Unilodge Toowong - Student Accommodation Brisbane

Most student accommodation reviews lead with the rooftop pool. This one leads with the bus timetable, because for a building around 2 km from the University of Queensland's St Lucia campus, the commute is the product.

UniLodge Toowong is at 29 Archer Street, Toowong QLD 4066, with rates from around A$359 a week. For students comparing student accommodation in Brisbane, the location offers a practical balance between university access, public transport and the convenience of living close to the city.

Here's whether the location earns its keep.

The commute, in numbers

What this adds up to: roughly 22 minutes of daily round-trip commuting to UQ, in a city where the alternative — living in St Lucia itself — puts you in a quieter residential pocket further from a train line, shops and the CBD.

That's the actual trade this building offers. You're not choosing between "close to campus" and "far from campus." You're choosing between eleven minutes on a bus and being cut off from a train line.

Why the train station matters more than the bus

The three-minute walk to Toowong Station is the underrated number here. A bus gets you to one campus; a train station gets you to the CBD in about ten minutes, to work, to the airport line, and to a city you might actually want to explore on a weekend.

If you're weighing UniLodge Toowong against somewhere marginally closer to UQ but without rail access, that's the comparison to run — not the campus distance in isolation. Over a year, the CBD trips usually outnumber the ones where eleven minutes versus five would have mattered.

The overhead bridge to Toowong Village is a similar quiet advantage: groceries without crossing a main road, which is a small thing that compounds across a semester.

Room types and what's included

Three configurations are documented:

• Studio apartments — private, self-contained
• Twin studios — shared
• Accessible apartments — available

UniLodge's own page notes rent varies by room type, size and lease length, and doesn't publish a full ladder; an aggregator lists rates from around A$359/week. Treat that as a starting figure for the cheapest configuration, not a rate for the room you want. Get a quote for your specific room type and dates.

Included in rent: water, electricity, and unlimited Wi-Fi, in fully furnished apartments. As always, that makes the weekly figure more comparable to other student housing than to a private rental at the same number.

Not included: car parking runs about A$40 a week on top. Given the three-minute walk to a train station and an 11-minute bus to campus, that's a cost worth questioning before you assume you need a car here.

The building itself

Facilities include a rooftop terrace with a pool and river views, a BBQ area, a cinema and games room, shared kitchens, study spaces, a TV lounge, bicycle storage, air conditioning, and laundry facilities on the first floor. Security covers swipe-card access, CCTV, and 24/7 on-site staff. There's also a Residential Life Program running social events.

Some rooms have city and Brisbane River views — worth asking about specifically when you enquire, since it's usually a matter of which floor and aspect you're allocated rather than a separate room type.

Who this suits

Strong fit if: you're at UQ St Lucia but want to live somewhere with its own shops, station and life rather than a pure campus suburb; you value CBD access; you don't want to run a car.

Weaker fit if: you have early morning labs and would genuinely rather roll out of bed into class — in which case on-campus or St Lucia housing beats any bus, and you should weigh that directly. Also weaker if you're on the tightest possible budget, since $359 is a starting rate and the Brisbane market has cheaper options further out.

Bottom line

UniLodge Toowong's case rests on being well-connected rather than closest. Eleven minutes to UQ, three minutes to a train station, ten minutes to the CBD, and a shopping centre over a bridge — for most students that beats a shorter campus walk in a quieter suburb.

Skip the $40-a-week parking unless you have a specific reason for a car. The whole point of this location is that you don't need one.