Virgin Active

Fantastic experience: Have people lost their actual minds - "no mirror in the lift area" - literally 4 x 5 metre wide wall mirrors in the lift area - "some of the showers run out of shampoo" - walk to the shower next door you've already done an hour long exercise 4 extra steps isn't going to kill you - "I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for two towels" - actually IT IS UNREASONABLE there's a climate crisis can you imagine how much energy it costs to dry 2x the amount of towels each day The centre is great, the gym is clean, the health suite is calm and relaxing and the staff are friendly and attentive. Yes I wish people didn't attach their padlocks to the lockers overnight and yes it would be nice to able to use the Rewards in this gym and not only at Virgin Active gyms that happen to have cafes, otherwise it's a great spot and totally worth the money. Thanks Virgin Active

Negative experience: Pool temperature always freezing and on occasions unswimmable. No adult only times at a normal daytime even during the week. DONT JOIN, luckily I’m not even on the latest expensive tariff. They don’t provide the service they agree you to sign up to. Impossible to speak to anyone by phone now too. They say go to the club but last few times no one is available

Negative experience: Lack of hygiene in shower room, it’s quite dirty and drain smells really badly. The steam room and sauna are not clean. Having an extra towel was helpful to not sit directly on other people dirt & sweat (you can clearly see dead skins and black stuff in steam room). However that is not an option anymore as you would receive only one towel per visit which is very unreasonable.

Negative experience: Gym itself is okay, but classes are consistently cancelled without informing members which is really disappointing, and the manager and his team don’t seem to care. I’ve put in complaints in person, online and via phone call to customer services and they still haven’t done anything about it despite saying they’d be in touch to help sort out the issue. For £110 a month this just isn’t good enough - spend your money elsewhere!

Negative experience: I’m still a member here but very begrudgingly. If I had another gym option near me I would go there. I joined for the reformer classes, which are really great and I love the teachers, but it’s almost impossible to make it onto a class. Within 10 seconds of dropping on the app, the waitlist is full for morning classes. To make matters worse, I’ve noticed that if I do make it onto a waitlist, mysteriously I’ll start off on, say, position 13, and a few days later be on 15. The staff are incredibly unhelpful, to a point where they sometimes pretend not to see you, and when you have anything to ask them, they say they don’t deal with that and to email a general address. I’ve done this but never once have I received a reply to any of my queries. If you want to use the gym space, it’s fully equipped, but for the money, you get nothing back in the way of service or luxury. I’ve also complained a few times about black mould in the showers, muddy shower floors, no shower gel (it’s watered down on a good day), and app errors and missing benefits, but nothing ever gets answered. A real shame because I’ve had such a good experience of the Virgin gyms in the city.

Fantastic experience: I have been a member of this gym for nearly 20 years. I have a personal trainer Ryan, who is very proffesional and my training sessions with him are one of the highlights of my week. I would thoroughly recomend him. Jonathan

Fantastic experience: This love that gym , actually I prefer to call my wellness place ! Where I go to look after myself in many ways.

Fantastic experience: It's so nice in the inside

Fantastic experience: Great instructors , good equipment, relatively clean gym , friendly helpful reception team.

Negative experience: Awful cleanliness standards in the changing rooms and showers, and almost never any shower gel in there either. Been going here for half a year and it’s like this on every visit.

Negative experience: The people working there are lovely, but the gym seriously needs to improve its pool area! Most people never take a shower before going into the pool or jacuzzi, which is just disgusting! Lots of people bring their mobiles into the sauna/steam room and then listen to music or have video calls right in front of the lifeguards and nothing is done about it and it ruins the whole experience…the lockers are a chapter on their own…there are virtually none free as people leave their stuff in them and effectively steal the space from others..I have raised all of these issues for years and NOTHING has been done about it!!! If there were even a decent alternative I would move in a heartbeat so if you are new to this, don’t bother

Positive experience: I went for my 1st time in Wandsworth smugglersway venue.ive read some awful reviews on here so was sceptical. 1st the staff were so helpful and friendly.changing rooms spotless.i saw a guy washing floor when I left to for sauna an a swim.he was again washing floor when I returned.staemroom sauna were very clean an swimming pool wasn't an Ice tub I had read.just wish hot tub was warmer but that's my only issue.so I will definitely be bk.

Negative experience: Good gym in terms of equipment and space. There is a lack of mirrors in the weights/workout area which is not ideal. However, this gym is absolute filth! The mens changing room/pool area is always really really gross. Muck, dust and hair all over the place. They clearly do not get cleaned enough and you can tell they are also not cleaned properly/thoroughly when they do. I noticed a mud splatter in the shower which has not been cleaned since I first noticed it 3 months ago. Mould hair and muck is everywhere. You feel like you will pick up a rash if you touch anything in the changing room. The google reviews are littered with this issue for years, so clearly the management do not care, which is a shame as it could be a nice gym. As soon as another premium gym opens in this area, this place will be toast. I only use this gym as it is 100m from my flat and has a steam room/sauna, I would not recommend to anyone to anyone local using this gym. Virgin should really look at whoever is managing the gym. The reviews section is littered with the same issues i have mentioned. This could very easily be remedied by hiring more cleaning staff and upkeep.

Negative experience: changing rooms disgusting

Negative experience: Really dirty. Mould on soap dispensers instead of soap. Hair everywhere, jacuzzi black from dirt. I'm surprised they are allowed to remain open and oparate like that. The membership is expensive. As a minimum I'd expect clean facilities. It's dirty even first thing in the morning.

Negative experience: The company virgin active is terrible they promote 1 month free for every recommendation who signs up and it has been 1 year and I have yet to see my 4 free months as I had 4 friends sign up. Terrible service and I have complained weekly for months. Not to mention the filthy changing rooms and pool area. Why is there sand all over the pool area for the past few weeks? The pilates reformer classes are great but lately struggling to get a spot in them. The sauna and steam both don't have temperature readings in them which I am sure will cause serious problems of over heating and lawsuits. And there is never any shower gel in the showers for some reason. Please improve this club because it could be great but lack of cleanliness, organisation and structure are making this club fall to pieces.

Negative experience: Never using virgin active again (gym or other of their branches), it's even difficult to describe the disappointment. All money money money without even considering their own shortcomings. Facilities are often in a shocking state, changing rooms smell of urine, wet and rarely cleaned. You hear staff moaning about how much 'human fat' is there at the sauna. Pool gave me a rash. Impossible to book classes as it's over subscribed. Customer service is non existent, just template after template after template. Replying only when convenient. There are numerous of other places that are miles ahead. Many are cheaper and the more expensive ones are much superior to this. It's not worth committing to them even if it's on your door step, travel a bit and get looked after.

Negative experience: Unfortunately the gym has really gone downhill. Have been a member for 4+ years and it’s just really bad value for money. At least 2-3 times a week you get a notification saying there is either a problem with the pool, sauna, towel delivery or hot water supply. For this amount of money you’d at least expect nice shampoo and body wash in the showers. The new machines and the Pilates studio are great but the class bookings are ridiculous. If you want a space on reformer you need to book a week in advance to the minute the class becomes available. The timetable has also reduced gradually over time, there aren’t enough early morning classes that allow people to work out in the morning and get to a standard 9am office start in central.

Fantastic experience: Great reception team

Fantastic experience: Great gym, classes and instructors.

Negative experience: Worst virgin active I have been, continuously cancelling classes literally last minute

Negative experience: Caveating this review to say all class instructors, Ben, Carly etc. are amazing and the only reason I continue to stay a member! However, (1) turnstiles are constantly broken (it's quite unbelievable how often these break) causing constant queues or issues with checking in for classes, (2) the new app is absolutely terrible and has so many glitches, and the most useful feature of the app (live accurate gym capacity) is gone, (3) the new "rewards" on the app are almost useless considering either the code hardly ever works, the vending machine is virtually empty for applicable stock, or you can't log your gym entry because the turnstile doesn't work (4) the spin studio is a sauna (not sure how it doesn't fall foul of some form of health and safety) - this is an ongoing issue, I am not sure how difficult it can be to install a few fans like pre-Covid at a minimum, (5) changing rooms/facilities mirror that of a hostel, I avoid them as much as possible, and (6) there are always multiple items broken on the gym floor and these seem to take forever and a day to sort. A real shame as has great potential, but lacking a lot for the price point!

Positive experience: So difficult to book classes now. Facilities are not all up to date and some of the good yoga instructors have all left.

Negative experience: Yet again basic functionality is broken and gym is unhygienic and dirty. Gym instructors and reception staff all very nice and competent but the gym itself is nothing like all the new adverts. The incredible poor music available to instructors has made the classes really uninspiring and we're all bored by the lack of variety in both the classes and content.

Negative experience: I have been taking my daughter for baby swimmers lessons, I will not come back as the venue refuses to put up the pool temperature for cost saving reason and my daughter ends up with blue lips and shaking after 2 min in the water. Also the changing rooms are a disgrace. I have never been in such a filthy place. I really think it is a hygienic hazard.

Positive experience: Thank goodness the steam room, sauna and spa baths seem to be working consistently - which as you know was a real problem a year or so ago. Long may that continue. My main concern is the time it takes for things that go wrong to be sorted - an example is that the scales in the mens changing rooms have been absent for nearly 2 months which is simply unacceptable. Also a clock that was on the wall opposite the sauna has been removed and can't be seen from the sauna. Also, I get frustrated when one swimming lane is closed for swimming lessons which may only be for 1 or 2 young children who could happily use half the pool. the other half could be used as the family swim lane in which basically families can muck about. To have two lanes closed for a very few people (which is often the case) and to then only have two narrow lanes for swimmers seems a bit unnecessary - just a thought! Overall, as someone who only uses the pool and facilkities around it I am a reasonably satisfied customer.

Negative experience: I've just cancelled my membership, it has got to the point where it is impossible to book onto any reformer class because they are so busy (think 30+ people on the waiting list for most classes), the changing rooms are really tired, and the steam room is always out of order. The final straw was that they now only play copyright free music in the classes - given the cost of membership there's no excuse for that.

Negative experience: Grim changing rooms awful staff

Positive experience: I’ve been a member for over two years now. I swim every week day. The staff are friendly and welcoming. The pool is a great size. I love starting my day with a swim and shower. Great value and so well located

Positive experience: Went there with my wife and son. The showers floor needs more frequent cleaning and the swimming pool needs improvement because some of the tiles on the bottom of the pool are missing, which can be a hazard for anyone's that walk on top of them. The rest of the facilities looked ok. The staff were very welcoming and friendly.

Negative experience: The gym itself is fine, with lots of quite new kit, and the staff on reception are always friendly and seem nice. However the mens changing rooms, loos, and showers are vile. There's almost never any hand soap, loo roll or shower gel, several times I've asked for this to be addressed, just to be ignored and it to be the same when I next visit.

Negative experience: The scheduling and responsibility of the trainers at Virgin Active Wandsworth are appalling. Classes are cancelled at least 2-4 times a week (Mat Pilates, Reformer, Aqua), often on the day of the class. I arrange my schedule around attending these classes, but the club seems to think it’s acceptable to treat its members this way. They claim they always try to find a substitute, but I’ve never seen one – just last-minute cancellations. It’s common to be sitting in the room, waiting 10 minutes after the class is supposed to start, only for no one to show up. It’s only after someone from the group goes to reception that staff call the trainer, and it turns out the trainer isn’t coming and didn’t bother to notify anyone. If you miss a class you’ve booked, you get penalised, but these rules apparently don’t apply to the trainers we’re paying for. The planning at this club is dreadful. I attend Aqua classes with Charlie on Tuesdays. One Tuesday, she informed us she would be away for the next three weeks due to a pre-arranged holiday. The app showed the class was still bookable for the following Tuesday, suggesting a substitute trainer. But they just cancelled the class on Tuesday, along with all subsequent Aqua classes for the next few weeks – no effort was made to find a replacement or inform us in good time. It’s impossible to plan around the class schedule; I end up missing at least half of them each week due to these last-minute cancellations. I also have work, studies, and a life – I can’t constantly adjust my schedule to accommodate their ever-changing timetable. What am I paying for if I can’t attend the classes? Even if you try to attend other classes after these cancellations, they’re fully booked with long waiting lists. The cleanliness of the pool, changing rooms, and showers is atrocious. I made an official complaint about this in the spring, and was told that measures were being taken, but NOTHING has changed. There’s grime underfoot in the pool, and I’m not sure how well it’s cleaned and chlorinated because the water often smells of sweat. The jacuzzi is rusty, with bits of dirt floating in the water. In the women’s showers, there’s rust and mould EVERYWHERE – you can only shower with your eyes closed. The Steam Room operates at 5-10% capacity, rather than the normal 100% – again, I’ve complained, but it’s useless. I also complained about the aqua weights. 80% of them are falling apart, with broken parts that wobble, making them uncomfortable and unsafe to use. They’re beyond repair, but they’re cheap, and it would have been easy to simply buy new ones. Instead, they removed the ones that were completely falling apart and DIDN’T REPLACE them with new ones. Now there are two categories: weights with a light weight that no one uses, and heavier weights that are ALL worn out and shaky, with not enough for half the people in the aqua class. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their lack of care. Regarding personal training, their system lets you choose a trainer from their catalogue, with contact details listed, and you’re supposed to message the trainer yourself. I did exactly that. The trainer responded five days later, but we arranged a session. Then, 15 minutes before the session, she messaged me saying she was ill and couldn’t make it. I wished her a speedy recovery and asked her to let me know when she could resume our sessions. A MONTH AND A HALF later, I still hadn’t heard anything. Considering the catalogue mostly features male trainers and only two female ones (and I feel more comfortable training with a woman), I’ve lost the opportunity to have personal training due to this trainer’s attitude towards clients. The gym significantly increased its prices in the spring, and I have no idea what I’m paying for. I chose this gym because it’s close to home and offers the classes I want, but I can hardly ever attend them. On top of everything, the WiFi never works, which adds to the frustration. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

Fantastic experience: I have been doing personal training sessions with Jonny at Virgin Active, Smugglers Way - he works me SO HARD but the sessions are always fun. When money allows, I will be booking in more sessions asap as have so enjoyed them!

Negative experience: This is no way shape of form to discourage the absolute amazing trainers you have: Michael Morgan, Dave Martin, Ben Humphrey, Carly Crockford and Irvin Magno. All are absolutely amazing and are golden to your business, but I’m sure the way you are treating your employees and customers they will grow frustrated. I have been a member for over seven years, I have been a part of many events for virgin active as well as bringing on numerous of new members to your gym but there has been a change that has forced me to leave. You have not only destroyed the energy in your classes by removing the music - but you have decided to increase everyone’s membership secretly whilst removing the joy that made virgin what it was in the first place. You claim it is saving money by not having a license? But you are happy to splash money out for cruises (which barely any member wins as these winnings go to staff). I had an amazing PT Irvin Magno who pretty much changed me for the better and helped me win my first white collar match. After of which I decided to stop after achieving my goals - I informed both the front desks at Wandsworth and Twickenham (my new gym) that I will not need any PT sessions and I was told it was fine and they had been cancelled and I will not be having any money taken out from my account. However I was charged unexpectedly and when I approached the Twickenham front desk as well as the customer service team and explained the situation, your colleague Orlando told me I would be receiving my money back to me however this never came. I continued to chase for around three months only to be told that actually my refund was cancelled. I was confused and puzzled why this was and was because I upgraded my membership to Twickenham that my pt sessions carried on to another gym. I never agreed to this. I then chased and spoke to Nadia in your customer service team who told me that she will listen to phone recordings from previous conversations and investigate returning the money and she would call be back (guess what never did). I chased again… and approached the head of customer service Jonny Glass and explained all my situation. Only to receive this: Hi David, Thank you for your email. Apologies for the delay, I returned from annual leave on Wednesday afternoon and I'm just catching up on my emails. I have done a full review of your account & cannot see any previous record/log of a PT cancellation request. When a membership is transferred, unless you have contacted us to cancel your PT, the PT will be transferred alongside this & we would allocate a new trainer, at the new club if you're no longer training at the previous club. Due to this, we would not refund the sessions not used. I would be happy to offer that we extend your membership to the end of July, at no extra cost (so we'd credit from 14 - 31 July), to give you some more time to use the sessions. If you'd like me to action this, please let me know? Healthy regards, Jonny Head of Customer Relations This I found was an insult just so virgin can keep money and again not listening to your customers or retaining them. And it’s because of this I have decided to leave this crooked company. Believe me your trainers are amazing don’t get me wrong - but the standards in the gyms are slipping - the hygiene and upkeep in Wandsworth both changing rooms and gym floor has slipped dramatically - because you do not invest in upkeep! But you have lost a loyal customer and I’m sure you will lose many many more because they will become sick and tired of you prioritising money over clients. And this was all because virgin wanted to keep £174. My advice to anyone reading this: DO NOT JOIN VIRGIN ACTIVE! Find a better gym where they look after you and help you achieve your goals and answer any customer queries with compassion and resolve in a right manner. There are plenty of other gyms that you could find much cheaper or the same price which you will get much much more for your money. Regards David

Negative experience: UPDATE TO REVIEW.. The last few months have been impossible to book into the reformer pilates classes. As soon as they are released for members of the club to book onto they are showing full (it doesn't allow me to book onto waitlist as that is also full). At first I thought this was another app error, but after overhearing a conversation at the gym I am now aware that members of the gym are going to reception 10 minutes before the class is open to the public , and getting the receptionist to pre-book them into the session. How is this fair for members of the club that have jobs and can't sit around waiting at reception for the classes to release? Is this something that staff are allowed to be doing? If so, it makes no sense as it completely defeats the purpose of having a booking system in place... Please can staff STOP prebooking people into classes and actually allow the booking system to work properly. There's no reason that classes should be appearing as unable to book into the minute after they're released. Really shocked that this is something that is being done when the Pilates sessions are already high in demand. Previous Review : Staff are really kind although there was a blonde lady she may have been a senior member of the team that was quite standoff-ish and seemed a bit rude when dealing with one of the members as I overheard the conversation whilst waiting to get a towel. Facilities are good but the cleanliness of the changing rooms can be an issue as well as the lack of towels … It’s usually a bit annoying going on the weekend or during out of school hours as there are loads of kids in the changing rooms and two recent occasions when I’ve gone to use the showers they have all been occupied and most of the showers have had children under the age of 5 in there alone. Very inconvenient seeing as the gym is very busy, it would help if parents could take their little ones in them to shower in the same cubicle. Not a fault of the gym but if you could please remind parents that it is a bit inconsiderate to have all of your kids in their own showers when they are also quite young. I do pay £120 a month so it would be nice to not have to wait 5 mins for a shower because they are full of children :)

Negative experience: It's been going downhill since last year. Facilities are barely clean (especially when using reformer pilates and looking down to the floor), overcrowded gym, need to set alarms to even make it to a waiting list, steam room works every other day... The worst: the music! How do you justify a higher price with the most boring music during a spinning class?! Definitely not worth the price - It's a real shame, it used to be a great gym

Fantastic experience: Great gym, clean and modern facitilites, good size swimming pool, it would be nice if they had a 30 day laminated swim programmes on the side of the pool.

Negative experience: An absolute disgrace of a gym. Especially instructor called Marzia T, rough, patronising and aggressive. Tone it down a notch darling.

Negative experience: Very bad cleaning in shower, so dirty here everywhere. I never see cleaning guy. Management has to be changed, they can’t managed this club. It doesn’t worth 100 pounds per month.

Negative experience: Very disappointed today, club normally and has always closed at 10pm on a regular working day and as says on the website however tonight was asked to leave the club by the manager at 9:45pm stating that the rules have changed and now they have to have everyone out of the gym 15 minutes before closing, she individually asked everyone to leave. I’m very disappointed as this really affects my gym time, I am usually only able to arrive 40 minutes before closure and that gives me enough time for a workout and I don’t have to use the changing rooms or anything so I’m always out at 10pm on the dot. The manager said there was a note by the door but I didn’t see anything and also yesterday left the gym at 10pm and was not told anything, nor have received an email nor text. Very confused and disappointed. I have just renewed my contact and was not told of any new rules or changes therefore either have been misinformed or they decided to make us leave early for their own convenience? I hope this is not a permanent change, many customers weren’t happy today….

Fantastic experience: Virgin Active gym truly lives up to its name with its vibrant and inviting atmosphere. From the moment you step through the doors, you're greeted by friendly and welcoming staff who are eager to assist you on your fitness journey. The facilities are top-notch, boasting state-of-the-art equipment that caters to every fitness need. Whether you're into cardio, strength training, or group classes, Virgin Active has it all. Moreover, the cleanliness of the gym is impeccable, with staff constantly ensuring that every corner is spotless and hygienic. Overall, Virgin Active provides a fantastic gym experience that leaves you feeling motivated, energized, and ready to conquer your fitness goals.

Negative experience: To be honest, I wish I could give Virgin Active Wandsworth 0 stars. Whilst the swimming pool and changing rooms need a major refurb, the gym has fairly recently been renovated and is perfectly nice. The classes on offer are also good. However, my issue has been that their membership management team are completely useless and don't care about their customers. On several occasions, too much money was taken via direct debit. Each time, I contacted them via email (at their request) and nothing was done about it - either my emails were not responded to or the Club Head of Membership was not capable of resolving the issue, even at one stage asking me to send screenshot evidence from a Whatsapp chat with my personal trainer as proof of the quoted personal training price. The net result is that I have wasted many hours emailing and am still out of pocket. Funnily enough, they are very quick to contact you and suspend your membership if you cancel the direct debit - even if you have already paid for that month! I would not recommend becoming a member of Virgin Active at any cost.

Negative experience: My experiences at Virgin Active Wandsworth have left me deeply disappointed, prompting me to share this review. I frequent the gym 3 to 4 times a week, but the state of the men's changing rooms consistently tarnishes my visits. Today, encountering overflowing toilets was the final straw. The lack of cleanliness is appalling. The showers frequently lack soap and seem untouched by cleaning efforts, often adorned with used towels left for far too long. Instead of feeling refreshed after a workout, the environment leaves me feeling dirtier. The changing room floor is perpetually muddy, a result of a mixture of water and grime from foot traffic. Even more concerning is the condition of the Jacuzzi water, which appeared disconcertingly grey during the only time I went to. Despite paying for amenities like showers, the pool, sauna, and hammam, I find myself unable to utilize them due to their poor cleanliness. It's disheartening to note that a previous complaint echo my sentiments, yet it appears that little has changed. I hope this review serves as a catalyst for improvement, as the current state of affairs does not align with the standards expected from a reputable establishment like Virgin Active.

Fantastic experience: Love this gym! Have only just become a member but I am amazed by the quality of fitness instructors. Every class has been fantastic.

Negative experience: Just a got an email notifying that they will increase the monthly price up to 135£. Insane.

Positive experience: Good gym and friendly staff, could do with a few more benches and chest/shoulder machines.

Positive experience: It is a good gym and pilates classes are good level they need to improve a bit the organisation but after all the amenities are good

Negative experience: I’ve been going for a few months now and the facilities are great however there is always something wrong. Most days there is no soap in the showers, I regularly receive messages that the pool is closed as well as regular messages that they have run out of towels. The maintenance and upkeep of the changing rooms is shocking. Just this morning there was, dirty floors, a blocked toilet, blocked sink, 2 broken showers, 1 shower head completely missing and leaking urinals (with towels all over the floor to compensate). It’s not somewhere you feel comfortable to shower and get dressed in after you have been to the gym. It’s a shame to see as the facilities are great they just need to invest into their upkeep and cleaning. If it doesn’t make a turn around I’ll be going elsewhere. EDIT Months later I have lowered this to a one star review due to the fact today in the shower I noticed two tiny black wriggling worms, so small that I couldn’t get a picture of them. They looked like the kind of animals that appear after you leave water to stagnant much like a swimming pool that’s been left filled through the winter. Absolutely disgusting! The only reason I still pay for this gym is because it has a sauna and steam room. If the pool, sauna and steam room are not essential to your workout then please for the love of god do not give Virgin any money. The service you receive in exchange for their high fees is completely disproportionate. I’m shocked that after all these months and all these bad reviews the cleanliness actually seems to be getting worse rather than better. Virgin really need to take a serious look at who is running this gym as they seriously lack standards.

Fantastic experience: Great, all great classes and instructors. Would be better if longer free parking and a café but, without, it makes you exercise more so every cloud …..

Fantastic experience: Fantastic staff and all the facilities you could need!

Positive experience: Very nice facilities. Incredible classes . Friendly staff . The cleaning in the toilets could be better . But apart from that it is a really nice gym !

Negative experience: There's always something wrong at this gym. I've only been a member for about 5 weeks but in that time there has been multiple things down, jacuzzis for example seem to not be working a lot. Tonight they have closed the whole pool and spa area as they don't have a lifeguard. No notification to let people know. It's over crowded and ultimately its not worth the money you'll pay.

Positive experience: There are some occasional frustrations with this gym but overall I think it's really great value for money, and I'm surprised by some of the negative reviews here. On the gym floor, a lot (if not all) of the equipment is brand new and in excellent condition and the reformer and yoga classes are fantastic

Positive experience: Gym facilities are okay. The bathrooms / showers / change rooms are a bit gross and need to be cleaned more often (Especially over weekends and at end of day)

Positive experience: This would be a 5 star gym but is seriously let down by the cleanliness, especially in the changing rooms. All it takes is a regular cleaner to wipe the floors with a nice smelling fragrant every 30 minutes. It's a good gym but falls behind Nuffield due to this.

Negative experience: I was here many hears ago and it was not good. Way too many running machines. Weights not great selection. The pool ok and steam room nothing great. Jacuzzi always something wrong and the trunks drying machines in changing room always broken. Why have 2 machines for the hundreds of paying good money members. Years passed and I went back for a trial and it was the same in every way. They dont care. No money spent. Ten years on now and I bet bet bet its still the same. What does that tell you about joining here?

Negative experience: Initially a good experience but getting increasingly frustrated with issues in the pool/spa area and changing rooms. Most of the time I am visiting for the spa pool and steam room - regularly one or both spa pools are closed with no warning leading to a completely wasted trip. Additionally have had issues with towels not being available, lack of soap in showers, and a general sense of uncleanliness. Given how expensive it is, I can't say it's worth it for me anymore

Positive experience: The free weight section is rather small, which a surprise to me, the flie machines where in a really awkward position, I didn't like it. In terms sof facilities its big and there's a lot of motivation, steam and Sauna is rather small for the size of the gym and it does get busy during peak times, but overall was a really nice experience

Negative experience: Today they gave me this as a towel. It's just another example in a short but significant list of reasons why I've cancelled my membership. Mainly poor cleanliness in the male changing area, and there is always something out of order and / or supplies not being replenished.

Negative experience: So far, they have cancelled over seven reformer classes in the last seven days, tonight in less than an hour, others five or six days in advance; indeed, it isn't difficult to find a replacement cover with six days' notice! Towels are ridiculously small, and most of the shower gel and conditioner dispensers are empty.

Negative experience: Changing rooms always filthy!! Gym equipment is fine but it’s a terrible experience due to how disgusting the changing room/loos are.

Positive experience: Absolutely lovely staff who work on the crèche and do some of the training classes. Absolutely horrible management. Can’t keep the pool or dressing room warm enough and cannot have the crèche open consistently because they can’t sort how to heat the building.

Negative experience: Never did I want to leave a gym so bad in my life , where do I start ? Just imagine gym so bad , where your having to think about just how quick you want to get back home. Is there a way to post 0 stars ?! For a day I can’t believe to chose this gym over the Fulham pools , what was I thinking . The tumble dyer doesn’t even work to dry your clothes , the sauna And the steam room is small , the changing area looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in over 5 years , and worst of all the lighting. The lighting in the pool section and the changing area looks so horrible that it doesn’t look like an area to feel calm and relaxed , just feels like it’s been abandoned , definitely not coming back

Negative experience: No one in reception answers the phone. Tried calling multiple times

Negative experience: Some of the instructors are very rude and the management don't seem bothered about it when you bring it to their attention. I will be ending my membership

Positive experience: Work for virgin been in London on Sunday needed to change went in had a shower and changed lovely greeting at foh what a nice helpful guy offered myself and my son towels my son had a quick swim and sauna changing rooms lovely and clean came out the guy at foh asked if we needed anything else what a great guy did not get his name it was about 2 pm said a cheery goodbye to us and we left and went on to event we were going to feeling refreshed happy to call in again thanks Pat

Positive experience: Nice pool, haven't used the rest of the gym

Positive experience: The staff are super friendly and helpful. Odd locations, gym and pool area, is very tired and needs a refresh.

Positive experience: Great swimming pool facility. Unfortunatelly, for some reason Virgin started to split it into 4 lanes which makes it unsafe to swim. The original design is 3 lanes. 5 years ago my locker was broken into so please be carefull with any valuables.

Negative experience: Instructors are great, pretty much the only thing that keeps people at this gym as well as lack of choice in the area if you want a pool and classes. Constantly cancelling classes despite instructors giving pleanty of notice (instructors give us a heads up a weeks in advance because they are fully aware it's too much effort for the appalling management running this place to find cover). The AC is non existent I assume to cut energy costs despite putting membership up to cover increasing costs.

Fantastic experience: Great gym! It has a range of different classes for all abilities which is fab, especially for someone who's new to the world of working out or attending classes. The gym is large enough that it doesn't feel too crowded when it's full. You might have to wait a few moments for certain machines but you can always try something new while you wait. The spa facilities are fantastic. My only 'complaint' is they don't have classes on a Sunday eve which would be the perfect time to go (in my opinion, anyway). Friendly staff, clean changing rooms (spacious too) and high quality service

Negative experience: This gym is a complete scam. They intentionally turn off the sauna during peak hours to cut costs… all the while membership prices have gone up!

Negative experience: Shambolic management. No aircon in the spin room for months, faulty sound system cutting out during the class and poor quality bikes. Despite continually asking for interim measures such as fans due to temperatures outside (26°+), no action has been taken. This is a basic health and safety issue, leaving spin instructors with no other option but to ask riders to pop out if they feel faint. The quality of the facilities are shocking considering the price of membership - pool spa facilities continually being closed for maintenance, dated and broken machines, glitchy app for booking classes. I joined the gym primarily for the diverse range of classes. Although the class instructors are amazing, the quality is heavily impacted by the state of the facilities which is such a shame for both members and instructors.

Negative experience: The pool lanes get too crowded especially now they have closed extra lanes for kids/aqua aerobics. I can now no longer do my programmed swimming sessions there as I can't reliably complete them correctly without major inconvenience.

Negative experience: The pool is very busy, and they’ve recently narrowed the lanes so the gym can earn more money on swim coaching for children. There are often 5-8 adult swimmers sharing a lane during peak hours so that 1-2 kids can splash around and take up half the pool. Additionally, the changing rooms are disgusting with dirty floors and showers at all times of day

Negative experience: More steam off a kettle then the stream room

Negative experience: Air con does not work for spin class. Difficult to book onto classes and the booking system is a nightmare. Average gym equipment and difficult to get in contact with reception. Most likely going to cancel my membership and I have only been a member for less than 1 month.

Negative experience: Smugglers Way is a great gym, really lovely staff, but head office have recently enforced smaller lane changes in the pool across all gyms, that are not just working for anyone who uses this one. Swimmers are getting hurt knocking into each other, aqua classes are now too squashed, and the atmosphere is not enjoyable as a result. Hard to keep paying membership fees for an experience that’s changed so much by a rash decision made by someone in an office somewhere who doesn’t actually use the pool! Such a shame.

Negative experience: Shocking - I've held off writing a google review and raised maintenance, cleanliness and crowding issues in person. But its gone nowhere. Staff seem to listen in person but don't act on any of the issues. This morning I arrived, 2/4 Watt Bikes were faulty, despite having maintenance a week ago according to staff. Last night the K2 rower upstairs was broken and the gym floor was full, approx. a 20-25 minute wait for machines. There seems to be no membership cap or limit on numbers in the gym at any time. These are just examples of the last 6-9 months at VA Wandsworth, the gym is tired, un-maintained and dirty. Its hardly a £100 per month gym.

Negative experience: Facilities and machines are extremely out dated and worn out. Poor layout of equipment, weights and racks blocking mirrors. A work out experience made worse by the cheap B side music. Other gyms are half the price with a better environment and better equipment. Majority of lockers are always locked, reading other reviews this had been a problem for a long time and never addressed. Staff and instructors are amazing, always friendly knowledgeable and remember your name. Classes are great and it's in a good location.

Negative experience: I’m a weightlifter who joined a year ago after spending a year at David Lloyd. I never expected Virgin to meet DL’s standards but I was still disappointed and decided to offer a thorough review so others will know what you’re buying. Summary – PureGym with a pool. In my opinion, this gym needs a big money refurb in order to match the standard set by other Virgin Actives around the UK and I regret having joined-up on a fixed contract. I haven’t seen any willingness from management to raise the standards – perhaps due to a steady stream of customers signing up to fixed deals. Unless you’re getting a heavy corporate discount and/or value location above anything else, I would swerve this place. Location – Good, there is a car park, but you can only spend 2 hours maximum or get hit with a pricey ticket, so many park outside on the road after hours. Cleanliness – Poor. Unfortunately, the showers and toilets often smell. There is a moth problem in the men’s locker room. The gym floor, studios and pool area are ok. There are quite a few areas where the place seems to be falling apart, e.g. Holes in the ceiling, broken lockers, stained walls. Facilities – The pool is nice and the Spa includes a steam room, sauna and two hot tubs. The hot tubs have a fault meaning only one can be on at a time and the temperature is lukewarm. The steam room was broken and out of action for about 9 months while I was a member. The Café area doesn’t have a lot going on inside and I’ve never really seen it used. There have also been problems with towel shortages. The free WiFi is good. Equipment – Kit and machines are pretty standard. The gym floor could do with a couple more Olympic sized barbells and needs more 2.5 plates. Two squat racks. There’s no pec dec machine. Classes – a pretty good selection, including box-fit, but you have to be quick to book. The popular classes get 20+ people on the waiting list. Environment/vibe – Typical busy gym, with quieter periods during the day and late evening, but it’s the kind of place where few bother to put weights back. I’ve also had two water bottles stolen over the last year when I foolishly left them in the gym overnight. It’s not the kind of place you can afford leave anything nice unsupervised. Staff – Generally pleasant, but there are sometimes shortages that lead to pool and spa area to close down. Regarding management, I’ve highlighted some of the issues above many occasions but as far as I’m aware they haven’t been read/addressed. Value – I paid £77 per month, including corporate discount, which didn’t get me the close to top-tier gym experience I expected. On reflection, I wouldn’t pay more than £50 a month to go here.

Negative experience: I’ve tried posting pictures of the disrepair but they’re not showing up so trying again!

Negative experience: Quite disappointing cleanliness and repair standards for such an expensive gym. I mostly use the treadmills and I’m quite disappointed that lots of them aren’t working. At any given time maybe 60 per cent are working ok, while others have an out of service sign or are simply blocked. Out of the ones that do work, their hardware isn’t in the best conditions. Some bottle holders are completely broken so can’t hold your water bottle. Some of the working machines will randomly stop mid workout and block themselves. Have raised this several times with staff and they simply say they’re waiting for a solution or for the machines to be replaced, or they come up with other excuses but still no proper solutions. For such an expensive gym, they should do better and also keep their clients notified about the state of repairs. The female shower rooms have a lot of mould on the ceilings and often lack shower gel. The steam room and second jacuzzi didn’t work for a long time (ie. Months). Also for some weird reason (haven’t seen this in other gyms) they often run out of towels and ask you to bring your own

Positive experience: I had a free pass to try this gym via my work, safe to say I wont be signing up. Great to have so many features at this gym (pool, sauna, gym and showers) but it really is run like a school rather than a premium sports venue. Often it was dirty, overcrowded and additionally a lack of respect from other patrons using it. Find another gym in the area.

Negative experience: Staff are really nice but other than that its poor quality for an expensive gym. Prices were increased due to 'refurbishments' however that didn't happen they simply gave the pool a yearly clean. Steam room and hot tubs are constantly broken and you never know when you can use them. Showers are disgusting and need ripping out there is mould on the ceilings. Gym Equipment is very old but does the Job.

Negative experience: Roided up aggressive PT's won't let you touch any free weights whilst classes are happening in the open gym which is ridiculous, considering you're a paying customer... Cleanliness is a bit sad, broken machines for over a month. Regular issues with the facilities, pool, sauna and showers. For a pricey gym, the service is terrible. Definitely not a gym setup for weightlifters as they only have 2 squat racks but they have 20 running machines that barely get used... Best to find a local smaller boutique gym.

Positive experience: Facilities great, classes could have more advanced options but the people don’t tend to be that social.

Negative experience: Very poor experience vs the price they charge, in theory they have a reasonable amount of equipment if it worked. Currently out of 13 running machines they only have 3 that fully work, they have 4 more that partially work - 1 works but cuts out after a variable amount of time and 3 don't have a TV signal. The lack of TV signal would be ok, but in their infinite wisdom they have decided to remove the TV's from the walls.....(they also appear to not be well calibrated). I have reported this on numerous occasions in person and via feedback form on the app but no improvement in the last 2 months nor any response to the messages. Three trial (reduced price) personal training sessions, I felt were generic rather than tailored to what I requested or at least no explanation was given as to why the session was most beneficial.

Fantastic experience: the best club ever nice staff, excellent trainers, excellent services, clean spa , excellent swimming pool, life guards, nice place to spent time and relax

Negative experience: My views on the gym I have been there for a year now and the equipment need new ones is so old the steam room hasn't been working for moths now It's to expensive to the price that has been charged per months now I'm not very happy about it plus not enough guess pass to that you can take a friend or a relative with you

Fantastic experience: Great gym with big pool, steam sauna and clean showers You can join for around 80-90£ a month

Positive experience: Steam room has been closed for ages and there is lots of mould in the showers. Staff members are nice though

Negative experience: I feel it’s gone downhill in past 18 months. Issues are: 1. It’s not good value for money at £90 a month. It’s just not a premium gym - I used to pay £140 to use Bank but I didn’t mind that as it was a very premium gym - super clean, top of the range equipment and facilities, plus that was in central London. This is a average neighbourhood gym in zone 3 and should not be £90 a month. 2. They impose decisions showing disregard to customers. Two popular instructors (Shaun C and Debra L) have lost their classes recently. Their classes were always full and popular, there was a petition against Shaun losing his class, but Virgin don’t care. They do other strange things like changed most yoga classes to 45 minutes that nobody wanted and isn’t suitable (yoga needs an hour to loosen muscles) but Virgin don’t care. 3. Facilities aren’t that good. Black mould in showers, one of jacuzzi / steam room / sauna or toilet always seems to be broken. Everyone knows Virgin are in financial trouble and I think a lot of the issues above relate to that but it’s a shame to see as a loyal Virgin customer of more than a decade, and squeezing their customers financially and making unpopular decisions may give them a short term gain but it’s not a sustainable long term strategy.

Positive experience: I have been a member for 5 months. The cleanliness of changerooms and showers is really not top, the floor is often very dirty. The pool area is not good and the hygiene of the sauna and steam room might be improved. I saw some of the staff walking in their outdoor shoes inside the pool area (without wearing shoe covers)! For at least 2 months the steam room and one of the jacuzzi pools have been out of order.

Negative experience: Reception staff were lovely, got into changing rooms they are dingy and dated, walled out on to poolside and it was so dirty and full of hair.. whilst I was swimming the life guard was sweeping the sorry water with hair and such from the pool side into the swimming pool.. another member saw and mentioned it to me, the life guard must have heard as she proceeded to catch an attitude and tell us she did not do that.. I was not inclined to argue as i saw with my own eyes so her argument was moot. for 85 quid a month it is a rip off and by mid morning it's full of yummy mummies and their screaming kids. Not impressed.. staff at streatham were nice also but streatham is worse in regards to dirt and cleanliness.. Will be switching back to Nuffield

Positive experience: So much to improve on and a lot of it isn’t too tough. Been a member for 7 months Cleanliness of Changerooms is really not par. Can’t believe people walk bare foot in there. Toilets have been out of order for like 6 months Weight section is poor, equipment always broken in other areas (CHECK YOUR BIKES ON MAIM FLOOR) The Hot Yoga room, Boxing Room all look up to standard and maybe they upgrading section by section as those are nice . Pool area is not good and the hygiene of the Sauna and steam room is awful. I’d suggest for the Steam room having a usable hose in the steam room to rinse off seats etc. They have that in South Africa VA. I’d hate to know the bacteria in that steam room. Had to stop using. With the Pools stop letting families dominate . There’s only 3 lanes as it is. Tell the lifeguard on duty to actually control who’s in what lane so we can train properly . Always say understaffed yet there’s always atleast 3 people having a chat behind the counter

Negative experience: Overpriced and outdated. Frequency of missing or broken equipment is laughable. Grid Classes get in the way of regular gym users and the limited equipment they want to use.

Negative experience: Everywhere is very dirty but the changing rooms and toilets are disgusting, hair everywhere, toilets splatters with excrements and no toilet paper!

Negative experience: I wouldn’t recommend it - Very poor as Virgin Active standards go. Lack of cleanliness throughout(changing rooms especially). The Spa & equipment is often out of order, ceiling boards missing,the list goes on. Minimal maintenance throughout.

Negative experience: Been a member since January 2022. So far, it's not worth the premium. Changing room hygiene standards are very poor and facilities are dated. Weights area also lacking, not enough equipment to go round. A number of treadmills and cycles are always broken. Additionally, salesman misrepresented the terms of 12-month contract (blonde chap that showed me around). Most of the things he said to me before I signed aren't correct, they're just interested in locking you in. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this gym. Update: After 5-weeks of no update, an email exchange with head of membership took on the feedback. They provided apologies for mis-selling and poor state of gym due to understaffing as the reason. They are aware that understaffing is having an impact on overall services being provided (same message for 4/5 months now) but did not offer any compensation or early termination options for mis-representation & poor service.