better to find a room with AC not regular room since really you can't stay in the room during noon. The last thing, rooms are very small in size. It is located near all the things you need such as resturants, groceries, coffee places or bars and if you are uoft student it is 5min walking to uoft.

Went in the office to pay the deposit and the lady was very nice. Climate-controlled rooms are MUCH nicer than the regular if you can afford the difference

THE WORST RECEPTIONIST EVER! The woman who doesn't speak English well and has a thick European accent at the reception desk (office) is extremely rude like there is no tomorrow. She gives you so much attitude as soon as you see her for no reason and this actually ruins your entire day. I have no idea what her problems are but Tartu managers should train her better otherwise no one is going to stay here. I’ve heard many bad things about Tartu before and this actually proved it. Don't just rely on the fact that your building is in a good location. Please train your staff well, seriously.

Its a student residence and is quite expensive for the small rooms they offer. It is really warm in winter. They clean the washrooms and kitchen twice a week. But the toilets get clogged often. There are cockroaches during summer. During summer, the poor design of windows does not allow air to get in and makes standard suites (without air conditioning) to feel like Sauna and makes it difficult to stay in the room. The fan is useless and all the electric appliances are very old and are replaced only if it breaks down completely. Even the office people are very rude to you at times. I am giving 2 stars only for the location, front desk Staff and cleaning ladies.

One of my reviews got re-erased detailing the problem but it is fine.
Anyway I see that most of the negative review are from asian but the hell do i know. Anyway AC broken still make me pay full rent when downstair for nearly 2 month now report issue nothing resolved and problem solved resume in matter of hrs. Putrid smell when i first move in have to let hair out for 2 weeks helped a bit. Noisy thin wall+ plus renovation all the time= ur not gonna be able to sleep in or even study at home till 12pm, aside from dismissive attitude and them personally let me cook in this brick cube because my room is facing the sun so far my temp goes up to 36C next time it goes 35+ i am taking a pic and uploading it. Went down pretty often last time a person came up to help me around a week ago.

This is my second summer at tartu.room is in great locale to get down to research at utoronto libraries.office staff keep everyone informed about events in posted notices.front desk staff are there 24/7 and always helpful, especially with the summer student groups who come to learn english - perhaps often their first time away from home? - and cleaning staff do a terrific job.very rarely an occasional slob, and the office helps with this.quiet clean considerate place to stay.worth every penny.