Plymouth Life Centre Reviews Summary

Facilities

Pros:

• "The facility is very well kept with staff really stepping up during COVID to ensure high cleanliness standards were maintained."
• "The biggest indoor climbing wall we have climbed so far as well as an awesome feature wall."
• "Excellent venue, lots of facilities like swimming, diving, sports hall, squash courts, gym, café, etc."
• "Public pool and kids pool with 2 water slides and a pool for lessons or converts into Olympic pool also has a diving pool at the end also facilitates a wide range of sports and fitness activities."
• "A great swimming pool & sports hall, squash courts, climbing wall, cafe and classes."
• "Plymouth Life Centre boasts a full 10 lane 50m Olympic size pool, an Olympic diving pool, dryside training facilities, a sauna and steam room."
• "Great sports and leisure centre with everything you need from Olympic sized swimming and diving pools to fully equipped gym, plenty of classes, 3 sports halls and much more."

Cons:

• "We were unable to book and pay online which caused confusion."
• "However, its rarely clean (swimming area) and it could do with a new lick of paint."
• "Could do with cleaning the hair out of the showers more often and sorting out the flush in the ladies dry changing room toilets."
• "It's looking very dirty at eye level when swimming. Green mould on the tiles, layers of calcium build up."
• "Changing rooms dirty and cold, anyone uses the family rooms so if you have young children you're left having to share a tiny single room, child's pool looks old and worn."
• "The swimming pool is a tad cold and very dirty around the sides the floor was black and orange around where the bins are and the floor isn't non slip everywhere."
• "The swimming pool changing rooms are disgusting, the floors are dirty and the place smelt of urine."

Staff and Customer Service

Pros:

• "Friendly staff and right in the middle of central park."
• "Staff are always friendly, welcoming and professional."
• "The cafe has great customer service really up to date with customer service and how things should be run."
• "Staff are great all keen to help you when you need: gym actual qualified trainers to help you with gaining muscle losing weight etc."
• "Staff & Lifeguards were friendly and helpful."
• "Staff were helpful and friendly."
• "Staff are always helpful and friendly; gym changing rooms are usually very clean."

Cons:

• "One Lady at reception always treats me like I'm a criminal."
• "Being sneered at by a cafe staff member when i asked a question made me feel less than welcome."
• "Terrible service, sent 2 enquiries, each time submitted correctly."
• "The origanisation here is rubbish, and they are unable to offer any customer service."
• "The life guard was useless didn't check if we were okay after my son fell over he was just looking at the ipad the all the time, he hardly moved."
• "The phone is never answered and the people at reception seem not to know what they’re doing."
• "Younger receptionists lack customer service skills."

Management and Organisation

Pros:

• "All the better for reverting back to Plymouth council management."
• "Its really easy to book and manage your bookings as well."
• "The Life Centre has great facilities!"

Cons:

• "Extremely disappointed that the life centre Management decided not to acknowledge the minutes silence today to remember our fallen."
• "Poor management. Unable to resolve a complaint."
• "The managment has changed from Everyone Active to Plymouth Active as from 1st April and unfortunately the new Managment failed to inform patrons of the rise in prices."
• "Surely the new managment should have ensured the changeover should have been smoother."
• "The place is brilliant but it lacks the most important thing in every business which is Customer care."
• "The booking system needs improvement."
• "The customer service here is shocking. After sending an email regarding swimming lessons it took 6 days for a response which was a voicemail."

Value and Pricing

Pros:

• "Fully recommend being a member."
• "Great facilities with a wide range of activities and generally good value."
• "Prices are affordable for most."
• "Great Climbing and bouldering facilities, very good price."
• "It's brilliant that they do the free swim for students."
• "Excellent gym and facilities and really cheap monthly contracts available. Swimming, classes, weights etc... It has it all and all up-to-date equipment."
• "Fair priced at one of the best sports arenas truly built for olympians."

Cons:

• "They never ever tell you about a cost to it unless you read the small print, everyone is signed up to this unless they say they don't want to be."
• "Annoying when you realise that you can hardly ever actually use it even when you pay for it."
• "Kids had fun but wouldn't pay to go there if honest."
• "Went to the life centre yesterday my wife myself 3 kids the middle pool was shut the baby pool was open but top part was shut off for toddlers learning to swim some poolside life guards had attitude about them paid £16 for the privilege poor Time."

Accessibility and Convenience

Pros:

• "There is always a hive of activity at the Life Centre with plenty of opportunity to socialise."
• "Despite the pool having a very busy swimming gala there were still lanes for public swimming open."
• "Swimming pool is good for lane swimming."
• "Ample parking and next to the main road with frequent buses."
• "What a great place for the whole family 👪 enjoy the swimming pools, for young and old there's a pool that caters for everyone."
• "Outside, there is a large car park, with several spaces, as well as a smaller car park behind the centre with some more parking spaces."
• "Daughter has swimming lessons here and loves them, we use the children's pool a lot and never had any problems, tricky parking when Argyll are playing at home."

Cons:

• "I'm a little unsettled about cameras in their changing areas."
• "However my experience was that there are rarely enough lanes available for general lane swimmers, with most lanes kept for club use only."
• "Does anyone answer the phones at this lifecentre. Absolutely horrendous to find out any information or book anything. The website just as bad."
• "The floor of the pool is also slippy."
• "The times are always unpredictable and the options for lanes and what type of speed they offer is also unreliable."
• "When I most want to swim, such as straight after work then the pool is either closed to general swimmers or only 1/2 lanes open."
• "The Swimming timetable online is horrendous. Never correct, never updated and not a user friendly site at all."

Cleanliness and Maintenance

Pros:

• "I don't use much of this facility but the pool changing and showers seem cleaner now, although early mornings mean you don't see what happens during the day."
• "Staff were all friendly, as climbers usually are."
• "I regularly use the pool early mornings, which is generally very quiet with lots of space for specific training."

Cons:

• "I'm a little unsettled about cameras in their changing areas."
• "Could do with cleaning the hair out of the showers more often and sorting out the flush in the ladies dry changing room toilets."
• "It's looking very dirty at eye level when swimming. Green mould on the tiles, layers of calcium build up."
• "Changing rooms dirty and cold, anyone uses the family rooms so if you have young children you're left having to share a tiny single room, child's pool looks old and worn."
• "The swimming pool is a tad cold and very dirty around the sides the floor was black and orange around where the bins are and the floor isn't non slip everywhere."
• "The changing areas however are generally disgusting!!!"
• "Occasionally the changing room floors could be a bit cleaner."