Virgin Active

Really gone downhill - showers never cleaned, facilites in need of attention for a pricy gym.

I signed up after the end of first lockdown and it was great at that time. I could access other gyms like clapham or strand. Now the prices have gone up and I can access fewer gyms - the tier system is extreme for only having a handful of gyms anyway. I think you can tell that management is struggling.

The gym floor is fine, wide variety of machines and equipment. It’s annoying if a grid class is on that there isn’t really any other space to do your own workout.

The locker rooms are really getting shabby though - floors are dirty, mens toilets in a poor state. So many lockers are constantly locked despite policy of emptying overnight so it causes congestion in areas. Some annoying parents also ignore the family changing area which is irritating.

The showers are really dirty - mould and drain fly everywhere, doors and walls with protein stains and worse that are never cleaned off. Even the soap dispensers are covered in mould so you have to be careful as you touch them. Bit grim to say the least.

The pool is a decent size but never seems that clean and they allow families to dominate. Water noticeably murky at some times.

It’s good that you get a towel, bring your own padlock and there’s a swimsuit spindrier which is useful.

Lovely and helpful staff but I have been disappointed by the cleanliness - the changing room floors are dirty and there is always one loo out of order. Furthermore, half the treadmills seem to be out of action. The floor in the showers is quite grim as is the hallway to the swimming pool. The shampoo and conditioner are also always running out and poor quality - considering the monthly membership costs. It would be great for these to be reviewed.

It's extremely filthy and has an unkept feel about it. General maintenance across the gym is also very low. Staff are pretty unfriendly. Everything else is okay, but the cleanliness supersedes any positives.

I've mostly been a member of budget friendly gyms and thought I'd upgrade to something more premium , it's been 8 months and I'll be moving to another gym it's just gross.

I feel it’s gone downhill in past 18 months. Issues are:
1. It’s not good value for money at £90 a month. It’s just not a premium gym - I used to pay £140 to use Bank but I didn’t mind that as it was a very premium gym - super clean, top of the range equipment and facilities, plus that was in central London. This is a average neighbourhood gym in zone 3 and should not be £90 a month.

2. They impose decisions showing disregard to customers. Two popular instructors (Shaun C and Debra L) have lost their classes recently. Their classes were always full and popular, there was a petition against Shaun losing his class, but Virgin don’t care. They do other strange things like changed most yoga classes to 45 minutes that nobody wanted and isn’t suitable (yoga needs an hour to loosen muscles) but Virgin don’t care.

3. Facilities aren’t that good. Black mould in showers, one of jacuzzi / steam room / sauna or toilet always seems to be broken.

Everyone knows Virgin are in financial trouble and I think a lot of the issues above relate to that but it’s a shame to see as a loyal Virgin customer of more than a decade, and squeezing their customers financially and making unpopular decisions may give them a short term gain but it’s not a sustainable long term strategy.

I have been a member for 5 months.
The cleanliness of changerooms and showers is really not top, the floor is often very dirty.

The pool area is not good and the hygiene of the sauna and steam room might be improved. I saw some of the staff walking in their outdoor shoes inside the pool area (without wearing shoe covers)!
For at least 2 months the steam room and one of the jacuzzi pools have been out of order.

I absolutely love this gym and couldn’t live without it. Fantastic classes, great team of really friendly & professional reception staff, especially Marcel The cleaning is excellent ( Denise and Elaine) in the changing and shower areas. Since Rachel came as manager there have been huge improvements and a keen eye for detail which was lacking in the past with previous managers. The pool and life guards are excellent too , Timon and the other guys are great.

Roided up aggressive PT's won't let you touch any free weights whilst classes are happening in the open gym which is ridiculous, considering you're a paying customer...

Cleanliness is a bit sad, broken machines for over a month. Regular issues with the facilities, pool, sauna and showers.

Refusal of issuing guest passes, even though none have been used.

For a pricey gym, the service is terrible. Definitely not a gym setup for weightlifters as they only have 2 squat racks but they have 20 running machines that barely get used...

Best to find a local smaller boutique gym.

Very poor experience vs the price they charge, in theory they have a reasonable amount of equipment if it worked. Currently out of 13 running machines they only have 3 that fully work, they have 4 more that partially work - 1 works but cuts out after a variable amount of time and 3 don't have a TV signal. The lack of TV signal would be ok, but in their infinite wisdom they have decided to remove the TV's from the walls.....(they also appear to not be well calibrated).

I have reported this on numerous occasions in person and via feedback form on the app but no improvement in the last 2 months nor any response to the messages.

Three trial (reduced price) personal training sessions, I felt were generic rather than tailored to what I requested or at least no explanation was given as to why the session was most beneficial.