1. How to fix the deal – about contracts
If you want to move in at Babenberghaus, fill in the application to the best of your knowledge. Our office will get in touch with you and, in case we can provide a dorm spot for you, design your paperwork (contract of use, house rules, dorm statutes, debit authorization). We will also provide more detailed information on how to proceed via email.
If you are curious already, here’s some info on what will happen next: all the legal documents are written in German and will be sent to you via email (we provide an informational translation of the most consequential document, the contract of use). Sign, scan, and return the german documents and transfer the initial payment of € 700,00 (deposit + processing fee). Dormitory management will sign the contract as well and send it to you. The signed contract is legally binding and you have a right to your dorm room. If you require visa approvement, this contract of use serves as proof of accommodation for the process. Lastly in case you don’t have a bank account with an IBAN already, the debit authorization can wait until after you moved in (the rent transfer will happen automatically on the 5th of each month).
2. Moving in
Since we are a small dormitory with only 16 rooms, a standing reception is not required. Before moving in, you will inform the management about your approximate time of arrival (or maybe tell us what public transport you will use, then we’ll check for delays ourselves). You’ll receive a contact number from a staff member and about 30 to 60 minutes before your arrival please give us a heads up so that we can make sure to be nearby and ready to welcome you at the entrance, give you a tour and answer your remaining questions.
For information regarding public transport in Austria, check out the app “OEBB Scotty” or the route planner of the Austrian Federal Railway Service (“Österreichische Bundesbahnen”, or ÖBB).
When moving in, we’ll do a tour around the dorm. A key card, the signed registration form for the local authorities and a deficiency list will be handed to you. You have to register within 3 working days (you also have to deregister when moving out). The nearest registration office is at 8010 Graz, Schmiedgasse 26. For more detailed information, visit the registration office website.
The deficiency list is supposed to be filled within a few days, providing you with an opportunity to document the initial room condition and providing us the opportunity to further maintain good room conditions in case something that needs to be fixed hasn’t come to our attention before you moved in. This way, you won’t be held responsible for damages that were already there when you moved in.
3. Bed Covers
The dormitory provides a mattress (format: 90 x 200 cm), as well as a blanket and a pillow. The bed covers will not be provided by the dormitory, so you are supposed to bring them with you. However, borrowing clean bed covers is possible for a one-off fee (mattress cover or sheet cover € 10 each, pillow cover € 5).
4. Cleaning service
The cleaning service takes care of all all shared areas. If you want to tidy up your own room, we provide some equipment for that in the cleaning room on the 2nd floor, which is available to everyone. Return the equipment as soon as you are done, so others can use it too.
5. Kitchen
Group compatible kitchen treatment is very important to us and to you, since you want to be able to use a clean kitchen even in between the times it is cleaned by our cleaning service. This is why we designed the kitchen rules to encourage maximal personal responsibility.
The dorm does not provide kitchenware, but instead separate storage space in the kitchen, dedicated to the respective sleeping rooms, in which personal kitchenware, which the tenants provide themselves, can be stored. The tenants are welcome to share their kitchenware as they see fit, which is quite common, but requires initial agreement.
If kitchenware is left outside of the personal storage space, it is considered as “free to use” for everyone. If left in an inappropriate manner (dirty, using up cooking space), it can also be disposed of. This way, a clean and orderly kitchen state is encouraged, as every user has interest in keeping his or her kitchenware.
The used kitchenware is to be cleaned and stored away soon after meal consumption. If anyone is frequently caught using stored personal (in other words, “not free to use”) kitchenware of others without asking first, it is a violation of the house rules and in the worst case, the violator has to leave the dorm because of that.
The extractor hood is supposed to be turned off after cooking. Keeping it on for hours non-stop is bad for device longevity.
The drain strainer (sink strainer) is to be emptied into the trash bin to keep the sink free of food and bad smell.
There are garbage baskets for Plastic (Plastik), Paper (Papier), Metal (Metall), Glass (Glas), Organic (Bio) and leftover waste in the kitchen. Waste separation is required. The garbage baskets will be emptied by staff members.
6. Shower rooms
The shower rooms are empty per default, which means that each tenant has to store personal hygiene products and towels in their respective sleeping rooms, which have towel rails next to the room sink for that purpose. The shower users take their belongings with them when they enter and when they leave. In combination with the regular cleaning service, this enables everybody to enjoy a clean and orderly shower room.
7. Toilets
Please leave it the way you found it. If you receive guests, please make them aware of this rule as well.
Toilet culture varies around the world. Our toilets are equipped with a separate seat in addition to the toilet bowl, enabling the toilet user to sit down. Moreover, our sewage system is built to also take toilet paper, so there’s no need to put it into a garbage can. You can just flush it down. What you must not flush down is stuff that’s not made out of paper or things that take up huge amounts of water, like tampons or sanitary napkins. Those actually need to go into the garbage can.
And please close the door when you leave. Also – gentlemen – if you must stand, please don’t forget to put the seat down afterwards.
8. Mailbox
The mailbox is emptied by one of our staff members, who will deliver the mail directly to your room, once a week. If you expect urgent mail, you can check on the mailbox yourself more frequently. How to open the mailbox will be shown to you when you move in.
9. Laundry
We provide one laundry machine per floor. Using the laundry machine requires € 0,50 coins (at least 2 coins). Each coin supplies the machine with electricity for 50 minutes. Choose your laundry program on the washing machine accordingly, since the laundry will be stuck in the machine if the electricity is shut off while the program isn’t finished yet. Since the water of Graz is very rich in minerals, always add one water softener tab (which will be provided by the dorm) per load, to extend the machines life and reduce the amount of detergent required for your washload.
Using the electric drying machine is free. Cleaning the wool filter of the drying machine before and after using it is mandatory. It takes 15 seconds and will speed up the efficiency of the machine. If you don’t know how to clean the wool filter, a staff member will show you how to do it.
10. Winter season: heating and air management
If you are not used to living in a country that has cold winters, you might learn a thing or two about heating and air management. Heating is included in the rent. Our heating system is controlled automatically, which allows for temperature regulation according to your wishes. You can decide on the schedules regarding temperature over time and day of week. A staff member will adjust the timetable according to your wishes. After that, you don’t have to bother anymore and only get in touch with management if you want your settings to be changed or adjusted. For instance, most people decide to cool the room a little bit during the night to improve sleep quality and also when they go to the university for saving energy. Also, if you open the window, the heating will be turned off automatically and turnen on again as soon as the window is closed.
Also, if you plan on leaving for a longer period of time, the staff can activate the “vacation mode” to turn the heating off for that period of time and having it automatically reactivate before you come back to ready the room for you.
In the cold season, we recommend fresh air exchange by fully opening the window for at least 5 minutes a time for maximal comfort. It should be done before going to bed, after waking up and whenever there are steamy things in the room (maybe food or hot drinks). The importance of airing rises with the number of people present in the room, but even with only one person, it would be good to let in fresh air every four to five hours. Humid, used up air is not only bad for your health and wellbeing, but also increases the risk of mold – a topic to be aware of in a cold country such as Austria in the winter.
If you notice mold anyway, inform one of our staff members immediately. The sooner we can get rid of it, the easier it is. (Don’t try to just wipe it away yourself, it has to be treated and killed off with a special substance first.)
11. Internet connection
Each tenant has access to a broadband wifi internet connection, which is included in the rent. Upon moving in, you will receive an email with your login data from the “Virtual Campus Graz”, whereby you have to change your automatically generated password within 24 hours. The new password has to consist of least 8 digits, at least one of which has to be a number and another one a special sign (only the following: $%/#!_?&). Then, you can log on to the wifi network “VCGraz”. If you would like to establish a very fast connection – maybe for gaming – you can also connect via ethernet cable. Some smartphones need do download and install a certificate to use the wifi – you can find more detailed information regarding the wifi connection on the VCG website.