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?

I’m so disappointed to read this whole thread. I thought one day I too would join the elusive DL! I was hoping for sparkly cleanliness at least.

I’m so grossed out by my council pool and showers. Yellow and slimey.

Mine is lovely. It was refurbished last year. It is small and the staff are friendly and imo it has a lovely atmosphere.

I am a member at a leisure centre and we also have a DL within the same distance - I wouldn't actually switch to DL even if I had the money tbh. They dropped Les Mills classes during COVID which my gym still offer and I like, I have tried the DL versions on a guest pass and they just weren't the same to me.

Round here seems to also be increasingly very "new money" chavs who all join so not even particularly "exclusive" for the 5x the price of my gym.

My friends are members as a family and they love it so each to their own really

I was a member pre pandemic. My DH and I had a joint membership that was cheaper than two separate ones (but not cheap!). They had a nice indoor pool, plus jacuzzi, and an outdoor one too. We used to take the kids for free, though had to pay extra for swimming classes etc. I used the gym and went to classes. We also ate there sometimes after swimming lessons. And for a while I knew a lot of other members, either parents from my kids' school or work colleagues.

By the time it closed tempirarily during the pandemic, the kids were older and I was only going to a couple of classes a week, plus had to drive there.

Now DH and I belong to a small independent gym, within a short walking distance, that is gradually being revamped. The pool isn't great nor are the changing rooms, but I am not that bothered re swimming and shower at home. But the gym is fine and I attend several classes a week. Best of all it is friendly, I see the same people over and over and I'm not intimidated by the weights room anymore. Plus it's less than half the price we paid for DL 5 years ago.

My local one has been a David Lloyd for as long as I can remember - 30 years or more.

It's RIGHT up it's own arse, and generally used by the more genteel local clientele from the posh estates near by. It's about £120pm

I wouldn't dream of going there tbh, full of pretentious snobs.

I go to a small local one with a gym, pool and sauna/steam room for £28pm. Yes, it's a bit run down but it's perfectly fine for me.

Adore my DL.
The staff on the front desk are so helpful and friendly. The lounge is clean the food is good. The pools are well maintained. The gym has just been done out.
It's a third place not a gym!

Have found they vary massively in their quality. Some seem pretty run down, small kids absolutely everywhere running around unsupervised. Others have been much more impressive. I play a lot of tennis and find their courts are often very bad and slow. Horrible carpet courts inside in a lot of them, and heavy Astro outside, so for the main thing I would be interested in, most of them have been poor.

Herne Bay? I’ll be paying £212 a month for me and 2 kids - I think the joining fee was £50. Pricy but when I belonged before I loved it, especially excited by the pool.

Yes Herne Bay!
Thank you.
Just wish they would be transparent about their pricing

ours is sparkly clean!! FWIW there are different tiers so it’s worth checking out which tier your local club is in, although ours is actually lower down than we think it should be - we wonder if they’ll up its tier at some point as our spa is new and the pool refurbished.

I’ve been nothing but impressed with ours, and for us it is definitely worth the money. It’s a luxury though so only worth it if you’re into more than just the gym

You and me both.

It was my lame MC dream to be a DL member and I splashed out on my last mat. I worked incredibly hard to try and like it but just couldn't....

The showers in both tier 1 clubs were only moderately gross but both had mould.

to say i was annoyed was an understatement 😒😒😒

The only good thing was when I signed up I got my cancellation terms watertightand agreed in writing upfront so when they tried to mess me about i had all the receipts and they had to cancel it

The only good thing was when I signed up I got my cancellation terms watertightand agreed in writing upfront so when they tried to mess me about i had all the receipts and they had to cancel it

Nice work @Lafufufu !

I have since checked my local DL reviews - lots of recent glowing ones mentioning cleanliness 🙌 The dream lives on.

Been member since 2003 with partner just quit it’s 3 months notice. £223 a month it’s all money making but few options where we live. The classes were really good but they starting cutting them then charging money for Pilates reformer on top of Membership. They weee just taking the piss. Nuffield are half the price and run les mills class. Miss the outdoor pool in the sun but just not worth the money.

I was a member of a club that's now a DL and I left because I changed jobs and couldn't go so often. But I made so many friends there and virtually lived there at one point (apart from when I was at work)

I then joined a smaller, local gym and gave up after 2 years as it was fairly crap, and there was no social life in it. When we moved, the nearest place was a DL which we joined - they've invested a lot of money in it over the last few years. Nowhere else nearby has the same swimming & spa facilities. I mostly go off peak & don't find it too crowded. £329 a month for 2 of us.

I’m a member atBannatynes. £60 a month full access, £46 off peak, pool, spa, cafe, parking not an issue.

Once you join, you’re trapped. It’s easier to leave the Catholic Church. And the Church is a lot more optimistic about you living a happy life without them.

I love DL, I go to lots of classes, I use the pools, the spa and the gym. I’m way fitter than I was. Money well spent for me.

Interested to know what you class as riff raff? People who are not wealthy?

I mean people like me on minimum wage who can’t afford that, who form the majority of the population so will keep the numbers down. The gym sounds like it’s not got luxury facilities from what people are saying so seems like they’re paying for the quietness and exclusivity.

ETA- sorry just seen you weren’t replying to me but I also mentioned riffraff

So not actually riff raff then? Because I know a lot of wealthy but obnoxious, selfish louts and also know a lot of minimum wage (like myself) earners who are decent hardworking, honest people - not riff raff at all. I think riff raff are present in all walks of life.

We signed up thinking it would be a good investment in our health and a kind of ‘retreat’ from work.

Reality was different:

1. First sight you are greeted with on entry is a bank of kiddy ipads and the soft play centre = children running around screaming
2. no privacy in the women’s changing rooms due to lack of private cubicles, plus children running around screaming
3. off-putting enormous mirrors everywhere which is great for all the 20 somethings to admire themselves, but terribly offputting for the ordinary middle aged woman
4. a sauna that is a meat market, with older men following young women in, then you have no choice but listen to loud egotistical conversations and flirting, plus an old man doing crotch-thrusting yoga in front of everyone
5. trying to swim properly while somebody in a bikini insists on slow breaststroke
6. younger women strutting about in bum-busting bikinis = no I don’t want to see that

I guess it’s more that I’m middle aged. I thought the price point would guarantee civilised behaviour but the opposite was true. It was just gross. Like a beach on Ibiza or something.

Bracing myself for ‘why are you such a prude’ comments, but you really had to be there to experience/endure it.

Showers were nice though.

It's not impossible, but years ago when i cancelled you had to give 3 whole months notice, and can't cancel your Direct debit until it is confirmed in writing by them. They come after you harshly if you cancel it outside of the terms.
I was a member with the kids, and then, family membership was the same price as a single membership is now. We did love it though, ours had an outside pool, with an outside bar. Great for the summer.

There’s one near me and my daughter went to have a look she wasn’t impressed either , & joined the public gym for £30 per month, I agree it’s far too overpriced I personally use me local hotel gym and the facilities there are really good pool thermal pool sauna etc for half the price of DL

I pay £45 for unlimited fitness classes at my local authority leisure centre. It's clean, plenty car parking, good facilities and the isame nstructors also teach at the local private gyms

I have been a member of our local DL few times over the years. It’s tier 3 one. Standards have dropped massively when we first joined in 2012. Dirty changing rooms, doesn’t help that people behave like animals, leaving clumps of hair on the floor.

Both indoor and outdoor pools are missing tiles and the gym is really dirty too. There was also bits of flooring fixed with a gaffer tape and then just left rather than pay for a professional to repair it.

Pre-pandemic there was always a member of staff on the gym floor but now you won’t see any unless they are doing 1:1 with a client. I also heard it’s the personal trainers responsibility to clean the gym machines. Ours either don’t have the time or inclination as the machines have a thick crust of dust on all of them. All the yoga matts are also in awful condition with worn out torn edges.

However, it was easy enough to terminate my membership, just needed to send it by email. Three months notice is ridiculous though.