Is South Mountain (Red Bricks) the best dorm at Cal Poly SLO?

Red bricks are the most social dorm, which is basically the one good thing about this dorm. The bathroom and kitchen are extremely dated and get gross fast. The water pressure is really bad, especially in the sinks. It gets super hot in the fall and late spring, so box fan is necessary. People get drunk and punch ceiling tiles, so expect to pay for those. The study room is connected to the kitchen, so whenever anyone cooks it makes the whole study room smell like that food which is kinda gross. Triples are so small like unlivable small, but doubles are too bad. Oh, and the social aspect only applies if you’re in an RLC other than engineering cuz engineers don’t leave their rooms.

Only the first floor has a kitchen, and the building has no elevator, so if you plan on cooking be prepared to log a bunch of kitchen supplies up and down 2 flights of stairs. The room itself isn't bad if you live in a double, but a triple gets pretty cramped and you will find yourself wanting to leave your room frequently and study somewhere else on campus. Storage is good, plenty of space and drawers to keep all of your belongings. One thing to keep in mind is that the room is very old and gets very dusty quickly, so I recommend getting an air purifier or dusting often. No AC in the building so a fan is essential during the hot months of the school year. Overall room isn't horrible but bathrooms suck, and amenities are pretty bad.

The location of the dorm is pretty solid, and the layout of the building makes it pretty social. However, the dorm itself (Santa Lucia for me) is pretty filthy. When my roommate and I arrived, our room had a nasty smell before we moved in. Needs to be renovated if you ask me.

Kind of crusty, rooms are comfortable for a double but very squishy for a triple. It gets really hot and stuffy but the dorms are in the middle of campus so the walk to class is very short.

Honestly, I don't think these dorms are the worst. I enjoyed living here and being close to my friends while also being in close proximity to my classes, the dining hall, and recreation center. The bathrooms are generally pretty gross and they don't get cleaned as well as one would hope but other than that it's fine. The double room isn't bad but is still cramped. The study room is connected to the kitchen which results in that room being pretty loud and very difficult to study in. It can be loud on any side of the building. On one side we have the dumpsters and the garbage trucks come to collect every morning very very loudly. On the other side there's a street that people tend to speed very loudly on. And on another side there are business dorms that party from Thursday to Sunday. The dorm is great for socializing and getting to class on time, but it is very outdated and our dorm specifically (Santa Lucia) is shared with all of North Mountain which can make spaces get crowded, though other people from other dorms tend to spend more time here actually. Overall, the dorm is very home-y but also in need of renovation so it's less like a prison and more like campus dorms.