Iffley Road Sports Centre

Negative experience: Premium prices for low quality services. Poor reception. Gym is TINY, pool is average and track is OK. Much better off going elsewhere Changing rooms dirty, lots of things dusty…

Fantastic experience: Only used the pool really, but it is a great 25m pool. Nice and cold for exercise.

Fantastic experience: Excellent

Positive experience: The gym itself is good, but some of the reception staff is super pissy. Seem to hate students haha, I've been to university gyms in Canada which have served a much larger student body with a much better temperament. That being said if I hadn't been given a membership with my college I wouldn't want to go here because the gyms quite small and the staff doesn't help much.

Fantastic experience: Was a great experience 2nd time, last year & this year at TRX®️ SUMMIT❗

Positive experience: Nice facility, but should announce has ANPR parking near the Football courts so people know to register.

Fantastic experience: I love the yoga class, suitable for beginners.

Negative experience: It is impossible to reach them by phone. I have tried to call about 8 times over the course of one week and was told to wait in a queue. Also tried calling from a different phone number and got the same response. Questions and concerns go unanswered.

Positive experience: Quick visit..

Positive experience: Bright and airy.

Fantastic experience: Fabulous ,a very helpful young lady on reception helped to make my day, week and month

Negative experience: Deplorable customer service makes using the splendid pool feel like pulling teeth. - Emails do not get answered for weeks and weeks, even if you send multiple - Phone calls do not go through and are almost always disconnected after 10 minutes - After five weeks of trying to contact via email relating to a situation that could have been resolved very quickly and amicably, I received an incredibly rude lecture on ‘membership responsibility’ from someone who had not at all understood the situation. I was genuinely shocked when I received it as I’ve never had an organisation reach out with such pointed and confused venom before. I could not fathom how anyone could have acted so unprofessionally in a position of customer care. If one of my own staff had communicated in such a way, it would be a deeply serious issue. There was no apology or recognition of 5 weeks of waiting for initial contact. - Links and information poorly organised across multiple websites, neither app or booking portal provides comprehensive information on the status of your membership. If you have a basic query — you are on your own. - Unless you physically go to the building, you will be unable to manage any issues you have due to dead phone lines and non-existent email support. I LOVE this pool. But if you want to use it and any small thing goes wrong, expected to be ignored and then eventually insulted for trying.

Fantastic experience: Convenient historic running track, well located in central Oxford.

Negative experience: Equipment is dated, rusty, and falling apart. Indoor gym is “limited” to 10 people based on the booking system. However, if you are like us, you will get in trouble for using the indoor gym instead of the outdoor “gym” (see pictures for the lake that you’re supposed to lift in) when 18 people were in the indoor gym. For a storied university like Oxford, 2 squat racks and 3 treadmills cannot service 26,000 students plus faculty and community members. I recently had a negative experience with the staff as they rudely implemented their new booking policy harshly and with no acknowledgement about their limited space and poor conditions. Despite this new policy of 10 people & prior booking, older non-student age adults were being accommodated and treated differently. People want to work out, so let them. Either limit your membership, expand your gym, or let it be busy and have people adjust to come at different times. The current situation is untenable.

Negative experience: Gym here sucks. Badminton courts are nice.

Fantastic experience: Great pool, haven't tried other amenities. There are swimming classes taking place every day from 3 -6PM. The facilities are always clean and kept tidy. Cannot fault this pool.

Negative experience: Review for the Pulse Gym Only slightly less expensive than a regular gym but much, much less equipment and space. Even with a full membership you still have to book a slot ahead of time and it's often booked full. Fewer than 20 spots for over 20k students. Only one deadlift platform. It has gotten a tiny bit better in the last few years, though. They finally repaired/replaced some very old machines. New squat racks are nice, too. Just not nearly enough for a city/university of this size. Perhaps ten rooms like the pulse gym would be enough? They also have the cardio machines in the gym so you always have to listen to the horrible sound of treadmills.

Negative experience: Pretty basic facilities and has a real dated feel to it. You have to book everything even gym sessions and nothing is ever available. You’ll even struggle to book a swim let alone any classes. I also received no introduction or show around etc and every time I’ve tried to contact reception I never hear back. I’ve only been a member for a couple of weeks but I’m already trying to cancel (no response yet… of course). Very much felt like they didn’t care for a public member.

Positive experience: Well organised place to watch a rugby game.

Negative experience: Tremendously poor. My review regards the gym only. Hands down the worst university gym I’ve used, and I have wasted much of my life hanging out in university gyms. Would give 2.5 stars if this was a village gym in rural Devonshire, funded by the local rotary club. Incongruous with a university associated with high performance and standards. In summary. Lame. P.S. parking was ample

Fantastic experience: For a gym of this size and cost, it has a good selection of powerlifting plates and equipment to use.

Negative experience: I had an overall bad experience in this sport center. - Gym: small gym with few and old equipment. Freezing cold in the winter (the red heating lights are clearly not doing enough). Dirty. - Courts: there are only two courts in this sport center which is really few considering the number of students at the University of Oxford. The most recent court (Acer) has been under repair for almost the whole semester, which leaves us with only 1 court: the old Iffley sports hall. This old court is freezing cold as well, as it seems it is not heated at all (I did not feel any difference of temperature between there and the outside), and is often dirty. This makes it dangerous to practice some sports. On another note, this is the first time I see an university sport facility asking the university students to pay (~30£) to use the court when it is empty, such a shame. - Staff: most of the people working there are not nice, cold and sometimes rude (at the exception of 1 or 2 people who were really nice and helpful). -> Overall: this Sport Center is clearly not worthy of a top-tier university like the University of Oxford, which is disappointing.

Negative experience: Dangerous sports hall. Freezing cold. Floor was damp. I watched many people slip and refuse to play over the course of a tournament. Should not be allowed for safety reasons.

Positive experience: It was ok

Negative experience: Rude staff, avoid where possible.

Positive experience: My child goes swimming here and it's a lovely venue. The staff are all really nice. The only thing that I feel could be improved is the changing area. There are only two family changing spots which can be inconvenient at times, you can squeeze into a single person changing pod if you only have one child to get changed, however, a lot of the time 3 - 4 of them are out of service because the floor is flooded. That definitely needs looking into!!

Fantastic experience: Didn't spend very long there but from what I saw, it's a very decent centre

Fantastic experience: Great venue, well run though has mobile service deadspots. WiFi is good.

Fantastic experience: Great 1:1 lessons hosted here, run by Swim School of Oxfordshire.

Fantastic experience: eccellente

Fantastic experience: Well maintained and clean

Fantastic experience: Good, a range of facilities is available.

Positive experience: My two grandchildren were attending swimming classes, which they enjoyed. The facilities are good. Sadly, the cafe was closed for refurbishment.

Negative experience: Out-of-date equipment. Gym closes many hours before stated closing time. I’ve cancelled my membership

Fantastic experience: Amazing historic track. I was surprised that there weren’t more runners making a pilgrimage to this track. The track was amazing. 6 full lanes and 8 sprint lanes. Did a couple of miles with the family and we all had a great time. Bought the tickets there for 4.50 quid and it was well worth it. Bathrooms and water in the center alone. Just glad that I was able to visit this track in my time at Oxford.

Fantastic experience: move quickly

Positive experience: cycling here traumatised me.

Positive experience: 7:30 and if you are arriving for a sports event. Chances are the parking is full. Lots of athletes especially on the weekend. Great place to try new things and indulge in them.

Positive experience: Nice facilities.

Fantastic experience: I have used the pool on the Flexi membership, plus the gym and gym classes. It's great. App booking system, scan in with your wristband. Great staff, very helpful and friendly.

Fantastic experience: FYI: one of the guys at the cafe does not know how to make a cappuccino, and only hands out lattes. Total scam. clean sports complex. this is really the most important thing to a sports complex isn't it? top that up with friendly staff and you're in business. one thing that does annoy me is the staff seem to assume that I am not a member of the university.

Fantastic experience: It's a nice facility with lots of options. I tried swimming pool and it's great.

Fantastic experience: I enjoyed playing badminton and gym there.

Fantastic experience: Nice place for rowing swim test!

Positive experience: The squash courts look depleted and lack proper maintenance.. shame

Positive experience: In need of investment and updating. Getting scruffy around the edges .

Positive experience: The gym looks like a club .. but need maintenance some parts, I mean the main gym for the community is really poor and old equipments and broked also or repaired with tapes but swimming pool and another things are fine, I would say good for the price, but could be much better.

Fantastic experience: Great badminton facility

Positive experience: Nice facilities

Negative experience: Sometimes they just shut down unannounced. They never post up to date times. Running track is historic though

Fantastic experience: It is the best sports centre in Oxford, the gym is very complete, the classes are of an excellent level and the swimming pool is in excellent condition. Low rates for how complete it is. I strongly recommend it!

Positive experience: Surprisingly hot in the dojo, particularly compared to the rest of the centre. Extraction fans don't work properly, and the mat space is surprisingly small for a world class university. Good sprung floor though, and padded walls.

Fantastic experience: Nice and helpful staff, huge and well kept sports grounds.

Positive experience: Lots of fun

Negative experience: "Home of Oxford University Sport" there is a distinct lack of apparent care for the facilities and equipment. Very dirty in the gym. Always very cold and windows appear to be stuck open.

Negative experience: Just dropped off passengers. And picked up.

Fantastic experience: Best place to practice sports

Negative experience: One of the worst leisure centres I have attended. Customer service is awful. We had a football booking and when we got there, the pitch was locked and the lights were off, no one was around. We've been trying to call them up since before Christmas for a refund and they don't pick up. We went in person to sort it out and they said we needed to call. When we finally did call and get through, they said we need to speak to the manager but he's only there in the mornings. Honestly, this place is ridiculous

Positive experience: Gym is mostly suited to power lifters and gets very busy in afternoons. Outside gym is much quieter and has a beautiful view. Opening times a bit inconvenient also.

Positive experience: Decent facility, plenty of different clubs, e.g. boxing, judo. The changing room is luxuriously large. I never quite understood how the gates work, you seem to have to explain to the reception why you're at the sports centre every time you're there in order to be let in, even with a university card. I've used the weights room a few times but I'm not 100% sure if I was allowed to. Weights room is tiny and very very busy at certain times.

Fantastic experience: Good, clean well made complex with facilities. Opens at 7:30 and if you are arriving for a sports event. Chances are the parking is full. Lots of athletes especially on the weekend. Great place to try new things and indulge in them.

Fantastic experience: OU stepped their game up. The basketball court is dope. Specially their new one, stingy rings though so best be on if you play there

Positive experience: Pitch is a little slippy, and the fences are low. But it's cheap and works.

Fantastic experience: Amazing range of sports available!

Fantastic experience: Good place to athletics

Fantastic experience: Quez time is the best time

Fantastic experience: Many facilities: -track -gym -tennis -badminton and squash courts

Fantastic experience: A little odd to visit as a newbie - feels like a half empty leisure centre (even before lockdown). Still: pool is cheap and facilities are OK. Plus it's where Sir Roger Bannister did his thang...

Positive experience: The gym is incredibly crowded, if you come at the wrong time you'll have to queue up behind 3 people to use a bench or squat rack.

Positive experience: as an uni student, i get a free membership, so it s literally great value for the money. but they only have one bench and only the essential machines, so you have to get creative if another person is using the machine you want to use. The bike room is cool tho, the bikes have really cool monitoring features.

Positive experience: Nice 8 Lane pool but quite limited opening times

Fantastic experience: So much history in a small track.

Fantastic experience: Great running track

Fantastic experience: Everything in one place

Fantastic experience: Good place, poor toilet facils

Fantastic experience: great for a basic workout.

Fantastic experience: Great place for a quick dip

Fantastic experience: Nice people, good place

Fantastic experience: Brilliant sports facility

Negative experience: Gym is tiny, a grand total of two benches and squat racks in the power area, which is cramped into a small room next to the main compartment, of which has only a few cardio/exercise machines and lighter dumbbells. Sardines have more room to move during rush hour. Dirty pool. Nice running track though.

Fantastic experience: Absolutely smashing place to train, excellent facilities and wonderful members of staff. Would highly recommend.

Fantastic experience: That is an place are you looking for! All in one.

Positive experience: RIP Sir Roger Bannister.

Fantastic experience: State of the art facilities. There is somehing for everyone

Positive experience: Decent facilities but they are terrible at answering the phone for bookings!

Fantastic experience: Super friendly staff, very professional

Fantastic experience: Most accommodating to visitors who know what happened here. "Track record, county record, British record, ...."

Fantastic experience: Lovely pool, great little cafe - extremely reasonable prices, friendly and helpful staff.

Fantastic experience: Super

Fantastic experience: În această bază sportivă își are locul Jonathan Markson Tennis Club. O săptămână costă 1175 de copil - in acest preț sunt incluse :6 nopți de cazare, mesele, antrenamentele și câte-o oră de limbă engleză. Ora de engleză este opțională.

Negative experience: Awful. Called to book squash court, was told to call back because they're system was down, called back was then told I had to register first and I can't do that over the phone anyway, went in the next day and was then told I still can't register because their cardachime wasn't working so I would need to come back with cash. Welcome desk was inadequately staffed and receptionist overwhelmed.

Fantastic experience: Great sports facilities for students!

Fantastic experience: This really is a community place where best friends are made and sweating is mandatory

Negative experience: Avoid avoid avoid around the time the kids go swimming! Full of screaming toddlers, overcrowded swimming pool and changing rooms. The tiny corridor towards the female changing rooms is often blocked by pushchairs which can be a real disaster in case of emergency evacuation and the floor seams dirty all the time as not everyone is removing their outdoor shoes before entering.

Fantastic experience: Visited once for an indoor sporting fixture. Very modern sports hall with great facilities. Plenty of parking for visitors which is useful in oxford Only downside was outside fixture using the same changing facilities although I doubt they were supposed to

Negative experience: The sports facilities are great but the changing rooms are rubbish. Bad design and little maintenance. No hooks near the showers so you have to walk wet into the changing rooms, benches in front of the lockers so you are always in someone's way. Grout discolouring, vent needs cleaning, mastic going mouldy.

Positive experience: Great sports facilities. Swimming pool is 25m long with 8 lanes. Movable floor allows for the pool to be turned into an all deep pool or have a a shallow end of required. Male changing rooms were clean with cubicles as well as an open changing room with lockers.

Positive experience: Needs some work on their gym facilities.

Fantastic experience: Nice in and outdoor fields

Fantastic experience: Great clay tennis courts