So how cool is your dorm?

Along a rather cozy stretch on busy Katipunan Road, the main thoroughfare in university central (where UP, Ateneo and Miriam have chosen to congregrate), is a gleaming new building that looks more like a swanky low-rise condo than what it really is: a college dorm. It’s been a while since I’ve dealt with the stresses of college life — long registration queues, mid-terms and final exams seasons, periods of anxious waiting for class cards, and for those who live away from home, the price of some degree of independence.

When I was in college, the ultimate dream was to move out of my parents’ home and live in the dorm. It was the kind of independent life I’d long envied in movies, but according to friends who did live in non-cinematic dorms, the reality was a tad different. OK, a lot different. After the novelty of newfound freedom wore off, they said, the reality of sorely compromised conveniences took their toll. Common bathrooms presented a bit of a challenge, as did erratic running water schedules. And if you think eccentric roommates are the stuff of college sitcoms, you might need to think again.

So the Oracle Residences (317 Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City; Tel: 928-1006; 928-1009), a high-tech dorm that even has the ultimate modern trapping —Wi-Fi — strikes me as the perfect antidote to the difficulties of dorm living. Conceptualized and operated by entrepreneur Sheila Romero, best known for a long-running stint in the food business via Azzurro, the Oracle Residences is reinventing the dorm – and those who equate dorm life with stern drill sergeants screaming “lights out!” at nine in the evening are in for a surprise.

One of the real issues of moving into a dorm is adjusting to life outside the ultimate comfort zone of your home, and sharing your space with strangers. Oracle appears bent on making sure the transition to new living arrangements is as painless as possible. For starters, each of the rooms in the well-secured living quarters of Oracle Residences (the dorm is equipped with CCTVs and is manned 24/7 by trained security guards) comes with its own toilet and bath (a huge relief for those who dread scheduling showers with at least 20 other girls – or boys, for that matter).

Each of the air-conditioned rooms also comes with its own TV, and a modular set of a loft-bed, a study table and a chair, a bookshelf, and a movable closet. It’s incredibly space-saving and frees up the rest of the room for additional furniture or appliances you may want to bring in (a couch perhaps, or your own personal ref), but the real joy of the modular sets is that it clearly defines your space. This is especially helpful if you room with other people, but the option to have the room all to yourself is available.

This is where CEOs-in-the-making (we hope) can flex their muscles and get first crack at independent living. I’m inclined to think that because Romero is a mother herself, she’s thought of everything kids might need when they essentially strike out on their own. Trust a mother to be one step ahead of her kids. “This is a mixed use building,” explains Romero, “so even if food and service outlets are open to the public, they’ve been carefully chosen to be of service to the residents – they had to be affordable but of good quality.” On the first level are casual dining food outlets Sizzling Pepper Steak and Tapa King. Romero also runs an interiors business, and even the restaurants at The Oracle are notably snazzier looking than the average outlet. This is no ordinary Tapa King, I can tell you. The second level has another food outlet with a more afternoon-date vibe, the Kourtyard Caffé, which serves coffee from homegrown beans, natural fruit juices, tea, and food.

The rest of the building houses spas, a tutorial club, beauty salons, a convenience store, and an Internet café (plus, in the works is a fifth level reserved for a ballroom/ banquet hall for parties and large gatherings, plus an infinity pool.) If that last bit about the pool just made the dorm more appealing than home, you may have found your new dream college digs, and lost a pretty good reason not to score high in school.