Virgin Active Reviews Summary

Facilities

Pros:

• "the club does boast an 18m swimming pool, a large jacuzzi, a steam room, a sauna as well as the gym floor itself and a good few rooms for classes, spin, etc."
• "The pool is nice and not particularly crowded."
• "Great gym with loads of facilities including studio's for yoga, spinning and other classes."
• "Good range of training equipment and very spacious, plus excellent studio rooms and pool/spa area."
• "The pool and the spa area is a huge bonus."
• "The pool and spa area also look modern and clean."
• "Brilliant facilities and looks great after it's refurb, especially the new changing rooms and showers with GHD hair dryers and straighteners!"

Cons:

• "None of the cardio equipment is bluetooth compatible (unlike other Virgin gyms I use)."
• "Ongoing issues with the aircon, spin class and bodypump unbearable to be in."
• "Not enough yoga classes at all, air con doesn’t work."
• "The steam room most of the time broken."
• "The Jacuzzi is big and looks great but the water was not warm enough."
• "Too hot, don’t have the latest technogym equipment (even after the refurbishment and upgrade!)."
• "Whilst the pool and sauna/steam room/jacuzzi are of a good standard, I found the treadmill to be shaking all over the place while I was running."

Cleanliness

Pros:

• "gym was super clean also the Ladies changing room was spotless."
• "The gym was always very clean with great facilities."
• "Front of house staff are really lovely and sweet and the cleaners do a good job at keeping the club spotless."
• "The changing rooms and poolside are always immaculately clean which is important to me."
• "They keep the gym clean & tidy and make for a great environment for a workout."
• "The gym is very clean compared to other gyms I have been too."
• "They even have straighteners in the changing rooms... The hot tub looks exceedingly clean, it's completely clear."

Cons:

• "Lockers: dirty inside, i think its been years since they have last been cleaned."
• "The men’s showers are full of mould and have been for a considerable time."
• "The jacuzzi hasn't seen a cleaning session in months and it's covered in what appears to be soil or sand."
• "Dirty lookers that remain dirty over the weeks, complimentary facilities not replenished."
• "The cleanliness of the place is appalling."
• "lockers are gross and never cleaned!"
• "Shower walls and ceiling are covered y mould."

Staff and Customer Service

Pros:

• "The staff are amazingly friendly."
• "People with common sense, a friendly smile on their face, especially when applied consistently, make a difference."
• "The staff I have encountered has been quite nice and pretty helpful."
• "It's so relaxing and inspiring to be a member and the staff are absolutely encouraging and professional."
• "Staff are so friendly and helpful."
• "James has fantastic business and customer service skills, staff really friendly."
• "Staff is always helpful and coach Tom has kept me going for three months and counting!"

Cons:

• "Another garbage gym with garbage customer service!"
• "Her attitude was arrogant and not friendly at all."
• "I had a query about charges on my account after I'd 'frozen' the contract and not only was the membership manager hugely unhelpful, she failed to get in touch for five days."
• "the staff DO NOT CARE."
• "The Canadian/American sounding man on reception was EXCEPTIONALLY careless and rude."
• "I’ve been a membership of Virgin Active for a while but the receptionist at here was worst in the other virgin’s gym."
• "Arrogant, unhelpful and unpleasant senior management preside over a dysfunctional club."

Value and Pricing

Pros:

• "They offer an amazing discount for 18-21 users which makes it an even better value."
• "Knowledgeable staff make this luxury worth it."

Cons:

• "Also as every quoter of the year they put the price up as the quality goes down!!!!"
• "Constant membership fee UNJUSTIFIED increases."
• "I don’t like their company rules of requiring visitors to have a UK bank account just to be a member for a week."
• "Also good luck trying to freeze or cancel your membership! They will take your money regardless!"
• "Not only the branch facilities are not good enough to justify the ridiculously high rates, their staff is also not helpful at all."
• "Sadly there are no minus stars!!!!"
• "the staff are rude and miserable ALL THE TIME (maybe they should be paid more!)."

Location and Accessibility

Pros:

• "The location is great and happy to have joined this gym."
• "Great central London gym. I've been going for over 2 years."
• "This place is great for anyone that works close by to central London."
• "The location of the gym is second to none, who wouldn’t love Strand."
• "The location of the gym is fantastic."
• "Outstanding facility; never experienced anything like it in States."
• "Nice central city gym - has everything you need, equipment is in good shape and environment good."

Cons:

• "Why is the gym still closing at 4pm on weekend?"
• "Location is good. Rest isn't. Lockers are always breaking."
• "The fitness first in strand is nearly 1/3rd of the price, has only 1 floor, and yet the free-weights area has more equipment and is more spacious."
• "This gym is underground and yet the Wifi NEVER WORKS!!!"