Is Sobrato Hall the best dorm at Santa Clara?

Sobrato is a suite style dorm divided into two buildings, front and back, featuring personal bedrooms, a suite living room, a laundry room, and common areas including an outdoor garden/grill area. This review is for FRONT BUILDING. Front building is tailored to first years and has common areas, a commuter lounge, a media room, a game room, one classroom, and the common kitchen/multipurpose room. This multipurpose room is where the RA staff and various student organizations hold events for residents. There's also a service desk where you can rent vacuums, mops, and pick up your mail. Suites house 6 people, 4 singles and 1 double with a communal area outfitted with 2 couches, a TV stand, a sink and counter, and two bathrooms. Dislikes: There aren't enough washers and dryers. I had to find a less than ideal time block during the week for laundry. The front building could do with a refurbish as the counters and surfaces are a little yellowed. Likes: The events in the multipurpose room introduced me to clubs I would take part in for all four years and connected me with close friendships. The single was just what I needed to recharge and be comfortable when I needed time alone, which you don't get in other dorms. Advice: There's no cleaning service like other halls. 6 people is a lot for one space and it really shows. Be sure to clean proactively as the filth can really sneak up on you and front building suites are infamous for getting nasty late in the year.

I've lived in Sobrato all four years and loved it! It was nice having private bathrooms and A/C. Rooms were spacious enough and you really get to fully experience Sobrato when you create your own group for the room, which allows you and your other friends to fill the common room with furniture and accessories (aside from the provided couch, chair, coffee table) that makes it feel more like an apartment than a dorm. If you're anything other than a First-Year, you're basically guaranteed for a single, which is nice. Kitchen can be kind of small for 4 people, but if you get creative, it works. Proximity to Safeway, Taco Bell, and other restaurants is a plus along with a dedicated garage! But it's one of the farthest buildings from the classroom buildings (Lucas, O'Connor, etc). The only downside is that I wish it had the socializing aspect of traditional dorm buildings

This review is for Sobrato/Loyola back building. Suites house 4 people, each with their own single, and are outfitted with a full kitchen and living room. Typically back building is for sophomores to seniors so lots of times friends get to live with each other which can make for an awesome experience with customizing and making your suite your own. Back building is close to Safeway and all the restaurants on the Alameda and Sobrato itself is close to the zipcar parking lot so there's lots of off campus options. There's only one common area in the whole back building but that isn't a problem since you can go to any of the other areas in the larger dorm. Likes: Since only 4 people live in the back building suites filth doesn't sneak up on you as easily or quickly as it does in the front building suites. All back building suites were refurbished in 2019 so they're very nice and new feeling. Dislikes: Lots of times all the laundry machines are full so you have to get creative or lucky with your laundry times.

I lived at Sobrato all four years of college and loved it! I lived in a double my freshman year in the front building, and then a single in back building my last three years. As someone who prefers quiet, the suite style dorms are really nice. But there are still plenty of opportunities to socialize if you’d like! It’s nice to be so close to Safeway and chill in the courtyard, but I think the number one con is that there aren’t enough laundry machines since there’s only two laundry rooms for the whole dorm. Otherwise, Sobrato is a great place to live that I would highly recommend!