Charlton Lido and Lifestyle Club

Fantastic experience: This facility is outstanding—not just because of its 50m pool and gym, but also because of the incredible Swim Doctor coaches! Tracey, in particular, is a remarkable coach. As an adult swimmer never learning as a child, I found her guidance invaluable in building water confidence quickly. Thanks to Tracey and the other Swim Doctors at the Lido, I went from nearly drowning to swimming 1.7 kilometers per session. As I progressed, I began attending the more advanced sessions, which Tracey also coaches. She is incredibly inspiring and genuinely believes in her students, regardless of their age or background. Tracey continues to foster a strong, supportive community of swimmers at the Lido. For anyone considering learning to swim as an adult or improving their skills, the Swim Doctor coaches at the Lido are just what you need. You are getting more than what you are paying for and I Highly recommend it!

Fantastic experience: One of my favourite Lidos in London. Friendly atmosphere, not too busy - a great way to start the day.

Fantastic experience: Fantastic pool, staff friendly and helpful. Definitely recommend a visit.

Fantastic experience: Amazing pool and teachers. It’s worth travelling over an hour to enjoy this beautiful and friendly place!

Fantastic experience: Came over from East Ham and had a great time at the lido. Brilliant pool and staff were great.

Negative experience: We are absolutely disappointed and unfortunately we won't be going there again. We paid £80 to get in and after 1 hour they asked us to leave because they could only stay for an hour. And this is not normal because only until we settle down to put the towels and to lock our luggage and wait in line to buy things for the kids it was already 20 min and so the kids bathed only 40 min and they were very disappointed.We do not recommend this place. We found a much better outdoor pool that you pay much cheaper and you can use it for 4 hours, which is much better than 40 min.

Negative experience: Arrived to see up to 20% of the lido accommodated, website states walk-ins available at a first come first serve basis so made our way. Was turned away as “fully booked” yet the lido area wasn’t busy whatsoever and no help was offered. I would understand if it was super busy and 60-70% full but there were only a few people there. The mature blonde lady in the reception area seemed to be unhappy or having a bad day with the way she was operating the waiting area, made me feel uncomfortable.

Negative experience: Poorly managed. Had joined tennis lessons in early Jan to realise in 2 weeks that the coach is leaving and there is no replacement (not sure why I wasn't informed while registering). Lido didn't want to confirm in writing and said payments could continue and will be adjusted later. 6 months on and they still can't find a coach (they are searching on Mars I think), and better and Lido fighting among themselves whose fault is it (I was sent the discussion email by customer care!). In short, a bunch of mismatched folks with a poor customer service. Keep away.

Fantastic experience: Love the swimming pool but it tends to get busy.

Fantastic experience: I'm a regular at this gym and I think it's small but great for the neighbourhood. It's got good classes and a pool. Recently, they renovated the reception area with new furniture and TV, there's a little coffee shop at the entrance. The tennis courts are good and fairly well maintained. Overall, it makes the neighborhood and the community a lot better.

Fantastic experience: This is a great place for swimming & if like myself, you are disabled & need to use the gym for health reasons to try & keep your body from deteriorating further This is the place, it's all on the flat, so no loads of stairs to climb, i must say about two members of GLL's staff who i find outstanding. One is Dean who i remember from the Arches Leisure Centre 20 odd years ago & of course course Mia, who has helped me with my membership status. Must amend this review to include Chelsea who " clarified " my entitlements while having my membership changed, she's a

Fantastic experience: Really helpful managment team, facilities are a lot cleaner than last year. Well looked after.

Fantastic experience: Went to Swim for All and I could also use the toddler pool with my son. It was a joy to feel refreshed in the heat.

Fantastic experience: Loved it, fab swim great value.. must go experience

Fantastic experience: It's brilliant but expensive at £12 for a swim.

Positive experience: Lovely pool and day, however it was ruined by the rude receptionist lady who had no manners.

Positive experience: What a beautiful outside pool(heating) the KIDS are safe in the lido! Say no more it's undercover, and on your doorstep, keep fit

Fantastic experience: Love the lido, I'm an all year round user, the facilities are good, staff and swimmers are friendly and the pool is fantastic.

Fantastic experience: Just had my gym induction. Even though I've had inductions at other gyms, I still learnt more about every single exercise and piece of equipment. Amazingly thorough and thoughtful. Felt very welcome.

Fantastic experience: Couldn’t imagine a better place to get both the sun and swim at the same time. Walk through reception where I’ll receive my cold beverage to aid me in my swim and during the summer sitting on the side waiting for the ice cream truck to deliver my ice cream. If I want to go enjoy a bit of a quieter environment I’d book for the Sun terrace where you can be away from the pool and enjoy a lovely sun lounge!

Fantastic experience: Great pool , rarely too busy and the pool temperature is perfect.

Positive experience: I give 3 stars for the actual pool. The changing rooms are hazardous to health with black mould on the walls. The female swim doctor I had today has put me off having any further lessons. Eating chocolate by the pool, chatting to others landside and when she did engage quite rude.

Fantastic experience: Really lovely pool but would be so much nicer just 3 degrees warmer. It’s kept at a chilly 22 degrees now but used to be a much warmer 25 degrees when it first reopened after refurbishment.

Fantastic experience: Lovely 50m heated lido open throughout the year. Best to check timetable and book your session via the website/app. Lockers outdoors, but have to get a token (pay by card/phone) before leaving the reception area. Clean pool, although changing facilities are limited.

Fantastic experience: 5 stars for the tennis courts. Very cheap but well maintained. Can't comment on the pool, but will try it in the summer

Positive experience: My nephew used to go during summer Had a lot of fun

Fantastic experience: Excellent swimming pool - 50m in length. Very friendly crowd. Recommend you bring flip flops to walk around the pool as the ground is quite coarse.

Positive experience: They have gender-neutral single cabin changing rooms outdoors right by the pool, which is very practical. The outdoor showers are also gender-neutral, but have no cubicles. I don't remember if there were any gender-neutral toilets. The outdoor pool is beautiful! I visited on a hot summer weekend and did need to book in advance, but found that it was still possible to find a slot to book the day before (unlike many other London lidos!). On the downside, it's pretty expensive, it does cost noticeably more than other lidos, such as Brockwell lido. The indoor changing rooms & showers are also not as clean or well-kept as the outdoor ones.

Fantastic experience: Love this pool, clean and fresh and a God send on hot days!

Fantastic experience: The team at lido are always happy to help. Duty manager Ian couldn’t do enough when I had an issue with my booking. Love the place!

Positive experience: Lovely lido, with friendly lifeguards and clean changing cubicles and toilets. I was a little late due to traffic and paying for parking (didn't realise I could use ringo) as a result I couldn't scan my barcode to enter...had to wait for people being served at reception to be helped which delayed entry even further but reception were helpful and let me in. I'll know next time I visit to allow a little more time.

Fantastic experience: This stunning 50 meter heated out door pool, with heated poolside showers, lockers is a jewel in south east London crown.

Negative experience: They should advertise on the website and phone line that bookings are required for the lido (I checked both). I travelled 45 minutes there only be to turned away.

Fantastic experience: A great place, especially on a hot sunny day. Water was lovely and there were plenty of places to relax afterwards, albeit no chairs.

Negative experience: I went to the swim for all with my 1 year old and my 13 year old niece for the first time. The swimming pool area is great however there was a VERYYY strong smell of wee in the changing rooms. Really spoiled the whole look of the centre. Not as clean as other reviews stated.

Fantastic experience: Nice play area for kids. Good sports activities and accessible location. Have lots of green space around and good to spend some time

Negative experience: This is a lovely venue and our kids loved the pool, but that is all undermined by the exorbitant cost and 'computer says no' approach from the Better staff. A shame. Hopefully there might be a change of (approach from the) management to improve things.

Fantastic experience: It’s a fabulous place - not a luxury gym but affordable. They have everything you need swimming, classes and a gym.

Fantastic experience: Great swimming pool. Small gym equipped with all the necessary machines. Friendly and helpful staff

Positive experience: To get 5 stars they need swimsuit dryers and fix the rails where you Step in & out the water

Fantastic experience: Good pool, not busy either Double width fast lane allowed for easy over taking Easy to get in and out, no fuss. Friendly people and staff

Positive experience: First time visiting this place. We availed of the 1 hr swim for all. The pool was clean and there were life guards. The changing room and toilet were great as well. My daughter enjoyed it a lot. I would have given it a 5 stars if the pool was heated as said in the website. But the water is iced cold. Despite this, definitely going back.

Fantastic experience: Spacious 50m heated outdoor pool with deep and shallow ends. Usually split into 4 wide lanes allowing plenty of space for all speeds and strokes. The water is clean. The lack of surrounding high buildings means that you can quite quickly feel as if you are open water swimming with the changing weather reflected on the water's surface. I have achieved some of my personal best distance speeds in this pool purely down to the sheer exhilaration of the setting.

Fantastic experience: Great outdoor swimming pool & , the gym equipment is quite new and the overall centre is well maintained and very clean!

Negative experience: The most disgusting customer service ever. I have been coming for 10 years and today I took my kids. Water was cold, asked for a refund and was told I can’t have one. Not being funny but I paid for two hours for three people. That’s more than £50 pounds, when I pointed that the water is not what they claim to be on the internet and they admitted is about 21 to 23 degrees and not 25 at all they said they can’t do anything. The swimming pool is big and can’t heat up!!! Manager was out of order so as the guards. With their jackets more concerned for their safety than the people in the pool. Asking me what do I expect in this weather!!!! Would not recommend at all. Better off in Gillingham, woolwich or Forest Hill.

Fantastic experience: I’m at your feet! The concierge, a hands-on manager, lifeguards handing us caps and medals, creating a dedicated lane, soothing uncomprehending customers, I am OVERFLOWING with appreciation for hosting our Swimathon 5k Team

Positive experience: great lido, annoying that there isn’t free use lockers and the pool exit can’t go back through the same entrance area since covid

Positive experience: Beautiful big pool with wide lanes. £11.50 though?? Too expensive to swim regularly

Positive experience: Love charlton Lido and grateful part of my membership with Better - however the prices feel elitist and exclusionary. Growing up this lido was a big part of my childhood and I don’t think it’s fair it’s no longer as affordable.

Fantastic experience: Back to where I used to play and it’s still the same quaint and well kept park that it was back in the mid 70s…. The lido has been modernised with a fitness suite which looks good and I had a peep into the lido via the car park which also looks great….I took a stroll around the beautiful pond ( it’s a shame that they don’t bring back the pond in Charlton park as this was also a beautiful place) Hornfair park really did take me back to my happy place ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fantastic experience: Gorgeous outdoor pool. Spotlessly clean although only went by the pool and upstairs calm studio, which was also lovely in the sun.

Fantastic experience: In love with this place! The best swimming pool in London, group classes here are also great❤️

Negative experience: Love how people give this place 5 stars.. 1 star is more than enough, dirty and mold everywhere, especially near the pool and showers..no lights in the outdoor changing...heated pool? Such a lie, barely even warm... Still no lights in the changing outdoor cubicles Management/HQ don't respond to complaints and recommendations In need of a desperate upgrade! Put itself as a club but far from an established club, no sauna, steam room etc.. disappointing Just listen to your members and everybody will have a better experience If there's other pool and gym in the area, you're better off going somewhere else and not here. Wouldn't recommend

Fantastic experience: Amazing facilities . Today it was snowing and the pool was open as usual with the staff bracing the cold . I appreciate !

Fantastic experience: 50 metre outdoor heated pool. Love this place. Much easier to rack up big distances in a pool this large. Swim doctor is also worth a visit.

Negative experience: Doesn’t even deserve a star 37£ for a gym that’s closed half of time lack of actual good gym equipment, they lie about opening and close time all the time whilst still being able to book on their website. It’s ridiculous and I’m a regular but I’ve had enough constantly wasting pre workout because they never inform anybody on their closing times. Not worth a penny should be ashamed

Positive experience: Nice pool. Could be a touch warmer - and a touch cheaper as it's over £11 pp (early 2023).

Fantastic experience: Excellent outdoor pool, heated year round (renewably). Excellent range of classes, 7 days a week, throughout the day. Fantastic value for money membership. 100/10

Positive experience: Actual gym and facilities are great 5 stars . 1 star for staff, they all seem miserable and when asking for help with something I got the reaction as if I had propositioned there mother . Particular shout out to the orange lady on the front desk cheer up !!

Positive experience: A nice pool and great atmosphere, but quite cold in September, keep swimming to stay warm ! Lockers take tokens which you can get from a machine using debit card. There is parking which is pay & display. Quite expensive at £11 a go unless you are a member. The pool is quite wide and 50m long with a deep and shallow end.

Fantastic experience: A wonderful outdoor Olympic (50m) size lido in south-east London. Extremely clean and heated year round making winter swimming possible, even without a wetsuit. Inside and outdoor changing facilities. Friendly staff and a nice mix of local leisure bathers and a friendly swimming community make for a very nice relaxed atmosphere. Some swimming and triathlon clubs train here too. There's a full Better gym on-site (which can be used for an extra fee) and something quite unique, an outdoor spin studio overlooking the pools. Some of the spin instructors are very entertaining as they motivate their classes :). You will definitely leave feeling refreshed and happier than when you arrived.

Negative experience: the swimming pool looks nice but I dont use it. the staff is super rude, they hate their job and hate their life and they really make sure you know. You need is an app to get in as i was told they do not issue physical (cards) a lie, they just dont want to as apparently cards will be phased out at some pointin the futire ... then there is anither app woth adifferent password for using the treadmill. then i need a code for that A real faff

Fantastic experience: Lovely open-air, heated Lido with changing rooms. Swimming in lanes unless "Swimming for All" is open and there is a separate, shallow child's pool. Access through Better Gym membership or around £11 to enter if not a member. The gym has a car park.

Positive experience: Another good lido in London! Water is a bit warm and merky but overall a nice space

Fantastic experience: This is one of my fave lidos. Beautiful, well organised, nice people. Tis pricey though

Positive experience: I visited for the first time with my partner and grandchildren aged 4 and 22 maths. We had booked toddler splash and the toddler pool was very good as all shallow. We found all the machines eg for parking and getting a locker token worked very smoothly and a helpful member of staff explained everything to us. We found the pool area and changing rooms all spacious enough and a good relaxed atmosphere.

Positive experience: Love this pool, but 2 stars lacking because the water is full of long hair, that ends up in your mouth when swimming. I wish swimming caps were obligatory in the swimming pool.

Fantastic experience: Superb place. The around swimming pool area could offer more colour n sitting but swimming pool is amazing. Will be back ‍♂️

Positive experience: Great for that holiday feeling but I thought £11.50 for 50 minutes was a bit steep

Positive experience: Lovely lido and brilliant for a swim in the sun. Only issue is the very angry lifeguard who refused to let us rest at the end of the lane (we were in the wide lane where everyone was moving quite slowly and many people were resting). We were tired from swimming and it was super hot so just wanted to chill in the shady bit for a couple of minutes out of the way of everyone but he yelled at us from across the pool and watched us like a hawk for the rest of our swim. When we paused again he again shouted at us ‘MOVE! MOVE! NO RESTING!’ And once again, at which point we decided to just get out. We felt like he was picking on us as no one else was told off for resting (which is obviously very common in the lido) but we weren’t allowed to stop at all! We were able to laugh it off but I think other people would find his behaviour intimidating and scary

Negative experience: Super rude staff - we dropped by Better complex reception after playing tennis on a +26 heat for two hours and asked for tap water, they said they don’t have it but offered to buy bottled one. And after buying 6 bottles they asked us to leave the premises as apparently we were crowding the hall. Like what?!

Fantastic experience: Love this place....so Blessed to have it on my doorstep... Cant wait for the warmer weather to get started again there Lots of people go there even in winter and the cold! Lucky them to be so resilient.!

Negative experience: The swimming pool is great however the staff customer service is appalling! There is no water fountain in the swimming pool area and the only available one is in at the gym area. I've asked at the reception if I can refil my water bottle somewhere and I was told I'm not allowed in the gym area. The lady at the reception (Chelsea) asked her manager's advice where she's been instructed to tell me to use the water taps in the toilets!!! Appalling customer service! A public sports facility should have a water fountain available to all their customers especially when the weather is too hot at the summer months.

Negative experience: The changing rooms are wet and cold. Cycles are routinely stolen from outside. The facility is unusable in winter as the changing rooms and personal storage is freezing cold. Unsafe for older people in winter and autumn. Whilst the facilities are dreadful, the pool is great and 50 metres. Great during summer.

Fantastic experience: Cold and refreshing, lovely place to swim or simply fool around with the kids in an outdoor pool. We loved it

Negative experience: Actual staff at the gym are nice. However, I did not enjoy having to electronically login in to use individual machines. Also, it has taken over 3 months to get a refund despite multiple emails and completing the online refund form- highly bureaucratic. Never experienced this at a gym before.

Negative experience: Payed a lot for membership. Lack of staff to do induction. Had to rebook more than 3 times now still have not done induction yet. Told me to come next day at a certain time when rebooking. When I came on time either the person inducting me home went early or sick. Friendly service is not the only thing we customers we need. We need customers to be satisfied by giving us what we need instead if excises and delaying a simple induction. You will spend more time trying to arrange and induction than spend time working out at the gym.

Fantastic experience: Had a great early morning swim Lovely staff and good clean changing room Great experience swimming in the dark with the mist over the water

Fantastic experience: Excellent venue. The reception and pool staff (Alex) were extremely helpful with a booking issue.

Fantastic experience: Be prepared for the outside pool, its obvious but even heated to 25degrees it's very bracing in the winter. Took our two children and even in their wetsuits it was too cold to play and practise for long. Also, a note for parents: even though it says free swim, we definitely got some angry looks from other pool users for not swimming laps even though we were in the 1/4 of the pool designated the free swim area. We were trying to teach some basic swimming technique but it became a bit awkward with others in the free swim area so we left.

Positive experience: Nice, smallish gym. Never usually too busy. The pool is great too, Olympic size. The pool and poolside changing rooms have seen better days and could do with a spruce up but they're perfectly fine. In order to upgrade they would have to shut the pool for a while and that would not go down well with the swimmers

Fantastic experience: Wowser, love outdoor swimming and at Charlton Lido you can do it in 25 degree temperature even in December. Great place and great staff

Positive experience: Booked up as I knew today would be nice for an outdoor swim after work. It was fantastic to be swimming in the sun and quite a few people sitting in the sun. I'm a Better member so did think I would get discount but no, still had to pay £10. That's fine for an ocassional treat but too much to go regularly unfortunately.

Fantastic experience: A wonderful Better Lifestyle Club with a spacious swimming pool, gym, outdoor and indoor group classes. I am teaching traditional Hatha Yoga classes and I love this place, the students and staff.

Fantastic experience: Super clean, super big, super awesome lido! Cheap parking outside (£1 an hour), contactless payment for locker tokens (30p each) and easy booking online. Can’t wait to go back!

Fantastic experience: I went there when it had just reopened and stepping into the heated pool was bliss after many years spent jumping into unheated water, both outdoor pools and sea swimming. I need to board the #89 and take myself back again. Hurrah.

Positive experience: Felt the pool facilities very basic was just 2 pools and a concrete floor. At £25 for a family of 3 price was quite high. Pools apparently heated but are freezing. Hard to book on the website, need to use the ap. Free parking on the street.

Positive experience: Very well presented, clean and tidy and not too busy. Only downsides were that the pool was freezing cold (apparently it's heated?), and the lockers are non-returnable, so take plenty of 20p coins)

Fantastic experience: Great club, i use the gym, attend all manner of different classes, staff and class teachers are super friendly and helpful, and the pool is nice especially on a sunny day. Free street parking also onsite parking is cheap, nice flower garden in the park to relax in after a workout

Positive experience: The pool wasn't too busy, some of the lifeguards were miserable and some were amazingly friendly. We went to an all swimming session and spent a good few hours in the non-swimming lane section. £10 Per adult for the session is alittle steep though as the session may have been cut short if it was busier.

Fantastic experience: You can't beat Charlton lido for a great swim in a 50m outdoor pool. You need to book before with Better. Nice, helpful and welcoming staff. Thoroughly recommend.

Fantastic experience: Love this lido so much!!!! On a summers day it is just blissful. Does not feel like you are in a big city at all. It does get busy though but the lanes are wide and long. A pleasure!

Negative experience: Raised price of a swim for senior citizens from £4 to £7 this week an increase of 75% ! Disgraceful from a so called 'community organisation'.

Fantastic experience: Almost as good as a holiday in the med. Family friendly and really great staff. You always feel as though you've been spoilt

Fantastic experience: Really great pool and very clean!!! Not so busy aswell and warm water (a small tip for when coming here bring 0.20£ pence for lockers)

Fantastic experience: Fantastic pool with very welcoming staff. Hot showers by the poolside ,big area to sunbathe. ,lockers by the pool Plenty of space to swim 3 people can swim alongside. Excellent.

Fantastic experience: It is excellent, though not cheap at £10 a swim for non-members. But given that it is a beautiful, Olympic-sized outdoor pool in which to chill out in the heat, I decided to treat myself. I liked it so much I took out a membership on a monthly rolling contract, so no commitment to a lengthy membership. At 35 quid a month it is much cheaper if you're going there twice a week or more, and still cheaper even if you only go once a week. It is heated but still cool enough for a refreshing dip. It also has generously sized lanes to allow the super-swimmers to overtake without kicking you! I love it.

Fantastic experience: 50m outdoor swimming pool, which is perfect for warm days. It's very clean and not too crowded. Recommended

Fantastic experience: Sunny day, and open air swimming pool are the best. Very relaxed environment. Connectivity isn't great, bit far from North Greenwich to walk.

Positive experience: 50m outdoor heated pool and as such almost unique. Done up in the Olympics in 2012. Currently there are only hot drinks available at reception and you need to book in using your phone or the app. Hopefully one day will be able to use the cafe and members space again in the future and maybe sit around and sunbathe a bit more. Not yet though. There's also a gym here. I've never used it!