David Lloyd

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I have a visit booked to explore David Lloyd membership this weekend. I need a healthier lifestyle and the child clubs/family sports aspects appeal. That’s the only thing that’s going to make a gym membership sustainable for me.

But they won’t go into cost with me yet - does anyone here have membership or experience? Is it likely to be crazy expensive? It’s just for me and my boy.

For me, it’s the ‘club’ feel to the place. My fellow members are generally lovely, people make eye contact, smile, chat etc, it just feels good. And I feel quite comfortable having post work-out lunch on my own, then I read my kindle for an hour so. Even though I generally go with DH, I never feel self conscious if it’s just me, which is nice.

I think the free weights at DL are absolute rubbish if that helps. A good friend is a member and gets guest passes so I often go with her, feel like I spend half the time scrabbling round for where someone has left the one set of weights I need..nothing is close together, the layout doesn't make sense. I need a bench near the squat rack or I need somewhere (anywhere) to do hip thrusts without dragging half the gym across the room to find space
some of the classes are alright..spirit and blaze are ok

It’s the cost cutting which gets me, been a member for a decade and the decline is unreal. The company is owned by venture capitalists who are paring things down and gearing up for a sale I’d imagine.

so the cleaners have been cut, hence why it’s so dirty. The full time maintenance man was made redundant years ago and not replaced. They dropped all Les Mills classes to save money in having to pay Les Mills….apart from pump. They do their own knock off versions now which are rubbish.

They have stopped having gym staff on the gym floor! This is the big thing for me, if you don’t know how to use a bit of equipment there is nobody to ask. If I was paying £40 a month I might not mind so much. So recently I wanted to use the only Stages bike on the gym floor and couldn’t get the lever for the seat to lock….in the last I’d have asked gym staff but nobody there. So I went steaming down to ask the receptionist to come and do it 🤷‍♀️. If they don’t have staff in the gym then I’m going to make it someone else’s problem. She got a manager and the manager couldn’t do it either.

there’s idiots pissing about in the gym and no staff to stop them, so parents are bringing their primary age kids in to use the treadmills, etc which isn’t allowed and then no free treadmill. Nobody puts weights, etc back and in the last they’d have been put back my staff if necessary. So now I can’t find stuff.

Additional. Everything is extra!

@MeetMyCat yes, other women have reported it. If you’re not sure then ask at your branch what their policy is and be prepared to push them. They might say “women only”, but include males in their definition of women.

AFAIK Bannatyne is the only gym chain that promises single sex changing facilities

Yes, that makes me mad. I asked our manager about this last Xmas and she proudly to,d me she’d cancelled 30% of classes. I pointed out she wasn’t refunding me 30% of my months fee!

we have such limited classes, no evening Pilates ever. 2 or 3 classes on a Saturday morning and nothing in the afternoon, same on a Sunday. We don’t have Blaze. So many spin classes are virtual.

I'm in Greater London and it's £174 for me and £30 for my 4yo. The 2yo is free but can't do any of the classes other than the paid swimming lessons.

We pay £225 for two adults, two teens (15 and 17) at David Lloyd West Bridgford.

Don't mean to sound snobby, but there have been a lot of new members recently who I am sure aren't paying that.

There was a group of lads in the pool last week in leggings. The reason was to cover their ankle tags!

Lots of young urban kids with bad language in the changing rooms.

Anyone know if £225 is about right? We get access, gym but not raquets.

A couple of years ago we couldn’t go away due to one of my parents needing to be supported through a massive op. We had DL membership for 3 months so we could use the outdoor pool, it was epic. It was £104 monthly for me and around £30 for each child, so sadly not affordable long term. I thought the swimming facilities and classes were excellent. However the gym itself is no better than my local PureGym, which is around £15 a month!

I live quite near you, we pay £185 for 2 adults, standard membership, no racquets. I don’t want to sound snobby either, but I find the price does a good job of excluding the members you wouldn’t want!

Wow. Unbelievable - thanks for mentioning this, I was just about to sign up which I won’t be doing now.

Just to add, my eldest is approaching 18. When he is 18 the monthly fee goes up to £265.

It's borderline not worth it.

We joined a few months ago and are disappointed. The facilities are nice and as expected but the kid's classes are rubbish and my kids refuse to go

£130 a month at my local. Too expensive for me

@ConnorBevan i am guessing you work at David Lloyd?

Mine would probably be c.£200 just for me. I think it went up c 10% per year and got too much for what wasn't a great experience.

I now go to Nuffield for a quarter of the price and am consciously happy there and the staff are lovely, everyone of them.

I can't believe I wasted something time and money at DL when the Nuffield (which I drove past to get to DL) was so much better.

@ConnorBevan Well that price list must be years old! I am over 65 and I pay way more than £73.50 monthly! Clearly you work for DL,so can you explain!

Ah yes, i’ve just checked the price list and it’s quite out of date!

It’s great for me tbh, I swim a lot and use the spa, do spin classes but none of the others really although I’ve given many of them a go over the years.
Expensive but I get enough use from it that I’m okay with it, it’s less than a mile away.
The one I go to is spotless, there are always cleaners, staff on the gym floor, no mixed sex changing rooms either. Never not been able to get a towel.
Plenty of classes available, good booking system.
Ds comes with me to the gym sometimes and we’ve done a few family Blaze sessions, we also swim a lot together during the school holidays.
Dh is also a member and rarely uses it but keeps the membership because he does like a steam and sauna. He and ds also sometimes go and play tennis.
Think we pay £280 for the three of us. Dds used to also be members but they aren’t anymore as they like going to the gym with a friend and none of their friends were members so they now use a PureGym or one of those 24 hour ones.
Nuffield near me doesn’t allow children but I’m not sure if that’s a nationwide policy.
weve been members for about 10 years now and I’ve never had a gripe with it, plenty of machines and they are constantly updating the facilities and the spa is fantastic.

It's definitely old as "Vantage" hasn't been a thing for years!

Side note, I'm under 65 and pay significantly less than £73.50

@HunterHearstHelmsley Mine is nearly £100! I emailed this year about the price and was told pay it or leave!They are money grabbing,I only stay because I swim outside every day.

@TheChosenTwo i suspect you do have mixed sex changing rooms - their policy is if a male member feels the women’s changing rooms better suit his gender identity then he is free to use them. You won’t know until it happens at your gym.

our local one used to be great but is atrocious now. Maintenance issues and they've taken on too many members in general so the exclusive feel you pay for (easy parking, no queuing for machines, issues with spaces in classes or crowded pools, changing and coffee areas) is totally gone. However, the premium prices remain. Most people I know who were original members when our local club opened 15ish yrs ago, have left because it is such an outrageous rip off.

(edited for spelling)

I wouldn’t join again, I paid a lump sum for the year, approx 3.5k for 3 adults 1 child, this was 2019, ish, I think. But I’d been a member for a few years
before too. Full racquets contract. The pool was always dingy and dark, the food really substandard, it just didn’t have that wow factor I was hoping (and paying) for. I might reconsider if I move and my local on has an outdoor pool, otherwise, no. Very overpriced.