Kingsdown Sports Centre

Fantastic experience: Great gym with courts to hire, brilliant for badminton especially

Fantastic experience: Great

Negative experience: Have messaged twice enquiring about gym membership through their online enquiry form but no reply to either. Not a great first impression

Positive experience: I've been a member for about two months now, using only the gym facilities. I go on my lunchbreak between 12-1pm and it's often full. Pros: Spacious, clean changing room, reasonable range of equipment. Cons: Lockers only take old pound coins, water dispensers don't work well, gym has on several occasions been used by local school for PE lessons (this was indicated to me when I joined but I was told they wouldn't be using the equipment, however on my last visit there were groups using the machines.) All in all, comparably priced to other gyms in Bristol I would say I'm probably not getting value for money based on the availability and range of equipment particularly when schools are using the facilities. Would not recommend for anyone intending to go at lunch and wanting to use machines. Free weights are generally available, there are two squat racks but these are normally in use. I've not used the sports centre so won't comment on that aspect.

Fantastic experience: Clean gym. Good equipment. Reasonable prices. Friendly staff.

Negative experience: WOULD NOT RECOMMEND they have a very difficult app to use, I have been trying to cancel membership for 2 months, they don’t let you do it yourself on the app so you have to email, however they are just not replying costing me £75 to date and they still haven’t replied, do not get caught in their scheme

Fantastic experience: Very convenient, friendly staff members as well

Negative experience: We are a group of friends who moved across the street and visited your gym to have a look around since is the closest. We were very impressed overall but disappointed that there is no pec fly and rear delt machine which is kind of a deal breaker for us. Amongst the free weights and the pull down, the delt fly machine provides far more stability and reduces risk injury whilst exercising the upper back. We do hope that is something to possibly take into consideration. Thank you again for your time.

Fantastic experience: Excellent

Fantastic experience: Really enjoyable gym, friendly staff and not too busy mid- mornings. Lacks a decent cafe to relax in after a workout.

Negative experience: I am quite shocked at my recent experience at this gym, a place I have been coming to for nearly 10 years. I was asked to remove my hood whilst working out. When questioning the reason why I was told I was “making a scene” and it was “threatening to children” which I found very surprising. I was told this was a written rule, then when asking to see this written rule I was told again that I was “making a scene”. It’s important to point out there is no written rule either in the gym or online stating what you can and cannot wear. When questioning this further with their general manager, Pearl, she informed me that the sign in the gym stating to “wear appropriate clothing” covers this rule. I was also told that wearing a hood was seen as “threatening” and “aggressive”. The rule is also in place apparently for security measures, people’s safety and for facial recognition, yet people can wear masks and, until pointing this out, caps which surely obstruct you more. Also, the gym quite often leaves its fire escape doors open which is surely a contradiction of security? I also questioned why other items of clothing or behaviours weren’t seen as aggressive and was told this is impossible to manage - strange. I wear a hood as it helps me warm up in colder conditions, as well as providing me with a sense of security in the gym as I experience social anxiety. I was told I needed to provide a doctors note stating I have to wear a hood when working out which I actually found insulting. There seems to be a deep lack of understanding as to how embarrassing that would be for me to ask my doctor. It’s one thing having a general note but to be that specific actually felt upsetting. I also find the idea that we see wearing a hood as aggressive behaviour to be deeply problematic and non-inclusive. I said to the general manager that I would be willing to come and talk this through with her which was ignored. I clearly triggered something when, in my opinion, quite rightly questioning this rule and after my first email exchange was met with short sharp replies. I also found pictures on their social media with people wearing hoods which, again, seem like a huge contradiction for the unwritten rule that was being implemented on me. I think it’s really important to question why this is a rule and I’d urge Elite Sports to actually do the research with their members and see if anyone actually finds wearing a hood in a gym whilst warming up to be threatening or aggressive. Two other members came and supported me in this encounter so I’d suggest probably not. I just wanted to say that some of the staff are lovely, in particular Sol who is always motivating and made me feel incredibly welcome.

Positive experience: Great sports hall. Parking is tricky

Fantastic experience: Very friendly and helpful staff

Fantastic experience: Good facilities - I used the sport hall for badminton. Clean, good air conditioning and nice staff.

Positive experience: Grateful for the easy to book squash courts

Positive experience: Price is okay and you get what you pay for, £23 for a monthly gym membership and some joining fee I think. But unfortunately there are PE lessons before 5- 5:30 pretty much all afternoon and there are lots of kids around, gym just don't have enough capacity to handle that many people. Only option is now to go after 6PM

Negative experience: Would not recommend for the following reasons: 1. Poor quality of equipment. For example, the leg curl machine was out of order for weeks on end, the bicep curl machine has been repaired with duct tape, the gym mats are cheap and dirty. 2. Unsafe. There are no safety bars on the squat rack… this would normally be fine as the plates are bumper plates but the floor is carpet and does not have any cushioning. The only way to safely bail a squat is to stand up… /-; 3. Overcrowded. This links with safety as overcrowding means people are lifting free weight without a safe area around them. This also results in sessions being far longer than they should as you have to wait for equipment to be free. 4. Rude staff. This does not apply to all staff, in particular Sol is friendly and knowledgeable. The reception staff; however, are rude in the way they act even when there is no reason to. Their actions are symptomatic of people who don’t want to be there and like your presence in the gym is inconveniencing them

Negative experience: Tried to park my vehicle at your public electric charger (& was ready to pay the unusual £2.70 parking charge) but the charger did not work so left after 15mins of Phaff …. & then a week later got served a £100 parking fine. Complete con. Your private parking firm UKPS have shared timed photos of this to me so somewhat odd when they can see I did not park fully plus left within 20mins & was clearly trying to get an EV charge in 2 locations - if they don’t cancel this fine I will be taking legal action against you both

Fantastic experience: Badminton!!

Fantastic experience: The staff are polite and friendly. The badminton courts are a good standard.

Positive experience: Great staff and facilities. Shame about the sauna and steam room.

Positive experience: Parking good, staff nice, can usually get a Squash court. Water fountain seems to be continually broken but it's a decent sports centre with lots of activities including martial arts. Booking system a bit annoying but doable.

Negative experience: Fui lá e não consegui treinar usando o gympass. O staff não sabia usar o gympass para me deixar entrar

Positive experience: Good squash courts.

Positive experience: Terrible for parking

Positive experience: A bit small

Positive experience: A well equipped gym with sports hall, clean and friendly staff

Fantastic experience: It has been renovated recently with new areas and machines.

Negative experience: Can they get a couple more benches must think everyone does cardio does my nuttin

Fantastic experience: Plenty of sports to choose, online booking system, going regular to play badminton

Fantastic experience: Been my local gym for a while now and the staff and instructors are fantastic! Great value for money too!

Fantastic experience: Good sports centre. The staff is helpful. Facilities are good, clean changing room.

Positive experience: Good price, but needs a little renovation. Parking is a problem in the evenings,don't know about daytime

Fantastic experience: Nice little Gym with some good equipment.

Fantastic experience: We celebrated my son s birthday here and we are so incredibly happy!They set up inflatables and lots of other toys and for an hour the kids played there with staff supervising the kids. An hour playing and an hour in a near room set up with tables and tablecloths where we could bring drinks and food. There is the sport center car park which can be used free of charge by guests. The staff was extremely professional. Super recommended to make beautiful birthday parties for children❤️

Positive experience: This is a good sports venue but quite small for holding big events there is parking but if part of a big event then the parking gets full and you are forced to pay on neighbouring roads which is pay and display for 3 hours maximum works out about £5. Toilets was OK. Visited today as part of the all stars bjj event but I wouldn't return due to how small the venue it and how restricted the parking is

Fantastic experience: My partner and I recently joined this gym, and we love it. Staff are so helpful and friendly, and seem to actually enjoy being there. It's never too crowded, the classes are varied and fun, and the courts (squash/badminton) are easy to book and use even if you're bringing non-members. Recently renovated and membership options are the best of the gyms I've tried in Bristol.

Fantastic experience: Beautiful badminton court, it's a wooden court so one can play without any tension. It has many services as well. It's a paradise for any sports lover.

Positive experience: It has lots of potential need to upgrade and fix the HEalth suite, sauna and steam rooms

Positive experience: Since the change of ownership a month ago there are a few issues: it's very difficult to get through to the gym on the phone and the app for bookings does not give you refunds. I'm hoping these are teething problems that will be resolved soon. The positives are: The gym equipment is all very new. The staff are friendly and the pricing is very fair.

Fantastic experience: Been coming to this gym for years on and off depending on where I’m living. Such a warm, welcoming environment for people of all shapes and sizes. Not your usual poser gym vibe and the spin classes are awesome

Positive experience: Needs a squat rack and a trap bar

Fantastic experience: Clean modern facilities - all good.

Fantastic experience: Elizeta was amazing and made my trip here!

Fantastic experience: Good and clean place with very nice staff!

Fantastic experience: Lovely sports centre with great staff. Shame on the council for trying to close it.

Positive experience: Positive: Professionalism

Fantastic experience: So lovely to be back at Kingsdown SC ... carparking, Badminton, Yoga, great staff and spacious. We're queuing outside but hopefully not for much longer ... are you listening Boris

Fantastic experience: Positive: Communication , Professionalism Jenny from reception was extremely helpful and friendly, I couldn’t be happier. Thanks

Fantastic experience: Social distancing in place. Quiet. Plenty of car parking. Know the team well. Great to be back.

Positive experience: Good equipment with very helpful and friendly staff

Fantastic experience: Great place

Fantastic experience: Amazing little sports centre, tucked away in portland Street Kingsdown ,lovely staff really friendly ,well worth a visit and really good prices for using the gym,squash and badminton courts.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic Community Sports Centre - very welcoming and friendly! Busy but now too crowded, good gym, badminton, squash and some great classes.Staff were lovely!

Negative experience: I was recently rushed onto a squash court due to the COVID restrictions they have in place about not being in the lobby area along with a new exit route, this has been poorly communicated and led to me forgetting to input my car Reg on arrival. I now have a £100 fine from the well known cowboy outfit Highview Parking. No one ever picks up the phone so I can't discuss this issue with you. I've spent a huge amount of money at this leisure centre over the years, however after this, I won't be using these facilities ever again.

Fantastic experience: I play badminton at Kingsdown with friends and colleagues from the uni. I prefer it to the uni sports centre and the staff here are really friendly and helpful. Add your voice to the "Save Our Sports centre" campaign.

Fantastic experience: Great staff brilliant dhowers

Fantastic experience: The friendliest staff of any gym we've ever used, and great equipment. Supportive and welcoming to people of all shapes, sizes and levels of fitness. Fantastic spin classes. A great asset for the community.

Fantastic experience: Even though both Bristol Council and the company that is running it are going the extra mile to avoid any sort of investment in it, it's still a nice local gym. Shame on Bristol City Council who wants to close it. Go on their website and tell them what you think about this idiocy.

Fantastic experience: Great induction, was made to feel really welcome and was happily taught a lot of different techniques (as someone who I less confident with weights). Thank you

Positive experience: Gym is small but adequate. Courts are great.

Negative experience: Booked a badminton court and had an indoor paintball game right next to us, separated only by a little net with occasional bullets rolling on to our court. It wasn't possible to play badminton properly with very loud shooting next to us. Apart from that the staff were friendly and it was clean.

Positive experience: Man this place is terrible with memberships they ate over expensive and they don't let you cancel anything! It's not like a fancy place, it just weights but whatever

Negative experience: Extremely unpleasant woman on reception this afternoon, incredibly rude for no reason. Considering removing my membership.

Negative experience: Avoid they do not let you cancel your membership once signed up....

Fantastic experience: 5 stars for Rob, who is always wonderfully professional and friendly and always knows what he's doing!!

Fantastic experience: always very friendly staff when booking courts.

Fantastic experience: This is a very fun and friendly place to exercise. For myself I am a gym regular. The quality of gym instructors is second to none. They don't come any better than Martin Balcombe. Liliana and Ahmed. It's priceless the teaching and I feel extremely lucky that this place is in Bristol. P..s they don't just teach exercise. The rest of the team at Kingsdown including reception are lovely people too. Well recommended.

Negative experience: Horribly inconsistent. Half of the staff are great but the other half are either utterly incompetent or downright rude. You've got a 50% chance of leaving satisfied or frustrated. Those odds aren't great given the price.

Positive experience: Good gym. Has everything you need but is quite small. Prefer to go outside peak hours to ensure I get the machines I want.

Fantastic experience: lovely site, excellent staff, always treated well. quality equipment in the gym and excellent classes.

Negative experience: Horrible ignorant staff who are good for nothing, classes used to be good but not anymore

Negative experience: Used to like this gym until they got rid of the sauna. Now there is no everyone active gym in bristol with a sauna. I will not be renewing my annual membership.

Positive experience: New Technogym equipment in gym is fabulous, no more sauna but in its place is a brand new modern studio for classes actual and virtual, is stunning with great lighting. New virtual programme and open day in June to try them out...okay, Kingsdown is an older building, but inside has jumped up a notch.

Fantastic experience: Simple but helpful

Fantastic experience: Simple but helpful

Negative experience: Horrible changing rooms.. Why can't you provide cubicles for the showers? We pay 30 a month and can not use the showers what a shame.