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Original poster

Help me decide if I should join David Lloyd or not

134 replies

rookiemere · 26/05/2021 09:19

So I've had a trial membership and am now at the deciding if I should commit phase. It would just be for me - DS 15 does his own thing as does DH.

I'm just swithering so much because it's so expensive - £88 per month for a non flexible years membership. But I love the outdoor pool and went to a class there and enjoyed that, plus my friends a member and can meet her for a coffee. There's no other outdoor heated pools where I live.

It doesn't really stack up on price per visit. It's a 15 minute drive away so realistically I'll only go on my day off and weekends, and then obviously there are other things to do so I don't want it to turn into a chore.

DH is encouraging me to join - I find it hard to treat myself as you might have guessed , and I hate the thought of wasting money. Last year was my 50th and none of the special trips I'd organised took place. We can afford it as a family. Should I just go for it?

OP posts:
BalladOfBarryAndFreda · 27/05/2021 15:40

@JSL52

Do they do an NHS discount ? It's so frustrating they do t have prices on the website.
They used to do NHS discount but it was bugger all.
HunterHearstHelmsley · 27/05/2021 16:09

My friend worked in sales at DL. There is very little room for negotiation. They will often have no joining fee deals on but don't tell you unless you ask, or you're wavering about joining. Makes it look like they're giving you a deal.

Mine did an offer a couple of years ago, you could add an over 50 friend or family member for £30 a month. It did not go down well!

JSL52 · 27/05/2021 17:43

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda just heard from mine. £10 discount per month on top two memberships. No discount on joining fee. Still £101 😬

Cleebope2 · 27/05/2021 17:48

I have DL off peak membership at £49 monthly. I only use the outdoor pool and spa. It is definitely worth it. I go twice at weekends and once or twice weekly if I can get there before 4. Also lots on days off. Go for it. I’m addicted and it keeps me very healthy and keeps down stress.

Sssloou · 27/05/2021 17:53

@Cleebope2

I have DL off peak membership at £49 monthly. I only use the outdoor pool and spa. It is definitely worth it. I go twice at weekends and once or twice weekly if I can get there before 4. Also lots on days off. Go for it. I’m addicted and it keeps me very healthy and keeps down stress.
Wow that looks good value - didn’t know off peak allowed weekends.
nevertrustaherdofcows · 27/05/2021 17:59

Anyone know what the Epsom one costs?

pigglepot · 27/05/2021 18:33

Why don't you do the DL three month membership and see how you get on? It works out more expensive but not hugely so and you are only tied in for 3 months. You can actually keep doing it too if you wanted to. We've just signed up for it.

Since we signed up last Friday I've been twice. Might not manage another trip this week but hoping to go a few times next week. The real bliss for me was dropping DD at crèche on Saturday morning- we both got an hour in the gym then all had a swim in the pool followed by lunch in the cafe for DD (no washing up- amazing!) she was so knackered she fell asleep cold for two hours too!

BalladOfBarryAndFreda · 27/05/2021 18:36

[quote JSL52]@BalladOfBarryAndFreda just heard from mine. £10 discount per month on top two memberships. No discount on joining fee. Still £101 😬[/quote]
Yeah, sounds about right. I think they took £8 off mine. I cancelled my membership as my local club wasn’t keeping up on the maintenance and had overdone the recruitment so the place was overrun, especially with young families. It went from being a quiet haven worth the premium price for the well kept, quiet pools and no problems with access to machines, classes or seats in the cafe area, to a rammed, squawking toddler playground, splashing tweens and overbooked classes. No thanks, I can get that at my local authority gym for £20 a month.

pigglepot · 27/05/2021 18:43

Sorry I've just seen that you've thought about the 3 month membership. Our joining fee was £60 for 3 months which felt a bit more palatable!

Original poster
rookiemere · 27/05/2021 18:44

@pigglepot i would do the 3 month membership but they want a £100 joining fee on top so it costs roughly the same as 5 months of the cheaper membership. Maybe it won't if I wait until next month.

OP posts:
Covidisdrivingmecrazy · 27/05/2021 19:06

I'm a member of a "posh" one not quite Chelsea but one of their spa retreats. I have really bad arthritis and choose it because indoor pool is relatively warm (Much warmer than local council pool which is so cold I can't move in it) and has proper stairs with rail into pool. Outdoor pool is even warmer beautiful but a bit small for lane swimming and spa people get annoyed as they just want to lounge.

I go about four times a week, take the kids at least once usually twice. I've never come out with my joints feeling worse than when I went in. It is worth every penny. Lockdown really underlined that for me as my mobility really suffered.
I see it as therapy really.

Sssloou · 27/05/2021 19:11

Are some of them kid free? Mine are grown now so I would want an adults only club especially as I imagine they will be rammed this year if no one can take their kids abroad.

Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting · 27/05/2021 19:14

I joined on 29th March and love it. I'm a full time teacher with 2 kids so don't have much spare time but I go at least twice a week, usually 3-4. It's my escape. I love the outdoor pool and swam in March when the air temperature was 4 degrees. I feel the cold but my club really cranked up the heating. It's great going to classes. I go to yoga, zumba, spirit and body pump. Early in the morning is so peaceful for a quiet swim. The pool opens at dawn so I often go before work. The changing facilities are clean, everyone is friendly. Well worth it for me. I really look forward to using my club.

Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting · 27/05/2021 19:16

I pay 86 per month and negotiated to get free guest passes.

Dissimilitude · 27/05/2021 19:17

I used to be a member but quit because it was always mobbed. The price is one thing but my local DL was literally rammed at every peak time.

I wasn’t paying 120 quid a month to wait in line to get on a particular piece of equipment.

Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting · 27/05/2021 19:19

I hate the actual gym. I mainly swim and also do classes.

KikiniBamalam · 27/05/2021 19:20

I’d still be a member with an outdoor pool. Otherwise it’s just a leisure club. And a very pricey one at that.

KikiniBamalam · 27/05/2021 19:22

And the food at mine was utterly underwhelming. It’s a big thing to have a nice lunch after tennis or a swim, always disappointing.

NeverDropYourMoonCup · 27/05/2021 19:48

I'd do it.

It's not that difficult a journey (and there is still nothing stopping you getting off the bus on the way home when you do return to your work), and whilst I'm aware that I sound an utter snob, I've done my time in local authority gyms and pools with the literally unwashed rampaging around, finding out I can only use the pool when I'm at work because it's taken over by swimming lessons and clubs every evening and all weekend for pool parties during term time and the free access for children in school holidays meaning it's full of teenage boys trying to impress the teenage girls hanging on the sides by hurling themselves towards the middle of the pool where people are trying to swim.

As soon as I started paying the few pounds extra (as the council ones certainly weren't cheap) to go to a place where it was members only and kids' parties weren't their main moneymaker, it was far nicer. I just want a bigger pool and access to other services now, so once my contract's been renegotiated for the next year, I'll be going up the price bands.

It's all very well saying the park's that way >>>>> or there's a treadmill in the garage, but that's not suitable for everybody. I need/want access to machines, pool, steam room, sauna and aircon. Without quite as many children as the council facilities have.

Cleebope2 · 27/05/2021 20:16

It does but only after 2. The weekend evenings are practically empty though, very relaxing.

Sanguinesuzy · 27/05/2021 20:27

I just can't get over more than £900 p/a for a gym Shock albeit a posh one.

TiberiusNero · 27/05/2021 21:20

@Sanguinesuzy

I just can't get over more than £900 p/a for a gym Shock albeit a posh one.
With all due respect, you might not want to pay £900+ per year for a particular leisure activity, but that doesn’t mean others feel the same way. I don’t know anything about you, but perhaps you spend a similar amount of money on eating out, or cycling, or canoeing, or day trips or fine wine or something.

There are also a lot of people on this thread and others about private gyms smugly pointing out that they only pay 25p per month for their local council-run gym and the rest of us are posh, entitled cunts with more money than sense for not doing the same. It’s great for you if you have a decent council-run gym near your house - really, I mean it! I used to live somewhere that had a fantastic council-run gym for 25p per month. Sadly, that’s no longer the case.

It’s a bit sad how judgemental some MNers are over other women’s spending. As if we don’t have enough men ridiculing women spending money on themselves as frivolous.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 27/05/2021 21:48

@TiberiusNero I bloody love my gym. I tend to take the reverse snobbery as being more about the fact they can't afford it.

chocolatesaltyballs22 · 27/05/2021 22:50

We've both got the day off tomorrow and the majority of it is going to be spent at David Lloyd. Spin class, swim, sauna, steam, followed by lunch in the club lounge. Very civilised. And well worth the £1800 membership pa that we pay between us. You can't do all of that at a council gym. Just saying...

Cleebope2 · 27/05/2021 23:21

I spent my whole life at council gyms and now I’m a certain age and worked hard all my life no one is gonna privilege shame me lol!!! I need luxury now. Big showers with hooks and shelves and shampoo, lovely jubbly.