David Lloyd memberships - worth it?

[ChiefWiggumsBoy]

Has anyone got one? I know they can be pricey, but of course the website you have to 'enquire' and I really don't want someone calling trying the hard sell, I'm just idly thinking of it as I'll have finished paying off my student loan soon and would like something for the whole family. Boys are young teens and the two adults of the family can definitely do with the fitness!

So - if you have a membership, what level, how much do you pay, how much do you use it?

mine has an offer on at the moment - 14 days for £14. You could give it a go?
It's hugely expensive but I love mine.

I was recently quoted a membership of £115 per month to cover me plus teen daughter (£89 for me and £26 for her). It's not worth it for me because we would only really use it at weekends - it's a bit too far away to easily get to on a weeknight. It's a shame, as I do like it there.

DH has one and I go as his carer for free. We really like it, but I don't think it is great for teens. Ours are 15 and 13, so will come and swim sometimes on guest passes, but the 13yo can't use the gym on his own and the 15yo can't use the spa and isn't a fan of the gym. The best she'll do is sit in the cafe and read.

Oh really - that's a shame about the teens. Mine are almost 14 (plus and 11 year old) and I was hoping to get them interested in the gym as we've all fallen into very lazy habits.

@ArcticSkewer that's helpful thanks, I might see about that. Ours is a little out of the way for us also @bibliomania so would require lifts for the boys if they want to go on their own. Actually it's not that far I'm just realistic about traffic and bus routes!

We loved going there when ours were that age. Really good for families

Ours shut its outdoor pool 4 weeks ago with no reduction in fees due to the energy prices until at least next summer. This was the main reason I originally joined. Therefore I have lost trust in what they promise. If you are joining and plan to swim outdoors ask for some sort of contract or assurance that they will keep the pool open.

Not worth it, no

i pay £105 a month for myself and that’s basic membership without tennis. It’s £135 for tennis membership. That’s with nhs discount. Plus it’s going up 13.6% in January

they are trying to cut costs like mad. They’ve got rid of the gym floor staff, got rid of the free six week programme reviews, constantly cutting timetable classes, got rid of Les Mills.

OMG that's terrible!

I confess I don't actually know if our one has an outdoor pool. Will check.

The price varies wildly by location - a friend in a different location pays £75 a month for her & kids including swimming pool.

Sounded not too bad to me so I asked for a quote from my local club - they wanted over £300 a month! I declined - there was no hard sell, though.

Like all gyms it's worth it if you use it regularly!

I have to say I don't but always have great intentions. It's a nice club and lots of classes on offer though so it's pretty good value / nice ambience if you get stuck in.

I love mine. Not sure on the price (DH sorted it out)

Our kids are 5 and 3 and they love the classes and kids stuff.

I got to classes 3 time a week. DH goes to the gym at least twice a week.

The kids do swimming lessons there and we tend to go once a week as a family. It's great to just be able to turn up without pre booking.

The food isn't great but it's ok. Our level of membership means we can use pretty much any other club. We use them a lot as rest stops on long journeys. Nicer than a service station lol.

This is what I'm hoping. Do you have to pay extra for the swimming lessons?

I have definitely fallen into this trap in the past!

I'd like to be able to use it during the week for a class or two, and then at the weekend my hope is that we can go as a family, have a swim, have a go in the gym, youngest (11) maybe attend a class or whatever. This is what a colleague of mine does, but his kids are a lot younger so they go into the baby classes or creche I think.

We have just issued notice on ours.

It was 228 for both of us and we went there rather than a different gym because of the pool. Unfortunately at ours it got to the point where everything was sooooo child focussed at the weekend that both pools would resemble the local Leisure centre anyway

So we are cancelling and paying a much smaller monthly fee for a gym without the pool

You do pay for lessons and they are on a parr with other locations where we live. The benefits are smaller classes and better timings for us.

Our local pools are terrible for actually being able to use them.

Ours has a massive soft play as well which the kids love. We use that loads over the holidays and in the winter. On the crazy hot days we basically decamped to the Dave to enjoy the outdoor pool and air con.

Our has a spa as well. If DH and I get some time without the kids we go there for a bit of r&r.

I get a free guest pass each month so we've take friends as well.

That's a shame. Ours still has adult only times at weekends and separate swimming lanes at all times.

Kids swimming lessons and tennis lessons are extra.
Costs vary hugely between one location and another. They have about three or four different tiers and what tier your club falls in dictates the prices.
You can find out local club costs easily by completing the enquiry form, it tells you straight away online what the costs are. You might get a follow up call or email but can block or ignore if you don’t feel like answering and explaining you aren’t interested.
They do 10% off and waive joining fee if you pay for a year upfront. Mine did, anyway.

We got close to joining but decided against it because both pools were used for swimming lessons/family swimming on weekends. As we would mostly be going on weekends we wanted to be able to swim lengths, and have peace and quiet

Adult only swim times at our local club are Monday to Friday 6am-9am, 12pm-3pm and 7pm-9pm. Weekends adult only swim is 7am-9am and 5pm-8.30pm. The indoor pool is big and there are always two swimming lanes allocated even during family swim time. Adults can use the outdoor pool all day all year round. In the summer months family/ kids have set times to use the outdoor pool.

My friend told me this.
I'm so glad I cancelled a couple of months ago, as the outdoor heated pool was main thing to justify the high monthly cost.

Mine is £125 for myself and 3yr old. I go for the pool really as I can just use it whenever I want to, whereas our local public pool has pre-booked one hour sessions. There are three pools - a full sized one, a childre's pool and an outdoor one.

@Twizbe I know, you'd think that they would perhaps focus the kids activities in the indoor pool but still lane the outdoor pool. They do put one lane outside but I stopped going after swimming into two kids who decided that the lane would be a good place to practice their handstands, while the lifeguard just watched

Ours is basically a no go area until about 2pm at the weekends, and we usually are out and about by then.

Omg I'd be fuming.

Mind you over the summer the lifeguards at ours were constantly telling off older kids for being stupid / trying to find said kids parents.

I used to be a member and have used several different gyms since. The David Lloyd one was the best equipped and maintained by a long way, and the staff were knowledgeable. Very expensive but the best quality, if the one I used was typical of others in the chain.

I don't think it's that great for 11 year olds because there's not much they can do by themselves but swimming may be an option with an older sibling - you have to check what activities your local one has & rules about unaccompanied swimming etc. what age they can use the gym with or without an adult. They used to have a green wristband for teenagers, not sure if that's still a thing!

It is quite a nice place to go if you have a couple of hours - ours has a good club room so you can have a coffee / snack if waiting for one of the family to finish up. DH and I used to take it in turns to gym whilst the other one swam with kids.