Hojo (575 Comm Ave) Reviews

HoJo is in a good location (ex. my first semester I had 3 classes within a block), the views are pretty (I can see fenway from my dorm), having your own bathroom is Very nice, and you are right across from a T stop. However, there’s a lot less of getting to know people on your hall compared to other “freshman” dorms, the beds are forced to be lofted with your desk and dresser underneath which can be frustrating, and you can tell HoJo is an old hotel. Everyone I have talked to that knew this building as a hotel first says it hasn’t been remodeled at all.

Building is old, elevators are always broken, stairs are creepy.
Triple is too cramped.
Bathroom shower gets clogged easily.
Bed is too close to ceiling, I've hit my head so many times on the ceiling or on the metal bar under the bed while getting up or going to my desk.
Lighting and view from windows are terrible.
Nice that there is a bathroom inside, and close to Marciano dining hall and Questrom.

My stay was nice overall. The room I was in was big enough to house three people. The building itself is very old and needs updates. My experience with security has been interesting because some are very chill but others make a lot of micro aggressions. The way people are saying they are all chill just shows how different black experiences are here. I get safety but why is it that the only time you stop to check someone’s ID they are a black person. They’re just so many instance where they are confusingly aggressive and clueless. I just would like a couple more bias training classes and I think Hojo would fully be lovely.

HoJo is in a pretty good location, and the private bathrooms are fairly nice (compared to other freshman/sophomore housing). There’s a decent study/common space on the top floor which can be nice to use. The triple rooms are pretty standard, small but at least you get a bathroom. Rooms can also be hit-or-miss with lighting, so try to make sure you’ll actually get windows :)

I thought Hojo was gonna be way nicer than the other freshman dorm options. Honestly, I would have rather lived in Warren. Here are my main points summarized:

PROS:
1. It's extremely convenient in relation to classes and Marciano which many people (including myself) believe is the best dining hall.

2. You definitely do get a bit more space than in Warren or West if you get a double. This is one thing I have zero complaints about!

3. The private bathroom is a nice concept and super convenient, but there are many cons about it that I discuss below.

4. The security officers are generally super kind and honestly way more friendly than the students in the building.

CONS:
1. Extremely dirty and smells old and dank. No matter how much I vac...See more

This is definitely one of the best dorm style room options. If you’re a freshmen hoping to make friends it’s not exactly the best place since everyone is either upperclassmen or internationals but if comfort and chill vibes is what you’re going for this is the place. Having a security guard can sometimes be annoying (like if you plan on coming home belligerently drunk) but for the most part they are chill and don’t care about what you do. The main lobby has a big study room and a “game room” with pool, ping pong, a tv, etc. The top floor also has the BEST study room with an almost 360 view of the city and a perfect view of our beloved citgo sign. So for the room, I would say there is nothing to complain about. Living in a triple is hard but...See more

I lived in a seventh floor single. It wasn’t huge, but definitely enough space for one person. I lived in a Hojo triple freshman year and there was no light but seventh floor facing the river was wonderful, you could MIT campus and there was plenty of natural light. AC/heating is an old unit, not like the thermostat in some of the lower floors, so I recommend buying an electric thermostat. The top floor study lounge is great, it has heating problems but is a great chill place to study. Honestly, you have the great location of East, the safety of a security guard, and the privacy of an apartment/bay state. It’s a super quiet and lowkey building. BU’s hidden gem!

The two perks to living here are proximity to QST, SCI, KCB and having a private bath for each room. Otherwise this building is VERY old - carpets and curtains are old and smell old and my room had problems with spiders (so bad my roommate thought we had bedbugs). The rooms aren’t super well sound-insulated either and sometimes you hear people upstairs running around or people down the hall yelling.

Hojo can be a great place to live especially if you want your own bathroom but don't want to pay extra for it like you would in a suite. The security guards at Hojo are the best on campus, it has a lot of hidden-gem community events, and its location is great for commuting to East campus classes, Kenmore/Fenway, and Bay State dining hall.

Try to live on the 7th floor if you can, though, because the rooms are significantly bigger than on the other floors and they have full windows! If you're on the odd side of the hall, you'll even be able to see into Fenway during Sox games.

Last thing -- the beds are all lofts and it does wonders to move around your room's furniture so that you aren't trapped under your bed while studying.

Great location, especially for Baystate Underground, Starbucks, Fenway Restaurants, Target, and classes. Triple can be tight and not a ton of closet/storage space, but private bathrooms and 8th floor study lounge are huge bonuses. Security is pretty chill, especially compared to Freshmen coming from Warren or West. Vending machines in lobby common areas and game room.