Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Opening the door on UNLV dorms

UNLV Dorms

Leila Navidi

A dorm room inside the Tonopah Complex on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas on Wednesday, August 22, 2012.

On Wednesday — the day before "move-in day" — Richard Clark, UNLV's director of housing and residential life, gave the Sun an extensive tour of the student dorms and housing amenities.

    • Tonopah Residence Complex

      Originally built in 1966, the Tonopah complex is UNLV's oldest and largest dormitory. The two-building complex houses 622 students at capacity. Amenities include a computer lab, storage rooms and a conference room. Each of Tonopah's six floors house 20 residents in double or single rooms, with each suite of two rooms sharing a bathroom. There are special "themed" floors, including an all-freshman floor, an educational engineering floor and a floor for undecided majors.

    • Tonopah Show Room

      A furnished "show" room in the Tonopah complex illustrates all the trappings of a typical dorm room at UNLV. Students can rent metal safes for about $35 per semester as well as mini-fridges and loft-beds for $100 each per semester.

    • Dining Commons

      Known as "DC" among UNLV students, the Dining Commons is the sole dining hall on campus, serving the more than 1,200 students living on campus. On-campus students are required to be on one of nine different meal plans.

    • Dining room

      Students can swipe their RebelCard to access the Dining Commons, which offers pizza and grilled food. Speciality dishes, such as steak, are popular with students, Clark said. Breakfast foods are also offered nightly, for students craving pancakes for dinner.

    • Salad Bar

      For students seeking a more healthy meal option, the soup and salad bar is a popular choice, Clark said.

    • Cereal station

      The three soda fountains and cereal bar are also heavily used by students. UNLV's dining staff can also work with the handful of students with special dietary needs, serving up vegan or dairy- or gluten-free foods, Clark said.

    • Upper Class Complex

      Finished in 1989, the Upper Class Complex has four three-story buildings housing up to 400 students. Amenities include study rooms, balconies and a conference room. As its name suggests, only upperclassmen and graduate level students live in this dorm, which also has themed halls with Harrah's Hotel College students and international students. Many of the 150 international students from Asia live in the Upper Class Complex's Global House.

    • Room at Hughes Hall

      This deluxe single room in Hughes Hall within the Upper Class Complex was renovated over the summer and outfitted with new furniture chosen by students. UNLV spent about $200,000 to convert Hughes' double rooms into deluxe single rooms to allow students more living space. The T-divider wall will be torn down next summer to make the room more spacious, Clark said. Missing in this room is a landline phone. With the proliferation of cellphones, it's been two years since a UNLV student has requested a landline phone, Clark said.

    • Hughes Kitchen

      Residential Life has been keen on using student surveys to improve UNLV's dormitories. One student suggestion that was implemented this past year was replacing a game room with a common kitchen area in the Upper Class Complex. The kitchen — which cost $90,000 to renovate — is stocked with an ice machine, a fridge, stove and microwave. Facilities personnel clear out the fridge every month and clean the kitchen area daily. UNLV students so far have kept the area clean, Clark said.

    • South Complex

      Constructed in 1990, the South Complex is an interconnected three-building dormitory that houses up to 450 students. Each of the three, four and five-story buildings house 40 students. Amenities include TV lounges and study rooms.

    • South Dorm Room

      South dorm rooms have the smallest rooms on campus. These double rooms, shown here, are also among the cheapest rooms on campus.

    • Dayton Complex

      Dayton Complex is UNLV's newest dorm, completed in 2004. This three- and four-story complex is a freshman-only dorm housing 440 students. Amenities include a partially shaded courtyard in the center, a game area and study rooms. A themed hall at Dayton includes an all-female floor.

    • Handicap-Accessible Room

      UNLV has 22 rooms that are handicap accessible. This triple room has a larger bathroom with railings as well as lower hooks, dressers and chairs to accommodate students using wheelchairs.

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