Here’s what past students have said about their stay…
To international students
January 17, 2007
I was a student from France, province attending to the University of Waterloo in the fall of 2006 and decided to settle in Blythwood Rd after visiting Carlos’s website. The house is not very close but accessible to University of Waterloo and Laurier University, but nothing that can’t be done by foot or with a bike (I’d say 3 kilometers, give or take). Buses allow to easily go to she shopping malls or the Universities, Carlos was kind enough to lend me his bike for the duration of the rent, and as long as it’s not snowing that is the easiest way to go anywhere in Waterloo. The house is nice, and there’s everything you need (pans, pots, blankets, but also cable TV and Internet access).
Carlos and his wife are also one of the nicest people I know, they also showed me the city and helped me to settle. On a side note, when I first wired him the money for the rent, the money got lost and he was kind enough to wait to see if money finally arrived (it eventually did … 3 months later … so I suggest you send the money using Western Union -it’s much more expensive but it’s worth it- Carlos is trustworthy:))
Lucas Bienaime
Hello,
I’ve been a French student at the University of Waterloo for 6 months (from the beginning of May to the end of October 2008). I’ve been a tenant at 69 Blythwood Rd. in Waterloo since my arrival to Canada. I sent two months’ rent -900$ – to Carlos Tipan using Western Union. There were no bad surprises in this transaction. As soon as Carlos received the money, he reserved my room. The weekend following my arrival, Carlos carne to show me the house in detail and drove me around to see all of the surroundings and showed me the interesting businesses.
Concerning the lodging, it is a big house with two floors, and five rooms per floor. Each floor has a washroom, a kitchen and a living room. The only communal element between the two floors is the laundry room, which has a washing machine and a dryer (which takes coins). I am on the second floor, and it’s very nice. The rooms are a reasonable size, the living room is big and comfortable, the kitchen is well-equipped and large enough that one does not bother the other tenants. We equally share the two terraces and a barbeque, which we share with the first floor.
The house is situated in a classic “American” residential area. All off the stores are in proximity, and the major town mall is approximately 15 minutes walking distance. Wilfred Laurier University is about a 20 minute walk, and the University of Waterloo is about the same. The bus route travels to both universities at the end of the street, and Carlos left several bicycles for our use.
To conclude, I think that you need not worry about the monetary transaction, and the house is very interesting. It is not the first price that you could find for housing, but I think it is a good compromise. The housing has the possibility to comfortably
accommodate 10 students, which according to me is a big advantage!
Emmanuel Delande
June 17,2008
To whom it may concern,
I am a student from the Netherlands and did my internship at the University of Waterloo. Before I came to Canada I looked for a place to stay on the ‘off-campus housing’ website and contacted different people. I also contacted Carlos Tipan for a room and he returned an email not much time later and told me that there was a room available. He mentioned that the
lodging had all the necessary furniture for any international student, like a desk and cheer, a bed with sheets, pots and pans and even a bike if necessary (for free). After reviewing the rental website pictures, I decided to take the room.
When I arrived in Canada Carlos came to pick me up and he introduced himselfand his son in a friendly manner. Together we drove to the house and he introduced me to the people who were living in the house at that time. After that he showed me my room and the rest of the house. The room was exactly furnished as he told me and as was shown on the pictures.
After I decided I wanted to stay here during my internship, Carlos showed me the neighbourhood. He showed me where the bus stops, the grocery stores, some restaurants and where the banks are. All these things are on a walking distance (within 15 minutes) from the house. He also showed me the best way to get to the University of Waterloo and after that we went to get a cup of coffee and sit down to talk about all the necessary papers to sign.
It’s not easy when you arrive alone in a country you have never been in before. So I personally found it very pleasant that he came to pick me up and showed me around.
You should of course not expect a 4 star hotel, but I can recommend without worries to rent from Mr. Carlos Tipan.
Roel Vos
Thank you again for your kindness and your honesty.
I am a French student. I came to study three months at the University of Waterloo. I had to find a room off-campus. After few e-mails between Carlos Tipan and me, my room was reserved for 5 months. I had to send him 2 months of rent by Western Union. This union allows to send money to foreign countries. When I arrived, Carlos Tipan was here to show me the house. Everything was like he told me and a bike was available for moving. During my stay, he always came and repaired as quickly as possible when I had a problem in the house.
I will highly recommend him to anyone without reservation.
Sincerely
Emilie Leclerc
I am a student from Singapore who went to waterloo with 3 other friends. We were on an exchange programme to university of waterloo for the winter term in 2009. Before we went there, we got Mr. Carlos Tipan’s contact through the school off campus website and contacted him. We figured out that the rent is one of the best rates we could get; the rooms were in good condition as well. The only disadvantage is that it is a distance away from UW. However, it was not an issue because we found out that it is only a 5 minutes bus ride to school when we were there. AT the beginning, we were feeling doubtful of sending our deposits over through western union. It was because we had not known the other party, and also the commission rate was rather high. We did send through western union in the end and everything was fine.
We had a very warm welcome by Mr. Carlo’s sons on New Year’s Day. They brought us to our rooms and introduced us the area. Basically all our doubts on the area were cleared on the first day! The house is fully equipped with necessities. For example, the kitchen is fully equipped that we practically cooked most of our meal for the whole term. The place is near dollarama and the beer store(walking distance). We could also walk to the shopping mall across the highway. Basically, it is right in the centre of almost everything.
Whenever we need anything, we could always contact Mr. Carlos or his son, Mat, who was staying with us. He is exceptionally friendly, and definitely a nice guy to hang out with. You could trust on him with anything. We had so much fun in the house. I must say the experience there is wonderful.
Ng Wei Pin
Singapore
Nanyang Technological University
I am pleased to be able to say that I have enjoyed a lot my stay at Blythwood Road. The house was very pleasant with all necessary services and the bike you lent me was very useful to go to the university.
The payment via Western Union was the easiest way to secure the room as I did not need to send a cheque from France.
I will recommend you to other students from my university in France who are going to Waterloo.
Sincerely,
Audrey Devillechaise