David Lloyd what do you pay?

[lightnesspixie]

So I just joined a very local small gym with NHS discount which I believe DL gyms also offer? I paid no joining fee and £37.50 a month there is no pool but sauna and good gym and a wide variety of classes, tennis and squash. Without the discount it was £49.50 joining fee and the same monthly fee.
I like swimming however and am wondering how much DL might be with NHS discount. Their website won't say because they try to suck you in before they give you prices. Anyone?

[EntirelyAnonymised]

There are a few DL threads on here, if you advanced search.

It varies from club to club and which level of membership you want. I really hate the timeshare-esque hard sales thing of having to go in for a 1-1 with their people. Awful.

I’m not a member anymore but I was for a good 4 or 5 years. I paid about £125 a month for full racquets membership (not inc spa though). My club has/had 2 pools (indoor/outdoor), indoor and outdoor tennis, reasonably big gym with no queuing for machines, lots of classes and a health spa bit. However, I quit because things really started to go downhill. They had started taking on too many members and the pool was very overcrowded (even at 11am on a weekday!), no tables in the coffee lounge, maintenance was starting to drop too. When equipment was breaking it wasn’t being repaired or replaced for months on end. They stopped offering a premium product and so I voted with my feet.

[MyuMe]

£77 with no outdoor area or tennis courts.

[Villanelle92]

I used my NHS discount and it only removed the joining fee. I paid £63 pm for just gym and pool access. That was as of last year when I cancelled.

In my experience, it’s not worth the extra money.

[TabbyStar]

I pay about £100 I think, it's £125 including DD, not including rackets. I'm a member mainly for the outdoor pool, but I also hang out in the cafe before / after meetings (self employed) and the indoor pool is pretty good too, and much much better than anywhere else local. I probably wouldn't bother if I wasn't a swimmer though.

[Northernsoullover]

My local one is 79 per month. It is absolutely beautiful and I almost joined up but I'm near a Village gym which was half that.

[Estellelauder]

87 for me and 25 for one child. Used to have a joint membership and it covered 2 children and both of us for about 140.

No racquets, small spa but nice pool. I’m leaving very shortly as it really, really isn’t worth it. Very few daytime classes, many of them completely booked or difficult to get space in and instead they offer online versions. I may as well be at home with an aerobics DVD and the cash for an exercise bike.

[PleaseStopRingingMe]

The price varies club to club. DH used to work for them so our membership used to be free which was amazing. We now pay 170 for us both and 1 DC. The price has gone up recently so I'm not sure what it is broken down, I think it's roughly 72per adult and 26 for DC. Our home club has pretty much everything, gym, racquets, crèche, softplay, indoor and outdoor pools and good range of classes and kids swimming and tennis lesson. We often use another local club that is more expensive and is about £100pp. It is much nicer and has a better kids pool and a blaze studio but everything else the other club has. As long as we don't there more than 50% of the time we still pay our home club rate, if we go more they will switch us over to the more expensive rate.

[PleaseStopRingingMe]

Forgot to add our home club also has a hair dressers and a dry cleaners, very handy!

[ritzbiscuits]

DL is a rip off. Our local club (north west) is charging my friend £80 each for her and her husband on NHS discount + £30 for her 6 year old, soon to be another £30 once her youngest turns 3! Swimming and tennis lessons for kids are on top! No rackets!

I can't imagine paying DL that kind of money each month.

DH is looking at local leisure centre facilities, it's £27 per month for NHS, pools, gym, classes, even daytime squash, and no 12 month contract either!

[Estellelauder]

Yes, I forgot to say that the swimming lessons were a very very expensive extra and in the summer they banned children from using the pool during the day because they have a very large (and vocal) group of older members who don’t like to share the facilities 🙄

[nbee84]

£85 with nhs discount - gym & swim no racquets. Price varies club to club. I certainly get my monies worth, am there 6 days a week. I had local leisure centre membership previously but the daytime classes were aimed at older people and I never showered there as the facilities were pretty grim. With my work schedule I can sometimes get there in the morning or at lunchtime and need to shower before going back to work. I counted the classes for a Monday when I 1st joined and not including virtual spin classes there were 23 different classes to choose from.

[PrinkingPreening]

I paid about £95 per month for one with 2 pools.

I left though because they were ciutting corners and it was just a rip off.

[LizzieSiddal]

DL is a rip off.

It's not at all if you go regularly.

DH and I pay £170 per month and that covers indoor and outdoor pool, racket sports, gym and classes which include Pilates and Yoga. They also have lovely showers and changing rooms.
We go 3-4 times a week, which works out at between £6.50 and £5 each per visit. A bargain for all those facilities!

[Bluewavescrashing]

My friend is a member and the outdoor pool is lovely in the summer. They didn't even go on holiday last summer, just went to the pool most days, which is obviously cheaper!

Not worth it for me as I have health issues and can't do much exercise at the moment. I do love a nice pool though.

[TabbyStar]

I think DL is significantly different from most clubs in what it offers, we can spend hours there rather than just being in and out. The large range of kids classes also sold it to me, it was one of the main ways I got to exercise as a lone parent working full time, and DD loved the dance and drama classes. I guess it depends what you value, I wouldn't swim if I had to go to our LA pool which is busy, dirty, the changing rooms smell of pee, you can't take your swimming costume off to shower, and to top it all some bloke was caught filming women under the cubicles! I much prefer decent showers and Elemis toiletries. I also travel quite a bit and like it that I can drop in on other clubs.

[TeenPlusTwenties]

DL is expensive but not a rip off.
Compared with our local pool, DL changing rooms are 1000% cleaner and nicer. The pool is way emptier and always has some lanes for swimming.
A luxury, but one I think is worth it.

[evilharpy]

A workmate told me yesterday that he and his wife pay £160pm for joint membership using her NHS discount.

I had a two week trial membership of our local one and loved it but couldn’t justify keeping it on for various reasons.

DL used to also own a gym called Next Generation in Swindon (not sure if there were more of them elsewhere), it was like their budget brand. It closed around 2015. I was a member there and it was really lovely, a bit less fancy than the DL brand but much nicer than many other chains I’ve been to with a very nice pool. Such a shame it closed.

[evilharpy]

Also to add to what Tabbystar said above. I currently have a membership at a local leisure centre because it has two classes I can’t find locally anywhere else, plus easily the best pilates class I’ve ever been to and a brilliant spin class on a Saturday with a fab teacher. I wouldn’t set foot in the pool or showers if you paid me (although I’d get little opportunity anyway as about 90% of opening times it’s being used by swimming lessons or clubs). There are no cubicles in the showers or changing rooms. It’s very run down and not a nice environment. This is the kind of thing you throw money at David Lloyd to not have to put up with - the facilities are worlds apart. I do really miss going to a fancy gym with changing rooms that smell of essential oils and a spin studio with disco lights but I love the classes too much to leave.

[AuntieMarys]

northernsoul North Leeds?

[TabbyStar]

Our DL was a Next Generation, which was set up by DL and his son, I assumed they'd all become just DL. There seems to be quite a lot of buying and selling gyms though.

[TabbyStar]

I had an outdoor swim at the Leeds one whilst staying at the Village! It did look nice, I think the one with a balcony over the pool? I made the mistake of going back to the Village for breakfast though.

[ritzbiscuits]

DL is a rip off.

I will rephrase, as yes it's fine if you're there all the time. Personally, I plan to rejoin one day when I can access OAP daytime rates for half price!

Depends on your situation, but if you're a mum with kids you may find it difficult to get value out of paying near £100 a month.

Also, there is the constant looming threat of them increasing fees, which they do regularly.