David Lloyd - anyone else not impressed?

[RosieRed2]

My friend is trying to convince me to join - I’ve done a trial day and didn’t find the gym all that impressive if I’m honest given it’s over £100 a month! Are there any members on here who can convince me it’s worthwhile?

Theres a new David Lloyd opening very close to me, it will be the closest gym to me and it sounds like it will have lovely facilities, the spa sounds amazing.
I'm very tempted!
However despite the extensive advertising and emails (after I registered an interest) there is zero information anyway about prices, it's like it's top secret information!! Surely membership prices are a vital piece of information when advertising a new club??!!
Very interested in how much membership is for peak time access which includes sauna/steam etc
From PP it seems there's a wide variation of prices, we are in South East but not in an affluent area, from advertising I think the club will be top of the range.

I'm at mine 6 days a week. If you go regularly and go to classes as well as the gym, and make use of the pools and spa, I believe it is good value. I like my local DL and am very happy there. It is the only gym I've been a member of where I have felt comfortable.

They let males use the women's changing rooms. So not a chance I or my DD would go there .

Woking is £174 for a single person platinum membership.

Don’t want to convince you to join (ours is very busy already) but I love DL. The classes are excellent, love the pool and spa and my kids play tennis and paddle there

I only use the gym and personal training and wouldn’t go anywhere else. I’ve tried more expensive spa clubs, and I’ve also tried cheap council gyms, Pure Gym, Fitness First etc.

I really love DL.

They’re amazing for kids’ activities, families to swim together, soft play in the cafe/bar/restaurant etc but my children are too old for all of that and I still love it. I’ve been a member for 15 years.

Very very expensive and service/standards often don’t match up to the price. I go there because we have a serious lack of swimming pools here. Town of thousands and no pool. So I go to the next town over. I resent the price. I reckon they only get away with it because of the lack of council facilities here. Our leisure centre is “dry”. Ie no pool, which imo is shit.

I do love our local DL. I’ve only been there 4 months, pay £142 with corporate discount but I’m there a lot.

The reason I opted for DL is it’s the only local gym with an outdoor pool and I use the fitness suite, pool and spa every time I go which is 4-5 times a week depending on work schedule.

I wish it was cheaper but the pool and spa are important to me and I can’t get that elsewhere locally.

Write them an email saying you wish to cancel (as long as you aren't in a contract) and that if they don't respond within 5 days (or whatever you feel is reasonable), you will cancel the Direct Debit at the bank. Brutal but makes them notice.

It doesn't help just yet but as of Spring 2026, the law changes in the UK meaning companies offering a subscription service have to make it as easy to cancel as it is to sign up - www.stephensons.co.uk/site/blog/commercial-blog/new-uk-consumer-protection-regulations-for-subscription-contract#:~:text=Businesses%20will%20be%20required%20to%20ensure%20that%20it%20is%20simple,days%20before%20the%20renewal%20date.

We lasted one year - but the price rises made it prohibitive. Near impossible to get bookings for tennis courts around work hours, and the gym floor/change rooms were as grotty as every other cheap gym I've been too. Rules not enforced like re-racking weights, ppl walking around the gym floor barefoot. At that price point I expected more

I liked ours for the outdoor pool, even just to lounge about on a nice day. Definitely not worth the price though. It's nothing that special compared to other gyms.

Kingston is £90 for the same. But it is a small club. I think Raynes Park and Hampton are about £250 for new members.

It really depends what you're looking for from it. I was a member when my DC was a baby. There were a couple of baby classes on during the week, swimming lessons for 6 months + which we did and a creche to allow me to workout when I had no other childcare. I believe there are also lots of kids classes for age 3+ included where you can drop them off and then pop down to the gym/the clubhouse for a coffee. If you don't have kids and will just be using it as a basic gym then no, I don't believe it's worth it.

I would very much advise against joining David Lloyd but then we might have just had a bad experience. A new one opened in our city, well, on the outskirts and let’s just say they charged the same premium prices but the clientele…bad, really bad. The spa was like an Ibiza hotel at the weekends and honestly I thought I was in a nightclub in half the classes, I thought people grew up when they became parents… some don’t. We swiftly left as soon as we could. In terms of the facilities they were ok, but it was packed to the rafters, far too small for the amount of members they allowed. I suppose it wasn’t David Lloyd’s fault that half their members were scummy!! On top of that I agree with lots of posts, if only for the gym and swim it isn’t really worth it.

It depends on what you are comparing it with. We have a Nuffield Health nearby too. I switched to DL from that, largely because NH allows children in all day whereas DL is child free during the day. I am in my 60s and prefer the more adult atmosphere at DL. At Nuffield the swimming pool was constantly being used for triathlon practice, adult swimming classes, aqua zumba and private lessons - it was really difficult to just go for a swim.

We dont have a municipal pool atm so if you want to swim it's DL or NH. My husband doesn't want the pool so he uses the YMCA gym.

They've upgraded the gym a couple of times since I've joined, upgraded the changing rooms this year (it caused chaos though).

I've not seen any of it because I only go to play tennis or pickleball, BUT I usually play several times a week all year round because my DL has indoor & outdoor courts so to me its worth every penny.

Funnily enough I went a few months ago with my friend, who’s a member, who gave me her guest pass, and I found it a bit of a let down! She raved about this luxury gym and how expensive it was but worth it. I don’t know if she hyped it up too much, but it really wasn’t as good as i expected. It had a heated outdoor pool which was nice, but inside the pool/sauna/jacuzzi area it just felt the same as any other over crowded gym I’ve been in.

Have to say our spa does get really busy/noisy sometimes. I’m fortunate that I’m able to use the facilities during the day so I get a nice peaceful experience. Not sure I’d be happy at all if I could only go evenings and weekends

The David lloyd near us is over £100 pm too. That includes Rackets (I think) but I don’t play, and an outdoor pool. Another gym in a less affluent area is £34 per month, all classes, 3 gym rooms, (1 is ladies only), pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and all classes….Guess which one I joined! And it’s blooming awesome 🤩

I’ve known a few do this, bad business sense to raise prices as they’ll end up with even less money

Some DL clubs actually have waiting lists to join, and they are desperate for people on the old rates to leave as the new members will pay more.

I love it but it’s not great value for me - I swim there both in and outdoors and the pool and changing rooms are really good, staff great, facilities good IMO. DH is there for tennis all the time. I’ve been to some classes but I prefer other ones locally so pay again for those! It’s definitely a luxury for me not a necessity but I love my swims!

I was a member for a few years but left because I just wasn’t coming close to getting my money’s worth. I do miss it though and am thinking about rejoining. I love the outdoor pool (when it’s quiet..!) and tend to book tennis courts with my kids.

if I did rejoin it would be £159 per month for me, or £235 for me and 2 children.

I’ve never once seen a man in the changing rooms!

We pay £300 for two adults two children platinum membership (which includes all facilities, spa etc). I love it. We play tennis regularly, use the gym a lot and I go to the occasional class when I can. The pool is great and the spa is amazing. If I have an afternoon WFH, I do an hour in the gym, half an hour in the spa and work from the cafe. They do fresh smoothies, protein shakes and the food is lovely.

I'm astonished at these prices. My local gym is £65 per month for the most expensive package ( full classes and open access), and I thought that was pricy! That's an independent private gym too, not local authority.