September 2023 by Patricia McDonald
Work for virgin been in London on Sunday needed to change went in had a shower and changed lovely greeting at foh what a nice helpful guy offered myself and my son towels my son had a quick swim and sauna changing rooms lovely and clean came out the guy at foh asked if we needed anything else what a great guy did not get his name it was about 2 pm said a cheery goodbye to us and we left and went on to event we were going to feeling refreshed happy to call in again thanks Pat
August 2023 by Piotr Krawiec
Great swimming pool facility. Unfortunatelly, for some reason Virgin started to split it into 4 lanes which makes it unsafe to swim. The original design is 3 lanes. 5 years ago my locker was broken into so please be carefull with any valuables.
August 2023 by Charlie Davis
Instructors are great, pretty much the only thing that keeps people at this gym as well as lack of choice in the area if you want a pool and classes. Constantly cancelling classes despite instructors giving pleanty of notice (instructors give us a heads up a weeks in advance because they are fully aware it's too much effort for the appalling management running this place to find cover). The AC is non existent I assume to cut energy costs despite putting membership up to cover increasing costs.
August 2023 by Aleata Alstad-Calkins
Great gym! It has a range of different classes for all abilities which is fab, especially for someone who's new to the world of working out or attending classes. The gym is large enough that it doesn't feel too crowded when it's full. You might have to wait a few moments for certain machines but you can always try something new while you wait. The spa facilities are fantastic. My only 'complaint' is they don't have classes on a Sunday eve which would be the perfect time to go (in my opinion, anyway). Friendly staff, clean changing rooms (spacious too) and high quality service
June 2023 by Laura Grady
Classes are amazing, equipment is great, staff are lovely. Changing rooms could do with being modernised, but have nice facilities (although often low on shampoo/ conditioner in the showers).The big issue I have is that there is just not enough space and as a result it feels like there are too many members! Club occupancy is very often at 100%. Feels too overwhelming to enjoy the gym when it?s that full of people.
June 2023 by V S
Shambolic management. No aircon in the spin room for months, faulty sound system cutting out during the class and poor quality bikes. Despite continually asking for interim measures such as fans due to temperatures outside (26°+), no action has been taken. This is a basic health and safety issue, leaving spin instructors with no other option but to ask riders to pop out if they feel faint. The quality of the facilities are shocking considering the price of membership - pool spa facilities continually being closed for maintenance, dated and broken machines, glitchy app for booking classes. I joined the gym primarily for the diverse range of classes. Although the class instructors are amazing, the quality is heavily impacted by the state of the facilities which is such a shame for both members and instructors.
June 2023 by Louise Søndergaard
The pool is very busy, and they?ve recently narrowed the lanes so the gym can earn more money on swim coaching for children. There are often 5-8 adult swimmers sharing a lane during peak hours so that 1-2 kids can splash around and take up half the pool.Additionally, the changing rooms are disgusting with dirty floors and showers at all times of day
June 2023 by Samuel Dell
The pool lanes get too crowded especially now they have closed extra lanes for kids/aqua aerobics. I can now no longer do my programmed swimming sessions there as I can't reliably complete them correctly without major inconvenience.
May 2023 by Janetnjj Lindsey
Smugglers Way is a great gym, really lovely staff, but head office have recently enforced smaller lane changes in the pool across all gyms, that are not just working for anyone who uses this one. Swimmers are getting hurt knocking into each other, aqua classes are now too squashed, and the atmosphere is not enjoyable as a result. Hard to keep paying membership fees for an experience that?s changed so much by a rash decision made by someone in an office somewhere who doesn?t actually use the pool! Such a shame.
April 2023 by Scotty M
Facilities and machines are extremely out dated and worn out. Poor layout of equipment, weights and racks blocking mirrors. A work out experience made worse by the cheap B side music. Other gyms are half the price with a better environment and better equipment. Majority of lockers are always locked, reading other reviews this had been a problem for a long time and never addressed.Staff and instructors are amazing, always friendly knowledgeable and remember your name. Classes are great and it's in a good location.
April 2023 by Misha Fell
I?m a weightlifter who joined a year ago after spending a year at David Lloyd. I never expected Virgin to meet DL?s standards but I was still disappointed and decided to offer a thorough review so others will know what you?re buying.Summary ? PureGym with a pool. In my opinion, this gym needs a big money refurb in order to match the standard set by other Virgin Actives around the UK and I regret having joined-up on a fixed contract. I haven?t seen any willingness from management to raise the standards ? perhaps due to a steady stream of customers signing up to fixed deals. Unless you?re getting a heavy corporate discount and/or value location above anything else, I would swerve this place.Location ? Good, there is a car park, but you can only spend 2 hours maximum or get hit with a pricey ticket, so many park outside on the road after hours.Cleanliness ? Poor. Unfortunately, the showers and toilets often smell. There is a moth problem in the men?s locker room. The gym floor, studios and pool area are ok. There are quite a few areas where the place seems to be falling apart, e.g. Holes in the ceiling, broken lockers, stained walls.Facilities ? The pool is nice and the Spa includes a steam room, sauna and two hot tubs. The hot tubs have a fault meaning only one can be on at a time and the temperature is lukewarm. The steam room was broken and out of action for about 9 months while I was a member. The Café area doesn?t have a lot going on inside and I?ve never really seen it used. There have also been problems with towel shortages. The free WiFi is good.Equipment ? Kit and machines are pretty standard. The gym floor could do with a couple more Olympic sized barbells and needs more 2.5 plates. Two squat racks. There?s no pec dec machine.Classes ? a pretty good selection, including box-fit, but you have to be quick to book. The popular classes get 20+ people on the waiting list.Environment/vibe ? Typical busy gym, with quieter periods during the day and late evening, but it?s the kind of place where few bother to put weights back. I?ve also had two water bottles stolen over the last year when I foolishly left them in the gym overnight. It?s not the kind of place you can afford leave anything nice unsupervised.Staff ? Generally pleasant, but there are sometimes shortages that lead to pool and spa area to close down. Regarding management, I?ve highlighted some of the issues above many occasions but as far as I?m aware they haven?t been read/addressed.Value ? I paid £77 per month, including corporate discount, which didn?t get me the close to top-tier gym experience I expected. On reflection, I wouldn?t pay more than £50 a month to go here.
April 2023 by Seranita Arbol
Quite disappointing cleanliness and repair standards for such an expensive gym.I mostly use the treadmills and I?m quite disappointed that lots of them aren?t working. At any given time maybe 60 per cent are working ok, while others have an out of service sign or are simply blocked. Out of the ones that do work, their hardware isn?t in the best conditions. Some bottle holders are completely broken so can?t hold your water bottle.Some of the working machines will randomly stop mid workout and block themselves.Have raised this several times with staff and they simply say they?re waiting for a solution or for the machines to be replaced, or they come up with other excuses but still no proper solutions.For such an expensive gym, they should do better and also keep their clients notified about the state of repairs.The female shower rooms have a lot of mould on the ceilings and often lack shower gel.The steam room and second jacuzzi didn?t work for a long time (ie. Months).Also for some weird reason (haven?t seen this in other gyms) they often run out of towels and ask you to bring your own ?
February 2023 by John Stone
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.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.
February 2023 by Adam Al-Mudhafer
Staff are really nice but other than that its poor quality for an expensive gym. Prices were increased due to 'refurbishments' however that didn't happen they simply gave the pool a yearly clean. Steam room and hot tubs are constantly broken and you never know when you can use them. Showers are disgusting and need ripping out there is mould on the ceilings. Gym Equipment is very old but does the Job.
February 2023 by Shaun Barrett
I had a free pass to try this gym via my work, safe to say I wont be signing up. Great to have so many features at this gym (pool, sauna, gym and showers) but it really is run like a school rather than a premium sports venue. Often it was dirty, overcrowded and additionally a lack of respect from other patrons using it. Find another gym in the area.
