Every fall, once universities post their dorm room assignments, a wave of students is left without a spot: those who didn't score enough points, those who arrived in the city too late, or those who simply want better conditions than a four-person room with a bathroom down the hall. For them, Bucharest's private dorm market has grown steadily in recent years, from a handful of modest buildings in the 2000s to campuses with thousands of beds, some closer to a hotel than to the classic dorm image.

From 550 lei to €1,000 a month — the price range is huge

The difference in comfort shows up directly in the price.  Carpex, on Papazoglu Dumitru Street no. 84, District 3, a ten-minute walk from Timpuri Noi metro station, has 220 rooms — doubles and singles, with private bathrooms and new furniture. Rates vary, depending on the source and the contract year, somewhere between 550 and 1,000 lei a month for a bed — worth requesting an updated quote before deciding. The minimum contract is three months, and electricity is billed separately.

At the other end, the large campuses, built as dedicated real estate projects, charge in euros, not lei.

The big campuses: West Gate Studios and Arcca

West Gate Studios, in the Militari district, on Bulevardul Preciziei no. 24, is the largest private campus in the country — part of the portfolio of Genesis Property, the company founded by Liviu Tudor. It has over 800 studios and two-room apartments, with a stated capacity of more than 1,600 beds, just two minutes from Preciziei metro station (line M3), with a direct connection to Politehnica in three-four stops. The campus includes a pool, a gym, a restaurant, a supermarket, medical services, and a 120-seat library. Prices start around €200 a month for a Studio room, paid in advance for the duration of an annual contract. In 2024, all spots filled up well before the start of the academic year, according to a Forbes România article, and many students remained on the waiting list.

Arcca runs three campuses — Vitan, Pajura, and Titan — with a combined advertised capacity of over 2,500 beds. At Vitan Village, on Bulevardul Energeticienilor in District 3, a bed in a standard double room starts around €150-155 a month, with all utilities included, while triple rooms run somewhat cheaper. The campus offers free transport to Dristor metro, a restaurant, a grocery store, and a laundry room. At Pajura Garden, in District 1, near Jiului metro, a standard triple room costs around €130 a month, and there's a one-time "setup" fee (cleaning and preparation before the academic year starts). Arcca contracts are built around the academic year — 9 or 10 months, not 12 — and shorter stays of 5-9 months carry a higher rate.

What you get beyond what the state offers

The difference from a state dorm isn't just price — it's what's included. Private rooms almost always come with a private bathroom, new furniture, fully equipped kitchens either on each floor or in the room itself, cable and wi-fi internet, round-the-clock security with video surveillance, and — at the larger campuses — amenities a university dorm rarely has: gyms, sports fields, separate study spaces, dry cleaning, sometimes even on-site medical offices.

In exchange, contracts tend to be stricter than at state dorms: a minimum rental period (often 3, 5, or 10 months), a deposit equal to one month's rent paid at signing, and a higher rate if you choose an individual room.

How a student without a state dorm room navigates the options

For the 2026-2027 academic year, indicative rates at Bucharest's state dorms start at 250-400 lei a month for older three- or four-person rooms and go up to 600-900 lei for modern rooms or studios, depending on the university. Those who don't get a spot — or don't want the conditions on offer — usually look first at the big campuses, where the booking process is online and transparent, with waiting lists posted directly on the site, and only then at the smaller, cheaper options, where information tends to circulate more through faculty Facebook groups than through updated official websites.

One thing worth checking before signing any contract: most private campuses adjust their rates from one academic year to the next, sometimes significantly — so exact prices for 2026-2027 are worth confirming directly on the chosen dorm's website, rather than pulled from older articles.

Also recommended Where Politehnica Students Live, and What Their Dorms Look Like Today