Archway Leisure Centre

Pros- this gym is inexpensive and has a pool. The gym has all the main equipment types and you can usually get on a treadmill even if busy.
Cons - It is run mainly as a youth group for the employees, they are good at chatting to each other but not to customers. If you happen to be there 1 hour before closing time you will experience 'the cleaning'. This is where an employee cleans the floor and all pieces of equipment, with a bucket of the same brown liquid, leaving a slippery soapy residue encrusted with hairs over anything you may want to use! The pool is OK to swim in but is always used for 'family fun' time or swimming lessons, so swimming for fitness is difficult. The rules for not using the gym changing room from the swimming pool are wholly ignored and the staff don't enforce these rules.

Fun indoor slide, small river rapid, and waves. Good for kids under 10. Small area for swimming (1.7m depth), but if after proper swim the Prince of Wales Road pool is better

I went swimming,the staff was really rude and unpleasant, never understood me,they asked me to leave because my “mother” wasn’t with me, they didn’t allow me to swim at all,my mother was with my baby brother since he couldn’t swim, they said I can’t swim without her so I had to stay at the shallow end the hole time,to ur not allowed to do anything but swim,you can’t dive etc.it’s a very strict place, at the end they yell at everyone to exit, and I had the worst experience compared to the leisure centres I’ve been to,I won’t be returning back. Don’t waste your time or money in this place, there are more better places Like Britannia leisure centre, it’s way better then this one, because they aren’t rude and it’s not a strict place. Archway leisure centre needs to shut down, this was my first time here and I hated it. I’ve haven’t had any troubles with any leisure centres except this one, it’s also a very dirty place, the pool had literal dirt in it, the staff are really aggressive, they deserve to be fired, they need better rules, this place is strict.it’s not good as it seems online or in pictures.

I joined this centre mainly to utilise the swimming pool for fitness.
You can’t use the swimming pool during the weekends as it’s for family fun swimming only.
You can’t use the swimming pool between 3pm till 7pm as it’s for swimming lessons only.

Fine, I’ll go during lunchtime.

But no, because now during summer holidays it’s for family fun swimming from 10am till 7pm.

What about those that work 9-5?! Do I have to go very early in the morning or wait two hours after work?!
I understand kids need to have fun, but at this point it’s really unfair.

UPDATE 20/09/22
To my delight, I discovered today that now that summer holidays are over, 2/3 lanes are still occupied by swimming lessons during lunch time. I’m no kids hater but I find it funny that Better claims to be there to help improving your mental health. I guess they meant only the mental health of those who aren’t working.

Water damages still not fixed after nearly 3months. Reduced capacity/space as a result. None of the bikes were working for several days. No sign of any compensation, reduction in the monthly fee. Appaling.

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Update after my last review 3 months ago; nothing has changed. Utter joke. Here are the pics showing the current state of the "gym". I have been very (too?) patient, time to cancel my membership.

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Update 11/2022: I have finally cancelled my membership since the situation has still not improved and I was struggling to find any motivation to go to train in these circumstances. I have joined a new local gym earlier this week; £26.99 instead of £40 for the cheapest memebership at the leisure centre; brand new equipment, much more space, FREE use of the lockers (and they even gave me a lock 🤣)
It's a no brainer really.

Archway swimming pool is enjoyable for kids and even adults. It features a small jacuzzi for babies, a deep jacuzzi, a small slide for kids, a gigantic slide and last but not least, waves! I was welcomed on my first time there. It's a really nice swimming pool.

Almost non existent selection of barbell weights, lots of broken and rusty equipment. Saunas and steam room are open only during limited hours, there is maybe 5 exercise mats in the whole gym… Waste of money

I joined this gym in May earlier this year, and for the majority of my time coming here I wished I had never got a membership.

With the redevelopment though they have properly turned it around. New equipment, a free weights area miles better than the old one; two squat racks and space for dumbbells and deadlifts. I'm hesitant to give a good review cause it's nice having this gym to myself but I think the people working there deserve some recognition after all the bad reviews (which were deserved, the gym used to be basically derelict). Good work.

Edit: one comment, get more 5, 2.5 & 1.25 kg weights. There's plenty of 10s and 20s but not enough smaller plates