A Guide to Suite-Style Dorms (Pros, Cons, Survival Tips)

I lived in a suite-style dorm for my freshman year of college. I definitely had a different college dorm experience compared to my friends who lived in traditional dorm halls. I learned that there are different pros, cons, and social rules that come with this living situation. 

Generally, a suite style dorm is set up like a typical double dorm, however, it includes a bathroom. This bathroom can be shared between two double dorms, triple dorms or belongs only to one dorm room. It can consist of a toilet, a shower and sometimes a sink. 

Without getting a feel for the difference between what life is like in a suite-style dorm room and a traditional style dorm room, you might end up choosing a place that you don’t like. For a general reference, here are different virtual tours of how suite-style dorms can look:

1. A bathroom split in between two dorm rooms
2. A bathroom shared by multiple rooms
3. A triple dorm room with a private bathroom
4. A double dorm room with a private bathroom

The Pros of Suite-Style Dorms

The Room Could Have More Space

Sometimes suite style dorms are bigger than normal dorm rooms. This can be the case if your school originally built the suite style dorms to house three students, but ended up using it to only house two. That’s how I ended up in a spacious dorm during my freshman year. Remember to check your housing website or visit your prospective campus in real life to get a feel for your new home’s size. 

You Have a Personal Bathroom

A suite-style dorm can come with a bathroom that’s only shared between the roommates in one dorm, it can be placed in between two dorm rooms and be shared by the roommates in both dorms, or it can be shared by three rooms. Even though some set-ups are more private than others, you still don’t have to share a bathroom with your entire hall. To find out which ones your dorm has, check the housing section of your university website.

You Have More Decor Opportunities

When given your own bathroom, you’re given the opportunity to extend the aesthetic of your dorm room to your dorm bathroom as well. Or give it its own aesthetic entirely. As long as your roommate(s) and suitemates are cool with it, you can decorate a space that you wouldn’t otherwise have if you chose a dorm hall with a communal bathroom. Not a lot of people take advantage of this opportunity, so if you want your home to stand out, get to decorating!

You Get Suitemates if its a Split Room (if You Get Along)

If your suite-style dorm has access to the dorm room next to it via the shared bathroom, then it’s like you have more roommates! This is because you can access each other’s rooms without needing a key and, if you want, you can just leave both bathroom doors open when they’re not in use to make one big quad-style room. You can swap roommates, have sleepovers, hangout in each other’s dorms, etc.

There’s More Privacy if it’s Not a Split Room

If your suite-style dorm doesn’t have a bathroom that’s shared with the dorm next to it, then you and your roommate(s) get a bathroom all to yourselves. You won’t have to wait as long to use it, you can take longer when you’re using it since more than two people aren’t waiting to use it next, you have more freedom to decorate, and there’s less drama. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about suitemates having easy access to your dorm room via the bathroom. The only people that can get in are the people that have a key.

The Cons of Suite-Style Dorms

You Have to Clean The Bathroom Yourself

Having your own bathroom means that, on top of every other time consuming activity that college dishes out, you have to clean your own bathroom too. If you choose to split the cleaning duties between your roommate(s) and, if you have them, suitemates, then drama can develop if some of you guys slack off when it’s your turn. Some colleges assign a cleaning staff to take care of the responsibility for you, but that’s pretty rare.

There’s Less Privacy if There’s a Split Room

Some suite-style dorms can have a bathroom that’s placed in between two rooms to be shared by the residents of both rooms. Unlike other dorms, a key isn’t needed to walk in between both rooms since the bathroom door connects them to one another. In this situation, you’re basically forced to put your trust in your suitemates that they won’t just enter your room and do whatever they want in there.

You Get Suitemates if its’ a Split Room (If You Don’t Get Along)

If your suite-style dorm has access to the dorm room next to it via the shared bathroom, then it’s like you have more roommates. This is because, as I said before, you can access each other’s rooms without needing a key. If you are a less social person, want to be left alone while you’re at home, or just don’t get along with your suitemates, then living so close to one another can be annoying. 

There’s Less Opportunities to Socialize

Hall style bathrooms give students more opportunities to socialize since everyone on the floor needs to use it. Having a private bathroom takes away this extra time that could be used to get to know the people in your hall and form friendships. I know making friends in the bathroom may sound awkward, but you’d be surprised. Once you see the same couple people getting ready for class in there with you, you’ll probably stat to bond.

There Could Be Less Space

While there’s a chance that your suite-style dorm could come with extra space, there’s also the chance that having a bathroom will just end up making your dorm more cramped. This could be a pretty disappointing surprise. Make sure to check out the housing section of your school’s website or visit the campus in person to get an idea of how big or small their suite-style dorms are.

Survival Tips

As I’ve mentioned before, living in a suite-style dorm not only gives you a roommate(s), but suitemates as well. Living in this unconventional set-up comes with its own spoken and unspoken rules, challenges, perks, etc. Here are some tips to remember so that you’re not caught off guard while living in one:

Establish Rules

Since you’re all using the same bathroom, both you, your roommate(s) and your suitemates have to establish what is and isn’t allowed to happen in there. Let each other know if you can borrow each other’s shampoo, if you want to decorate the space, if you take hour-long showers, etc. It’s also very important to establish who’s going to clean the bathroom and when.

On top of that, if your bathroom is placed in between your dorm rooms, that opens up the possibility to enter each other’s dorms without a key. Make sure to let each other know if you’re cool or not cool with waltzing into each other’s rooms whenever you please. Can they borrow something out of your room as long as they put it back? Can they hangout in your dorm when you are or aren’t there? Do you need them to be quiet at certain hours so that you can focus on studying? These are all things you should discuss with your suitemates. 

Don’t Invade Each Other’s Privacy

If your bathroom is placed in between both yours and your suitemates dorm room, then that gives you both access to each other’s rooms without needing a key. Since this is possible, it’s important to respect each other’s privacy and the rules that you guys established with one another. If your suitemates don’t want you in their dorm room when they’re not there, don’t go in there. If they don’t want you borrowing their things, don’t borrow them.

Be Courteous

This rule doesn’t just apply to bathrooms. You’ll want to act this way whenever you have to share a space, or even an item, with one or more other people. Sharing a bathroom means being considerate of the other people that use it. Try not to take a long time in there, make sure to clean up after yourself, remember to unlock both bathroom doors when you’re done, etc.

Know Bathroom Etiquette

I already gave you some pointers when it comes to sharing a bathroom with suitemates, but in all honesty, there’s more to sharing a bathroom than just establishing rules and being courteous. If you want to know how to avoid embarrassing situations, avoid running out of bathroom supplies, and avoid drama, then check out this post for a survival guide to both suite-style and hall style dorm bathrooms.