Virgin Active

Fantastic experience: Such a beautiful club. I’ve enjoyed every visit to this branch. Best Virgin Active health club I’ve been to so far. It’s a real shame they’re closing down :(

Fantastic experience: Very sad to see this excellent Virgin Active branch finally close its doors today for the last time. Great spa, lounge, pool and modern facility. Such a shame to see it go.

Fantastic experience: I can't believe the best Virgin Active in London is closing. Great staff, amazing pool, perfect weight section.

Fantastic experience: I love this Virgin Active Club. It’s so convenient as it is right by Liverpool Street Station and has one of the largest pools in London. The staff are super friendly and the layout is perfect with breakout areas for you to train.

Fantastic experience: Clean - great equipment - always friendly staff. Shame it’s closing!!!

Fantastic experience: I love that gym - I almost dont want to write a review because I dont want other people to know how good it is. The pool is amazing. the classes and instructions are very very good, the staff is helpful, the gym is clean, loads of stuff you can do on the floor. one of the best gyms I have been to.

Negative experience: Had my padlock smashed and contents taken. Same story for a colleague at work The gym is nice and the staff friendly however so nothing against them. In response to virgin okay will await your call

Negative experience: Poor membership signing up experience. I signed up through Vitality and have been hounded by a membership consultant about whether I'd like to sign up after telling him I've already joined more than one time. Then I found out he suspended my account because he needed my ID but never once asked me directly whilst asking me to sign up for Virgin Active. Also I was never told the Broadgate location is in potential threat of being closed down as a location. This would have certainly informed my decision of signing up. On my first visit to the gym - there was no functioning hot water within the gym and the temperature of the sauna and steam room was not adequately high enough. I also tried to log a complaint, left my name and number and no one ever got back to me. Just the membership consultant asking me how I liked my visit and whether I'd like to sign up to be member (very confusingly).

Fantastic experience: A bit tricky to find unless you use Google maps which routes you a walking path straight to the entrance. Inside is great, clean and the swimming pool looks well kept even though I didn't get to use it.

Negative experience: Not recommending this branch. Very difficult to find - and if you are late 1 minute for a class you won’t be able to enter. Definitely not a treatment and policies you would expect to face when paying a fortune for a membership fee. Canary Riverside has a much better customer service and

Fantastic experience: Nice and very helpful team. Nice gym.

Fantastic experience: Been with Virgin active about a month and really enjoying this particular branch so far. Customer service is one of the best and staff greet you every time you enter and leave which is so nice. Makes a BIG difference and well worth it. All the staff are high calibre people from my experience. And the gym equipment is fabulous too. Having only 4 visits a month (on a particular plan) is kind of a tease though…

Fantastic experience: Very nice place

Fantastic experience: VA Broadgate is a great facility. Great session in the gym this week with Leticia who is very personable, enthusiastic, knowledgeable. Thanks

Fantastic experience: Staff are really friendly, thank you guys I really mean it.

Positive experience: Definitely one of the better Virgin Gyms in London. However, at £120p/m for a rolling monthly membership, it's a huge let down that the club is closed on weekends and they don't at least grant access to other clubs for Sat-Sunday. Front of house staff are genuinely awesome, chatty and make you feel welcome and at ease. The cleaning lady with the very short hair lets the experience down as she sits on her phone in the changing area whilst you are getting undressed. I hope this gets addressed. We should feel comfortable in the changing into swimwear. Pros- - State of the art machines set in a gym area that is bright and inviting. - Clean full sized pool that is chemically balanced so you don't smell of chlorine as you would at a cheaper gym - Gorgeous, spacious studios to do some stretching - Gym is relatively quiet, outside of lunch and after work hours Cons- - Not much variety in resistance machines, there's definitely room to add more. The Machines they do have are relatively basic, there's a better choice at literally any of the £40 gyms - Mon - Friday only - Jacuzzi is small, fits 4 people comfortably. - The showers have a faint urine smell a lot of the time

Negative experience: Defos not worth £134/mo, especially the gym. They don't even have a smith machine. even pure gym has more equipment... it's not very busy esp mornings.. Pilates classes are ok. Yoga they only have basic yoga not ashtanga or vinyasa per say, so no worth it for me. pool decent size. not bad but expensive for what they're offering

Fantastic experience: I have been using this gym since the mid 2000s and the facilities keep getting better and better. The personnel is always very welcoming too.

Fantastic experience: Love this place!

Fantastic experience: I really like the rejuvenated memberships now, its rolling and you are not tied in. Have been a broadgate member on and off, its great the spin class is fab. Harry in memberships is amazing. Nick, Owen and Dajana are fantastic PTs. Loving the vibe. Aldersgate branch has an amazing spa and reception team. Definitely one for weekend visits if not every day!

Fantastic experience: Lovely experience. Friendly professional staff,will go the extra mile to help a customer.Very hard to find that kind of service in london these days.as a member of a premium virgin club this virgin classic puts the so-called premium clubs in Mayfair and Kensington to shame.

Negative experience: That's a shame there is no info at all the club is closed

Negative experience: I joined this Virgin Active towards the end of lockdown based on their website and my experience of their clubs in Asia which are superb. Unfortunately the London clubs are rundown and tired with shorter opening hours than some of their competitors and with advertised facilities often unavailable. Vending machines are also overpriced leaving you feeling like an exploited captive audience which you have paid for the privilege for. Don’t make the mistake I made – AVOID and join elsewhere.

Negative experience: The gym was alright but the process of cancelling my subscription during the pandemic was horrendous. I can not get a hold of anyone from the support call center, 2h+ total wait time until I gave up. Ended up paying the requested amount for cancelling my subscription without any explanation so that no extra charges would be added on top. If you do business with Virgin Active do not expect any customer support.

Negative experience: After this gym had been closed for months due to the Covid lockdown (no fault of the gym's clearly), this facility was due to re-open late July. It did reopen, briefly, before being closed in early August due to a "water leak". While Virgin Active had not charged membership fees during the enforced lockdown closure (which was very much appreciated by me, and probably other members), the company started charging again as soon as they were allowed to reopen, which would be fair enough if the premises were actually open. There was no communication from the gym subsequent to a short email announcing closure due to the leak. While I was a member, the gym remained closed for several months with no further communications. I eventually lost patience and cancelled my membership as they were charging (a premium membership fee) for a service they were not providing. As far as I am aware the gym is still closed (mid October 2020 as I write this). Despite this, the gym has seen fit to appoint a debt collection company (ARC Europe LTD, a nasty little parasitic firm based in Surrey, UK) to chase members who have cancelled their Direct Debits before the gym has been able to claw fees for the contractual three months notice. I'll repeat - this is despite the gym not being open for several months. The company running this gym should be investigated for sharp practice and I would recommend anyone reading this to avoid Virgin Active. As for the gym itself, I'll miss the pool but the rest of the gym was very generic, not to mention becoming increasingly shabby, with poor cleaning a matter of course (limescale and mould in the showers, urine stains and peeling varnish on the woodwork in the gents toilets, old smelly towels). There are better value gyms around with more flexible (and reasonable) contracts.

Negative experience: Overpriced for its current condition. Closed again with more plumbing issues. Been a member at this location, off and on, for over 20 years and it is looking very tired! Men’s changing rooms/toilets are yellowed, dark, stained, mouldy and dirty. Management team is nonexistent. If there is one, they only ever hide out in their blacked out office and don’t engage with members like previous owners used to do. Seriously thinking of going elsewhere if service doesn’t improve.

Negative experience: Very poor customer service. I am a member to a tear below of VA Broadgate. I have called the club today and kindly ask to use,just 1 off, due to a late meeting at work, I can not use my home club. Explain the situation to the receptionist, once she asked to Kieran,member service manager, very blank they asked me to pay £20 or £25 per visit. I tried to explain my situation one more time but nothing to do. Once again, I understand the rules that they may need to apply, but very poor customer service. Not happy at all with the situation

Negative experience: I was told by Broadgate I’d be signed up to a 6 month membership to later find out I was tied into a 12 month membership. Thankfully, the folks at head office were super helpful and resolved the issue. Broadgate gym never clean, weights area downstairs way too small, always crammed full of people.

Negative experience: Awful underground, no natural light gym that will tie you into a contract to extract every penny out of you. Signed up for 3 months, only went 4 times due to injury and business travel. I still honourably paid for the committed 3 months at £132 a month, put it rolled over to month 4 as the tiny small print says they require notice to cancel. I emailed them (as they said to do so) to cancel as thought it was only 3 months. and request refund for the 4th month. I received no reply in 6 days, despite receiving an automatic reply that the email was received. Upon phoning Virgin call centre, I was told it's doesn't matter I only went 4 times in 3 months due to injury, and that I won't go in the next month I just shelled out £132 for, as "that's what the contract says". Correct, it does, however, does that make it ethically right to extract every penny from customers who VERY clearly are not using the service, and paid for the verbally communicated "3-month commitment"? This is exactly the reason no contract gyms are on the rise. Virgin needs to wake-up, and change business model completely.

Positive experience: I'm on a tier one membership and went to Bishopsgate not realising it was a collection club (the tier above mine meaning it's not included in my membership). The staff behind the counter let me use the facilities anyway but were really dismissive once finding out I wasn't on the right membership for their gym. To be honest, it wasn't obvious what the benefits of the gym were over the ones I normally go to - perhaps if the staff had cared more they would have taken the opportunity to up-sell the facilities. I'll be sticking to my regular gyms from now on (Mortgage and Barbican) where the staff are lovely and the space fantastic!

Fantastic experience: Great selection of classes

Negative experience: Steam room out of action AGAIN! Mention it to staff (been issues with steam room and pool temperature for months) and it's like it's the first they've heard of it. All they ever do is tell you to fill in a form, and then no one ever follows up. Can't wait for Equinox Broadgate to open. Virgin Active Broadgate don't know anything about gym service or customers service.

Negative experience: I've been going to this gym for over 2 years and I've terminated the membership. As the service and quality of the classes are getting worse. For what I'm paying, I wasn't getting what is worth.

Negative experience: After referring a friend we both were told I'd get a free month for the referral program. 2 months ago he joined and started paying regularly. I still haven't received my free month. I wrote 3 emails to the manager of the club and still haven't received any answer regarding the referral. Really BAD customer service.

Positive experience: I've been a member here since May 2018. I transferred from Barbican as this is closer to work and right next to Liverpool St station where my train goes to so it's more convenient. It's a nice gym but there are problems that really should be dealt with properly as members pay SO much to be a member at this location! There are often problems with the swimming pool temperature. They keep having problems with the boiler so the pool temperature drops and is not able to be used. Also, there have been quite a few occasions where the showers have no hot water. There were problems with the pool and showers during December and January that seemed to go on for weeks. Today I went to the gym especially to use the pool and there was a sign saying they've closed the pool (AGAIN) as it's too cold and there's no hot water for members to use the showers. I know it's an old building but surely the absolute fortune members pay in fees to this gym would mean that VIRGIN could afford to properly update the boiler or plumbing system to avoid these reoccurring issues? I pay £129 per month + £20 to rent a locker so would expect much better. The pool is nice when the boiler isn't broken but what use it that when you're sent away with a suggestion to go to a different (cheaper) gym instead? Another problem was the air conditioning in Dec'-Jan' just gone... It broke so the entire gym was like a sauna and it was unbearable to actually do any exercise as it was so hot! It took weeks for this to be fixed! PLEASE spend some money and stop being greedy by taking on more and more members when the gym is falling to bits.

Positive experience: It gone down a little bit over holidays A/C was broken for a while. They have a few things broken that need fixing. On the other hand staff are very nice and helpful.

Negative experience: Went to gym today. Closed!!! They do this every now and again. No reason. No advance notice! I wouldn’t mind but I didn’t get to workout yesterday as they close so early - 5.30pm. My old VA in Kensington closed at 11.00pm on weekends. What gives? There should be parity for opening times across the rest of London. You expect more for £200/month.

Fantastic experience: Gets slightly busy at the normal times but is open longer than the normal virgin gyms, weights wise it is the best of the virgin gyms

Positive experience: Great gym with towel service. Equipment is clean and modern.

Negative experience: Even though I like coming here, there are many things not clean, not fixed or overcrouded. Recently it's driving me nuts that the shower heads are kind of broken. The water is pouring from behind the shower part. Then what is the problem with filling in the shower gel and conditioner boxes in the showers. We always have to scrape the very end of it every time. It feels like they're there only for show and you actually need to bring your own if you want to shower like a normal person. Also, the water filter!!! It has been on a red light (not filtering anymore) since I joined the gym 4 months ago.... Pleaaase, what will it take to change those?! We are paying a lot of money for this gym but the overall quality does not seem to be in line with the price range. I am so going to THIRD SPACE once my contract is over.

Negative experience: Broken dreams Went here as part of a corporate open week. I realised how I don't need to pay this much for a gym. The equipment is a bit dated, I'm calling it fake weights, doing 3 plates a side on bench was too easy, this should get checked. Maybe the bars aren't Olympic? Had to scavange for the weights, I don't think people lift very much here. Free towels are good, but I get that a pure gym that one costs me 33 a month. This would be 205, with vitality would be half that, unbelievable so I had high hopes! There's a pool, but I can't see myself using this? The sauna in the men's changing room was out of use, so I wondered into the pool and there was a shared one, excellent. Noticed a dark room the other side, that's the steam room. Lights don't work in there. Still I went in, good temperature shame you can't see where you are, felt like a prisoner in a dungeon, strangers in the dark are friendly though :-P The gym is actually really really small and it's not as well equipped as many other gyms in the area, weights don't go that high either, this really was a huge disappointment to me, I had such high hopes from the website. It's just quite worn and expectations were far from the dream on the website. Pool was nice looking, big size, shame that you have to parade past the gym/ cardio area to go to the sauna. Wouldn't be good if I was self conscious. I'm here to try it out though, so all good. There are actually less benches in here too, at least half or a third as many as my other gym, I managed to get on one, but there are less dumbbells. I think only 1 set per size, it's comming for gyms now to have a few sets. But if the ones you want aren't there, expect to jump up 2 or 3 ranks on your next lift. I'm willing to do this. Now the dumbells, what the hell? These things are huge, like wheel barrow wheels ( looking foolish I just lifted them, still felt much much lighter once again) 48s were the max, hmmmm where are the 50s? I didn't explore the yoga studio , spin but I did pop into the cafe at breakfast time. It was bare, but the staff told me they have everything if I wanted it. I didn't want to wait popped to LEON on my walk to work, I'm glad as it was mostly salad or yogurts. I have the free pass for the other 4 days this week. I wanted to make use of it, but don't see the point, unless I wanna chill on the dark steam room. It's so hot this week, so may even give that a miss.. The shower was a little leaky, and decor seemed to be a little aged. I remember when this opened up and I had really high hopes. However I have been told Aldersgate is the one to go and use! Cafe = bad Gym = bad Pool = good Gym = bad Cardio = good Cost = v bad I did notice nice hand wash, hair gel dispensers ? Shower gel and conditioner are provided. I still can't justify to myself to use this when it's free. I don't know if I will get my review take down, but it's my honest opinion of the place. It's odd how you have to walk down 3 or 4 flights to reach the gym though, then a further set. I would dread leg day here

Positive experience: Expensive..very expensive but if you work in the area then you have little choice but get ripped off if you value your health

Fantastic experience: This gym never fails. Staff are ever so kind and friendly. The equipment are top notch. The classes are so unique and mindblowing. Free complimentary towels as well as shirt ironing service in the early hours. I mean how awesome is that ? Would give this place more than 5 stars.

Fantastic experience: Probably my favourite Virgin Active. I really like this one, it isn't necessarily a big gym, but it has all the necessary equipment for a good workout session, plus it also has a swimming pool. Also being a Virgin Active Classic, it is usually not too overcrowded. Though a bit pricey compared to the standard Virgin Active gym in Mooregate.

Fantastic experience: Great gym, lovely swimming pool. Really recommend.

Fantastic experience: The staff here are great! The gym is good sized and can get busy!

Negative experience: Just gets worse the more money they spend... Odd double standard. They spend money on alleged improvements which end up giving less service than prior to the refurbs, all at no doubt considerable financial costs and also a costs to the members in lost service. Subs go up all the time and often without notice. Opening hours are odd. I have to travel to Marble Arch at weekends as it is open to 8.00pm. Why does this club close at 6.00?

Negative experience: The only things about this club being premium is its location, I'm sorry to say. The cardio equipment is dated, dusty and often faulty. The range of weight machines (for leg muscles in particular) is very limited. The staff is very friendly and helpful, though.

Negative experience: Really gone downhill. I've been a member here for 6 years and the service gets worse and worse. Also they frequently exceed the EU decibel noise level in the spin class which I've alerted them to on numerous occasions and they agree only for the next class to do the same. They don't seem to be concerned with breaking the law, let alone providing a decent service. At £150 a month it's just not worth it.

Fantastic experience: Good gym

Positive experience: Nice size cardio and weights area

Positive experience: Good gym, well equipped with both free weights and pulleys. Slightly small floor exercise area

Fantastic experience: Great swimming pool. Best virgin active in London. Great staff and classes

Fantastic experience: I do not like or enjoy gyms. I love this club. No waiting time for machines, classes (most of the times) have space, clean and organised. Favourite part is the team working there. For example, the other day I could not find a jumping rope and one of the team members noticed. Within a couple of minutes, she provided me with a brand new one from their storage room. Small, but a much appreciated gesture. The club perks are also great. Molton Brown toiletries, fresh towels (always), sauna and a great pool (with avilable lanes most of the time) and of course... ironing service in the morning. Fresh shirts before work everyday. The Best! It is expensive. But you get what you pay for. Excellent overall. Room for improvement: Bring the 'free' Coffee!!! Nearby clubs have this and in particular during afternoon workouts, it makes a big difference.

Positive experience: I wonder if they give some towers

Fantastic experience: My favorite virgin active gym in the area :) awesome sized gym, great classes and nice cafe :)

Fantastic experience: Clean and lovely swimming pool, helpful staff and great yoga classes.

Fantastic experience: Wec

Negative experience: Don't be excited by the picture of the pool... It's quite often closed weekend mornings after members of staff don't turn up to work.

Fantastic experience: The gym and the swimming pool are with proper size, it is clean, variate of classes everyday and the staff is friendly. The only what I don`t like is that no daylight, but this doesn`t bother me - when I prefer to spend time in Virgin Active on daylight I visit Canary Riverside or Kensington.

Fantastic experience: A very clean, very large gym with a great pool and excellent trainers. The classes are innovative and the staff take the time to get to know you if you are a regular.

Negative experience: really unfriendly and condescending reception staff

Fantastic experience: Having been a member of other Virgin Actives, LA Fitness and Bannatynes, this Virgin Active at Broadgate knocks the socks off the rest. It's huge, clean (take note LA Fitness and Bannatynes) and the staff I've encountered have been super helpful and friendly. There's a massive range of classes every day to suit everyone. The cycle studio is large but, on the down side, they do pack the bikes in. The pool...I cannot tell you how much I love a 25 meter pool. I am still getting over the euphoria of being able to swim in a proper pool environment with cooler water rather than bath-temperature water (take note Banntynes). I've tried kettlebell and core classes and both were explained fully to me beforehand and the instructors were willing to give feedback and make sure I was doing it correctly (some instructors in previous gyms, not so happy to advise, not bothered or too scared). There are plenty of showers and I've not had to wait around for one to become available yet. My one and only negative would be that it's so far under ground that it's exhausting, especially after a cycle class, to get back out to street level! Yes, it is expensive but you get what you pay for, this is by far and away a better quality gym and pool than any other in the City of London.

Positive experience: Mixed experience with VA broadgate. The gym is very nice, but it's also very expensive. I think the service has deteriorated in the 3 years that I have been with them. Unfortunately the price has risen, this gradual but continual change in the quality was what finally prompted me to review my membership. Good things: Gym is beautiful, lovely space, pool, etc. Generally staff are friendly and useful. Bad things: They refreshed the gym last year and I hate all the new equipment. The showers have all been limited once or twice, some of them are unusable near peak hours. Poor value.

Fantastic experience: Very cool VA Club. I went for the anti-gravity yoga... it was really, really difficult but the instructor was great and so supportive. The change rooms are perfect: hair straightener, bathrobes, Molton Brown! Pool looked beautiful, I would def consider upgrading to the classic for this place!

Fantastic experience: I feel so much better than I did at the start of your program last May. I realize that I did the work, but I am really thankful to you and your program.