Dulwich Leisure Centre

Fantastic experience: Great gym with new equipment just installed. Bigger % of the gym now dedicated to free weights, squat racks and other resistence training equipment that satisfys my training requirements. For a council run gym this is excellent value for money. Staff are friendly and always available to help.

Fantastic experience: Fabulous venue brilliant staff

Positive experience: Recently refurbished gym with a good selection of equipment and classes

Fantastic experience: Great but get rid of more treadmills, it’s #bulking season and runners can just go outside

Fantastic experience: Fantastic refurbishment!!! Always loved coming to the gym & now I’m excited even more, lovely atmosphere & helpful staff I have never had a problem that couldn’t be sorted quickly by the staff. Thank you for being my happy place

Negative experience: Im also really disappointed with the refurbishment and their decision to get rid of treadmills that were always very popular I have been three times since they have re opened and each time I’ve had to queue in order to get to go on a treadmill. And by queue I mean actually stand and wait because if you go do something else others also waiting for the treadmills will take a spot as soon as one is free. Before the refurb I was very happy with the gym and value for money but now it seems they are trying to be something people don’t want it to be. Please bring back more treadmills it’s why so many of us go to the gym especially in these dark months!

Negative experience: Shut for 5 weeks for a refurb and have somehow taken a perfectly good community gym that needed a bit of TLC to a soulless barbell hellscape place in which there are plenty of gyms that already serve this purpose like Pure Gym or The Gym. Between the acid green astroturf flooring, the rack of ball weights no one could conceivably ever reach and the tacky over head lighting I’m genuinely not sure which part of my withheld membership fee has gone to the worse use. Before the refurb the running machines were always full and for some reason it was thought to be a good idea to remove a whole row of them causing people to queue up for them at 8pm on a Wednesday. I’m sure if they turned down the migraine inducing EDM soundtrack they’d hear other customers voicing similar opinions.

Negative experience: Over the festive period, the pool has been closed due to "unforseen circumstances" on multiple occasions without any warning to that effect via email, app, or the website. Four trips wasted now with no refund or replacement swim session scheduled. This place needs to get itself together.

Positive experience: my local leisure centre- great to see lots of improvements coming under the new management. Only wish there were more bodypump classes!

Fantastic experience: Great swimming lessons for young children. Robert is brilliant with my son!

Negative experience: Cheap and cheerful gym - you get what you pay for - or at least, you did, until they announced a five week closure, refusing to pause anyone’s membership. The claim is that you can use the other facilities which I guess include the pool which is pre booked three weeks in advance (impossible to get a lot) and the group exercise classes (same deal). Customer service kept replying with ‘we’re sorry for the inconvenience’ which I’d totally understand if a few of the machines weren’t working but they are shutting the entire facility for over a month and a half. Really disappointing service.

Positive experience: Could we add an additional Body Pump class with Julia on Wednesday evenings, but not too late? Thanks!

Negative experience: My experience as a customer (for about a year) has been rather frustrating. To begin with, the service mobile app is glitchy. Once a slot has been booked viathe app, you'd expect to be able to make small changes such as amending the slot time. Instead, that can only be done by calling someone at the reception but most of the times nobody picks up the phone. Lastly, the changing room is kept rather poorly, with hairdryers and/or some showers often out of service.

Negative experience: Unprofessional stuff, bad service

Negative experience: Classes are chaotic, with inexperienced teachers who don't know how to adapt for disabilities or injuries. When booking "yoga" you don't know what type or level you're signing up for so on many occasions I've been disappointed. I used to gym so much but then moved to this area where this is the only affordable one, and I barely go bc each trip is stressful and disappointing. I've cancelled my membership now as it's not worth the money.

Positive experience: Been going to this gym for 3years. Machines are broken, the pool was renovated one year and currently being painted. In app only monthly sub is All Pass or + All Pass @ £31 a month but if you just want 1 gym buy in person at the gym. Local but not a great gym

Positive experience: I love the classes offered here. All teachers and PTs are great. There's a decent swimming pool, a cafe and sitting area. The only downside is that the gym area is on the small size, there are no squash courts, nor badminton or tennis courts.

Fantastic experience: Been going here for few years and always been nice and clean with a calm environment with really friendly and attentive staff.

Negative experience: We had cancelled our daughters swimming lessons due to teacher always being off and when she was there she never moved our daughter up a level even though our daughter can swim but when cancelling they asked us to pay the 3 months of arrears which we did but then received no confirmation from them we sent them five emails but no reply and it took a complaint just to receive one reply confirming it had been cancelled and there excuse was that they had written a email but it went into there drafts but they did not bother responding to the other emails which is bad customer service and unprofessional.

Positive experience: Cheap, cheerful. Great staff. Gym floor is impossibly busy to do a proper work out in until late in the evening.

Positive experience: Class is good .

Positive experience: Decent enough for a local leisure centre, but currently in desperate need of a refurb. In the pursuit of profit and the ideal client they closed their creche and took away a life line for local parents. And why, oh why is it so hard to get a swimming slot?! I'm local so should be able to get free gym and swim on a Friday and pay as you go for other sessions during the week. Ended up having to join just to have access to swimming slots to book before everyone else. And even then I'm on the waiting list most weeks. All I can think is that the days are taken up with local schools and private bookings. If you can get there early in the mornings you may have better luck but that's a no go for me due to childcare. There has to be a better way to get a swim around here...

Fantastic experience: Have been using this gym for around 2 years, 3-5 times a week. In summary - very good for the price. Some of the equipment is tired and occasionally out of action but I would still rate 5 stars given how cheap it is for the area (and includes a swimming pool but slots are tricky to land).

Fantastic experience: Love this place. Staff is very friendly and welcoming. Any problems, they are quick to sort it out. Dulwich leisure centre is very clean. Especially the toilets.

Negative experience: Too crowded and no hot water. Changing rooms are never cleaned and mould is present everywhere. Lack of maintenance and will not recommend to anyone since this is a health hazard which needs to be shut down immediately

Positive experience: Tired equipment and limited variety, but instructors and supervisors commendable.

Fantastic experience: Love the pool. Very reasonably priced and always clean. Staff are kind.

Negative experience: Has not been open for over a week and they don't know when it will reopen. I have requested a refund but they refused

Negative experience: I love the gym itself it’s a beautiful building and I actually feel sorry for the staff cos I think they must get so many complaints on behalf of everyone active and now Southwark council management. It’s clearly not their issue. But this gym is awful! It’s £29.99 a month and essentially robbery. There hasn’t had Wi-Fi for months and they’ve had an on going hot water issue for months too which i find insane seeing as surely Wi-Fi and hot water are two very basic facilities a gym should have. I mean no hot water is seriously unhygienic and in winter too?! When you’ve just got out the pool are you expected to take a cold shower? They should refund members for the time these issues have been on going. Also the gym is WAY over subscribed. I love that there’s young people, old people and people of all abilities it makes for a lovely community atmosphere but then there’s times where the gym is so busy with people who can clearly afford a nicer and better gym and no space or any machines available. Sad because I think there’s a lovely community here but I’ll have to leave soon cos the facilities are so tragic and there seems to be no change…

Positive experience: Accessible. Good gym equipment. Not too busy. Southward free swim and gym makes it so much better

Negative experience: If you’re looking to join, I highly recommend trying it out first and paying as you go for a few weeks / a month so you get a sense of the place and all the different times you might use it / how busy it gets / how it’s run etc. I made the mistake of paying up front for an annual membership with Everyone Active right before Southwark took it over. I just don’t think Southwark have the operational experience to run leisure centres properly. The gym I would say is “okay” but lots of the equipment is poorly maintained and tired. I was using it for mainly for swimming, but have largely given up at this point. There simply aren’t enough lane swimming sessions - the times are either first thing in the morning, midday, or late at night. Almost all lane sessions are full at least a week out, so you have to be very on top of checking the app every single day to book a week in advance. There is a waiting list and spots do become free, often an hour or two beforehand, but it’s a really clunky system and you can’t rely on it. They’ve also closed the pool now several times, often for weeks at a time, without any compensation. So certainly in terms of swimming, unless you’re making use of the Southwark Resident Free Gym and Swim at the weekends, personally I think membership here is a waste of money as there are other better run pools. If you do take out a membership I strongly advise not selecting the annual option - the discount for paying annually just isn’t worth it when they keep closing the facilities due to issues and don’t offer any comp. - at least paying monthly you have the option to cancel your membership more easily. Just wish I realised all that earlier.

Negative experience: Due to lack of better options I decided to sign up for my gym here. More times than not the staff is borderline rude. I’ve never had an introductory tour although I asked for it multiple times. The gym and swimming pool are extremely busy. It’s pretty much impossible to book a swim session outside of silly hours such as 1pm when majority of people are at work. There are also not enough classes at a reasonable time and majority are squeezed into the morning hours. The gym equipment is outdated and the gym area needs renovation and a good clean. Although the monthly membership price is affordable, it doesn’t justify the poor customer service and inadequate facilities.

Fantastic experience: Extremely helpful young man at reception yesterday to sort out swim times. Absolutely 5 stars for him!

Fantastic experience: Delightful place !! Francine, who works there is excellent !

Negative experience: app doesnt work. no1 picks up the phone. so cant book swimming.

Fantastic experience: I love this leisure centre! I used to go swimming here all the time with my nan but then stopped, I’ve recently started going again and it’s just as good as it was before, the drinks and food at the mini cafe are lovely if I had to give a recommendation for what drink to get I’d say the smoothie menu has some great options!

Negative experience: Like many others I joined this gym due to a lack of options in the east dulwich area. However - it's usually way way too busy to use equipment. Even in an off peak time I struggle to use the machines I want to. It's in desperate need of an upgrade, the dumbbells are falling apart and the machines need replacing. It's pretty dirty and needs a deep clean. A full renovation needed asap!

Negative experience: Incompetent management. We were kicked out of the studio half way through our class in a rude and aggressive way, because their own staff made a mistake with the booking. I raised feedback through their website, and the manager Phillippa replied hostilely, failed to address any of the points I raised and dismissed my message. Avoid if you value customer service.

Negative experience: The fact that the gym is so cheap is no excuse for poor upkeep especially and it's a community provision. There is an obsession with cardio equipment which mainly sits unused. That could be because it's mostly out of order... I don't think I've seen anyone use the elliptical trainers which sit in their little grey rows like headstones at the cemetery. One stair master removed never replaced There only seems to be one set of 15kg dbs? The layout of the main gym area could be massively improved if they look to follow a layout like gym box. Need a ski erg and airdybe bike, please!! All the free weights are all over the floor. The dbs are falling apart and not event the pts put equipment back ... You need some one putting things back where they should be all day long. People are not keen to share spaces or equipment. If you're thinking about doing bench press be prepared to watch people just sit and rest between sets...all dayyy long. The air con isn't good enough today was a total sweat box and to add to this experience.... They decided to dust the balcony... So huge lumps of dust were falling into the air all around the gym for you to inhale at your leisure. Zero chance of getting booked on a class... Unless you pay extra... I did a boxing fit class the guy was on the phone the whole time. Two body pump classes the instructors were good. Pool is good and changing rooms are fine if you can get booked in. Staff on front desk seem nice enough

Positive experience: The gym has a reasonable amount of equipment. However I think they have signed up more people than they can reasonably provide for. Both the gym and the pool are regularly way too busy. So you have to book the pool far in advance and often have to wait a long time for equipment in the gym.

Negative experience: Machines always broken or need maintenance The stair machine has been broken for 6 months and now it has been taken away. The gym could be laid out better than it is. Always smells like toilet. Weights section is too small. Lockers are always broken.very difficult to book into classes, they need to do more. Impossible to book into the pool. We have been going for 6 months and nothing has changed in that time. Needs a full renovation. Staff seem annoyed when you ask when machines will be fixed. The gym balcony was being cleaned and dust was raining down on everyone in the gym and machines below. Very concerning for people who have allergies. There is no consideration for customers.

Negative experience: Pretty poor gym. It's very small and the range of equipment is very limited, so you often have to wait around to use things. The classes are good fun but it's near impossible to book them unless you pay £10 a month extra to get priority booking. I cancelled my membership after 2 months and I won't be returning.

Positive experience: A nice gym although can be very busy, unfortunately there always seems to lots of machines out of order ie Stairmaster has been ont of Oder for at least a month, I’d say their maintenance is lacking

Negative experience: I’ve been going to the gym for about a year now and I’ve noticed there’s a real negligence with upkeep and maintenance. The reason I’m writing this is because the last few weeks that I’ve been I keep smelling raw sewage in different parts of the gym and it just makes the experience feel a bit nasty. There are so many broken lockers in the men’s changing rooms that it takes a while to find one that will actually close properly and work which is really tedious. The dumbbells are so disorganised and a lot of them broken/without markings to know what weight is what. Also, when machines go down you can expect them to be out of action for weeks. One of the turnstiles to enter the gym was broken for about 6 weeks for example. I personally wouldn’t recommend unless like me you are attending because there’s no other gyms with that many facilities locally in East Dulwich.

Negative experience: Firstly no swimming available for day Terrible female Receptionist Olana L answering me back when I tell her that everybody is her customer and I travelled there especially I cannot recommend this swimming pool not Disability friendly how dare she talk to me like that I also spoke to 2 Mums outside who said Reception here are always unfriendly how sad what a waste of a leisure centre

Negative experience: Centre and staff are okay but receptionists are 0. Know nothing, rude, barely answer the phone. In Camberwell they are so much nicer and available.

Negative experience: Have been there twice and at check-in (single entry) we had to wait quite long to show the booking. There were 4 staff members (3 standing around and chatting and one on the phone with a lollipop in her mouth). Very unfriendly.. The 5th staff then came to check us in.. At the times we visited the gym, it was usually very crowded and most of the machines/benches were occupied. So a lot of waiting times. Weights are not returned, no towels used, rather old equipment. Would not recommend this gym

Fantastic experience: Everything 1 would need at a gym is present but would be nice to have a punch bag which had in the past.

Positive experience: Decent gym with good variety of free weights and machines. Staff are friendly and helpful. There are however a few machines which are out of order and don't seem to be getting fixed anytime soon. General maintenance of the gym could be a lot better.

Negative experience: Not sure why, but I was denied a subscription because I didn't have an English bank account (here on vacation). And having to pay £10 everytime I come in seems a bit much. Nice gym but if you're a traveler I guess they don't want you here.

Positive experience: Wouldve been a 5* as have really enjoyed til now…but really noticed a lack of maintenance for the equipment over last couple of months. Both leg press machines have not been fixed, as well as one of the few cable machines in the gym

Fantastic experience: Nice gym, very good pool.

Positive experience: Friendly staff & well equipped centre

Positive experience: They finally got air-conditioning but the showers could do with a regular clean.

Negative experience: Gorgeous pool, clean changing room lovely staff but the pool water was warm far too warm. To be fair the water was not as hot as the bafflingly bath like Peckham Pool, but it's still too warm for a refreshing swim on a day in the hottest ever summer. I can't work out what the problem is with these pools, maybe it's because the air temperature is higher .But it is not OK with me. I know most people like warmer water than me but I just don't get how or why public pools like Dulwich and Peckham consistently have warmer water in the summer than the winter. And I know I'm not imagining it as the pools at castle and Marshall Street are colder. I think it's a lack of interest in the customer experience and that none of the staff or at least none of the more senior staff swim so it doesn't matter to them personally. As you can see I feel very irritated by this. Obviously I will carry on swimming in Soho. I promise to come back and do a follow up review in October and test my theory that it is the air temperature that cools the water not human agency. If I'm correct the pool water should be nice and cool when the weather outside is colder.

Fantastic experience: I visited the centre today looking to do a trial session in the gym before purchasing a subscription. I was received with great hospitality and was given a tour after which I was very happy and ready to purchase the 1st month subscription but foolishly left my bank card at home so they were not able to set up my direct debit. They allowed me to use the gym anyway and said they could set it up later over the phone. They were very helpful, the centre was very clean and there was a really lovely atmosphere. I haven’t tried their classes yet but from what I’ve read they do a pretty good job at that as well. See you soon!

Negative experience: I remember being a au pair and making a deal with this gym. They badly wanted me to buy this one year membership. I told them that I will buy it only if it's possible to get some money back IF I move out before (for the months that will not be used). They said it was possible with this gym. Things were not workings out with the family I was working with, them being awful and controlling. When I finally found a new family to work for I went to the gym to close my membership and get some of the money back that they promised. Only 6 months had passed. They simply said it's not possible and that they never said anything like that. So they tricked me in the most awful way. A au pair already being lost as she was. Thank you for the high class lies.

Positive experience: Great place to swim. Free swim and Gym for Southwark residents!

Fantastic experience: Great class..defoe doing it again..

Fantastic experience: The swimming pool is clean. The changing room is clean and tidy. The staffs are helpful.

Fantastic experience: I love this gym it’s beautiful people nice clean good atmosphere great staff

Fantastic experience: Great to see the new cafe and coffee shop open.

Fantastic experience: Great Gym, nice Pool.

Positive experience: I moved out of the area last year and actually really miss this gym, specifically the gym itself and the classes. It was the first place I ever became a ‘gym bunny’ and wasn’t intimidated. I’ve yet to find a gym on par with Dulwich up in North London.

Positive experience: Lovely clean place, staff very nice and helpful.

Negative experience: Some reasonable facilities let down by poorly trained staff and disorganised management.

Fantastic experience: Great place! With many options for you!

Fantastic experience: Clean, warm and well-run. Staff are on the ball and approachable. Love our family swims there.

Fantastic experience: Nice swimming pool and changing room.

Negative experience: Poor service very unhelpful.not customer friendly at all.

Fantastic experience: Perfect pool for building confidence in the water

Positive experience: The safe guard doesn't really give people there privacy as I've noticed he keeps staring at me especially as I am 13 years old the life guard makes me a bit uncomfortable and a at the children too I know his just doing his job but I've noticed he stares at youngsters in a creepyily weird way I don't know if it's just me just warning the parents that will take there children here. Xxx

Positive experience: Really friendly , well equipped and safe

Positive experience: I quite like the gym. It has very good air conditioning and decent enough machines however I’ve never met cleaning staff with such a terrible attitude! Even when you are a polite person, terrible attitude!!

Fantastic experience: Great work out.

Positive experience: Back for the first time in a while but everything seems good. Staff especially helpful and friendly so .

Positive experience: Welcoming atmosphere

Fantastic experience: Superb gym with good quality equipment.

Fantastic experience: Really like this place. Classes are great and although one way system takes a little time to get used to, it's okay.

Positive experience: ***update No body answers the phones I had to go down to the gym to cancel my membership and as I enter I have to interrupt one of the four visible staff to get any kind of service - they were too busy chatting amongst themselves. When I finally do manage to cancel my membership, no one even asks me why, not even the staff member next to me who signed me up in the first place. This place is a literal joke. *** It’s a shame, the staff and facilities are nice enough, but the (required for entry) pre-booking app is woefully inadequate for the job. Gym visits (especially classes and swimming) sometimes don't register on their 'app' and cancelling is impossible for some 'sessions' - good luck reaching them on the phone too, it just rings - no voice machine, regardless of which extension to attempt :( Will have to cancel and pay more to go somewhere else that is more consistent.

Positive experience: Small but decent local authority gym and pool. Popular classes and swim sessions fill up way in advance so tricky for a casual user.

Fantastic experience: Great staff, clean equipment, can’t fault it really.

Negative experience: Customer service at Reception desk the worse. Specially the lady that works early mornings Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday. Everyday when I come to reception to book my soon for the gym, because I can't book online from the app( paying for him full price £19.99) she always acted like she is doing a favour to us. Definitely cancelled my membership and not coming back with the worse experience of my life in there.

Fantastic experience: Just rejoined excellent service lovely staff lots of classes I have missed it

Positive experience: The staff are friendly and the gym itself is very good at adhering to the government's guidelines on social distancing. If you're worried about it being crowded don't. They have taken measures to ensure you maintain distance from fellow members. Also there's had sanitizers and disinfectant available in abundance. They also have all of the equipment you need from resistance machines to old fashioned free weights!

Negative experience: They shut the whole pool every Saturday morning 9am to 1pm for lessons. I know lessons are important but surely should keep a lane open for general public? Lady I spoke to on phone was completely unsympathetic and told me to put anything I had to say online. So here it is - rubbish timetabling and poor customer service.

Negative experience: Disappointing customer service and I had a rude unwelcoming teacher in the one class I attended

Fantastic experience: Love my swims at dulwich

Negative experience: Incompetent and unpleasant staff and deliberately difficult process to cancel swimming lessons. Takes out incompetence and contradicting information on customers.

Negative experience: Very poor booking system and the reception service is awful! They charged me for an unattended class that I did not book in (I showed them the app that was saying I wasn't booked in that class and they said they are not responsible for the EveryoneActive app - which is theirs!!) So I had to pay for something I did not book!! It's a shame because the teachers and the classes are really nice, so the 2 stars is for them!

Negative experience: 5 of us (2 adults and 3 children) went today for the advertised inflatables swim session. We arrived and queued to pay, once at the desk, I was asked for each persons gym card (my 2 children have swimming lessons here, so they have a card) my wife didn't have hers and I don't have one at all. Was promptly informed that 'no card, no entry'. I asked how the children were going to swim, if the adults weren't allowed in. My details were promptly taken to obtain a card, and my wife was advised to buy another card at a cost of £2. Wound have been easier, and much more appreciated, if the card requirement was made clearer on the website, and if it was explained that you need a card to enter, but we can register you for one now. Got into the pool, only to find a few swimming floats in the water. I asked a lifeguard where the inflatables were and he advised they only have floats, they have never had inflatables. Spent an hour trying to warm the purple lipped children, as the water was too cold. If it wasn't for the children's swimming lessons, we would not be returning. Very poor.

Fantastic experience: I love this gym. For £30 a month you get a full range of classes, a great gym floor and a lovely pool. All the instructors are great and the reception staff are very friendly and helpful. The cafe is good and there is a also a crèche run by some really lovely people.

Negative experience: Such a bad experience, Gym+Swim can cost from 200 to 500 quids per year (no one is paying the same price), price raised 2 mouths after beginning a subscription for the swim. Part of the staff being quite rude. I guess I will have to cancel and find something else...

Negative experience: Do not send your children swimming lessons here. Save money and send them to proper swimming lessons where the Instructors dont stand around laughing with other instructors, not bothered about what the kids are doing. Waste of money

Fantastic experience: Nice & friendly atmosphere.

Fantastic experience: Great staff and a friendly environment to shape up in

Fantastic experience: My favourite gym

Fantastic experience: Great place to stay fit!

Fantastic experience: Good classes and first class personal trainers

Fantastic experience: Great centre for disability swim on Sundays