New Kid on the Block: Y Suites on Moore

By Mackenzie Watkins

With over 18,934 (as of 2022) ANU students, there has and always will be a significant demand for student accommodation. The student accommodation Yukeembruk Village which opened this year was ANU’s solution to answering the calls for more beds to become available. 

However, with student accommodation being a highly lucrative and well sought out business, a new kid on the block has joined the list of residences.

Y Suites on Moore is the most recent addition to this list. Y Suites Canberra is one building in a chain of student residential towers which can also be found in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

Located in the CBD, the building is a staggering 16 storeys high, with 733 beds. There are many amenities included  such as a cinema, laundry, communal kitchen and dining areas, gym, games area and multipurpose rooms.

Their website states that students will “feel the love of a family like never before with the diversity that our housing apartments indulge in…learn about various cultures from around the world when you make friends with students from overseas.”

According to an ANU spokesperson, “The University has been working collaboratively with Y Suites on Moore, including referring students on to them when ANU facilities are at full capacity.”

Noticeably however, the accommodation prices for the rooms are significantly higher than other Halls, ranging from $360 to almost $600 each week. Below is an overview of the available room options:

Reviews on their website and on google reviews are mostly positive.

One reviewer writes “I truly benefit from the Y Suites on Moore’s prime location, with only 6-min walking to my classes in ANU. The staff are friendly and do a good job of making me feel connected to the community.”

In a similar vein, another reviewed Y Suites as being “located in a perfect area, having lots of amenities like gym, study room, and bicycle service and also great customer service team! And excellent place to live.”

Speaking to a current resident who lives in the Studio Premium room, Henry* mostly enjoys how modern and brand new it is. He notes that the amenities and staff are really lovely but that many residents smoke in their rooms. “I sometimes can’t open my window as the smoke smell will come into my room”.

“I would say that in a way it is similar to Unilodge, but a lot more modern. In my opinion it is probably another ‘step-up’ to more ‘normal’ apartment living as opposed to student accommodation.”

According to Henry, most of the students are international students, mainly being from China. He says that this is “evident in the fact that some signage and email communication contains both English and Chinese language”. Students are also mostly undergraduate but there are some older students.

When asked about his thoughts towards the price of rent, he said that he finds “price wise it is fairly competitive with ANU accommodation. Currently I pay $430 a week, although this will be increasing quite a lot.”

For now, it seems that Y Suites on Moore is fairly undetected on the radar of student accommodation in Canberra, but as the number of students on campus start to climb post Covid-19, its popularity may just increase. 

*Names have been changes for anonymity 

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